0:00:11 > 0:00:12Don't panic, don't panic!
0:00:18 > 0:00:21Hi-de-hi!
0:00:21 > 0:00:23Ho-de-ho!
0:00:23 > 0:00:25I don't like the name sitcom, really.
0:00:25 > 0:00:28They are all character comedies, really. There's a situation in them,
0:00:28 > 0:00:31but it's really their reaction, the way they behave as people
0:00:31 > 0:00:33that we are interested in and I think that's why they work.
0:00:33 > 0:00:36We like a bunch of idiots, but real people, and put them
0:00:36 > 0:00:39in a difficult situation and see how they get out of it.
0:00:44 > 0:00:45We're doomed!
0:00:49 > 0:00:51- Well, you see...- Shut up!
0:00:55 > 0:00:57You rang, my Lord.
0:00:57 > 0:00:59To the Home Guard!
0:01:00 > 0:01:02You may measure it.
0:01:05 > 0:01:10David Croft and I usually take a part of history, something that's period.
0:01:15 > 0:01:19Everything we write about has actually happened.
0:01:19 > 0:01:22- NEWSREEL:- Six weeks of final preparation went into those plans.
0:01:22 > 0:01:27Six weeks to determine the history of 1,000 years.
0:01:27 > 0:01:28The thing was foolproof.
0:01:28 > 0:01:32You have to be able to fall back on solid ideas and solid characters
0:01:32 > 0:01:34which have some basis in reality, I think.
0:01:54 > 0:01:57Both Croft and Perry come from theatrical backgrounds.
0:01:57 > 0:02:00Croft became a BBC comedy director and producer,
0:02:00 > 0:02:02Jimmy Perry ran a repertory company,
0:02:02 > 0:02:04acted and got to know Croft on the set.
0:02:04 > 0:02:08Now they are inseparable and their chemistry produces scenes like this.
0:02:08 > 0:02:12And your name will go on the list.
0:02:12 > 0:02:15And when we win the war, you will be brought to account.
0:02:15 > 0:02:18You can write what you like. You're not going to win this war.
0:02:18 > 0:02:22- Oh, yes, we are.- Oh, no, you're not. - Oh, yes, we are!
0:02:23 > 0:02:26# Whistle while you work Hitler is a twerp
0:02:26 > 0:02:28# He's half barmy, so's his army
0:02:28 > 0:02:30# Whistle while you work. #
0:02:30 > 0:02:32Your name will also go on the list.
0:02:33 > 0:02:34What is it?
0:02:34 > 0:02:36- Don't tell him, Pike.- Pike.
0:02:56 > 0:03:01Jimmy, it was your original idea. How did you come up with it?
0:03:01 > 0:03:03Oh, I don't know, Judy, it just...
0:03:03 > 0:03:07I was walking down the street one day in 1967 and I thought,
0:03:07 > 0:03:11oh, that's a good idea, why not write a comedy series about the Home Guard?
0:03:11 > 0:03:14MUSIC: Brown Sugar by The Rolling Stones
0:03:36 > 0:03:39Were you ever in the Home Guard, Jimmy Perry?
0:03:39 > 0:03:43Yes, I joined in September 1940. I was 17.
0:03:44 > 0:03:48So you are behind time, really. You weren't with these...
0:03:48 > 0:03:54No, I was too young, it was 17 to 65, although there were plenty over 65.
0:03:54 > 0:04:00'We want large numbers of such men between the ages of 17 and 65
0:04:00 > 0:04:02'to come forward now
0:04:02 > 0:04:07'and offer their service in order to make assurance doubly sure.
0:04:07 > 0:04:09'You will not be paid,
0:04:09 > 0:04:14'but you will receive uniform and will be armed.
0:04:14 > 0:04:18'The name of the new force will be the local defence volunteers.
0:04:18 > 0:04:22'This name describes the duties in three words.
0:04:23 > 0:04:25'Here then is the opportunity
0:04:25 > 0:04:28'for which so many of you have been waiting.
0:04:28 > 0:04:32'Your loyal help will make and keep our country safe.'
0:04:34 > 0:04:36Right. Let's go to it.
0:04:36 > 0:04:39What happened the day you joined up?
0:04:39 > 0:04:42- I went down to the police station. - When was this?
0:04:42 > 0:04:45On the Whit Tuesday evening.
0:04:45 > 0:04:48And they knew nothing at all about it.
0:04:49 > 0:04:51But mind you, to be quite fair,
0:04:51 > 0:04:54Mr Eden hadn't finished his speech.
0:04:54 > 0:04:57- At any rate...- You were a bit quick.
0:04:57 > 0:05:00Well, I was, I thought it was the proper thing to do.
0:05:03 > 0:05:07# Who do you think you are kidding, Mr Hitler
0:05:07 > 0:05:12# If you think we're on the run
0:05:12 > 0:05:15# We are the boys
0:05:15 > 0:05:17# Who will stop your little game
0:05:17 > 0:05:19# We are the boys
0:05:19 > 0:05:22# Who will make you think again
0:05:22 > 0:05:27# Cos who do you think you are kidding, Mr Hitler
0:05:27 > 0:05:32# If you think old England's done
0:05:32 > 0:05:37# Mr Brown goes off to town on the 8.21
0:05:37 > 0:05:39# But he comes home each evening
0:05:39 > 0:05:42# And he's ready with his gun... #
0:05:42 > 0:05:45- Where'd you get that gun?- Eh? - The gun, where did you get it?
0:05:45 > 0:05:48- It belongs to my friend, actually. - I see.
0:05:52 > 0:05:56- He's got a friend...a gun. - Yes, I can see that, sir, yes.- Well?
0:05:56 > 0:05:59- Yes, well?- I'm the officer. - Quite, sir.- You're the sergeant. - Quite, sir.
0:05:59 > 0:06:02- We ought to have that.- Yes. - Go ask him for it.
0:06:02 > 0:06:06- Don't you think it would have more authority coming from you, sir?- No.
0:06:06 > 0:06:07Right.
0:06:08 > 0:06:13Excuse me, Mr Mainwaring would rather like to have your rifle.
0:06:13 > 0:06:16- Who would like to have it?- Captain Mainwaring.- Well, he can't have it.
0:06:16 > 0:06:18Now look here, Godfrey, hand over that gun at once.
0:06:18 > 0:06:20I don't see why I should.
0:06:20 > 0:06:22Are you refusing to obey an order on active service?
0:06:23 > 0:06:25You realise we could have you shot for this.
0:06:25 > 0:06:29That'll be a bit tricky since he's the only one with a gun.
0:06:30 > 0:06:35The joke about the rifle actually happened because we didn't have any.
0:06:35 > 0:06:38Only one person had the rifle and that conversation...
0:06:38 > 0:06:41Well, David and I worked it out basically, you know,
0:06:41 > 0:06:45in a dramatic content, but that did actually happen.
0:06:52 > 0:06:56# Could you please oblige us with the Bren gun?
0:06:56 > 0:06:59# The lack of one is wounding to our pride
0:06:59 > 0:07:04# Last night we found the cutest little German parachutist
0:07:04 > 0:07:06# He looked at our kit, jiggled a bit
0:07:06 > 0:07:08# And laughed until he cried
0:07:08 > 0:07:12# We'll have to hide that armoured car, we're marching to Berlin
0:07:12 > 0:07:15# We'd almost be ashamed of it in Rome
0:07:15 > 0:07:20# So if you can't oblige us with the Bren gun
0:07:20 > 0:07:23# The Home Guard might as well go home. #
0:07:24 > 0:07:27Well, I was an air raid warden about that time.
0:07:27 > 0:07:28Jim was in the Home Guard.
0:07:28 > 0:07:31- An air raid warden?- Yes. - How old were you?- I was 17 then.
0:07:31 > 0:07:33I was.
0:07:33 > 0:07:35SIREN WAILS
0:07:35 > 0:07:38So what action did you see, then, as an air raid warden?
0:07:38 > 0:07:41Oh, quite a lot of air raids. I was down on the south coast, actually.
0:07:41 > 0:07:45- And did you get hit at all, with shrapnel?- Not personally, no.
0:07:45 > 0:07:48'The eyes and ears of the control room were the wardens' posts
0:07:48 > 0:07:51'whose areas were patrolled during air raids.
0:07:51 > 0:07:54'It was the wardens' duty to keep control advised
0:07:54 > 0:07:56'of every incident in their sector.'
0:08:00 > 0:08:05# He's got another job and it's one of the best
0:08:05 > 0:08:08# Now he's doing his bit for England like the rest
0:08:09 > 0:08:13# And Mr Wu is now an air raid warden
0:08:13 > 0:08:17# And don't he look cute in his new siren suit?
0:08:17 > 0:08:21# Cos Mr Wu's an air raid warden now. #
0:08:39 > 0:08:42Ruddy hooligans. Put that light out, put that ruddy light out!
0:08:42 > 0:08:44They can't hear you, Mr Hodges.
0:08:44 > 0:08:47- I'll make 'em hear me. Put that light out!- Don't...
0:08:47 > 0:08:50I'll get 'em, I'll get 'em on the phone, I'll get Mainwaring.
0:08:50 > 0:08:52I'll tell headquarters, I'll have him busted.
0:08:52 > 0:08:55- All right...- Put that light out!
0:08:55 > 0:08:57We all thought it was a terribly funny thing
0:08:57 > 0:09:00because we were young boys, you see, and we were full of aggro.
0:09:00 > 0:09:02And we loved it.
0:09:02 > 0:09:05The fact the Germans were going to invade, when you're 16, you're not
0:09:05 > 0:09:07thinking about that, you're going, ah-ah-ah
0:09:07 > 0:09:09and playing it and loving it
0:09:09 > 0:09:12and doing house clearing and charging about and really enjoying it.
0:09:12 > 0:09:15We didn't realise the gravity of the situation.
0:09:15 > 0:09:18Ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah!
0:09:18 > 0:09:20Stop that, Pike.
0:09:24 > 0:09:26I brought it in. I'll handle it first.
0:09:29 > 0:09:31- Beautifully balanced. - Oh, yes, of course.
0:09:31 > 0:09:34Devastating weapon in the right hands, I should think.
0:09:34 > 0:09:37Yes, I should think even more devastating in the wrong hands.
0:09:39 > 0:09:42Ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah!
0:09:49 > 0:09:53# When the Fuhrer says "Ve ist the master race"
0:09:53 > 0:09:56# We heil, heil Right in the Fuhrer's face
0:09:56 > 0:09:59# Not to love the Fuhrer is a great disgrace
0:09:59 > 0:10:03# So we heil, heil Right in the Fuhrer's face... #
0:10:05 > 0:10:10My dear mother, who'd lost a brother in the war and another badly wounded,
0:10:10 > 0:10:14was horrified at the fact that I should put on a uniform,
0:10:14 > 0:10:17and anything might happen.
0:10:17 > 0:10:19But I said, look, I've got to join.
0:10:24 > 0:10:26'Camouflage has left its mark on the Home Guard.
0:10:26 > 0:10:28'This is how they're working these days.
0:10:28 > 0:10:30'Many units are adopting guerrilla tactics
0:10:30 > 0:10:32'in their schools of intensified training.
0:10:32 > 0:10:35'The art of concealment by merging with the landscape
0:10:35 > 0:10:37'is illustrated in these pictures of Home Guardsmen
0:10:37 > 0:10:40'exercising at an army field-craft centre.
0:10:54 > 0:10:57'If brick buildings were the background instead of bushes,
0:10:57 > 0:10:59'they'd turn into the local.
0:10:59 > 0:11:02'It's really amazing how close you can be to a body of men
0:11:02 > 0:11:03'without knowing it.
0:11:03 > 0:11:06'The disappearing trick has been brought to a fine art.
0:11:12 > 0:11:15'A last-minute panoramic view of some of the men
0:11:15 > 0:11:18'who stayed as trees for a while to face the cameramen.
0:11:18 > 0:11:20'Incidentally, all dogs had been warned off the course.'
0:11:24 > 0:11:28David Croft, have any incidents been toned down here?
0:11:28 > 0:11:32Well, we've had one or two ideas which we thought were too way out.
0:11:32 > 0:11:34When we started this thing, I think
0:11:34 > 0:11:36we just regarded it as a comedy show. But as you get into it,
0:11:36 > 0:11:39as soon as we started writing it properly,
0:11:39 > 0:11:40we realised it was much more than this.
0:11:40 > 0:11:44Because there's a wonderful spirit in those days.
0:11:44 > 0:11:47These men really would have died.
0:11:47 > 0:11:49And as soon as you get into that sort of dimension,
0:11:49 > 0:11:52you can't go too far into the realms of comedy,
0:11:52 > 0:11:54you've got to keep it with its feet on the ground.
0:11:54 > 0:11:58Therefore several ideas we've had, we've toned down for that reason.
0:11:58 > 0:12:01Come on, Mr Mainwaring, better get there quickly.
0:12:01 > 0:12:02Here's your rifle, Uncle Arthur.
0:12:02 > 0:12:05Chop-chop, sharp's the word, quick's the action.
0:12:05 > 0:12:06Just a minute, just a minute.
0:12:06 > 0:12:09- What's all this about? - I had a phone call from the police.
0:12:09 > 0:12:11- Have they arrested Walker? - No, not yet.
0:12:13 > 0:12:16A Nazi pilot has bailed out and he's hanging from the town hall roof.
0:12:16 > 0:12:18- Come on, quick.- What?- What?
0:12:25 > 0:12:27Ich kann nicht verstehen.
0:12:27 > 0:12:31Swing. S-Swing, you know, ha-da-cha!
0:12:31 > 0:12:32Ha-da-cha?
0:12:32 > 0:12:35Try him with a bit of In The Mood, Joe, he might understand that.
0:12:35 > 0:12:39Right. # Oh, Mr What-ya-call-em What you doin' tonight
0:12:39 > 0:12:42# Hope you're in the mood because I'm feeling all right
0:12:42 > 0:12:44# How's about a corner with a table for two... #
0:12:44 > 0:12:46HE WEEPS
0:12:47 > 0:12:49People begin to recognise the characters
0:12:49 > 0:12:51and knew what the show was about.
0:12:51 > 0:12:54It always struck the hearts of the British public
0:12:54 > 0:12:57and started doing so then because it was a time
0:12:57 > 0:13:00when we all behaved very well, wartime, you know.
0:13:02 > 0:13:05When he comes down, they don't like it up 'em!
0:13:05 > 0:13:06No, no. All right...
0:13:13 > 0:13:18Now, the character of Corporal Jones in Dad's Army was not a butcher,
0:13:18 > 0:13:21he was really a French polisher who worked in
0:13:21 > 0:13:25a tatty second-hand furniture shop in Watford high street.
0:13:25 > 0:13:30And he had been at the Battle of Omdurman.
0:13:30 > 0:13:36In the Rifle Brigade, 1898, against the mad Mahdis.
0:13:38 > 0:13:40Anyhow, he used to say exactly
0:13:40 > 0:13:43as the lines we gave to Jones.
0:13:43 > 0:13:47"Oh, there we were," he said, "It was about six o'clock in the morning
0:13:47 > 0:13:50"and Lord Kitchener was sitting on his horse"
0:13:50 > 0:13:54and he recounted the exact Battle of Omdurman,
0:13:54 > 0:13:56which in point of fact was a slaughter.
0:14:01 > 0:14:04And they were chopping off heads left, right and centre
0:14:04 > 0:14:07and there was blood everywhere.
0:14:07 > 0:14:09And the corpses, the corpses,
0:14:09 > 0:14:10oh, it was terrible.
0:14:10 > 0:14:14They don't have battles like that any more, you know.
0:14:33 > 0:14:36Did you think the programme would develop like this,
0:14:36 > 0:14:39would grow like this, you'd develop this cast of characters?
0:14:39 > 0:14:41- We thought it was a good idea, didn't we?- Oh, yes.
0:14:41 > 0:14:44We didn't think it would catch on internationally, as it has.
0:14:44 > 0:14:46Also, we thought the audience would be rather limited.
0:14:46 > 0:14:49We thought it would appeal mostly to people who remembered it.
0:14:49 > 0:14:51But in fact it appealed right across the board.
0:14:51 > 0:14:54# Well, I know I'm not super hip
0:14:54 > 0:14:58# And I'm liable to take a slip
0:14:58 > 0:15:01# But I don't care how cold you are
0:15:01 > 0:15:04# I'm coming home soon
0:15:04 > 0:15:08# I'm gonna make you a star
0:15:13 > 0:15:18# We're gonna make you a star... #
0:15:19 > 0:15:21When the Home Guard started, things were so desperate,
0:15:21 > 0:15:23I thought it would be different to last time.
0:15:23 > 0:15:27- What do you mean, different from last time?- The last war, sir.
0:15:27 > 0:15:30- You see, I was a conscientious objector.- Oh, I see.
0:15:30 > 0:15:31You were what?!
0:15:33 > 0:15:36- A conscientious objector.- A consc...
0:15:38 > 0:15:40You mean you didn't want to fight?
0:15:40 > 0:15:42Not really, sir.
0:15:55 > 0:15:59Arnold Ridley, tonight, This Is Your Life.
0:16:01 > 0:16:05At the age of 19, you're a lance corporal in the Somerset Light Infantry.
0:16:05 > 0:16:07In the grim hand-to-hand fighting,
0:16:07 > 0:16:10young Lance Corporal Ridley was bayoneted twice,
0:16:10 > 0:16:14and behind the lines, army doctors operated no fewer than 17 times
0:16:14 > 0:16:15to save his left arm.
0:16:15 > 0:16:21He was the oldest one. He was wounded appallingly in the First World War.
0:16:21 > 0:16:26He had a terrible scar the whole length of his arm, a bayonet wound.
0:16:26 > 0:16:29And he was gassed and wounded. So was John Laurie.
0:16:29 > 0:16:31They were all victims of that First World War.
0:16:44 > 0:16:47Where are you going, Alf? We're supposed be going forward.
0:16:47 > 0:16:50- Well, I'm going backwards.- Why? - Because I'm a coward.
0:16:51 > 0:16:53You could be shot for desertion.
0:16:53 > 0:16:55Well, go on, be a hero, I'm not stopping you.
0:16:55 > 0:16:58Well, I'm going to do my duty, I'm going forward.
0:16:58 > 0:17:01HEAVY GUNFIRE
0:17:05 > 0:17:07What's the matter?
0:17:07 > 0:17:09I'll give it a few more minutes, then I'll go forward.
0:17:12 > 0:17:14Surviving is very important.
0:17:14 > 0:17:17I think all soldiers are very reluctant to get involved
0:17:17 > 0:17:19in any sort of situation they can avoid.
0:17:19 > 0:17:24I mean, lose the heroics, that's how it is, it's how human nature is.
0:17:24 > 0:17:27You want to keep out of the action if you possibly can do.
0:17:39 > 0:17:42You'd better have a whisky or something.
0:17:42 > 0:17:44- You never used to be like this. - It was the war.
0:17:44 > 0:17:46Well, I was in the war.
0:17:46 > 0:17:50We were all in the war. We didn't go charging off after servant girls.
0:17:50 > 0:17:52There wouldn't be any left.
0:17:52 > 0:17:54I still don't trust him.
0:17:54 > 0:17:58I can assure you, sir, in the strictest confidence,
0:17:58 > 0:18:00that any relationship his Lordship has with the opposite sex
0:18:00 > 0:18:02could only be platonic.
0:18:02 > 0:18:04What do you mean?
0:18:04 > 0:18:08As they say in France, "L'amour est fini."
0:18:10 > 0:18:13- What?- It was the war, sir.
0:18:13 > 0:18:16He caught it. In the artillery.
0:18:27 > 0:18:31So come on a voyage with me, a voyage half across the world...
0:18:32 > 0:18:35..to Burma. A hot place if you like.
0:18:35 > 0:18:39Maybe this is where some of your lads are at this moment,
0:18:39 > 0:18:41in all the heat and horror of that jungle.
0:18:43 > 0:18:47I was called up on January 1, 1944.
0:18:47 > 0:18:50The thing was, when we got out to Burma,
0:18:50 > 0:18:53eight months before the end of the war, before they dropped
0:18:53 > 0:18:58the atom bomb, we never thought the war was ever going to end.
0:19:00 > 0:19:03As I'm speaking, British and Indian forces
0:19:03 > 0:19:06are finishing the job of clearing up Burma.
0:19:08 > 0:19:10It's not a comfortable war.
0:19:10 > 0:19:13But its hardships are being accepted with cheerfulness
0:19:13 > 0:19:18and its problems faced with courage and endurance.
0:19:19 > 0:19:23People didn't know about that part of the war, really.
0:19:23 > 0:19:26I think the 14th Army was known as the forgotten army.
0:19:26 > 0:19:30People weren't aware of it, really, and still aren't.
0:19:56 > 0:20:00When the war ended, I was posted to a place called Deolali in India.
0:20:03 > 0:20:07I thought we were all going home, but it wasn't like that.
0:20:07 > 0:20:11We were still stuck out in the jungle because you must understand,
0:20:11 > 0:20:15there were millions of British troops all over the world,
0:20:15 > 0:20:18and just when the war ended, they couldn't just whisk them home.
0:20:18 > 0:20:20There weren't enough ships.
0:20:27 > 0:20:30How would you think I felt, a young boy, 19,
0:20:30 > 0:20:32stuck out in that awful jungle?
0:20:32 > 0:20:35I was stuck out in India for another two years
0:20:35 > 0:20:40and that's where I fell in with the Royal Artillery concert party.
0:20:44 > 0:20:47# Meet the gang cos the boys are here
0:20:47 > 0:20:49# The boys to entertain you
0:20:50 > 0:20:53# With music and laughter to help you on your way
0:20:53 > 0:20:56# To raising the rafters with a hey-hey-hey
0:20:56 > 0:20:59# With songs and sketches and jokes old and new
0:20:59 > 0:21:01# With us about You won't feel blue
0:21:01 > 0:21:04# So meet the gang cos the boys are here
0:21:04 > 0:21:07# The boys to entertain you. #
0:21:07 > 0:21:11How can I be sophisticated in this heat? I'm sweating like a pig.
0:21:13 > 0:21:17Just do what I do, imagine you're sweating champagne and diamonds.
0:21:17 > 0:21:22That's also right out of your own experiences, both of you, isn't it?
0:21:22 > 0:21:25I'm not sure that particular scene is, actually, Jim.
0:21:25 > 0:21:29Well, this situation did exist.
0:21:29 > 0:21:32I was running a concert party in a place called Deolali in India.
0:21:32 > 0:21:35The sergeant major existed and the colonel existed.
0:21:35 > 0:21:38And the sergeant major was intent on posting us up the jungle
0:21:38 > 0:21:41and that was the only way we could stay in this dreadful place,
0:21:41 > 0:21:43which was better than the jungle,
0:21:43 > 0:21:46was by running this concert party which the colonel liked.
0:21:46 > 0:21:47The whole situation did exist.
0:21:47 > 0:21:49David was in India as well, weren't you?
0:21:49 > 0:21:51We were in India at the same time, not the same place.
0:21:51 > 0:21:54But he was an officer. I was just a bombardier, which is two stripes.
0:21:54 > 0:21:57Do you reckon you've got a right, out of your own experience?
0:21:57 > 0:22:00We always have done. Yes, I think you have to.
0:22:00 > 0:22:04You have to be able to fall back on solid ideas and characters
0:22:04 > 0:22:06so a basis in reality, I think.
0:22:12 > 0:22:15I'll never forget, there were a bunch of paratroopers
0:22:15 > 0:22:20and they were in the camp in Deolali waiting to come back to Blighty.
0:22:20 > 0:22:23Anyhow, we put on a show one day
0:22:23 > 0:22:27and they were marched to the theatre, these paratroops,
0:22:27 > 0:22:30and we started doing the show and they rioted.
0:22:32 > 0:22:34SHOUTING
0:22:38 > 0:22:41Animals, you're all animals!
0:22:43 > 0:22:47And Joseph O'Connor, he was a captain, said,
0:22:47 > 0:22:49"I say, Perry, look, this looks pretty difficult.
0:22:49 > 0:22:51"Go on and tell a few jokes."
0:22:51 > 0:22:54I said, "They'll kill me!"
0:22:58 > 0:23:01Play something soothing.
0:23:03 > 0:23:06# Little old lady... #
0:23:06 > 0:23:08LAUGHTER DROWNS SINGING
0:23:08 > 0:23:13# Hooray, hooray, hooray Misery's on the way
0:23:13 > 0:23:17# There are bad times just around the corner
0:23:17 > 0:23:20# There are dark clouds hurtling through the sky
0:23:20 > 0:23:24# And it's no good whining about a silver lining
0:23:24 > 0:23:28# For we know from experience that they won't roll by... #
0:23:28 > 0:23:32People say, "Oh, we won the war." But excuse me, what went wrong?
0:23:32 > 0:23:35We haven't got anything to show it.
0:23:40 > 0:23:43It was worse after the war than during the war.
0:23:43 > 0:23:45You couldn't get any sugar, you couldn't get any sweets,
0:23:45 > 0:23:47you couldn't get any petrol.
0:24:06 > 0:24:09'Come with us and enjoy the finest holiday of your life.
0:24:09 > 0:24:11'You'll remember every moment
0:24:11 > 0:24:14'and you'll be refreshed by the colour and gaiety
0:24:14 > 0:24:17'of this new and attractive world full of wonder and delight.
0:24:17 > 0:24:19'Here you will feel immediately at home.
0:24:19 > 0:24:22'The Butlin holiday camps are like that.
0:24:24 > 0:24:26'Yes, the kiddies will love it.
0:24:26 > 0:24:29'Butlins provide everything a child could wish for.
0:24:29 > 0:24:33'You will be delighted with the first sight of your holiday home.
0:24:33 > 0:24:35'You can be quite sure that you will enjoy your food,
0:24:35 > 0:24:38'whatever Butlin camp you may visit.
0:24:38 > 0:24:41'The Butlin holiday camps offer you the best of everything
0:24:41 > 0:24:43'for your holiday.'
0:24:43 > 0:24:47- Stand there, fine. - Very quiet, please.
0:24:47 > 0:24:50- Right, here we go, everybody. - Turn over.
0:24:52 > 0:24:53Action.
0:24:59 > 0:25:02Hello, everybody.
0:25:02 > 0:25:04Hello, campers! Hi-de-hi!
0:25:04 > 0:25:07- Hi-de-hi.- Ho-de-ho.
0:25:07 > 0:25:10Where did the slogan "Hi-de-hi!" actually come from?
0:25:10 > 0:25:13It came from the holiday camps. This was very much extant at the time.
0:25:13 > 0:25:16I think actually it came from an old colonel of the Guards, didn't it?
0:25:16 > 0:25:19He used to shout "Hi-de-hi" and made the troops shout "Ho-de-ho!"
0:25:19 > 0:25:22This was during the war and he got court-martialled for it.
0:25:22 > 0:25:26It was carried on, and it was a standard thing, hi-de-hi, ho-de-ho.
0:25:26 > 0:25:27Hi-de-hi!
0:25:27 > 0:25:28Ho-de-ho!
0:25:28 > 0:25:31You always write from personal experience,
0:25:31 > 0:25:33so were you in a holiday camp?
0:25:33 > 0:25:35Yes, I worked as a Redcoat
0:25:35 > 0:25:38when I was a student at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art,
0:25:38 > 0:25:39when I was going to be an actor.
0:25:39 > 0:25:42- I worked there in the summer holidays as a Redcoat.- Where?
0:25:42 > 0:25:44At Filey and Pwllheli.
0:25:48 > 0:25:49What shall we do with him?
0:25:49 > 0:25:51Throw him in the pool!
0:25:51 > 0:25:53- Shall we?- Yes!
0:25:53 > 0:25:54Go on then.
0:25:58 > 0:26:00One...
0:26:00 > 0:26:02two...
0:26:02 > 0:26:03three.
0:26:07 > 0:26:09You've hit a marvellously rich vein, you two.
0:26:09 > 0:26:12Were we happier then than we are now?
0:26:12 > 0:26:15I think they were more ready to be organised in their happiness perhaps.
0:26:15 > 0:26:19I think now they have the camps, people aren't quite so prepared
0:26:19 > 0:26:20to join in as they used to be.
0:26:20 > 0:26:23Maybe they don't have as good Redcoats. You must have been good.
0:26:23 > 0:26:25Well, I was pretty good, if I may say.
0:26:25 > 0:26:28In fact, when I was a Redcoat, we had rationing,
0:26:28 > 0:26:31we'd all come out of the war, we were just grateful to be alive
0:26:31 > 0:26:33and we wanted to have a good time
0:26:33 > 0:26:37and the atmosphere on the camps was fantastic.
0:26:41 > 0:26:43By Friday night they were hysterical
0:26:43 > 0:26:47- because you'd wound them up so much, you know.- Wound them up.
0:26:47 > 0:26:49It was like he was Hitler.
0:26:49 > 0:26:51No, we used to call it handling multitudes.
0:26:51 > 0:26:54There's a marvellous man named Wally Goodman who used to be
0:26:54 > 0:26:58chief of entertainments at Butlins and we used to have 6,000 people
0:26:58 > 0:27:00and do Sons Of The Sea
0:27:00 > 0:27:03and I Saw The Old Homestead with actually 6,000 people.
0:27:03 > 0:27:05- Really?- Marvellous feeling of power.
0:27:05 > 0:27:09# Sons of the sea
0:27:09 > 0:27:13# Bobbing up and down like this
0:27:13 > 0:27:17# Sailing the ocean
0:27:17 > 0:27:21# Bobbing up and down like this
0:27:21 > 0:27:25# We sail the ships, my lads
0:27:25 > 0:27:29# Bobbing up and down like this
0:27:29 > 0:27:33# Just one more chance
0:27:33 > 0:27:37# La di da di da di da
0:27:37 > 0:27:41# La di da di da di da
0:27:41 > 0:27:45# Just one more chance. #
0:27:45 > 0:27:47Way-hay!
0:27:47 > 0:27:51Goodbye, campers, and Hi-de-hi!
0:27:51 > 0:27:53'Ho-de-ho!'
0:27:57 > 0:28:01- I've got one or two people arriving at seven o'clock.- Oh, Gawd!
0:28:08 > 0:28:10You use snobbery to great effect. Are you a snob at all?
0:28:10 > 0:28:14- He is, terribly.- Of course I'm not, absolute rubbish.- Dreadful snob.
0:28:14 > 0:28:16I shall serve the canapes
0:28:16 > 0:28:18from our three-tier Victorian petit fours stand.
0:28:18 > 0:28:21It'll be a little segment of gracious living
0:28:21 > 0:28:23in this dreadful, common place.
0:28:23 > 0:28:25I mean, I ask you, how many bombardiers
0:28:25 > 0:28:28in the Royal Artillery have got a degree in English literature?
0:28:28 > 0:28:30I ask you...
0:28:31 > 0:28:34..how many bombardiers have got a degree in English literature.
0:28:34 > 0:28:36None!
0:28:36 > 0:28:39I love it. It's a wonderful thing to play for comedy, great stuff.
0:28:39 > 0:28:41There's no chip on my shoulder, Wilson.
0:28:41 > 0:28:43I tell you what there is on my shoulder though -
0:28:43 > 0:28:45three pips, and don't you forget it.