'Allo 'Allo 

In France during World War II, Rene Artois runs a small café where Resistance fighters, Gestapo men, German Army officers and escaped Allied POWs interact daily, ignorant of one another's true identity or presence, exasperating Rene.

Creators:

David Croft, Jeremy Lloyd

Stars:

Gorden Kaye, Carmen Silvera, Vicki Michelle

1 win & 5 nominations.

Cast

Series cast summary:
Gorden Kaye	...	René Artois 85 episodes, 1982-1992
Carmen Silvera	...	Edith Artois 85 episodes, 1982-1992
Vicki Michelle	...	Yvette Carte-Blanche 85 episodes, 1982-1992
Richard Marner	...	Colonel Kurt von Strohm 85 episodes, 1982-1992
Kim Hartman	...	Private Helga Geerhart / ... 85 episodes, 1982-1992
Guy Siner	...	Lieutenant Hubert Gruber 85 episodes, 1982-1992
Kirsten Cooke	...	Michelle Dubois 82 episodes, 1982-1992
Richard Gibson	...	Herr Otto Flick 79 episodes, 1982-1992
Rose Hill	...	Madame Fanny 78 episodes, 1982-1992
Arthur Bostrom	...	Officer Crabtree 74 episodes, 1985-1992
John D. Collins	...	Flying Officer Fairfax 64 episodes, 1982-1992
Nicholas Frankau	...	Flying Officer Carstairs 64 episodes, 1982-1992
John Louis Mansi	...	Herr Engelbert von Smallhausen / ... 63 episodes, 1985-1992
Sue Hodge	...	Mimi Labonq 62 episodes, 1987-1992
Kenneth Connor	...	Monsieur Alfonse 62 episodes, 1984-1992
Hilary Minster	...	General Erich von Klinkerhoffen / ... 59 episodes, 1984-1992
Jack Haig	...	Roger Leclerc 51 episodes, 1982-1989

Storyline

René Artois runs a small café in France during World War II. He always seems to have his hands full: He's having affairs with most of his waitresses, he's keeping his wife happy, he's trying to please the German soldiers who frequent his café, and he's running a major underground operation for the Resistance. Quite often, the Germans' incompetence itself is what nearly lands René and his cohorts in hot water; they are not helped either by the locals, who are dreadfully keen to get rid of the Germans, but their blatant and theatrical attempts at espionage and secrecy often create problems that René must solve quickly.

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Plot Keywords:

french resistance | german army | italian army | gestapo | farce | 

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Genres:

Comedy | History | War

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Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

30 December 1982 (UK)

Also Known As:

Allo 'Allo!

Filming Locations:

BBC Elstree Centre/ATV Studios, Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

30 min (44 episodes) 35 min (6 episodes) 25 min (32 episodes) 45 min (3 episodes)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Hilary Minster, who played General von Klinkerhoffen, also appeared (as Hauptmann Muller) in Secret Army (1977), from which 'Allo 'Allo (1982) was derived. Richard Marner (Colomel von Strohm), Guy Siner (Lt. Grüber) and John D. Collins (Flying Officer Fairfax) also played small roles in Secret Army (1977).

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Goofs

At the end of each episode there is a list of "Cast in order of appearance", but on several occasions, the order of the list does not reflect the actual order in which the actors appear in the episode. In season 5, there are even some episodes where actors are credited in the list without appearing in the episode.

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Quotes

[Edith has devised a plan to help get the airmen to the P.O.W. camp via the graveyard]
René: Edith, if this plan fails, there will not be a wall in Nuvion big enough to shoot us all against.

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Connections

Spoofed in The Kevin Bishop Show: Episode #1.6 (2008)

User Reviews

Childhood AND adult memories...

This show was a staple in Saturday night entertainment here in Norway from the mid 1980's and up into the late 1990's, and considering most of them were re-runs, I in the end felt almost persecuted by this show (would they EVER stop sending that show on Saturday??). It was funny but never THAT funny, or at least so I thought, because when I got into my twenties and the show vanished from Norwegian television - low and behold - I went and ordered the 3 first seasons of the internet! So I guess I was more addicted to it than I cared to admit at first :)

The basic idea of making fun of Nazis never seem to grow old, or in the case of this show: making fun of the Gestapo. The rest of the Germans come off as almost sympathetic and lovable at times, but I mean: how can anyone hate the closet-gay officer Lt. Gruber and his "little tank"? The show is really classic comedy, especially in the way that much of the laughs rely heavily on the fun of repeated catchphrases ("It is I, Leclerc!" - "Good moaning!" "Listen carefully, I shall say this only once" etc) and some truly crazy antics. It IS at times *very* funny and some of the goings-on in this German occupied French village really has to be seen to be believed!

One of my favorite characters is Officer Crabtree, a British undercover-agent posing as a French police-officer, which is quite impressive considering his French makes Inspector Closeau sound like a professor in linguistics. One of his lines that has followed me since I was about 14 was "The French pissants are hiding in the German shiteu" (you figure it out).

So there you have it, if you like the subject of WWII and British comedy "Allo Allo" should be your 'cap of toe' (as Officer Crabtree probably would call it).