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''Allo 'Allo!'' is a
British sitcom A British sitcom or a Britcom is a situational comedy programme produced for British television. Most British sitcoms are recorded on studio sets, while some have an element of location filming. A handful are made almost exclusively on location ...
television series, created by David Croft and
Jeremy Lloyd John Jeremy Lloyd, OBE (22 July 1930 – 23 December 2014) was an English writer, screenwriter, author, poet and actor. He was the co-writer of several successful British sitcoms, including ''Are You Being Served?'' and Allo 'Allo!''. Ear ...
, starring
Gorden Kaye Gordon Irving Kaye(7 April 194123 January 2017), known professionally as Gorden Kaye, was an English actor, best known for playing womanising café owner René Artois in the television comedy series Allo 'Allo!''. Early life Kaye was born o ...
,
Carmen Silvera Carmen Blanche Silvera (2 June 1922 – 3 August 2002) was a British comic actress. Born in Canada of Spanish descent, she moved to Coventry, England, with her family when she was a child. She appeared on television regularly in the 1960s, and ...
,
Guy Siner Guy Domville Siner (born 16 October 1947) is an American-born English actor best known for his role as Oberleutnant Hubert Gruber in the British television series Allo 'Allo!'' and Dr. Mittenhand in '' Leprechaun 4: In Space''. Early life ...
and
Richard Gibson Richard Gibson (born 1 January 1954) is an English actor, best known for his role as the archetypal Gestapo Officer Herr Otto Flick in the BBC hit sitcom series, Allo 'Allo!''. Career Gibson was born in Kampala, Uganda, before the country ...
. Originally broadcast on
BBC1 BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...
, the series focuses on the life of a French café owner in the town of Nouvion, during the
German occupation of France The Military Administration in France (german: Militärverwaltung in Frankreich; french: Occupation de la France par l'Allemagne) was an interim occupation authority established by Nazi Germany during World War II to administer the occupied zo ...
in the Second World War, in which he deals with problems from a dishonest German officer, local French Resistance, the handling of a stolen painting and a pair of trapped airmen, all while concealing from his wife the affairs he is having with his waitresses. Croft and Lloyd devised the concept as a parody of
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
wartime drama '' Secret Army'' and initially launched the programme with a pilot on 30 December 1982. The sitcom was eventually commissioned following the success of the pilot and ran for nine series between 7 September 1984 until its conclusion on 14 December 1992. Both Lloyd and Croft wrote the scripts for the first six series, while the remainder were handled by Lloyd and Paul Adam. Much like previous sitcoms created by Croft and Lloyd, the programme employed notable elements such as memorable catchphrases and ending credits, cultural clichés, physical humour and visual gags. However, ''Allo 'Allo!'' differed from these other sitcoms by featuring overarching plot lines rather than simple stand-alone stories, as well as the device of having actors speaking English but with theatrical foreign accents to distinguish each character's nationality. The sitcom gained respectable ratings during its run, with its success leading to it receiving stage show reproductions. A special entitled ''
The Return of 'Allo 'Allo! ''The Return of 'Allo 'Allo!'' is a one-off special episode of the British sitcom Allo 'Allo!'', which was broadcast on BBC Two on 28 April 2007. The special is mix of both a traditional episode, as well as a behind-the-scenes documentary feat ...
'', aired on 22 March 2007, featured cast members returning to reprise their original roles to perform in a special story after the conclusion of the programme. It was accompanied by a documentary about the sitcom, including a highlight reel of episodes and interviews with the cast, production team and fans.


Premise

''Allo 'Allo!'' is set during the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
, between the occupation of
France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
by German
Axis powers The Axis powers, ; it, Potenze dell'Asse ; ja, 枢軸国 ''Sūjikukoku'', group=nb originally called the Rome–Berlin Axis, was a military coalition that initiated World War II and fought against the Allies. Its principal members were ...
in 1940 and its eventual liberation by Allied forces in July 1944. The story of the sitcom focuses on René Artois, a café owner in Nouvion and a reluctant member of the town's local
French Resistance The French Resistance (french: La Résistance) was a collection of organisations that fought the German occupation of France during World War II, Nazi occupation of France and the Collaborationism, collaborationist Vichy France, Vichy régim ...
cell who operates under the codename of "Nighthawk". Because of the occupation of the town by German forces, led by the dictatorial Major-General Erich von Klinkerhoffen, René finds himself caught up between dealing with four problems – the scheme and plots of the town's corrupt commandant, Colonel Kurt von Strohm; the sabotage plans of the Resistance's leader Michelle Dubois; the efforts by
Gestapo The (), abbreviated Gestapo (; ), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of Prussia into one orga ...
agent Herr Otto Flick to find a stolen painting and unmask Resistance members; and the love affairs with his waitresses, particularly
Yvette Carte-Blanche This is a list of all main and recurring characters of BBC television's sitcom Allo 'Allo!'' that ran from 1982 until 1992 and 85 episodes. Overview René Artois René Francois Artois (Gorden Kaye) – The local café proprietor who, whi ...
, each of which he must conceal from both his wife
Edith Artois Edith is a feminine given name derived from the Old English words ēad, meaning 'riches or blessed', and is in common usage in this form in English, German, many Scandinavian languages and Dutch. Its French form is Édith. Contractions and var ...
and each of the other waitresses. Throughout the programme's broadcast, the sitcom features a number of overarching storylines, with two of these being the most prominent within episodes. The first, and most prominent, plot concerns the theft of a valuable painting from the town's chateau – ''The Fallen Madonna'' by fictional artist van Klomp (usually referred to as "''The Fallen Madonna with the Big Boobies''") – stolen by von Strohm, and the subsequent effort by him to conceal the theft from his superiors and Herr Flick. René is notably forced into handling the stolen painting out of threat of execution, but also due to being indebted to von Strohm for allowing him to fake his death when he is sentenced to execution for unjustified accusations of aiding the Resistance in an act of sabotage. The painting itself is subjected to being lost during the course of its concealment, before receiving a forged copy upon being found, only for it to be lost again and sought out by not only by von Strohm, but also Herr Flick who, rather than return it to
Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...
, intends to keep it himself. The second storyline concerns the involvement of two stranded British airmen, shot down while over Nouvion. Because of their predicament, several plots in a number of episodes focus on the efforts of Michelle to devise plans that can help to send them back to England, with René not only forced to help hide them within his café or keep them under disguises, but also help in her schemes, sometimes devised by London who relay these plans via a radio installed within the bedroom of Edith's mother. Often, the schemes devised are so complicated that they invariably backfire, especially when they collide with other schemes conducted by von Strohm and his assistants, often leaving him, René and Michelle worse off than before. Most other storylines concern other events, including the efforts to remove von Klinkerhoffen's replacement from power, sabotaging the Germans' plan to invade England, and the subsequent build-up of German concern about an Allied invasion of France following the defeat of Italy.


Lloyd & Croft sitcom elements

As with previous sitcoms created before ''Allo 'Allo!'', such as Lloyd and Croft's earlier collaboration ''
Are You Being Served? ''Are You Being Served?'' is a British sitcom created and written by executive producer David Croft (Croft also directed some episodes) and Jeremy Lloyd, with contributions from Michael Knowles and John Chapman, for the BBC. Set in London ...
'', much of the humour is derived from classic elements of comedy including classic farce set-ups, physical comedy and
visual gag In comedy, a visual gag or sight gag is anything which conveys its humour visually, often without words being used at all. The gag may involve a physical impossibility or an unexpected occurrence. The humor is caused by alternative interpretatio ...
s, alongside a large amount of
sexual innuendo An innuendo is a hint, insinuation or intimation about a person or thing, especially of a denigrating or derogatory nature. It can also be a remark or question, typically disparaging (also called insinuation), that works obliquely by allusion ...
, and a fast-paced running string of broad cultural clichés. Like most characters devised for previous sitcoms, the cast for the programme were designed with notable elements to distinguish them throughout the series, be it a
catchphrase A catchphrase (alternatively spelled catch phrase) is a phrase or expression recognized by its repeated utterance. Such phrases often originate in popular culture and in the arts, and typically spread through word of mouth and a variety of mass ...
, gimmick, or
saying A saying is any concisely written or spoken expression that is especially memorable because of its meaning or style. Sayings are categorized as follows: * Aphorism: a general, observational truth; "a pithy expression of wisdom or truth". ** Adag ...
. Like previous sitcoms devised by the creators, ''Allo 'Allo!'' ends each episode with the caption "You have been watching (in order of appearance)", followed by a short vignette shot of actors who performed in the episode — whether as a main or supporting character — identified by their name in caption within each sequence. Although the shots appear like a clip from the episode, the production team conduct a separate filming session aimed as a reenactment of a scene the actor was involved in, mostly pertaining to a specific camera angle or action conducted by their character, with the vignette sequence often done in order of their first spoken line; the exception to this is that actor Gorden Kaye is always first in the sequence, regardless of when his first appearance is made.


"René Recaps" device

As each episode builds on previous ones, viewers are often required to have followed the series to the episode they have reached in order to understand the plot. As ''Allo 'Allo!'' revolved around individual
story arc A story arc (also narrative arc) is the chronological construction of plot in a novel or story. It can also mean an extended or continuing storyline in episodic storytelling media such as television, comic books, comic strips, board games, vid ...
s spread across several episodes, the creators opted for using a comical version of the " As you remember ..." device, commonly used in serials, to act as a recap of events in the current story for the beginning of a new episode. This device within the sitcom was always conducted by René, who would open an episode by breaking the
fourth wall The fourth wall is a performance convention in which an invisible, imaginary wall separates actors from the audience. While the audience can see through this ''wall'', the convention assumes the actors act as if they cannot. From the 16th cen ...
(which Michael Bates did in ''
It Ain't Half Hot Mum ''It Ain't Half Hot, Mum'' is a BBC television sitcom about a Royal Artillery concert party based in Deolali in British India and the fictional village of Tin Min in Burma, during the last months of the Second World War. It was written by Jimm ...
'') to interact with the audience and provide a brief summary of events that had occurred previously, including notable events that had taken place, and also intermittently during episodes to make comic comments. This plot device was rare for comedy (including comedy animation), where plots are prominently gag-driven and self-contained, but its use in ''Allo 'Allo!'' had a major impact on audiences connecting with the characters. It also had considerable benefits for re-runs, as it allowed local TV stations who had reshuffled episodes for their schedule, to ensure that their audiences could be aware of the plot events surrounding the story of the episode being broadcast.


"Foreign" languages

One of the trickier problems with ''Allo 'Allo!'' was the fact that the main characters were of four different nationalities — French, German, English and Italian. Lloyd and Croft determined that it would be too much for the audience to follow multiple languages, so they employed a simple dramatic device to overcome the issue: all characters would speak English in a theatrical foreign accent depicting the foreign language. French and German characters could understand each other when speaking, but the English characters could not understand the others without someone "translating" for them and vice versa. Because of this device, each particular main language for the show required a specific accent and speaking style to be devised. While the French-speaking characters mainly spoke with a French accent, the English-speaking characters mostly employed
Bertie Wooster Bertram Wilberforce Wooster is a fictional character in the comedic Jeeves stories created by British author P. G. Wodehouse. An amiable English gentleman and one of the "idle rich", Bertie appears alongside his valet, Jeeves, whose intelligenc ...
-esque "top-hole, old chap!"-style banter in an upper-class English accent, and German-speaking characters mainly spoke in a
guttural Guttural speech sounds are those with a primary place of articulation near the back of the oral cavity, especially where it's difficult to distinguish a sound's place of articulation and its phonation. In popular usage it is an imprecise term fo ...
manner. When Italian characters were added to the series, particularly Captain Alberto Bertorelli, in the fourth series, the cast members assigned to these role spoke in a nasal tone, making use of the letter "a" on the ends of certain words (e.g., "''What a mistake-a to make-a!''"). One of the most notable, and wittiest, aspects of the language device was in the speech of the police officer Crabtree, a character introduced in the second series. Because the character was an Englishman with a poor grasp of French, the actor,
Arthur Bostrom Arthur Bostrom FRGS (born 6 January 1955) is an English actor, best known for his role as Officer Crabtree in the long-running BBC TV sitcom Allo 'Allo!''. Biography Early life Bostrom was born in Rugby, Warwickshire and attended Lawrence ...
, spoke perfectly when the character spoke in English, but extensively deployed
malapropism A malapropism (also called a malaprop, acyrologia, or Dogberryism) is the mistaken use of an incorrect word in place of a word with a similar sound, resulting in a nonsensical, sometimes humorous utterance. An example is the statement attributed to ...
to represent when the character was speaking in French. Bostrom therefore altered not all but certain words in his sentences, substituting different vowels and/or consonants, changing them into different or nonsensical words, usually laden with
innuendo An innuendo is a hint, insinuation or intimation about a person or thing, especially of a denigrating or derogatory nature. It can also be a remark or question, typically disparaging (also called insinuation), that works obliquely by allusion ...
. An example is the line "''I was passing by the door, and I thought I would drop in."'', which Bostrom pronounced "''I was pissing by the door, and I thought I would drip in''". Another example is Crabtree's greeting of "good morning", pronounced "''good moaning''".


Cast


Characters


Episodes

After the pilot aired in December 1982, a full-length first series of seven episodes was commissioned and aired from September 1984 onwards. Series two, three and four followed annually, with six episodes each. Series five was commissioned with a view to syndicating the show in America. As a result, it aired as a single long series of twenty-six episodes between September 1988 and February 1989, with each episode running only twenty-five minutes to allow for commercials. The attempts to air the show in America failed (although screening rights to the series were later sold to
PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...
), and so series six had only eight episodes commissioned, which aired from September 1989 onwards. On 25 January 1990,
Gorden Kaye Gordon Irving Kaye(7 April 194123 January 2017), known professionally as Gorden Kaye, was an English actor, best known for playing womanising café owner René Artois in the television comedy series Allo 'Allo!''. Early life Kaye was born o ...
suffered serious head injuries in a car crash brought on by gale-force winds. This delayed the start of the seventh series, which consisted of ten episodes airing from January 1991 onwards. Series 8 (7 episodes) followed in January 1992, and the ninth and final series of six episodes aired later that year from November onwards. Two Christmas specials were also made. The first was a 45-minute episode, which followed Series 2 in 1985, and the second was also a 45-minute episode, screened at Christmas 1991, preceding Series 8. In 1994, two years after the series ended, the BBC broadcast ''The Best of 'Allo 'Allo!'', a compilation of clips from the series, linked by new scenes featuring
Gorden Kaye Gordon Irving Kaye(7 April 194123 January 2017), known professionally as Gorden Kaye, was an English actor, best known for playing womanising café owner René Artois in the television comedy series Allo 'Allo!''. Early life Kaye was born o ...
and
Carmen Silvera Carmen Blanche Silvera (2 June 1922 – 3 August 2002) was a British comic actress. Born in Canada of Spanish descent, she moved to Coventry, England, with her family when she was a child. She appeared on television regularly in the 1960s, and ...
, in which René and Edith reminisce about the events of the war. On 22 March 2007, a one-off special episode entitled ''
The Return of 'Allo 'Allo! ''The Return of 'Allo 'Allo!'' is a one-off special episode of the British sitcom Allo 'Allo!'', which was broadcast on BBC Two on 28 April 2007. The special is mix of both a traditional episode, as well as a behind-the-scenes documentary feat ...
'' was filmed in
Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...
, and was broadcast on 28 April 2007 at 9 pm on BBC 2. The storyline involves René writing his memoirs after the war, and the events from the final episode in 1992 have been overlooked. The new scenes were interspersed with clips from the original series and new interviews. The actors who reprised their roles were:
Gorden Kaye Gordon Irving Kaye(7 April 194123 January 2017), known professionally as Gorden Kaye, was an English actor, best known for playing womanising café owner René Artois in the television comedy series Allo 'Allo!''. Early life Kaye was born o ...
,
Vicki Michelle Vicki Michelle, (born 14 December 1950) is an English actress, radio presenter, businesswoman, film producer and former model. She is best known for her role as Yvette Carte-Blanche in the BBC television comedy series Allo 'Allo!'' and as ...
,
Sue Hodge Sue Hodge (born 4 June 1957 in Orsett, Essex) is an English actress, best known for her role as the waitress Mimi Labonq in the BBC sitcom Allo 'Allo!''. Trained as a dancer and theatre performer at Bird College, she has performed extensiv ...
, Kirsten Cooke,
Arthur Bostrom Arthur Bostrom FRGS (born 6 January 1955) is an English actor, best known for his role as Officer Crabtree in the long-running BBC TV sitcom Allo 'Allo!''. Biography Early life Bostrom was born in Rugby, Warwickshire and attended Lawrence ...
,
Guy Siner Guy Domville Siner (born 16 October 1947) is an American-born English actor best known for his role as Oberleutnant Hubert Gruber in the British television series Allo 'Allo!'' and Dr. Mittenhand in '' Leprechaun 4: In Space''. Early life ...
, Robin Parkinson, John D. Collins and
Nicholas Frankau Nicholas Frankau (born 16 July 1954) is an English actor best known for playing the role of Flt. Lt. Carstairs in the British sitcom Allo 'Allo!'' whose recurring theme involves failure to get back to Britain. Early life and career Frankau ...
. In addition,
Richard Gibson Richard Gibson (born 1 January 1954) is an English actor, best known for his role as the archetypal Gestapo Officer Herr Otto Flick in the BBC hit sitcom series, Allo 'Allo!''. Career Gibson was born in Kampala, Uganda, before the country ...
and
Sam Kelly Roger Michael Kelly (19 December 1943 – 14 June 2014), known by the stage name Sam Kelly, was an English actor who appeared in film, television, radio and theatre. He is best known for his roles as Captain Hans Geering in Allo 'Allo ...
are interviewed, although they are not reprising their respective roles. The only main characters who did not appear in the reunion at all (barring those cases where the actor or actress had died) were
Private Helga Geerhart This is a list of all main and recurring characters of BBC television's sitcom Allo 'Allo!'' that ran from 1982 until 1992 and 85 episodes. Overview René Artois René Francois Artois (Gorden Kaye) – The local café proprietor who, whi ...
(played by
Kim Hartman Kim Lesley Hartman (born 11 January 1952) is an English actress, best known for her role as Private Helga Geerhart in the BBC television sitcom Allo 'Allo!'' (1982–1992). She was educated at The King's High School for Girls, Warwick. an ...
) and
Herr Engelbert von Smallhausen This is a list of all main and recurring characters of BBC television's sitcom Allo 'Allo!'' that ran from 1982 until 1992 and 85 episodes. Overview René Artois René Francois Artois ( Gorden Kaye) – The local café proprietor who, whi ...
(played by
John Louis Mansi John Louis Mansi (born John Patrick Adams; 8 November 1926 – 6 August 2010) was a British television and film actor whose career spanned the years from the early 1950s to the early 1990s. Born in London to an Italian father and an Irish moth ...
).
Jeremy Lloyd John Jeremy Lloyd, OBE (22 July 1930 – 23 December 2014) was an English writer, screenwriter, author, poet and actor. He was the co-writer of several successful British sitcoms, including ''Are You Being Served?'' and Allo 'Allo!''. Ear ...
wrote the new material.


Cultural references

The show's premise was not to make fun of the war but to spoof war-based film and TV dramas, and in particular a BBC1 drama '' Secret Army'', which ran from 1977 to 1979 and dealt with the activities of a Belgian "escape line" that returned allied pilots to Britain, working from a
Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...
café and later restaurant. Many of the elements and characters are directly taken from ''Secret Army'', such as the café owner having an affair in the restaurant under the nose of his wife, a bed-ridden woman in a room above who knocks on the floor for attention, a pianist who is also the forger, and the enmity between the Gestapo and the German military. Many storylines for ''Allo 'Allo'' also derive directly from episodes of ''Secret Army'', such as the valuable paintings and the accompanying forgeries, which both the Germans and the Resistance are seeking to obtain in the ''Secret Army'' second series episode "Weekend". Some actors from ''Secret Army'' also appear in Allo 'Allo!'':
Richard Marner Richard Marner (born Alexander Pavlovich Molchanov, russian: Александр Павлович Молчанов, translit=Aleksandr Pavlovič Molčanov; 27 March 192118 March 2004) was a Russian-British actor. He was probably best known for h ...
,
Guy Siner Guy Domville Siner (born 16 October 1947) is an American-born English actor best known for his role as Oberleutnant Hubert Gruber in the British television series Allo 'Allo!'' and Dr. Mittenhand in '' Leprechaun 4: In Space''. Early life ...
, John D. Collins,
Hilary Minster Roger Michael Hilary Minster (21 March 1944 – 24 November 1999) was an English character actor. Life and career Born in Surrey, England, he is best known for playing General Erich Von Klinkerhoffen in the sitcom Allo 'Allo!'' between 1984 ...
, David Beckett and Louis Sheldon. Inspiration was also drawn from patriotic black-and-white British melodramas of the 1940s. The French village setting is reminiscent of 1972's ''
Clochemerle ''Clochemerle'', published in the United States as ''The Scandals of Clochemerle'', is a French satirical novel by Gabriel Chevallier (1895–1969) first published in 1934. It centres on personal rivalries and local politics in the fictional ...
'', whilst Rene's intermediary role between the Germans and the Resistance reflects a comic version of Rick from '' Casablanca'' (as well as directly matching the proprietor of the café in ''Secret Army'').


Music

Having a café-cabaret in the plot, music was often performed on the show. This usually took place with Madame Edith singing, and either Lt. Gruber or Leclerc at the piano, played (out of vision) by Roy Moore. Occasionally, characters could also be seen whistling or humming tunes at certain points.


Theme tune

David Croft and Roy Moore composed the theme tune performed at the start and end of each episode. It features a French-style melody performed on an accordion in the (waltz) time signature. The title is "'Allo 'Allo", and the first lyrics are:
Carmen Silvera Carmen Blanche Silvera (2 June 1922 – 3 August 2002) was a British comic actress. Born in Canada of Spanish descent, she moved to Coventry, England, with her family when she was a child. She appeared on television regularly in the 1960s, and ...
sang the full song and it was released on LP in the 1980s.


Other music

The café cabaret music usually took the form of 1930s film and show tunes – reminiscent of the way period songs were also used in '' Secret Army''. Most popular was "
Louise Louise or Luise may refer to: * Louise (given name) Arts Songs * "Louise" (Bonnie Tyler song), 2005 * "Louise" (The Human League song), 1984 * "Louise" (Jett Rebel song), 2013 * "Louise" (Maurice Chevalier song), 1929 *"Louise", by Clan of ...
" from the film '' Innocents of Paris'' (1929), which featured a number of times and was even sung in the "broken-French" language of Crabtree, who pronounced the title "Loo-woes". Gruber sang a number such as "
Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man "Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man" with music by Jerome Kern, and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, is one of the most famous songs from their classic 1927 musical play '' Show Boat'', adapted from Edna Ferber's 1926 novel. Context The song, written i ...
" from ''
Show Boat ''Show Boat'' is a musical with music by Jerome Kern and book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II. It is based on Edna Ferber's best-selling 1926 novel of the same name. The musical follows the lives of the performers, stagehands and dock worke ...
'' or "(I Got a Woman Crazy for Me) She's Funny That Way" by Neil Monet and Richard A. Whiting. He gazed at René in a slightly lustful manner, replacing lyrics such as "woman" and "she" with "boy" and "he". He caused a particular sensation with his straight version of Noël Coward's "
Mad About the Boy "Mad About the Boy" is a popular song with words and music by actor and playwright Noël Coward. It was introduced in the 1932 revue ''Words and Music (musical), Words and Music'' by Joyce Barbour, Steffi Duna, Norah Howard and Doris Hare. The ...
". Naturally the "
La Marseillaise "La Marseillaise" is the national anthem of France. The song was written in 1792 by Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle in Strasbourg after the declaration of war by France against Austria, and was originally titled "Chant de guerre pour l'Armée du R ...
" and the German
National Anthem A national anthem is a patriotic musical composition symbolizing and evoking eulogies of the history and traditions of a country or nation. The majority of national anthems are marches or hymns in style. American, Central Asian, and Europea ...
" Deutschlandlied" featured from time to time, for example where several French peasants sang La Marsellaise to celebrate the expected bombing of the Germans, but the singers flawlessly and without hesitation switch to Das Lied der Deutschen when the Germans come past. Helga also sometimes stripped to a rather raunchy version (arranged by Roy Moore) of the latter tune. Captain Bertorelli could be seen singing " 'O Sole Mio (It's Now or Never)"; and the British airmen in a prisoner of war camp could be seen singing " Hitler Has Only Got One Ball". In 1986, Gorden Kaye and Vicki Michelle released a version of the hit song " Je t'aime... moi non plus". The characters of Yvette and René could be heard talking and canoodling in a comic manner whilst the familiar musical "Je t'aime..."' melody played in the background. The song got to number fifty-seven in the
UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...
. In 1985, Gorden Kaye and Carmen Silvera appeared in the Royal Variety Performance in character as René and Edith, and sang "I Remember It Well" from '' Gigi''.


Stage show

The show gave rise to a successful touring stage-show featuring most of the TV cast. This ran from 1986 to 1992, and included three London stage runs as well as international tours. In January 1990 Gorden Kaye suffered serious head injuries in a car accident. As a result, his
understudy In theater, an understudy, referred to in opera as cover or covering, is a performer who learns the lines and blocking or choreography of a regular actor, actress, or other performer in a play. Should the regular actor or actress be unable to a ...
, John Larson, played the part in a
London Palladium The London Palladium () is a Grade II* West End theatre located on Argyll Street, London, in the famous area of Soho. The theatre holds 2,286 seats. Of the roster of stars who have played there, many have televised performances. Between 1955 a ...
production. Kaye had a dent in his forehead for the rest of his life from a piece of wood that smashed through the car window. He wanted to end the television show after his accident, but was persuaded by Jeremy Lloyd to continue. In Australia Gorden Kaye's part was played by Australian comedian/impressionist
Max Gillies Maxwell Irvine Gillies AM (born 16 November 1941) is an Australian actor and a founding member of the 1970s experimental theatre company, the Australian Performing Group. Early life and education Gillies studied art teaching at Frankston Tea ...
(later, Gorden Kaye repaid the favour when he took over Max Gillies' role in another play in Australia, when Max Gillies was unable to take part). The show was last performed for a summer season at Bournemouth's Pier Theatre in 1996. In 2007
Gorden Kaye Gordon Irving Kaye(7 April 194123 January 2017), known professionally as Gorden Kaye, was an English actor, best known for playing womanising café owner René Artois in the television comedy series Allo 'Allo!''. Early life Kaye was born o ...
,
Sue Hodge Sue Hodge (born 4 June 1957 in Orsett, Essex) is an English actress, best known for her role as the waitress Mimi Labonq in the BBC sitcom Allo 'Allo!''. Trained as a dancer and theatre performer at Bird College, she has performed extensiv ...
and
Guy Siner Guy Domville Siner (born 16 October 1947) is an American-born English actor best known for his role as Oberleutnant Hubert Gruber in the British television series Allo 'Allo!'' and Dr. Mittenhand in '' Leprechaun 4: In Space''. Early life ...
reprised their roles in a production of the stage show in
Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland, and the third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of approximately 2.6 million. Brisbane lies at the centre of the South ...
, Australia. They were joined by
Steven Tandy Steven Tandy (born 23 October 1952, Sydney, Australia) is an Australian stage, television and film actor. He is best known for playing Tom Sullivan, the second eldest son in the classic Australian television series ''The Sullivans''. Biography Af ...
as Colonel von Strohm and
Jason Gann Jason Gann is an Australian-born actor, comedian, writer and producer. He is best known for his role as the title character in the Australian comedy series '' Wilfred'', directed by Tony Rogers, and the U.S. reboot of the same name. Biography ...
as Herr Flick. A new touring show, based on the 1992 tour written by David Croft and Jeremy Lloyd, opened at the Gordon Craig Theatre in Stevenage, Hertfordshire on 29 August 2008 before going on a national tour in 2009.
Vicki Michelle Vicki Michelle, (born 14 December 1950) is an English actress, radio presenter, businesswoman, film producer and former model. She is best known for her role as Yvette Carte-Blanche in the BBC television comedy series Allo 'Allo!'' and as ...
reprised her role as Yvette Carte-Blanche. The cast also included
Jeffrey Holland Jeffrey Holland may refer to: *Jeffrey Holland (actor) (born 1946), English television actor *Jeffrey R. Holland (born 1940), American educator and leader in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints *Jeffrey Scott Holland (born 1966), Americ ...
playing Rene Artois and his wife
Judy Buxton Judith Catherine Buxton (born 7 October 1949) is an English actress best known for playing Nurse Katy Shaw in ''General Hospital'' (1972–1973), Susan Protheroe in ''By the Sword Divided'' (1983–1985) and Ruth Carpenter in '' On the Up'' (199 ...
playing Michelle Dubois. Other cast members included
Robin Sebastian Robin Sebastian is a British actor, best known for his portrayals of Kenneth Williams. A native of London, he has played Williams in recreations of ''Round the Horne'' and ''Hancock's Half Hour'' on stage, screen and radio. Personal life Raised i ...
as Gruber, James Rossman as Herr Flick, Nell Jerram as
Private Helga Geerhart This is a list of all main and recurring characters of BBC television's sitcom Allo 'Allo!'' that ran from 1982 until 1992 and 85 episodes. Overview René Artois René Francois Artois (Gorden Kaye) – The local café proprietor who, whi ...
and Claire Andreadis as
Mimi Labonq This is a list of all main and recurring characters of BBC television's sitcom Allo 'Allo!'' that ran from 1982 until 1992 and 85 episodes. Overview René Artois René Francois Artois (Gorden Kaye) – The local café proprietor who, whi ...
. The theatrical version is also frequently performed by
amateur theatre Amateur theatre, also known as amateur dramatics, is theatre performed by amateur actors and singers. Amateur theatre groups may stage plays, revues, musicals, light opera, pantomime or variety shows, and do so for the social activity as well as f ...
companies in the UK and elsewhere.


Locations

All filming was done in
Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...
, much of it at Lynford Hall. Between 1982 and 1987, and from 1989 to 1992, all interior scenes were filmed in front of a studio audience at the
BBC Television Centre Television Centre (TVC) is a building complex in White City, West London, that was the headquarters of BBC Television between 1960 and 2013. After a refurbishment, the complex reopened in 2017 with three studios in use for TV production, opera ...
studios in London. For the fifth series, recorded from December 1987 to August 1988, production moved to
BBC Elstree Centre The BBC Elstree Centre, sometimes referred to as the BBC Elstree Studios, is a television production facility, currently owned by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). The complex is located between Eldon Avenue and Clarendon Road in Bore ...
in Studio D. With hopes for a US syndication deal, the BBC planned to make 26 new episodes of the sitcom; hence, a bigger space was needed for the production. Even though the US syndication deal did not go ahead as planned, production remained at BBC Elstree Centre for the remainder of the fifth series. With more space available, the outside set of Café Rene became a semi-permanent structure in the former ATV Garage building.


DVD releases


Australian and New Zealand releases

In Australia, Roadshow Entertainment, under licence from the BBC began releasing the series on DVD in 2006, on a semi-annual basis. To date, all series have been released on DVD; only ''The Return of 'Allo 'Allo!'' TV special remains to be released.


UK releases

Universal Playback, under licence from the BBC, began releasing the series on DVD in 2002. In the UK six box sets with series 1–9 have been released, as well as a complete box set. The original UK releases have episode titles superimposed over the openings of the episodes (series 1–4). The 2013 re-release of the complete series box set omits the majority, but not all of these superimposed titles. The American releases have no on-screen episode titles, reflecting the way that the shows were originally transmitted.


North American releases

In January 2004, BBC Worldwide began releasing the show themselves onto DVD in North America, beginning with Series 1. The releases have continued on a somewhat irregular basis (approximately circa twice-yearly). * Note: ''The Best of 'Allo 'Allo!'' is included as an extra on the series nine DVDs.


See also

* ''
Are You Being Served? ''Are You Being Served?'' is a British sitcom created and written by executive producer David Croft (Croft also directed some episodes) and Jeremy Lloyd, with contributions from Michael Knowles and John Chapman, for the BBC. Set in London ...
'' * ''
Keeping Up Appearances ''Keeping Up Appearances'' is a British sitcom created and written by Roy Clarke. It originally aired on BBC1 from 1990 to 1995 with two specials airing in 1997 and 2008 on PBS. The central character is an eccentric and snobbish middle class s ...
'' * '' Hogan's Heroes''


References


External links

* * Comedy Guide * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Allo Allo 1982 British television series debuts 1992 British television series endings 1980s British sitcoms 1990s British sitcoms Adultery in television BBC television sitcoms David Croft sitcoms English-language television shows Television shows set in France French Resistance Parodies of television shows Television series set in the 1940s 1990s British LGBT-related television series Military comedy television series World War II television comedy series Vichy France in fiction Television series by BBC Studios British LGBT-related sitcoms Television shows shot at BBC Elstree Centre