From Green Wing to Buffy: why classic TV shows are returning

Audio reboots aren’t just fun and fast to make – they’re also a way to create the easiest naked scenes stars will ever record. For the stars of retro television hits, the future is audio

When Pippa Haywood was asked to reprise the role of Joanna in a revival of cult hospital comedy Green Wing, it was a no-brainer: “None of us quite knew what we were making during the original, but it was a special atmosphere, it was unique.” The twist that the series would return as a podcast, instead of on TV, sealed the deal: “You don’t have that awful thing of, ‘Who’s aged best?’ I could be butt-naked in a scene, and I wouldn’t even need to shave my legs – you don’t want to see 60-year-old Pippa stripping off.”

Green Wing: Resuscitated was made by the show’s creator, Victoria Pile, along with the original writers and cast (including Olivia Colman, Stephen Mangan and Tamsin Greig). Its release marks 20 years since the offbeat sitcom first aired, and picks up 16 years after the final episode in 2007. Guy (Mangan) is now a TV doctor, Harriet (Colman) is, somehow, head of HR, and Joanna (Haywood) is in prison after her killing spree.