Your Favourite David Croft Comedy
This week we are celebrating the comedies that writer David Croft, with writing partners Jeremy Lloyd and Jimmy Perry, gave to us. Comedy treasures such as Dad’s Army, Allo Allo and Hi-De-Hi; all now regarded as classics in their own right. Each series is so fondly remembered by the public, and regularly repeated, that perhaps unfairly we are asking you to pick your favourite one out of our selection. To you, as ever, we have this accompanying feature with a little more information on each of the candidates to refresh your memory with.
Dad’s Army: 1968 to 1977
The Home Guard based comedy series created by Jimmy Perry and David Croft together. The series revolved around the movement created during World War Two known as the home guard – made up of men who were not fitted enough/too old to be conscripted into the regular army but were instead deployed to a defensive force. The Home Guard were to protect the country/ward off any German invasion if it ever came – which of course, it did not. The series starred Arthur Lowe as the bumbling Captain Mainwaring, the chief of the local home guard. At the time actor Arthur Lowe was probably most familiar to audiences for his role of Leonard Swindley in Coronation Street and two spin-offs that followed his character; Pardon the Expression and Turn Out The Lights. Alongside Lowe in the series were John Le Mesurier, Arnold Ridley, John Laurie, Ian Lavender, Clive Dunn, James Beck, Frank Williams and Bill Pertwee.
Dad’s Army ran for nine seasons producing 80 episodes and also a spin-off film. The film was made in 1971 at the Shepperton Studios and performed well at the box office – a sequel was briefly considered. However, the film was not popular with the cast or crew because of changes made to it by the studio involved. Sadly because of the policy of wiping that existed at the BBC during the 1960s/1970s (the policy was not exclusive to the BBC, commercial broadcasters such as ATV also actively wiped tapes) the series is incomplete in the archives. However, despite this Dad’s Army is better off in terms of missing episodes than some programmes – many of which are completely lost. In 2004 a poll to find the UK’s best sitcom placed Dad’s Army at Number Four while the 100 Greatest British Television Programmes listed it at Number 13.
Are You Being Served? 1972 – 1985
Comedy set in Grace Brothers, a London Department store along the lines of Peter Jones or House of Fraser. The comedy itself was set in the Ladies and Gents department revolving around the two teams of staff who worked on the floor of each section – the rivalry and friendship between them. Are Your Being Served was somewhat of a surprise success for the BBC who aired the pilot episode after slots became free because of the Munich Massacre during the Summer Olympics. The pilot proved popular with audiences and so a full series was commissioned. Much of the comedy of Are You Being Served is based on light sexual innuendo such as Mrs Slocombe’s constant references to her cat, often simply called “her pussy”. The show also heavily relied on the use of popular catchphrases such as “I’m Free”.
The series starred Molly Sugden, Wendy Richards, Frank Thorton, John Inman and Nicholas Smith throughout its run while Trevor Banister, Harold Bennett, Arthur English and Arthur Brough also had regular roles in the comedy during its course. Ten seasons were produced making up 69 episodes in total. As with Dad’s Army before it the series was given the big-screen treatment in a 1977 film which has a similar premise to Carry on Abroad – spoofing package holidays. In the 1990s a spin-off series, Grace and Favour, ran for two seasons reuniting several of the cast. Are You Being Served? came 20th in Britain’s Best Sitcom poll.
Hi-De-Hi: 1980 – 1988
A comedy set in a 1950s holiday camp created by David Croft with Jimmy Perry. The series is set in a holiday camp, ala Butlins, which became very popular with British holidayers in the 1950s as taking a vacation became increasingly popular. Thousands would flock to the camps all across the country to enjoy entertainment and relaxation – in the 1970s though a shift towards package holidays abroad spelt the end of the holiday camp really. The main focus of the series were the workers and entertainers of the camp rather than the guests themselves – as ever, catch phrases were a key part of the make-up of the series as were personality traitss of the staff – snobbery, wheeling-and-dealing ect.
Hi-De-Hi starred Ruth Madoc, David Griffin, Simon Cadell, Paul Shane, Jeffrey Holland, Felix Bowness, Diane Holland, Barry Howard and Su Pollard. The series ran for eight seasons making up 58 episodes and many of the cast went on to star in another David Croft series; You Rang M’Lord?
Allo Allo: 1982 – 1992
Set in occupied France during the Second World War the comedy created by David Croft and Jeremy Lloyd was hugely popular with audiences. The basic format of the comedy was quite clearly a spoof of the BBC drama series Secret Army that ran between 1977 and 1979; a café owner helps shot-down RAF pilots to evade capture by the Germans and escape down a “line” to neutral countries. Allo Allo ruthless, and comically, set that format on its head with Rene reluctantly helping the resistance in trying to get two stupid RAF pilots to safety – with one mad cap scheme after another.
The series of didn’t rely on its spoofing Secret Army to provide the comedy though; this came from a wide array of catchphrases (You stupid woman ect), slapstick situations and sexual innuendo. Gordon Kaye played the lead character of Rene with Carmen Silvera playing his wife Edith – with delusions that she can sing and correct suspicions that Rene is cheating on her with the maids. Other cast members on Allo Allo included Kenneth Connor, Vicki Michelle, Kim Hartman, Guy Siner, Richard Marner, Kristin Cooke, Sue Hodge, Francesca Gonshaw, Rose Hill, Jack Craig, Richard Gibson and Sam Kelly. Allo Allo ran for 85 episodes – 26 of which are in season five as the BBC were hopeful of selling the series to America. In all nine seasons were produced with the final episode ending with the liberation of France – flashing forward several years to after the war. Stage shows of Allo Allo have also followed and in 2008 the BBC aired a special one-off reunion episode.
