''Hallelujah!'' is a British television

sitcom A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ne ...

produced by

Yorkshire Television ITV Yorkshire, previously known as Yorkshire Television and commonly referred to as just YTV, is the British television service provided by ITV Broadcasting Limited for the Yorkshire franchise area on the ITV (TV network), ITV network. Until 19 ...

that aired on

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...

from 29 April 1983 to 21 December 1984. The series was set in a

Salvation Army Salvation (from Latin: ''salvatio'', from ''salva'', 'safe, saved') is the state of being saved or protected from harm or a dire situation. In religion and theology, ''salvation'' generally refers to the deliverance of the soul from sin and its c ...

citadel A citadel is the core fortified area of a town or city. It may be a castle, fortress, or fortified center. The term is a diminutive of "city", meaning "little city", because it is a smaller part of the city of which it is the defensive core. In ...

in the fictional

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

town of Brigthorpe during series 1 (and later in the fictional place of Blackwick in series 2). Captain Emily Ridley (

Thora Hird Dame Thora Hird (28 May 1911 – 15 March 2003) was an English actress and comedian, presenter and writer. In a career spanning over 70 years, she appeared in more than 100 film and television roles, becoming a household name and a Briti ...

) has been posted there, having been an active member of the Salvation Army for 42 years. Despite the town and residents being seemingly pleasant, Emily is determined to flush out sin from behind the net curtains. Assisting Emily is her niece Alice Meredith (

Patsy Rowlands Patricia Amy Rowlands (19 January 1931 – 22 January 2005) was an English actress who is best remembered for her roles in the ''Carry On'' films series, as Betty Lewis in the ITV Thames sitcom '' Bless This House'', and as Alice Meredit ...

). The programme was a repeat collaboration between Hird and the creator

Dick Sharples Dick Sharples (7 June 1927 – 19 October 2015) was a British TV scriptwriter of British sitcoms. He has also written novels, plays and drama series (for both television and radio). Life and career Dick Sharples was born in Manchester. He beg ...

, who had worked together on the comedy series '' In Loving Memory'' between 1979 and 1986. The series also featured guest appearances from the likes of Hird's ''

Last of the Summer Wine ''Last of the Summer Wine'' is a British sitcom created and written by Roy Clarke and originally broadcast by the BBC from 1973 to 2010. It premiered as an episode of ''Comedy Playhouse'' on 4 January 1973, and the first series of episodes foll ...

'' co-star

Michael Aldridge Michael William ffolliott Aldridge (9 September 1920 – 10 January 1994) was an English actor. He was known for playing Seymour Utterthwaite in the television series ''Last of the Summer Wine'' from 1986 to 1990 and he had a long career as a ...

and television presenter

Richard Whiteley John Richard Whiteley (28 December 1943 – 26 June 2005) was an English presenter, and journalist, best known for his twenty-three years as host of the game show ''Countdown''. ''Countdown'' was the launch programme for Channel 4 at 4:4 ...

Plot

The show was set in the

based on the fictional Yorkshire town of Brigthorpe during Series 1, and in the equally fictional Yorkshire place of Blackwick during Series 2. Dame Thora Hird starred as Captain Emily Ridley, with

as her niece Alice Meredith and

Rosamund Greenwood Rosamund Mary Greenwood (12 June 1907 – 15 July 1997) was a British actress who was active on screen from 1935 until 1990. Biography After training at London's Central School, she was on stage from the late 1920s. Her theatre work included sta ...

as Sister Dorothy Smith (who left after the first series and was later replaced by David Daker as Brother Benjamin in the second series). A notable characteristic of the show was that every episode ended with the audience clapping once during the closing sequence throughout its year-long run.

Cast

- Captain Emily Ridley *

Walter Gotell Walter Jack Gotell (15 March 1924 – 5 May 1997) was a German actor, known for his role as General Gogol, head of the KGB, in the Roger Moore-era of the James Bond film series,Tom VallancObituary: Walter Gotell ''The Independent'', 20 June 19 ...

- Lt. Colonel Henderson *

- Alice Meredith *

- Sister Dorothy Smith (series 1) *

David Daker Colin David Daker (born 29 September 1935) is an English actor. He is best known for his role as Harry Crawford in the hit series ''Boon''. He also played Tommy Mackay in ''Only Fools and Horses'' and Jarvis in '' Porridge''. He has made two ap ...

- Brother Benjamin (series 2) *

Geoffrey Bayldon Albert Geoffrey Bayldon (7 January 1924 – 10 May 2017) was an English actor. After playing roles in many stage productions, including the works of William Shakespeare, he became known for portraying the title role of the children's series ''C ...

- Mr Sedgewick *

- Brig Langton (series 1) *

Garfield Morgan Thomas Timothy Garfield Morgan (19 April 1931 – 5 December 2009) was an English actor who appeared mostly on television and occasionally in films. Biography Born in Birmingham, Warwickshire, Morgan began acting with a youth club drama group ...

- Brig Langton (series 2)

Episodes

Series 1 (1983)

*Retirement (29 Apr 83) *Repentance (6 May 83) *Counselling (13 May 83) *Poor Box (20 May 83) *Luncheon Club (27 May 83) *Mobile Canteen (3 Jun 83) *Struck Down (10 Jun 83)

Series 2 (1984)

*Marching Orders (2 Nov 84) *Just A Song At Twilight (9 Nov 84) *Holy Deadlock (16 Nov 84) *The Snake Pit : Part 1 (23 Nov 84) *The Snake Pit : Part 2 (30 Nov 84) *Rock Bottom (7 Dec 84) *It Happened One Night (14 Dec 84) *A Goose For Mrs. Scratchitt (Christmas Special) (21 Dec 84) Only 15 episodes over two series were made though some sources claim that there were three series made. This is incorrect; there were only two series and one Christmas special shown between 1983 and 1984. In 1985, it was reported that a continuation/sequel of the series was to be produced for

BBC 2 BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream an ...

. This follow-on series ultimately never appeared; instead, Hird later that year signed up to play Edie Pegden, a character with a number of parallels to her ''Hallelujah!'' character Captain Emily Ridley, in ''

'', a role that was written especially for her by

Roy Clarke Royston Clarke Order of the British Empire, OBE (born 28 January 1930), usually known as Roy Clarke, is an English comedy writer best known for creating the sitcoms ''Last of the Summer Wine'', ''Keeping Up Appearances'', ''Open All Hours'' a ...

when she became available.

Location filming

The series was filmed mostly in and around both Yorkshire Television Studios and the Leeds area. Most notable filming location was

Leeds General Infirmary Leeds General Infirmary, also known as the LGI, is a large teaching hospital based in the centre of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, and is part of the Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust. Its previous name The General Infirmary at Leeds is still ...

, especially appearances by old run-down buildings old and new around the Leeds-area at the time. The opening sequence was filmed outside the Garden Gate pub in Hunslet.

DVD release

DD Home Entertainment (now known as 'Simply Home Entertainment') released series 1 and 2 in 2008. They claimed that series two was complete at first, However, as the Christmas special was not included, they later dropped this claim (the artwork on the cover stayed the same however) Both series of ''Hallelujah!'' and the Christmas Special are now available from Network DVD. Hallelujah! has been released in Australia by Acorn Media Australia. It is a boxset with both series plus the Christmas special. It has been released as an all region DVD (PAL).

Notes

1. Lewisohn, Mark. Radio Times Guide to British Comedy p. 292.

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hallelujah! (Tv Series) 1983 British television series debuts 1984 British television series endings ITV sitcoms 1980s British sitcoms Television series by Yorkshire Television Television shows set in Yorkshire English-language television shows