Will Mellor has addressed a Two Pints Of Lager And A Packet Of Crisps reunion, 13 years after the hit sitcom came to an end.
The actor – who is supporting Virgin Media O2’s campaign to help end data poverty – revealed he’s been presented with a script for the reboot, titled Two Pints Last Orders.
The show came to a natural end in 2011 with most of the original cast having departed the show by 2011, after Ralf Little left after series six and Sheridan Smith and Kathryn Drysdale leaving after the eighth series.
Yet fans have been calling on the cast to bring the show back in recent years.
Speaking about a potential reboot, Will told MailOnline: ‘I’ve tried. I even got a script written by [creator] Susan Nixon. A first episode draft called Two Pints Last Orders.
‘It was going to be like a final series. Where are they now kind of thing. Johnny isn’t dead, he’s been on the run on the run from a loan shark or whatever.’
Will Mellor has addressed a Two Pints Of Lager And A Packet Of Crisps reunion, 13 years after the hit sitcom came to an end – revealing he’d be up for reprising his role
Will Mellor played Gaz, Sheridan Smith was Janet, Natalie Casey was Donna, Ralf Little was Jonny and Kathryn Drysdale played Louise in the Noughties sitcom
Will continued: ‘But BBC said no and BBC Three said no. They’re repeating the old ones and they’re getting the highest ratings on their channel, so you think “what are you doing?”
‘I’ve said yes, I would do it. Ralph said yes. He would do it even if it was a Christmas special an hour long, just for the fans.
‘It was a cult show that people got behind. Without the support of them the show wouldn’t have lasted that long.
‘I’ve said before that we can pay for it ourselves and do it, but then you’d have to put it out as a download stream and then the fans are going to have to pay to watch it and we’re in a financial crisis.
‘I can’t do that. I’d feel wrong making people pay to watch something that they supported. We shouldn’t have to do that. It should be picked up by a channel.
‘But as I say, my hands are a bit tied. We need a channel to take it up.’
Will knows all too well about living in financial crisis, having grown up with a working class family who would sometimes struggle to make ends meet.
‘When we were kids we’d have to hide if there was a knock at the door and we all thought it was a game.
‘But I think we probably owed money to debt collectors. Money we didn’t have. But we were protected from it and loved. I had a great childhood.
‘That’s why I’m passionate about the new campaign I’m doing because I have been fortunate in my life and you can never forget where you come from. I’m so proud of it.’
Will has teamed up with Virgin Media O2’s campaign that is helping people with data poverty.
Will has also been campaigning to get justice for the hundreds of postmasters who were caught up in the Horizon IT system scandal (pictured in the ITV drama as sub-postmaster Lee Castleton with actress Amy Nuttall alongside him as Lee’s wife Lisa)
Living in poverty and struggling to afford mobile data, there are some people across the country who are unable to get online to complete everyday tasks and, crucially, can’t stay in touch with their loved ones during the festive period.
Speaking about the campaign, Will shared: ‘I wanted to get involved with it because it’s about people being again in poverty.
‘There’s a lot of people I think struggling now especially this time of year. There’s a financial crisis out there. The rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer.
‘When this campaign came around, I didn’t really know much about data, data, poverty and data darkness and people who can’t afford data and I’m so glad that someone like Virgin Media are doing something about it because you forget how much you need data in your life.
‘I got lucky and I was on TV at 12. and the rest is what you say is history. I know how lucky I am, but that’s why these campaigns are so important.
‘That when you get a profile you’ve got to turn around and remember where you came from and, and, and reach back and help.’
Will has also been campaigning to get justice for the hundreds of postmasters who were caught up in the Horizon IT system scandal.
More than 700 Post Office staff were falsely prosecuted based on erroneous data from the firm’s Horizon computer system, which was developed by Fujitsu.
Some of these people were sent to prison after being convicted of false accounting and theft, some had their finances left in tatters and some will never see justice as they have since died. It is considered to be the most widespread miscarriage of justice in British history.
Will has teamed up with Virgin Media O2’s campaign that is helping people with data poverty. He knows all too well about living in financial crisis, having grown up struggling to make ends meet
Will played sub-postmaster Lee Castleton in ITV drama Mr Bates vs The Post Office earlier this year and went on to front a documentary about the scandal.
Reflecting on the drama’s impact – which saw the Horizon scandal brought back into the news and debated by parliament – Will shared: ‘None of us could have imagined how big it was gonna go because it was unprecedented.
‘It was an amazing thing to do for me as an actor – I’ve never played a real person before realising they’re gonna watch it, there’s a pressure with that.
‘You want to get it right for them and you want to make sure that the emotion is right.
‘It’s OK reading about what happened to somebody but when you see it and you feel it, you relate to it.
‘It’s still in the news but not enough has been done.: Just give them the money that you stole from them. You stole their lives. Some of them died. Yes sort compensation but also hold people accountable.’
Will has teamed with Virgin Media O2 to unveil the ‘Data Darkness’ art installation on London’s South Bank, created to raise awareness of data poverty in the UK.
The company has rolled out the National Databank to all O2 stores nationwide, where people in need can get free O2 mobile data so they can get online and stay connected to loved ones this Christmas and beyond.
The public can visit Data Darkness from Tuesday, 3 December to Thursday, 5 December at South Bank Observation Point in London.
Will has teamed with Virgin Media O2 to unveil the ‘Data Darkness’ art installation on London’s South Bank, created to raise awareness of data poverty in the UK