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    Nostalgia Central
    Home»Television»Comedy
    Comedy TV Shows - 1980s TV Shows - 1990s 4 Mins Read

    ‘Allo ‘Allo

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    1 9 8 4 – 1 9 9 2 (UK)
    55 x 30 minute episodes
    26 x 25 minute episodes
    3 x 45 minute episodes
    1 x 35 minute episode

    “Listen very carefully, I shall say zees only once”

    “Good Moaning” – The time is 1940, the place a cafe in the small town of Nouvion in occupied Northern France.

    While the manager, René Artois, waits on German officers and his wife Madame Edith entertains the customers with a selection of songs.

    Unfortunately, her voice is so bad that the customers plug their ears with cheese.

    Meanwhile, there is a girl from the Resistance waiting outside, two British airmen hiding in a cupboard in grandmother’s bedroom and a transmitter hidden under the bed.

    René consoles himself with regular dalliances with the shapely waitresses, Yvette and Maria (later replaced by Mimi).

    Unfortunately, there’s a small matter of a war to contend with, and the Resistance wants him to help repatriate the escaped British airmen, while René wants to avoid being shot by the local Nazi’s, headed by Colonel Von Strohm, the clumsy Captain Geering and the gay Lieutenant Gruber.

    Cruel local Gestapo chief Herr Flick has a passion for ice queen Helga, who wears a corset and suspenders under her SS uniform.

    Early on in the series, to escape the wrath of the SS, René fakes his own death and continues through the remainder of the episodes as his own fictitious twin brother. This deception prompts aged lothario Monsieur Alfonse into pursuing René’s “widow” with a view to marriage.

    This prospect had its attractions because it would allow René to plight his troth to Yvette, but the drawbacks – losing the cafe and his savings – prove overwhelming and so he thwarts the courtship.

    alloallo27Running gags included ; The priceless stolen painting – “The Fallen Madonna with the Big Boobies” by Van Clomp; The earnest repetition of instructions by the raincoat and beret-sporting resistance mega-babe, Michelle; The outrageous French accent of Secret Serviceman Crabtree (which he seriously believes makes him inconspicuous in the small French town); The elaborate and ridiculous escape plots of gormless British airman, Fairfax and Carstairs; and the eternal stupidity of the Germans who fail to smell a rat, and the implausibility of fat, balding René as an object of ceaseless desire.

    ‘Allo ‘Allo was truly a complete pantomime full of double-entendres in fine Carry On style. Rich in innuendo and slapstick, this long-running sitcom by Jeremy Lloyd and David Croft began as a spoof version of the BBC drama series, Secret Army, which was broadcast from 1977 to 1979.

    The show was often criticised for its bad taste although it always claimed to be poking fun at over-the-top wartime dramas and not at the cruelty of war itself.

    alloallo6When the series ended after nine years, the war was over and Nouvion had been liberated.

    Viewers were treated to a ”flash-forward” to the present day and introduced to René’s son (again played by Gorden Kaye) who explained what had happened to the locals in the post-war years to a visiting Gruber, who had, surprisingly, married Helga.

    A massively successful West End stage version with original cast members was also produced from 1986, which went on to tour internationally.

    In January 1990, Kaye’s enormous popularity was demonstrated by public response following a horrific car accident that left the star with serious head injuries.

    The accident occurred just days after newspaper allegations of Kaye’s homosexuality, but fears for his reputation proved groundless with thousands of cards and messages being sent to his hospital by well-wishers.

    Kaye made a remarkably quick recovery, and 24 weeks after the accident he was back on stage and back in the role on TV too.

    The odd spelling of Gorden Kaye’s first name owed to an Equity typing error, but the actor himself always joked that it was the sign of a “misspelt youth”.

    René Artois 
    Gorden Kaye 
    Edith Artois 

    Carmen Silvera 
    Yvette 

    Vicki Michelle 
    Maria 

    Francesca Gonshaw 
    Michelle 

    Kirsten Cooke 
    Herr Otto Flick 

    Richard Gibson (1)
    David Janson (2) 
    Helga 

    Kim Hartmann 
    Lieutenant Gruber 

    Guy Siner 
    Colonel Von Strohm 

    Richard Marner 
    Captain Hans Geering

    Sam Kelly 
    General Von Kilnkerhoffen
    Hilary Minster 
    Crabtree 

    Arthur Bostrom 
    Flying Officer Fairfax 

    John D Collins 
    Flying Officer Carstairs 

    Nicholas Frankau 
    Madame Fanny 

    Rose Hill 
    Von Smallhausen
    John Louis Mansi 
    Leclerc 

    Jack Haig (1)
    Derek Royle (2)
    Robin Parkinson (3)
    Alfonse
    Kenneth Connor
    Bertorelli
    Gavin Richards (1)
    Roger Kitter (2)
    Mimi le Bonque
    Sue Hodge

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