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'Allo 'Allo!
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'Allo 'Allo! was a long-running British sitcom broadcast on BBC1 from 1982 to 1992 comprising eighty-five episodes. It was created by David Croft, who also wrote the theme music, and Jeremy Lloyd. Croft and Lloyd were also responsible for the popular sitcom Are You Being Served?. In 2004, it came 13th in Britain's Best Sitcom. A one-off special is to be broadcast in spring 2007. [1]
Contents
- 1 Plot
- 2 Characters
- 2.1 Languages
- 2.2 Character Quirks
- 3 Episodes
- 4 Music
- 4.1 The Theme Tune
- 4.2 Other Music
- 4.3 Je t'aime
- 5 Stage Show
- 6 DVD releases
- 6.1 Region 2 releases
- 6.2 Region 1 releases
- 7 References
- 8 External links
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Plot
Set during World War II, 'Allo 'Allo tells the story of René Artois, a French café owner in the village of Nouvion (the town square scenes were filmed at Lynford Hall, Norfolk). Germans have occupied the village and stolen all of its valuable artifacts. These include the first cuckoo clock ever made and a painting of The Fallen Madonna (known to those who have seen it as The Fallen Madonna with the Big Boobies by Van Clomp). The commandant of the town has decided to keep them for himself after the war and gets René to hide the painting in his café. Hitler also wants the painting for himself, and sends Herr Otto Flick of the Gestapo to the town to find it. Flick, in turn, conspires to keep it for himself.
At the same time the café is being used as a safe house for two brave but clueless downed British airmen. René is forced to work with the
Resistance, who would otherwise shoot him for serving Germans in his café. The far-fetched plans of the Resistance to get the airmen back to
England, which always fail, are one of the main
running gags of the series.
René is also trying to keep his affairs with his two waitresses secret from his wife. In addition, the Communist women-only Resistance members are plotting against René for serving Germans and working with the Gaullist Resistance. The only reason that they do not shoot René is that their leader is in love with him, a fact he has to hide from both his wife and his waitresses. Furthermore, the seemingly gay German Lieutenant Gruber is also continually flirting with René.
Rene's death at the hands of a German firing squad was faked in an early episode, and throughout most of the show's run, he has to pose as his own twin brother, and to convince his wife to marry him again in order to regain ownership of his cafe. In the meantime, René's wife is wooed by Monsieur Alfonse, the village undertaker, who is torn between his love for her and his admiration for René whom he considers to be a true hero of France.
These few plot devices provide the basic storyline throughout the entire series, on which are hung classic farce set-ups, physical comedy and visual gags, amusing accents, a large amount of sexual innuendo and a fast-paced running string of broad cultural clichés that are reminiscent of Monty Python. Each episode builds on the previous ones, often requiring one to have seen the previous episode in order to fully understand the plot. At the start of each subsequent episode, René would summarise the plot to date to the audience in a gag based on the "As you remember..." device commonly used in serials. In re-runs, local TV stations have shuffled the episodes, making the plot synopses useful.
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 about the resistance movement
Secret Army, which ran from 1977 to 1979, and dealt with the activities of resistance workers based at a café in
Brussels, though some inspiration was also drawn from patriotic black-and-white British melodramas of the
1940s. The French village setting is reminiscent of 1972's
Clochemerle
Characters
- René François Artois (Gorden Kaye) - The local café proprietor, whilst trying to remain impartial, René has been brought into the war on both sides. The Germans are threatening to shoot him if he does not secretly hide stolen valuable paintings; The Resistance are using his café as a safe-house for shot down British airmen; and on top of that, he is trying to keep his passionate love affairs with the café serving girls secret from his wife.
- Edith Melba Artois (Carmen Silvera) - René's wife, and the café's resident cabaret performer. However, her singing is so bad, the locals stick cheese in their ears to block out the terrible sound. Whilst René refers to her as stupid, she is also the subject of much romantic wooing by the local undertaker, Monsieur Alfonse and the Italian, Captain Alberto Bertorelli.
- Madame Fanny La Fan (Rose Hill) - Edith's mother. She lives in the attic of the café, which is also the place where the British airmen and the Resistance's radio are hidden. She is partial to a glass of gin, and occasionally fills in for her daughter as part of the café cabaret; though her singing is just as bad!
- Yvette Carte-Blanche (Vicki Michelle) - A waitress at the café. She is in love with René, and wants to elope with him, but is unable due to René having to stay loyal to his wife. She is also responsible for entertaining the German officers, upstairs at the café with the wet celery and the flying helmet!
- Maria Recamier (Francesca Gonshaw) (series 1 to 3) - Another waitress at the café. She too is in love with René. She has no idea that Rene also loves Yvette, and also believes that Rene should run away with her. When she speaks she has the tendency to spit when she gargles her "r"s. She gets "lost in the post" in the episode 'Camp Dance'.
- Mimi Labonq (Sue Hodge) (series 4 to 9) - The replacement waitress for Maria. She is also a secret agent for the Resistance who has a bloodthirsty hate of the Germans, with a secret mission to kill the “German swines.” She also has a bit of a fancy for René.
- Michelle "of the Resistance" Dubois (Kirsten Cooke) - Leader of the local French Resistance, she is responsible for coming up with elaborate plans to help the British airmen escape, and plots for blowing up German ammunition trains and lorries. She pretended to fall in love with René, but only to stop him leaving the Resistance!
- Monsieur Roger LeClerc (Jack Haig) (series 1 to 5) - The Resistance's forger, master of disguises and café piano player. He is responsible for delivering various goods of batteries, bombs and radio equipment to the café. This duty is undertaken by LeClerc in a variety of disguises ranging from being an onion seller to being a lost mountain hiker. He is also the childhood sweetheart of Madame Fanny.
- Monsieur Ernest LeClerc (Derek Royle, series 6; Robin Parkinson, series 7 to 9) - The character was introduced after the sudden death of Jack Haig (the actor who played Roger Leclerc). He had many of the same characteristics as his brother, and was also the childhood sweetheart of Madame Fanny.
- Monsieur Alfonse (Kenneth Connor) - The local undertaker. He is in love with Madame Edith; often wooing her with flowers and the prospect of living above the mortuary. He often aids the resistance.
- General Erich Von Klinkerhoffen (Hilary Minster) - A ruthless commander. He always threatens to have French peasants shot when the resistance attacks the German army. He is later involved in a plot to blow up Hitler.
- Colonel Erich Von Strohm (Richard Marner) - The town German commandant. He is kept occupied by hiding valuable local paintings and antiques, which he will sell after the war. He frequently visits the cafe, where the waitresses provide him with much entertainment.
- Lieutenant Hubert Gruber (Guy Siner) - A German officer on leave from the Russian front, with a crush on René. He is also responsible for forging certain pieces of art.
- Captain Hans Geering (Sam Kelly) (series 1 to 4, series 7) - Original assistant to Colonel Von Strohm, he is lenient for a German officer (e.g. he is not shocked to find out that his uniform is being made by a Jewish tailor), he also frequently visits the cafe, where the waitresses provide him with much entertainment. He is mistaken as a British Airman in 'Camp Dance' and sent to England.
- Captain Alberto Bertorelli (Gavin Richards, series 4 to 6; Roger Kitter, series 7) - An Italian who has come to the local town, as Mussolini has joined in the war. He has an eye for the ladies.
- Herr Otto Flick (Richard Gibson, series 1 to 8; David Janson, series 9) - The local Gestapo officer who tries to shows as little emotion as possible. He fancies Helga Geerhart, whom he will marry after the war. He is the godson of Heinrich Himmler.
- Private Helga Geerhart (Kim Hartman) - The Colonel's secretary, and lover of Herr Flick. She is well built, and often seen stripping off her clothes.
- Herr Engelbert Von Smallhausen (John Louis Mansi) (series 2 to 9) - Herr Flick's assistant. He often suggests stupid plans and ideas; only for them to be put down by Herr Flick.
- Officer (Captain) Crabtree (Arthur Bostrom) (series 2 to 9) - The town's policeman, who is really an undercover British spy. Unfortunately, he has a terrible grasp of French, which means that sometimes he is quite incomprehensible.
- RAF Flight Lt. Fairfax (John D. Collins) (series 1-7, series 9) - A British airman trying to get back to England, after been shot down above France.
- RAF Flight Lt. Carstairs (Nicholas Frankau) (series 1-7, series 9) - Another British airman, and sidekick of Fairfax.
- General Leopold Von Flockenstuffen (Ken Morley (series 5-7) - A German general, whose sexuality is along the same lines of Gruber.
- Denise Laroque (Moira Foot) (series 5) - Original leader of the Communist Resistance and childhood sweetheart of René.
- Louise (Carole Ashby) (series 5-9) - Later leader of the Communist resistance; she is also in love with René.
Languages
With four different languages (French, German, Italian and English) spoken by the characters, representing this to the audience could have been tricky. The programme uses the device of representing each language with English spoken in a theatrical foreign accent.
For example, an exchange between French-speaking characters, conducted in English with a French accent, is totally incomprehensible to the English airmen until Michelle switches to Bertie-Wooster-esque "top hole, old chap" style banter in an upper-class English accent. The English undercover officer Crabtree, in the permanent disguise of a French-speaking gendarme, speaks abominable French. His mangling of French vowels is represented by similarly distorted English, most famously his customary greeting catch phrase of "good moaning"; many of his distortions come out as innuendoes, such as "I was pissing by the door, and I thought I would drip in". The Germans, generally, speak English in a more guttural way than the French. Bertorelli, the Italian captain, speaks English in a nasal tone, generally adding an "-a" at the end of certain words; for instance in his catchphrase, "What a mistake-a to make-a!" Curiously, in spite of the difficulties in communicating with the English characters, the French, Germans, and Italians all appear to understand each other's languages perfectly (with the notable exception of Crabtree).
The last few series introduced a new gag, where Colonel Von Strohm and Lieutenant Gruber are put in situations where they have to speak in a strange manner. In one episode, the two try to learn Spanish, which is basically "German" with high-pitched voices and mangled consonants. In another, they are forced to wear "suicide teeth" – large bulky dentures containing poison - making them garble their speech to avoid releasing the poison.
Character Quirks
The characters are fairly One-dimensional most have a catchphrase, gimmick or saying which became easily recognisable throughout the series. These characteristics include:
- René - "You stupid woman!": Every time René's wife Edith catches him in the arms of another woman, he would use this phrase. Immediately following would be a convoluted explanation, which Edith always believed (except for one episode, in a later series, in which Edith asks Yvette, the waitress, to explain the situation by herself), resulting in an apology from her;
"Shut up, you silly old bat!": the barked rebuke usually aimed at Edith's mother; and
"'Allo 'Allo": the show's title is inspired from the way René says hello when he is on the radio/telephone ("allô" is the normal French way of greeting someone over a remote communication system).
- Edith - Known for her tuneless singing. She will invariably ask each episode "René, what are you doing with your arms around that servant woman?", and René would give his response, as mentioned above.
- Fanny - "Will nobody hear the cries of a poor old woman?": In order to call someone to her bedside, Fanny would wail this question while banging her walking stick on the floor. As time went on, the last word became more and more drawn out; and
"Ze flashing knobs!": the secret communication device between London and the resistance (codename "Night Hawk") was hidden under her bed, and incoming messages were signalled by triggering the light bulbs concealed in her bedknobs.
- Yvette -After the introduction of Crabtree into the show, Yvette would frequently announce him as "That British Officer who thinks he can speak French..." - In her intimate moments with René, she throws her arms around him and rumbles an elongated, deep growl of "Ooooooh, René."
- Maria - Known for her tendency to spit with some force when speaking.
- Michelle - "Listen very carefully, I shall say this only once": her invariable instruction prior to issuing vital information (note that she indeed happens to repeat herself after saying this formulaic sentence); and
"You fool!": said whenever her plans are thwarted by someone else's stupidity.
- Leclerc - "It is I, Leclerc": accompanied by a raising of his glasses, presumably to reveal his identity; he seemed to think he was good at disguise even though he was always instantly recognisable no matter what he wore. Frequently unless otherwise engaged, Leclerc would pop up out of bed whenever Fanny said, "Ze flashing knobs!" only to be pushed back down. This running joke was in itself spoofed in the show as a wide variety of people eventually pop up out of the bed, including Rene, the original two waitresses, and Officer Crabtree.
- Alfonse - "My dicky ticker": that is, a heart condition; and
"Alfonse, undertaker, swiftly and with style.": his marketing phrase.
- Gruber - Has the effeminate manner of a stereotypical homosexual, and a "little tank", driven by the unseen Clarence. Despite his overtly camp behaviour, however, it is revealed in the very last episode of the series that he eventually married Helga and they had numerous children.
- Colonel von Stromm - "Or/Otherwise I will have you shot!": his usual threat to get René to do whatever he wants.
- Hans Geering - "'tler!": his abbreviated salute to the Führer. Geering is reportedly too lazy to use the full salute. Rumours that actor Sam Kelly, a Jew, refused point blank to give the regular salute, are apparently false.[2] Indeed, in the second series episode Herr Flick's Revenge, the Hans Geering character gave the full "Heil Hitler" salute. Kelly also went on to play Hitler himself in Stalag Luft in 1993.
- Bertorelli - Known as a womaniser;
"Heil-a Mussolini": Bertorelli's reply to "Heil Hitler";
"What a mistake-a to make-a!": Bertorelli's utterance whenever he has said or done the wrong thing
"Da Beautiful Liedee I kissa de hand": said when trying to charm women.
- Helga - Helga was known for a tendency to take off her clothes for usually tenuous reasons, showcasing a vast range of erotic lingerie. This could be seen as a parody of Jane, a British comic strip character popular during World War II who was always losing her clothes, and constantly being captured or found in lingerie. Helga's attempts to seduce Herr Flick usually have no effect on him. Typically these attempts include a particularly vigorous kiss.
When announcing visitors to the Colonel's office, Helga always yells their names at the top of her voice, for example, "GENERAL VON KLINKERHOFFEN!".
- Herr Flick - Herr Flick was known for his considerably exaggerated limp, and his frequent use of the word 'Gestapo' as an adjective: "My powerful Gestapo telescope", "My Gestapo staff car", etc.;
"You may kiss me now": was always used when Flick wanted Helga to kiss him.; and
Herr Flick often hit von Smallhausen on his head with some kind of a pole, often saying "Wrong!"
- Officer Crabtree - Crabtree was a British spy posing as a French police officer. He spoke incredibly bad French, most famously noticeable in his usual greeting: "Good moaning!". Despite his almost incomprehensible speech, the Germans never seem to suspect him. To quote a notable example: "I was pissing by the door when I heard two shats. You are holding in your hind a smoking goon. You are clearly the guilty potty!" Another, during an air raid, is: "They have had a direct hot on the pimps!" "The pimps?" "The pimps! The pimps in the pimping station! No water is being pimped through the poops!" In the final episode, showing a map to Rene and Edith of where the British troops are in relation to Nouvion is:"I have a mop. Would you like to take a leak?"
- The two British Airmen - After sticking their heads out from where they are hiding, they say "Helloo!" with an exaggerated British accent.
"I say Fairfax/Carstairs...": said at the start of a conversation when talking to one another.
- Mimi - Psychotic former Paris gang leader, known for attempting to assassinate Germans, often fails to attract Rene's "attention". She was introduced in Series 4, after Maria had been "lost in the post".
Episodes
-
After the Pilot aired in December 1982, a full-length series of six episodes was subsequently commissioned and aired from September 1984 onwards. Series two, three and four followed annually; each comprising of six episodes.
Series five was commissioned with a view to syndicating the show in America[3]. As a result, twenty-six episodes aired between September 1988 and February 1989. The attempts to air the show in America failed, and so series six had only eight episodes commissioned, which aired from September 1989 onwards.
In January 1990, Gorden Kaye suffered serious head injuries in a car crash[4]. 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 final series of six episodes aired later that year from September 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.
On 22 March 2007, a one-off special episode of 'Allo 'Allo! was filmed in Manchester, and is scheduled to air on 28 April 2007. 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 are interspersed with clips from the original series. The actors who reprised their roles were: Gorden Kaye, Vicki Michelle, Sue Hodge, Kirsten Cooke, Arthur Bostrom, Guy Siner, Robin Parkinson, John D. Collins and Nicholas Frankau. Jeremy Lloyd is among the script-writing team. [5] [6]
Music
Due to the nature of having a café cabaret in the plot, music was often performed on the show. This would usually take place with Madame Edith singing, and either Lt. Gruber or LeClerc at the piano. Occasionally, Gruber would sing and play the piano at the same time. Characters could also be seen whistling or humming tunes at certain points in the plot.
The Theme Tune
David Croft and Roy Moore composed the show's theme tune. It is performed at the start and end of each episode, and features a French-style melody performed on an accordion.
The theme tune also featured in some of the early episodes of the show, as part of the cabaret. The following lyrics were performed to the final few bars of the music:
We loved, we parted as fate had arranged;
Now there you stand and nothing has changed.
And so it goes, the same refrain, the final encore,
You are my love, my only love,
Once more!
Other Music
The café cabaret music would usually take the form of 1930s film and show tunes. Most popular was "Louise", from the film Innocents in Paris; which featured a number of times, and was even sung in the "broken-French" language of the character Crabtree.
Gruber would sing a number such as "Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man" from Show Boat or "(I Got a Woman Crazy For Me) She's Funny That Way" by Neil Monet & Richard A. Whiting. He would gaze at René in a slightly lustful manner; replacing lyrics such as "woman" and "she" with "boy" and "he".
Naturally, the "La Marseillaise" and the German National Anthem "Deutschland, Deutschland" would feature from time to time. Helga would also sometimes strip to a rather raunchy version 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"
Je t'aime
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 embracing each other, whilst the familiar musical Je t'aime melody played in the background. The song got to number fifty-seven in the UK Singles Chart[7].
See the Café René Music webpage for more information on the music used in 'Allo 'Allo!
Stage Show
As well as the long running TV series, the show gave rise to a successful touring stage-show featuring most of the TV cast. The stage show ran from 1986 to 1992, including three London stage runs as well as international tours.
In January 1990, Gorden Kaye suffered serious head injuries in a car accident so in a London Palladium production his understudy, John Larson, played the part. Kaye still has a dent in his forehead from a piece of wood that smashed through the car window. It is believed that Gorden initially wanted to end the television show after his accident, but was convinced by Jeremy Lloyd to continue in his role as René. In Australia, Gorden Kaye's part was played by Australian comedian/impressionist Max Gillies (later, Gorden Kaye repaid the favour when he took over Max Gillies' role in another play in Australia, when Max Gillies was not able to take part).
DVD releases
Region 2 releases
In 2002 Universal Playback, under licence from the BBC, began releasing the series on DVD. In the UK there are currently four box-sets released - Series 1 & 2; Series 3 & 4; Series 5 Volume 1; and Series 5 Volume 2, which was released on Boxing Day 2006.
The UK releases have episode titles superimposed over the openings of the episodes. The American releases, on the other hand, have no on-screen episode titles, which is the way the shows were originally transmitted.
Region 1 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 twice-yearly). Series 6 was released in January 2007.
References
