Creator's son quashes rumours

Hopes for a revival of Citizen Smith have been quashed by the son of its creator, John Sullivan.

Star Robert Lindsay yesterday said he had been ‘chased by a production company’ to update the show, inspired by Jeremy Corbyn’s rise in the Labour party.

The actor said the plan was for his idealistic but hapless revolutionary Wolfie Smith to have some power as a Labour party figure, adding: ‘I think that’s a fantastic idea.’

But Sullivan’s son Jim said a revival was not on the cards.

‘These stories are news to us – and we own the rights to the series,’ says Jim Sullivan, who runs Shazam Productions. ‘It’s not the first time that people have suggested bringing the series back but that is not something we would want to do.

‘Every episode of Citizen Smith was written by my Dad - all the lines, ideas and plots were his. As we have said about Only Fools and Horses [which Sullivan also created], the show only ever had one writer and it is going to stay that way.’

Yesterday, Lindsay sent a tweet apparently confirming that the revival was just a pipe dream, saying: ‘I’m afraid [t]here have been many plans to resurrect Wolfie but he rests with his brilliant creator John Sullivan RIPx.’

Published: 12 Sep 2015