Icon: Barry from Auf Widersehen Pet
Cool For Being Uncool - He was unlucky, fat and ugly with a thick Brum accent - an unlikely hero
It would be hard to think of a less fitting hero than Barry from Auf Wiedersehen Pet, but heroes come in many guises, and when it comes to a biker making punters laugh, Barry is second only to the great George Formby.
For those too young to remember, Auf Wiedersehen Pet was one of the biggest television comedies of the 1980s about seven brickies who went to work in Germany. When not laying bricks, the lads masterminded incompetent porn-smuggling, drank gallons of German beer and shagged as many frauleins as they could cajole back to their manky on-site hut.
The show kick-started Jimmy Nail's career, and at the same time launched Timothy Spall as Brummie, bike-riding Barry who, despite looking more like a real life sparkie than most real life sparkies, went on to star in several Hollywood movies and even collected an OBE from the Queen in 1999 for services to entertainment.
But it's as Bonneville T120-riding Barry that Spall is still best remembered. Turning up for work having ridden all the way from England, Barry was unlucky, fat and ugly with a thick Brum accent (although Spall is actually from South London).
His lank, greasy hair, less-than-perfect complexion and dubious dress sense (open-face helmet with goggles, cheap gauntlets, jumper hanging out of his jacket, and wellies) made him a prime target for the others to rip the piss out of and they wasted few opportunities.
But TV audiences loved Barry, even though he probably did more damage to the image of motorcyclists than Marlon Brando managed in The Wild One.
Now a third series of Auf Wiedersehen Pet has just started shooting after a 15-year break with the original actors apart from Gary Holton (who played Wayne). He died of a heroin overdose in the '80s.
What hasn't been revealed is if our Barry has traded in the trusty Bonnie for something a little more modern. It's unlikely though as bike-mad Spall loved it so much he bought it when filming ended.
It's hard to imagine anyone imitating Barry intentionally - he doesn't inspire that kind of behaviour - but just look around at the next BMF show and you're guaranteed to see a hundred bikers just like him. Try not to snigger too loudly.
The point is, Barry represents the good old fashioned values of what biking used to be about - cheap transport for the financially challenged, a quick way to get your hands dirty, and an easy parking space at the chippy. Barry wouldn't have given a flying shit about the latest Dainese one-piece leathers or King and Queen seats for his Triumph. As long as his bike kept going and didn't spew oil everywhere he was happy. And for that Barry my son, we salute you. You are the ultimate biking anti-icon.
