Hi-de-Hi!

Hi-de-Hi!
Opening credits of Hi-de-Hi!
GenreSitcom
Created by
Written by
  • Jimmy Perry
  • David Croft
Starring
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
No. of series8
No. of episodes58 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producerDavid Croft
Running time53 x 30 minutes
1 x 40 minutes
3 x 45 minutes
1 x 60 minutes
Production companyBBC
Original release
NetworkBBC1
Release1 January 1980 (1980-01-01) –
30 January 1988 (1988-01-30)[1]

Hi-de-Hi! is British sitcom series, created by Jimmy Perry and David Croft, and produced for the BBC. The programme initially aired with a pilot on 1 January 1980, before being greenlighted for a full series, with around eight series aired from 26 February 1981 to 30 January 1988,[2] and starring Paul Shane, Su Pollard, Jeffrey Holland, Ruth Madoc and Simon Cadell.

The series, inspired by Perry's time serving as a Redcoat at Butlins in Filey and Pwllheli,[3] takes place towards the end of the traditional British holiday period of the 1950s, within a holiday camp in Essex run by the fictional company Maplins - based upon the real-life holiday camp groups that operated during that period. The episodes themselves focus on the lives of the camp's entertainers and staff, most of whom are struggling actors and has-been entertainers,[3] who frequently greet campers with the titular phrase "Hi-de-Hi!"

The programme proved popular from its launch, gaining large audiences during its broadcast; its popularity helped it to win a BAFTA as Best Comedy Series in 1984. In a 2008 poll on Channel 4, Hi-de-Hi! was voted the 35th most popular comedy catchphrase. By 2015, the series began receiving repeats, initially with the BBC alongside other sitcom classics by Croft and Perry, and subsequently moved onto being repeated on Gold

Synopsis

Hi-de-Hi! is set within a holiday camp situated in the fictional seaside town of Crimpton-on-Sea, Essex, with all nine series taking place between the Summer holiday season period of 1959 and 1960. Like the real-life holiday camps of the post-war period that were run by Butlin's, Pontins, and Warners, the camp is owned by the fictional holiday camp group known as Maplins - named after its owner Joe Maplin - and provides entertainment to its guests through its Yellowcoats - a take on the real-life Redcoats, Bluecoats, and Greencoats - who lead a mixture of competitions and games throughout the week of the campers' stay.

The Yellowcoats are led by the camp host, Ted Bovis, and consist of three different groups of entertainers: the young, who are keen, enthusiastic, and see the job as a lucky break towards a greater career in show business; the middle-aged, who formerly worked as entertainers, but still believe that they can achieve fame and fortune, and thus are reluctant to accept that working at the holiday camp is the best they can do; and the veterans, the oldest members of staff, who see working at the camp as a step down from past glories they once had, such as being high stars in musical hall acts. Many of the stories focus on the relationships between the characters, their attitudes towards the life they lead, and the constant issues that arise from the vices of some of the Maplins staff, such as Ted's rackets on the camp's guests and his desire to find a lucky break to move on with.

The sitcom featured two significant themes that were reflected in the episodes. The first, which was prominent throughout the show's broadcast, was the erosion of class boundaries in the post-war years and the attitudes towards these changes. Many stories emphasised the notable attitudes of the middle class staff members and their dislike of the behaviour of the working class employees, something that these member resent on the belief that such prejudice is unjust - a recurring element in the stories is the treatment of chalet maid Peggy Ollerenshaw by the Yellowcoat Sports Organiser Gladys Pugh, particularly towards Peggy's dreams of being a Yellowcoat at some point in her life. The second theme was the decline in the traditional British Summer holiday towards the end of the post-war years, where the holiday camps of the period began to shift and change as holidaymakers in the country began to move out of a period of austerity and hardship to partake in holidays abroad.

Cast

  • Paul Shane as Ted Bovis - The Maplin Camp's Host, specifically tasked with greeting campers and keeping them entertained with jokes and singing. The writers devised the character as a comedian struggling to make a big break, and often serving as entertainer, while secretly running scams and rackets to make money on the side. After the show concluded in 1988, Shane would be one of several cast members to work on later sitcoms by Croft.
  • Ruth Madoc as Gladys Pugh - The Maplin Camp's radio announcer, also assigned to organising sporting competitions and leading the camp's Yellowcoats. The writers devised Madoc's character as snobbish to the working class workers, particularly Ted and Peggy, while having romantic desires for the camp's entertainment managers, often without receiving the same affections in return.
  • Jeffrey Holland as Spike Dixon - The camps new entertainment member, who joins Maplins for the 1959 season. Detailed by the writers as honest and caring, as well as Ted's conscience during times when he proves hard on others or is scheming about a racket that could cause trouble. Holland would join with Shane on working on further sitcoms made by Croft following Hi-de-Hi!
  • Su Pollard as Peggy Ollerenshaw - A chalet maid at Maplins, who dreams of becoming a Yellowcoat and in turn entering show business. A recurring theme with the character that the writers devised is her constant efforts to get noticed, and significant dislike of her input and attempts due to her working class background. Pollard's performance on Hi-de-Hi! had a profound impact, leading to her being included on the opening credits after Cadell's departure; and like Shane, she would continue to work on further sitcoms by Croft after the programme concluded.
  • Simon Cadell as Professor Jeffrey Fairbrother (Series 1–4) - A former professor at Cambridge University, who moves to Maplins to work as its new entertainment manager. The character was devised to be somewhat weak in speeches and performance, desire to inject culture with little success, and keeping on top of things with the staff. Cadell served on the sitcom until the conclusion of the fourth series, before leaving to focus on other projects.
  • Felix Bowness as Fred Quilley - The camp's riding instructor for horse rides, who originally served as a jockey before being forced out due to fears for his life with the underworld criminals he unintentionally angered. Bowness would join in with Croft's later sitcoms following Hi-de-Hi, but would have less prominence as a recurring guest star.
  • Diane Holland as Yvonne Stuart-Hargreaves - An upper-class dance instructor, part of a husband-and-wife pair that serve to teach dance moves to the campers at Maplins. The writers devised Diane's character to portray an upper-class mentality, reflected in the character's relationship with others.
  • Barry Howard as Barry Stuart-Hargreaves (Series 1–6) - real name Bert Pratt. A dance instructor, part of a husband-and-wife pair that serve to teach dance moves to the campers at Maplins, and equally upper-class as his wife Yvonne. Devised to be the male equivalent of Diane's character, Howard often depicted his character with a dead-pan attitude which proved popular with viewers. Owing to a severe drinking problem that was gaining unwelcome attention in the press by the sixth series, the producers decided to drop Howard from the sitcom despite his protests to this decision; the writers wrote out his character as having dumped Yvonne during the 1960 season.
  • Leslie Dwyer as William Partridge (Series 1–6) - A former music hall performer, reduced to serving as a children's entertainer at Maplins. The writers devised the character to be of a former show business star now in decline, with a healthy dislike of his work since being part of Maplins - a recurring theme is his treatment of unruly children and his need for drink. Dwyer was forced to drop out after the sixth series due to his declining health, and the writers worked to write his character out of the sitcom in response.
  • Nikki Kelly as Sylvia Garnsey - One of the Maplin Yellowcoats, with a flirtatious behaviour with the camp's entertainment manager. The writers devised Kelly's character to be a constant foil towards that of Madoc's character, with the sitcom exploring their relationship over the two holiday seasons.
  • David Griffin as Clive Dempster (Series 5–8) - An entertainment manager; Fairbrother's replacement for the 1960 season at Maplins, and a distinguished war hero. The writers devised the character to be more laid-back than Cadell's character, and more involved in Ted's money-making schemes, with stories between them seeing the pair involved in significant hi-jinxes as a result, despite Dempster's wartime heroism and his aristocratic background.
  • Ben Aris as Julian Dalrymple-Sykes (Series 4, Series 7–8) - A dance instructor, and a former lover of Yvonne, brought in to replace her husband after he left her. Aris initially made a guest appearance in the fourth series, but the producers felt he was a good choice to replace Barry Howard following the sixth series, in hopes of providing a fresh face for viewers to enjoy.
  • Kenneth Connor as Sammy Morris (Series 6, Series 7–8) - A children's entertainer, brought in to replace Partridge after he faked his death to leave the camp. The writers devised the character to be crooked and shady behind the scenes of his work with children, but fostering a strong friendship with Quilley. Connor was brought in to replace Dwyer following his departure, initially having a guest appearance in the sixth series, before joining the cast for the final two series of the sitcom.
  • David Webb as Stanley Mathews, and Tony Webb as Bruce Mathews - Identical twin brothers, serving as male Yellowcoats. The characters were portrayed by both Webbs, who mainly had minor roles in the series, until the third series when writers decided the pair should become more involved in the plots of episodes. Both brothers were credited together as "The Webb Twins" in the cast.
  • Chris Andrews as Gary Bolton - A male Yellowcoat. Like the Webbs, Andrews' character was devised to have a minor appearance in the sitcom, but was given greater prominence until the third series. The character was originally unnamed to begin with, and portrayed by Terence Creasy, before Andrews was assigned to portray them.
  • Rikki Howard as Betty Whistler (Series 1–4) - A female Yellowcoat for the 1959 holiday season, with a strong dislike of Gladys' overbearing bossiness to herself and some of the other women staff. The character was devised to be similar to Kelly's character, but with less interest in Fairbrother. She left the sitcom after the fourth series for unknown reasons.
  • Susan Beagley as Tracey Bentwood (Series 3-4) - A female Yellowcoat for the 1959 holiday season, who clashes with Gladys' personality on the camp. The character was written with similarities to Rikki's own in relation to the character of Gladys.
  • Linda Regan as April Wingate (Series 5–8) - A female Yellowcoat for the 1960 holiday season, with a somewhat childish personality. The writers devised Regan's character as a love interest for Spike, with stories involving her seeing their relationship developing during the camp's final year for Yellowcoats.
  • Laura Jackson as Dawn Freshwater (Series 5–8) - A female Yellowcoat for the 1960 holiday season, who clashes with Gladys during her time at the camp. Jackson's character was devised by the writers to be similar to that of previous Yellowcoat women, but with a secret attraction to Dempster during the final holiday season for the camp.

Minor Cast

  • Gavin Richards as Harold Fox (Series 5–7) - The general manager of Maplins' chain of holiday camps, with a powerful position feared by staff. The writers devised Richards' character to be a womaniser who would try his luck but often failed with women.
  • Ewan Hooper as Alec Foster (Series 7-8) - The camp's controller during the 1960 season, thoroughly disliked by the staff. The writers devised the character to be cruel and outright rude with staff, but with less control on situations when they get out of hand.
  • Julie-Christian Young as Babs Weaver (Series 5-6) - A female Yellowcoat for the 1960 season, who earned her job after winning a competition at another camp in 1959. Young's involvement in the show as a female Yellowcoat reflected how writers often saw them as secondary characters, as she would leave midway into the sixth series for unknown reasons.
  • Billy Burden as Mr Turner (Series 7-8) - Julian Dalrymple-Sykes' assistant at his pig farm who assume full responsibility for it when he leaves to work at Maplins. The character maintained a minor role for the final two series of the sitcom.
  • Jean Lear as Ramona - The camp's organist, playing music during competition events near the camp's pool. The character maintained a minor role in the sitcom, only appearing during scenes at the poolside involving the staff and campers.

Episodes

Main article: List of Hi-de-Hi! episodes

The pilot episode was broadcast on 1 January 1980. Hi-de-Hi! ran for nine series totalling 60 episodes, between 26 February 1981 and 30 January 1988. Because of the programme's success, the BBC decided to air series 3 and 4 back-to-back, the only time the BBC has ever done this with one of their own (first run) shows, which means that some sources refer to both series as series 3.

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 audience ratings, the BBC had plans to make it into a feature film, but this did not come to fruition.

In August 2009, a Hi-de-Hi! stage show toured in Torquay.[4]

In March 2010 the show was revived for a six-month national tour produced by Bruce James Productions Limited and written by Paul Carpenter and Ian Gower, adapting scenes and storylines from episodes of the television series including A Night Not To Remember and Maplin Intercontinental. The audience were treated as campers during scenes involving camp entertainment which included musical numbers and audience participation. The production starred two members of the original cast, Barry Howard, reprising his role of Barry Stuart-Hargreaves, and Nikki Kelly, originally Sylvia, taking the role of Yvonne Stuart-Hargreaves. The tour also starred Peter Amory as Jeffrey Fairbrother, Abigail Finley as Peggy Ollerenshaw, Rebecca Bainbridge as Gladys Pugh, Damian Williams as Ted Bovis, Ben Roddy as Spike Dixon, Richard Colson as William Partridge, Andrew Fettes as Fred Quilley, Kate Burrell as Sylvia Garnsey, Lauren Harrison as Betty Whistler and Carrie Laurence as Tracey Bentwood. Several performances of the tour had to be cancelled due to low ticket sales despite positive reviews.

Following the end of the tour an amended version of the script was made available for amateur performances, the script lacks many of the camp entertainment scenes including the musical numbers whilst adding a subplot featuring Ted's ex-wife from the episode Trouble and Strife. The original tour set and costumes are available for hire from Bruce Jones Productions Limited.

Amateur productions include those by the Teignmouth Players Amateur Dramatic Society at the Carlton Theatre, Teignmouth, The Western College Players at the Drum Theatre, Plymouth, (both in July 2011), and The Halifax Thespians at the Halifax Playhouse in March 2012. In May 2019, the Brookside Theatre, Romford staged a production. It was staged by The Crowborough Players in May 2013.

A stage play for amateur production by Paul Carpenter and Ian Gower is available from Samuel French Ltd of London.[5]

Theme music and merchandise

Hi-de-Hi! had a rock and roll style theme tune called "Holiday Rock". Sung by Ken Barrie, who would later provide the voice of Postman Pat, on the series opening titles,[6] the song was later released as a single with the main vocal part sung by Paul Shane and the Yellowcoats (it featured several members of the cast on backing vocals).[7] It became a UK Top 40 hit in May 1981.

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.

Production

Filming

The location scenes of Hi-de-Hi! were filmed at a real holiday camp run by Warners in the town of Dovercourt near Harwich, Essex. This closed in 1990 and was later replaced by the Hightrees housing estate.

The pilot episode (1979) and first two series (1980–1981) were all filmed during early spring 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 much of the time in the swimming pool.

In keeping with other BBC comedy series, such as Perry and Croft's previous hit Dad's Army, as well as Steptoe and Son, Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads? and several others, in 1982 a series of BBC Radio adaptations of episodes was unofficially agreed. However, due to the changing demographics of BBC Radio output in the early-mid 1980s, the plan was dropped.[citation needed]

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 for two series.

Home releases

Series One and Series Two, including the pilot, were released in a boxed set by Universal Playback on 3 March 2003, followed by a boxed set of Series Three and Series Four on 5 April 2004. The Series 5 and Series 6 was released in a boxed 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 Series Nine were released in a double pack on 22 September 2008. A complete boxed set containing all 9 series has also been released.

DVD Title No. of Discs Year Episodes DVD release Notes
Region 2 Region 4
Complete Series 1 & 2 3 1980–1982 13 3 March 2003 2 March 2006 Includes the 1979 Pilot
Complete Series 3 & 4 3 1982–1984 13 5 April 2004 3 July 2006 —
Complete Series 5 2 1984 13 23 October 2006 — —
Complete Series 6 2 1985-1986 7 5 May 2008 — —
Complete Series 7 & 8 3 1986–1988 12 22 September 2008 — —
Complete Series 1–8 13 1980–1988 58 9 November 2009 — A boxset containing every episode

References

  1. ^ "BBC – Comedy Guide – Hi-de-Hi!". Archived from the original on 14 June 2007. Retrieved 2 September 2013.
  2. ^ "Hi-de-Hi! star 'comforted' by hotel plan". BBC. 10 February 2018.
  3. ^ a b Halford, Jodie (10 February 2018). "Morning campers! The inside story of 80s sitcom Hi-de-Hi!". BBC.
  4. ^ [1][dead link]
  5. ^ "Hi-de-Hi!". samuelfrench-london.co.uk. Archived from the original on 15 July 2014.
  6. ^ Ken Barrie: Postman Pat voice actor dies, BBC News, 29 July 2016
  7. ^ Hi-De-Hi (Holiday Rock)[permanent dead link], BBC Music

Bibliography

External links