Inspired by Perry's time serving as a Redcoat at Butlins,[5] the series takes place within the fictional Maplins holiday camp in Essex towards the end of the traditional British holiday period of the 1950s. The episodes themselves focus on the lives of the camp's entertainers and staff, who frequently greet campers with the titular phrase "Hi-de-Hi!", and consist mostly of struggling actors, comedians, wannabe stars, and has-been entertainers,[5]
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, covering the Summer holiday seasons of 1959 and 1960. Owned by Maplins - run by the enigmatic owner Joe Maplin - the camp operates in a similar manner to real-life holiday camps, including providing entertainment and activities through its staff of Yellowcoats - a parody of the real-life Redcoats, Bluecoats, and Greencoats. The Yellowcoats are led by Ted Bovis, the camp host, and consist of three different groups of entertainers: the young, who see the job as a lucky break into show business; the middle-aged, who are realistic about their prospects but still cling to the hope that they can still achieve fame; and the veterans, the oldest members of staff who see their job as a step down from former stardom glories.
Many of the stories focus on the relationships between the characters, the constant issues that arise from Ted's attempts to scam the camp's holidaymakers, and other issues sometimes brought on by Maplin himself. The sitcom notably focused on a common theme in stories surrounding the erosion of class boundaries during the post-war period and attitudes of staff towards each other - a recurring element in stories is chalet maid Peggy Ollerenshaw's desire to be a Yellowcoat and the dislike Yellowcoat Sports Organiser Gladys Pugh has towards this idea.
Production
Cast
Paul Shane as Ted Bovis - The Camp's Entertainment Host, and a former entertainer. Tasked with greeting and entertaining campers, but also secretly runs 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 Camp's radio announcer and sports organiser. The writers devised her to be the romantic foils for the entertainment managers throughout the series, while being snobbish around the Yellowcoats and Peggy.
Jeffrey Holland as Spike Dixon - The camp's chief comic for the 1959 and 1960 season, acting as Ted's conscience during times when his scheming could lead to 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, with dreams of becoming a Yellowcoat and achieving stardom. This dream became a recurring element in some of the stories for Hi-de-Hi. Like Shane, she would continue to work on further sitcoms by Croft after the programme concluded.
Simon Cadell as Professor Jeffrey Fairbrother (Series 1–5) - The camp's entertainment manager for the 1959 season, and a former college professor from Cambridge University, who is weak in making speeches to campers. Cadell left the sitcom after the fourth series to focus on other projects.
Felix Bowness as Fred Quilley - The camp's riding instructor for horse rides, and a former race jockey. 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 at Maplins.
Barry Howard as Barry Stuart-Hargreaves (Series 1–7) - An upper-class dance instructor, and Yvonne's husband. Although popular with viewers for his dead-pan attitude while in character, Howard had drinking problems towards the sixth series which drew unwelcome press attention. His role in the show was terminated by the producers despite his protests to the contrary.
Leslie Dwyer as William Partridge (Series 1–6) - A children's entertainer at Maplins with a drinking problem and a dislike of children, formerly a music hall performer. 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 - A female Yellowcoat staff member, with a flirtatious behaviour with the camp's entertainment managers. 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) -The camp's entertainment manager for the 1960 season, a former wartime hero with a slightly shifty nature with money. Griffin was brought in to replace Cadell following their departure.
Ben Aris as Julian Dalrymple-Sykes (Series 5, Series 8–9) - A dance instructor and a former lover of Yvonne, brought in to replace Barry after his departure. Aris initially made a guest appearance in the fourth series, and was considered the best choice to replace Howard after his departure.
Kenneth Connor as Sammy Morris (Series 7, Series 8–9) - A shady children's entertainer, brought into replace Partidge during the 1960 season. 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 brother Yellowcoats. Both David and Tony maintained minor roles to begin with, but with given more involvement by the third series. In the crdits, both brothers are referred to as "The Webb Twins".
Chris Andrews as Gary Bolton - A male Yellowcoat staff member. Originally portrayed by Terence Creasy in the pilot, the character was unnamed to begin with and played a minor role, before writers gave Andrews more prominence by the start of the third series.
Rikki Howard as Betty Whistler (Series 1–5) - A female Yellowcoat staff member for the 1959 holiday season, with a strong dislike of Gladys' overbearing bossiness to herself and some of the other women staff. Rikki left the sitcom after the fourth series for unknown reasons.
Susan Beagley as Tracey Bentwood (Series 3–5) - A female Yellowcoat staff member for the 1959 holiday season, who, like Betty, clashes with Gladys' personality on the camp. Like Rikki, Beagley left the sitcom for unknown reasons after the fourth series.
Linda Regan as April Wingate (Series 6–9) - A female Yellowcoat staff member for the 1960 holiday season, with a somewhat childish personality. Writers devised the character to be a love interest for Spike, with a number of stories looking in to the development of their relationship with each other.
Laura Jackson as Dawn Freshwater (Series 6–9) - A female Yellowcoat staff member for the 1960 holiday season. 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.
Filming
Hi-de-Hi! relied on BBC studios for interior scenes for the entertainment staff building and interior chalet rooms, but much of the exterior scenes for Maplins were shot at Warners' former holiday camp that operated within the town of Dovercourt near Harwich, Essex; the site is now a housing estate after the camp was closed in 1990. During the pilot episode and the first two series, filming at the camp was done in early spring before the main holiday period for the public during the Summer months - the temperature at the time led to complaints by cast members; Jeffrey Hollad in particular had to be treated for hypothermia owing to scenes that saw him thrown into the camp's pool. After locations around Essex were also used during the show's broadcast, including around the town of Manningtree; with exception to a couple of episodes filmed at Weybourne station on the North Norfolk Railway.
A pilot episode for the sitcom was first broadcast on 1 January 1980. Hi-de-Hi! was later greenlighted to additional episodes, running for 60 episodes over nine series, between 26 February 1981 and 30 January 1988. Unusually, the third and fourth series were actually run back-to-back by the BBC; all subsequent reruns separated the episodes.
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.[6]
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.[7]
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,[8] 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).[9] 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.
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.
