Hi-De-Hi! Complete series 1-9

From the creators of Dad's Army, 'Allo 'Allo!, You Rang M'Lord?, Are You Being Served? and other successful sitcoms. Jimmy Perry and David Croft are back with one of the best series ever written.

Product description

HI-DE-HI! - The complete series 1-9

If you enjoyed Dad's Army, 'Allo 'Allo!, You Rang M'Lord?, Are You Being Served?, here is another Jimmy Perry and David Croft classic!

Hi-de-Hi! is a British sitcom that aired on BBC1 from 1980 to 1988. Set in a 1950s holiday camp, it was written by Jimmy Perry and David Croft, who had written Dad's Army and It Ain't Half Hot Mum. The title was the phrase to greet the campers and in early episodes was written Hi de Hi. The inspiration was the experience of writers Perry and Croft. After being demobilised from the Army, Perry was a Redcoat at Butlins during the holiday season.

The series gained large audiences 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.

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. It is loosely based on Butlins, the holiday camp empire of Billy Butlin, his Redcoats replaced with Yellowcoats. At the end of the 1958 season, the camp entertainments manager Mr Baverstock, a conman and womaniser, had been sacked for stealing charity money from the camp wishing well. At the same time, the camp comic Teddy Drinkwater had burned out and resigned, leaving the two posts vacant. The following year, a Cambridge University archaeology professor, Jeffrey Fairbrother, tires of academia and applies for the role of entertainment manager. This annoys the portly camp host, Ted Bovis, who wants the job. The job of camp comic is then given to naive but kind-hearted Spike Dixon.

Most episodes involve Ted Bovis and Spike attempting to scam the well-meaning Fairbrother, who also has to avoid the romantic approaches of senior Yellowcoat and sports organiser, Gladys Pugh, as he is currently divorcing his wife. Most of the characters in the show were out-of-work actors and entertainers either at the tail-end of their careers or awaiting the elusive "big break".

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 show business, with the younger staff (e.g. Spike Dixon, and 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 (e.g. Barry and Yvonne, or Mr Partridge) the camp was a step down from past glories. Caught in the middle were staff members close to middle age (i.e. Ted Bovis and Fred Quilley) who still dreamed of fame and fortune, reluctant to accept that working at a holiday camp was the best they would ever 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 persuade him to return to Cambridge. 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.

Source: Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hi-de-hi

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See the list of episodes and other details under Additional information.

Additional information

List of episodes

Series 1 & 2 (3 discs)

Series 3 & 4 (3 discs)

Series 5 & 6 (2 discs)

Series 7 (2 discs)

Series 8 & 9 (3 discs)

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