Hi-de-Hi!
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| Hi-de-Hi! | |
|---|---|
 Opening credits of Hi-de-Hi! |
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| Genre | Sitcom |
| Created by | Jimmy Perry David Croft |
| Written by | Jimmy Perry David Croft |
| Starring | Paul Shane Simon Cadell Ruth Madoc Jeffrey Holland Su Pollard David Griffin Felix Bowness Nikki Kelly |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| No. of episodes | 58 (List of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) |
David Croft |
| Running time | 53x30 minutes 1x40 minutes 3x45 minutes 1x60 minutes |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | BBC1 |
| Original run | 1 January 1980 – 30 January 1988 |
| External links | |
| IMDb profile | |
Hi-de-Hi! is a British sitcom that aired on BBC1 from 1980 to 1988. Set in a holiday camp, it was written by Jimmy Perry and David Croft, who had previously written Dad's Army and It Ain't Half Hot Mum. The title was the phrase used to greet the campers at events, and in early episodes was written Hi de Hi.
The inspiration for the series was drawn from the real-life experiences of writers Perry and Croft. After being demobilised from the Army, Perry had spent his holidays as a Redcoat at Butlins. During its nine-year run, the series gained large audience figures and won a BAFTA as Best Comedy Series in 1984. In 2004, it came 40th in Britain's Best Sitcom and in a 2008 poll on Channel 4, "Hi-de-Hi!" was voted the 35th most popular comedy catchphrase.
Contents |
[edit] Cast
- Simon Cadell - Prof. Jeffrey Fairbrother (pilot to series 5)
- David Griffin - Sqdn-Ldr. The Honourable Clive Dempster DFC (from series 6)
- Paul Shane - Ted Bovis
- Ruth Madoc - Gladys Pugh
- Jeffrey Holland - Spike Dixon
- Su Pollard - Peggy Ollerenshaw
- Felix Bowness - Fred Quilly
- Diane Holland - Yvonne Stuart-Hargreaves
- Barry Howard - Barry Stuart-Hargreaves (pilot to series 7)
- Nikki Kelly - Sylvia Garnsey
- Chris Andrews - Gary
- David Webb - Stanley Matthews (credited as The Webb Twins)
- Tony Webb - Bruce Matthews (credited as The Webb Twins)
- Rikki Howard - Betty Whistler (pilot to series 5)
- Penny Irving - Mary (pilot and series 1)
- Leslie Dwyer - Mr Partridge (pilot to series 6)
- Gail Harrison - Val (series 2)
- Jean Lear - Ramona (from series 2; uncredited)
- Susan Beagley - Tracey Bentward (series 3 to 5)
- Linda Regan - April (from series 6)
- Laura Jackson - Dawn (from series 6)
- Julie-Christian Young - Babs (series 6 to 7)
- Ben Aris - Julian Dalrymple-Sykes (series 5, episode 7; from series 8)
- Kenneth Connor - Uncle Sammy Morris (from series 7)
- Ewan Hooper - Alec Foster (from series 8)
[edit] Plot
Hi-de-Hi! is set in Maplins, a holiday camp owned by entrepreneur, Joe Maplin, in the fictional seaside town of Crimpton-on-Sea, Essex, which is loosely based on Butlins, the real-life holiday camp empire of Billy Butlin, with his Redcoats replaced with Yellowcoats. In 1959, a Cambridge University archaeology professor, Jeffrey Fairbrother, tires of his life in academia and applies to become the entertainment manager of the holiday camp, a position that he duly achieves. This annoys the portly camp entertainer, Ted Bovis, who wants the job. In the pilot episode, Fairbrother discovers he is not really suited to his new job, but after an elderly couple, who have not had a happy life, approach him at the end to thank him for a lovely time, he decides to stay on. Joe Maplin himself is never seen.
Most episodes involve Ted Bovis and his dimwitted but kind-hearted sidekick Spike Dixon attempting to scam the well-meaning Fairbrother, who also has to avoid the romantic approaches of sharp-tongued senior Yellowcoat and sports organiser, Gladys Pugh, from the Rhondda Valley, as he is currently divorcing his wife. Fairbrother left Maplin's after the 1959 season and is replaced by Clive Dempster, to whom Gladys turns her attentions for the 1960 season (from series 6). They eventually marry.
Most of the characters in the show were out-of-work actors and entertainers awaiting the elusive "big break".
Other characters include: Peggy Ollerenshaw, the chalet maid and wannabe Yellowcoat; Barry and Yvonne Stuart-Hargreaves, a pair of snobbish dance instructors; jockey Fred Quilly; various leggy Yellowcoat girls; and alcoholic, child-hating Punch and Judy man, Mr Partridge, who was played by Leslie Dwyer. By the time the BBC began filming the sixth series, Dwyer's health was already deteriorating and Dwyer filmed most of his scenes over the space of three days. When it was decided his ill-health would mean Dwyer would not be able to fulfil his obligations to the show, the last episode was changed and the "Who Killed Mr Partridge?" story line was written. The two episodes involved in the storyline were among the most watched episodes. Dwyer died 18 months later.
[edit] Themes
Several underlying themes were apparent throughout the show's run. Working at the camp was a step up (or down) the ladder of success in showbusiness, with the younger staff (Spike Dixon, the Yellowcoats) keen and enthusiastic about what they saw as a lucky break at the start of their careers, while for older members of the staff (Barry and Yvonne, Mr Partridge) the camp was a step down from past glories. Caught in the middle were staff members close to middle age (Ted Bovis, Fred Quilley) who still dreamt of glory, reluctant to admit that this was the best they would do.
The changing nature of British society is reflected in the series. The erosion of class boundaries that occurred in the post-war years - and attitudes to these changes - is illustrated in the character mix. Jeffrey Fairbrother's determination to leave a promising career in academia for something "real" is met with horror by his family and incomprehension by the Dean of his college who visits the camp to pursuade him to return to Cambridge. The decidedly middle-class Barry and Yvonne Stuart Hargreaves look down on almost everyone at the camp, save for Fairbrother - although they are disappointed in his insistence that they take part in "vulgar" games as part of the entertainment, believing he should stand up for people of "his own class". Conversely, the societal changes are welcomed by other staff, particularly Ted and Spike, who believe that Peggy's attempts at becoming a Yellowcoat are thwarted by prejudice against her working-class background.
The series is set at a time of change in the fashion of the so-called traditional British holiday. Despite the feeling amongst many staff that their brand of fun and entertainment for the whole family is a tradition that will endure, the emerging popularity at the time (late 1950s-early 1960s) for self-catering and holidaying abroad mean the camp is unlikely to survive in its original format.
[edit] Episodes
After a pilot broadcast on 1 January 1980, the programme ran for nine series totalling 58 episodes between 26 February 1981 and 30 January 1988. Due to the programme's popularity, the BBC decided to air series 3 and 4 back-to-back, the first and only time the BBC has ever done this with one of their own shows, which means some sources refer to both series as Series 3.
[edit] The Stage Show
Hi-de-Hi was made into a musical, called Hi-de-Hi - The Holiday Musical, in the early years of the show. Labelled as a "summer pantomime" by its critics, the production featured most of the TV cast plus several new characters. It did not follow the television storylines, but it was a success nonetheless. It did a summer season in Bournemouth in 1983, a Christmas season in London in 1983 and a summer season in Blackpool in 1984. It was short lived, however, when some of the cast complained that filming the TV series and doing the summer show limited their offers of acting jobs elsewhere.
At the height of its popularity, the BBC had plans to make it into a feature film, but this did not come to fruition.
[edit] Theme music and merchandise
Hi-de-Hi! had a rock and roll style theme tune called "Holiday Rock". It became a chart hit in 1981, sung by Paul Shane, and featuring several members of the cast on backing vocals, it was performed on Top of the Pops. The title "Holiday Rock" may be a pun on a number of levels, rock and roll, a seaside holiday location or rock (traditionally sold at UK holiday venues).
Hi-de-Hi! was one of the first BBC shows to capitalise on the merchandise market, with products such as board games, albums, books, toys and t-shirts available to buy.
[edit] Filming
The location scenes of Hi-de-Hi! were filmed at a real holiday camp, "Warners" in the town of Dovercourt near Harwich in Essex. The pilot episode and first two series were filmed during early spring (1979–81) before the holiday camp was opened to the public for the summer. This is noticeable during outdoor scenes, because most of the trees on the camp site are bare. Since it was so cold during filming a lot of the outdoor scenes, the cast were continuously complaining about having to appear in summer clothing, and Jeffrey Holland was treated for hypothermia during the first series because his character spent most of the time in the swimming pool. As a result, the BBC moved filming to during the summer and during September, although some scenes at the camp were filmed elsewhere. After the series ended the camp closed and the site was demolished, to be replaced by a housing estate.
[edit] After Hi-de-Hi!
Several principal cast members were reunited in another period piece by the same writers called You Rang, M'Lord?, which piloted in 1988, and ran for four series to 1993, and again in Oh, Doctor Beeching! by David Croft and Richard Spendlove from 1995 to 1997.
[edit] DVD releases
The first two series, including the pilot, were released in a boxset by Universal Playback in 2003, followed by a boxset of series three and four in 2004. The fifth and sixth series was released in a box set on 23 October 2006. Universal Playback encountered problems when releasing the first four series on DVD because they did not hold the rights to the soundtrack. As a result, some of the episodes were edited. Series Seven was released on 5 May 2008. Series Eight and Nine are due for release in a double pack 29 December 2008.
[edit] References
- Mark Lewisohn, "Radio Times Guide to TV Comedy", BBC Worldwide Ltd, 2003
- British TV Comedy Guide for Hi-de-Hi!
[edit] External links
- BBC Comedy Guide for Hi-de-Hi!
- Hi-de-Hi! at British Comedy and Drama
- Hi-de-Hi! Title Sequence at TV-Ark
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