0:00:02 > 0:00:05- GLOCKENSPIEL PLAYS - Hello, campers! Hi-de-Hi!
0:00:08 > 0:00:10- Don't tell him, Pike!- Pike!
0:00:14 > 0:00:17I met him, and he frightened me to death.
0:00:17 > 0:00:18I'm free!
0:00:19 > 0:00:25- He ruled with a rod of iron.- Did he! - A rod of iron, and a smile on his face.- Like a smiling viper.
0:00:31 > 0:00:32Good moaning!
0:00:36 > 0:00:37Shut up!
0:00:40 > 0:00:45And he would laugh on every run-through, right up to the day of transmission, he would still laugh.
0:00:47 > 0:00:50I remember someone saying to me, "Do you know what?
0:00:50 > 0:00:52I walked down my road and I could hear laughter in the street."
0:01:01 > 0:01:08David Croft, the man who wrote some of our best-loved TV comedies, has died at the age of 89.
0:01:08 > 0:01:12David Croft was a unique talent in the world of British comedy,
0:01:12 > 0:01:18not only co-writing, but producing and directing many of the greatest comedy series of the 20th century.
0:01:18 > 0:01:22- This is my wife, Edith. I have told her everything.- Will she talk?
0:01:22 > 0:01:23Incessantly.
0:01:23 > 0:01:29David Croft is a brand, you know. A Croft programme is a real quality brand,
0:01:29 > 0:01:34and you just guarantee if David Croft was producing, it was always going to be brilliant.
0:01:34 > 0:01:37David Croft sitcoms were a key part of my growing up.
0:01:37 > 0:01:42Looking back, it must have been so nice for my parents to have us
0:01:42 > 0:01:45all in the same room, probably crying with laughter, no doubt.
0:01:45 > 0:01:51David knew the business inside and out. Loved actors, actors loved him.
0:01:51 > 0:01:54He was like a conductor. He conducted the whole thing.
0:01:56 > 0:02:00Without him, nothing really would have happened.
0:02:00 > 0:02:05For the first time, we'll hear the audio tapes he made whilst working on the scripts.
0:02:05 > 0:02:10Ted joins Gladys. Ted into microphone. "Hello, campers! Welcome to Maplins. Hi-de-Hi!
0:02:11 > 0:02:15David Croft was born in 1922, into a showbusiness family.
0:02:15 > 0:02:20He inherited a love of entertainment from his parents, who performed together in the theatre.
0:02:21 > 0:02:24He literally was a sort of dressing room baby.
0:02:24 > 0:02:26Made his first appearance at the age of three,
0:02:26 > 0:02:30and from the moment he walked off, he said he was totally hooked.
0:02:30 > 0:02:35His mother was an amazing character, and very talented.
0:02:35 > 0:02:39She was the only woman ever that had a theatrical production company in the West End
0:02:39 > 0:02:42without a male partner or male equivalent.
0:02:42 > 0:02:45It was "Anne Croft presents..."
0:02:45 > 0:02:50His father, Reginald Sharland, was an actor and writer, who moved to Hollywood to pursue his career.
0:02:50 > 0:02:55David Croft followed the family tradition, and entered the world of entertainment.
0:02:55 > 0:02:59His path soon crossed with a man who would become a lifelong colleague and friend.
0:02:59 > 0:03:04When I first met David Croft, I was a ragged-arse actor.
0:03:05 > 0:03:11Ann, his wife, phoned me up, who was my agent, she said, "Oh, Jimmy,
0:03:11 > 0:03:15David's doing a new situation comedy called Beggar My Neighbour.
0:03:15 > 0:03:17And always so honest and trustworthy!
0:03:17 > 0:03:20Never nick no more than what you could carry under your coat!
0:03:22 > 0:03:28I did this scene where I came... "Hello, Sid! It's me, your brother George!"
0:03:28 > 0:03:31Here, what are you all ponced up for?
0:03:31 > 0:03:34Got a job as a waiter or something?
0:03:34 > 0:03:38Growing tired of small acting roles, Perry decided to try his hand at writing.
0:03:38 > 0:03:41And I thought, "I know what I'll do. I'll write a pilot."
0:03:41 > 0:03:46One day, he came in and he said to me,
0:03:46 > 0:03:50"I've got a script, I think it's got something."
0:03:50 > 0:03:52So I read it, and I thought, "Well, yes it has."
0:03:52 > 0:03:58Ann said to me, "Show it to David." He said, "Jimmy, it's great. Let's do it."
0:03:58 > 0:04:03# Who do you think you are kidding, Mr Hitler
0:04:03 > 0:04:06# If you think we're on the run? #
0:04:07 > 0:04:12None of us thought it was going to become a national treasure.
0:04:12 > 0:04:14It was just another comedy series.
0:04:14 > 0:04:17- Right, Pike, take off your tunic and wrap it round the pipes.- Why me?
0:04:17 > 0:04:20Because you're wet already. Go on.
0:04:20 > 0:04:22The magic ingredient was their casting.
0:04:22 > 0:04:25He's doomed! Doomed!
0:04:25 > 0:04:29I mean, the casting was absolutely brilliant in all of his shows.
0:04:29 > 0:04:32You know perfectly well you can be here all day while I'm busy at the bank.
0:04:32 > 0:04:36I'm sorry, Captain Mainwaring, but nothing is going to make me get up out of this chair, and that is that.
0:04:36 > 0:04:42RADIO PLAYS "God Save The King"
0:04:42 > 0:04:44David Croft used to cast people really well,
0:04:44 > 0:04:48in that you can't imagine anybody but the people that played
0:04:48 > 0:04:50all of those parts from all of those series playing it.
0:04:50 > 0:04:52RADIO PLAYS END OF "God Save The King"
0:04:54 > 0:04:58The thing about Dad's Army is that I think it's probably the most
0:04:58 > 0:05:05perfect example of writing and casting coming together.
0:05:05 > 0:05:08Come along, Godfrey! Godfrey, pick 'em up, pick 'em up!
0:05:08 > 0:05:11I'm afraid they won't go any higher!
0:05:11 > 0:05:13Although it's quite a big gallery of characters,
0:05:13 > 0:05:17every single one of those characterisations is pitch perfect.
0:05:17 > 0:05:19Sell your own grandmother, wouldn't you?
0:05:20 > 0:05:22Well, there's no market for her.
0:05:24 > 0:05:28If you were to think, "Oh, I'm going to start casting those characters,"
0:05:28 > 0:05:30you wouldn't want to swap them with anybody.
0:05:30 > 0:05:33- Eight against one!- No, it's only seven. I'm not feeling very well.
0:05:49 > 0:05:55We're talking about seven tough old pros.
0:05:55 > 0:05:59All of them had been there and not quite made it.
0:06:00 > 0:06:05And suddenly, they're stars. They've made it.
0:06:05 > 0:06:07Every time they stop in the street, "There he is!"
0:06:09 > 0:06:15And we were all working actors. Old John Laurie, he was a marvellous actor,
0:06:15 > 0:06:17and Ian Lavender's another wonderful actor.
0:06:17 > 0:06:21He was quite a young chap when we first started, Ian Lavender.
0:06:21 > 0:06:26To say they took me under their wings, collectively or even individually, not quite so.
0:06:26 > 0:06:28It was a bit of sink or swim.
0:06:28 > 0:06:32I remember David saying, "We thought we'd throw you in the deep end
0:06:32 > 0:06:36and see what happened," and he said, "You floated, it's all right!
0:06:39 > 0:06:40- Shut the door, Pike.- Yes, sir.
0:06:42 > 0:06:43From the other side!
0:06:45 > 0:06:47- You should have said!- Get out!
0:06:48 > 0:06:52And Croft had his own unique way of selecting the cast.
0:06:52 > 0:06:58He said, "I just want somebody who can shout and push other actors about a bit."
0:06:58 > 0:07:00What's going on here? I've never heard such a row!
0:07:00 > 0:07:05His wife, my agent, said, "Well, I've got somebody who,
0:07:05 > 0:07:09in fact, is not an actor.
0:07:09 > 0:07:12I'm not sure that he ever will be a great actor,
0:07:12 > 0:07:14but I think he's maybe what you want."
0:07:14 > 0:07:17Hey! Hey! If you think I'm hanging on here, you're mistaken.
0:07:17 > 0:07:22The first series we wrote more or less together,
0:07:22 > 0:07:28and then he'd got me to write some, and he wrote some, and a bit of a mess, actually.
0:07:28 > 0:07:34So we finally got to a situation, I said, "Dave, there's only one way to do this. Face-to-face."
0:07:34 > 0:07:39So we both wrote by hand with a lovely felt-tip pen, and then
0:07:39 > 0:07:44we'd have the rough script, and then we'd sit there, and then we'd act it.
0:07:44 > 0:07:48They showed it to an audience, as they always did, to test it,
0:07:48 > 0:07:52and it didn't go down very well, and some of the reports,
0:07:52 > 0:07:55because you used to write a report, and they came in.
0:07:55 > 0:07:57But as David ran his own little empire, in a way,
0:07:57 > 0:08:01when all the really bad reports came in saying comedy couldn't be made out of this,
0:08:01 > 0:08:06he managed to keep them in files that didn't get too high up the stand.
0:08:07 > 0:08:10He'd say, "There's only one thing to do with this."
0:08:12 > 0:08:14"Don't want that one."
0:08:14 > 0:08:19He said, "I knew that, given half a chance, it would succeed."
0:08:20 > 0:08:25All local defence volunteers to report to the church hall
0:08:25 > 0:08:27at six o'clock today!
0:08:29 > 0:08:30There you are.
0:08:30 > 0:08:34After the first series, Croft and Perry had to defend Dad's Army against those who said
0:08:34 > 0:08:38a comedy should not be made about Britain's Home Guard.
0:08:38 > 0:08:44Did the scriptwriters make such a serious national crisis too funny to be even vaguely true?
0:08:44 > 0:08:48Well, we've had one or two ideas which we thought were too way out.
0:08:48 > 0:08:52You see, when we started this thing, I think we just regarded it as a comedy show,
0:08:52 > 0:08:54but as you get into it, as soon as we started writing it properly,
0:08:54 > 0:09:00we realised it was much more than this, because there's a wonderful spirit in those days.
0:09:00 > 0:09:03These men really would have, they would have died,
0:09:03 > 0:09:05and as soon as you get into that sort of dimension,
0:09:05 > 0:09:08then you can't go too far into the realms of comedy,
0:09:08 > 0:09:10you've got to keep it with its feet on the ground.
0:09:10 > 0:09:14This sympathetic and understated approach could be seen throughout Croft's work.
0:09:15 > 0:09:20He was quite a shy man, and he wasn't one for being openly effusive,
0:09:20 > 0:09:23that's left to Jimmy Perry, basically. I think that's probably why they were such a good team.
0:09:23 > 0:09:29He was a very private man, but he was a very caring and loving man.
0:09:29 > 0:09:31He cared deeply about what he did.
0:09:31 > 0:09:35I never saw him once lose his temper. He was always very calm.
0:09:35 > 0:09:36He was an observer.
0:09:38 > 0:09:39He would sit at dinner parties.
0:09:39 > 0:09:44When he did come out with a line, it was often very witty, very funny and very pertinent,
0:09:44 > 0:09:46but mostly he watched people.
0:09:46 > 0:09:48I look at it this way, sir.
0:09:48 > 0:09:53Now, although Sergeant Wilson has got three stripes on his honourable arm,
0:09:53 > 0:09:55you've got three pips on your common shoulder.
0:09:57 > 0:10:01To me, their series were always about class.
0:10:01 > 0:10:05Class and snobbery, yes, the conflict, yes, that's where
0:10:05 > 0:10:08it springs from, they found that, I mean, we see it all the way through.
0:10:08 > 0:10:15It reminds me of the time when I was at school, and we used to have midnight feasts in the dorm.
0:10:15 > 0:10:16Really?
0:10:17 > 0:10:21School I went to, we didn't have any midnight feasts.
0:10:21 > 0:10:25You had to manage with a few aniseed balls in the corner of the playground.
0:10:25 > 0:10:28Status within their series was a really key thing.
0:10:28 > 0:10:33In Dad's Army it was that you had a bank manager and his assistant who were in charge,
0:10:33 > 0:10:37and there was an issue there, because the assistant came from a higher class.
0:10:37 > 0:10:41You needn't think you can roll in here 20 minutes late after lunch. Where have you been?
0:10:41 > 0:10:44Well, I went up to the golf club and had a bite to eat up there.
0:10:44 > 0:10:48- The golf club?- Yes.- Who took you? - Well, I'm a member.
0:10:50 > 0:10:52I've been trying for years to get in there.
0:10:52 > 0:10:55I believe they're awfully particular.
0:10:57 > 0:11:03I don't think, when they wrote it, Jimmy Perry and David Croft passed any judgements on anybody.
0:11:03 > 0:11:07They just laid out what I think was a very accurate landscape
0:11:07 > 0:11:11of how the class system works.
0:11:11 > 0:11:14Now, don't start any of that public school cheating with me.
0:11:15 > 0:11:20One of the things that he did really well
0:11:20 > 0:11:27is the ability to use understatement where a little goes a very long way.
0:11:31 > 0:11:33CAPTAIN MAINWARING COUGHS
0:11:35 > 0:11:40He was a marvellous director and producer. He was really first-class.
0:11:40 > 0:11:45He'd say, "When you do that, just give a pause there and you'll get a bigger laugh.
0:11:46 > 0:11:47He was right.
0:11:47 > 0:11:51- Here we go!- No, no, no, no! Oh, no, that's only cardboard!
0:12:00 > 0:12:03There is a war on, you know!
0:12:03 > 0:12:08He would just smile and nod his head, and you knew he was pleased,
0:12:08 > 0:12:13and if he was pleased, you'd know you'd achieved something.
0:12:13 > 0:12:16You'd always try and say, "David, I've got an idea, I've got a suggestion here,"
0:12:16 > 0:12:20and he'd say, "Yeah, yeah." I said, "Can I just try something?"
0:12:20 > 0:12:22And he'd say, "Yeah, of course, Melvyn. Show me, show me."
0:12:22 > 0:12:26And I would do it, and he'd say, "That's very funny! I like it.
0:12:26 > 0:12:28Save it for panto."
0:12:28 > 0:12:34You'd try something in rehearsals, and flick a look to David,
0:12:34 > 0:12:37just to see what his reaction was, and he'd just go...
0:12:40 > 0:12:41Or...
0:12:42 > 0:12:43And that was it.
0:12:43 > 0:12:45I was just going to give the order...
0:12:47 > 0:12:49I was just going to...
0:12:49 > 0:12:52- What's the matter, Corporal? - I think I'm going, sir.
0:12:56 > 0:13:00- I hear angels' voices.- Those are no angels' voices, it's the choir!
0:13:02 > 0:13:08The most interesting thing about David and Jimmy's writing
0:13:08 > 0:13:15was the juxtaposition of comedy with tragedy.
0:13:15 > 0:13:16Elizabeth?
0:13:18 > 0:13:21You've taken a long time to answer, dear. Where have you been?
0:13:21 > 0:13:22Oh, I see.
0:13:24 > 0:13:26- She's been down in the air raid shelter.- Ah.
0:13:28 > 0:13:31I might have a little surprise for you tonight.
0:13:34 > 0:13:35No, no, I've bought...
0:13:37 > 0:13:41Jimmy and David had the knack of, how shall I put it?
0:13:41 > 0:13:45Using broad strokes, poster paints, and then becoming very delicate.
0:13:45 > 0:13:46Pastels, as it were.
0:13:46 > 0:13:48I... I don't want you to go.
0:13:49 > 0:13:52The whole pattern of my life has changed, I just live from one meeting to the next.
0:13:52 > 0:13:56I know, and I'm just the same, but it's the only thing to do.
0:13:56 > 0:13:59- People are talking.- People always talk. Who cares about that?
0:13:59 > 0:14:02- But there's your wife. - Nobody'll talk to her.
0:14:05 > 0:14:11It managed to, you know, be quite silly, very funny,
0:14:11 > 0:14:18very nuanced in some of the characterisations, but also rather...
0:14:18 > 0:14:24..well, the word I want to use is beautiful, which is that they could sometimes achieve
0:14:24 > 0:14:27levels of poignancy and drama within an episode.
0:14:27 > 0:14:30- Don't get that train. - George, I must.
0:14:30 > 0:14:35I implore you, don't get that train. Look, we'll meet once a week.
0:14:35 > 0:14:39George, you're making this very difficult for me, but I've made up my mind. It's the only way.
0:14:39 > 0:14:43- Victoria, Victoria train! - Here's my train.
0:14:43 > 0:14:47Look, Fiona. I've never begged anything from anyone in my life, but I'm begging you not to go.
0:14:47 > 0:14:51You get this terribly touching,
0:14:51 > 0:14:57poignant window into the unhappiness of Mainwaring's marriage, really,
0:14:57 > 0:15:03and he knows that nothing can happen, and it's all beautifully executed.
0:15:03 > 0:15:07- Where can I get in touch with you? - You won't be able to.
0:15:07 > 0:15:10- You'll write, won't you?- I don't know. After a little while, perhaps.
0:15:10 > 0:15:11Stand clear, sir.
0:15:12 > 0:15:15And pull those blinds down!
0:15:15 > 0:15:17Promise you'll write.
0:15:17 > 0:15:18Very well. I promise.
0:15:18 > 0:15:19WHISTLE
0:15:22 > 0:15:24- Make it soon.- Goodbye, George.
0:15:24 > 0:15:26TRAIN PULLS AWAY
0:15:30 > 0:15:36All good comedy is truthful, no matter how silly it is, or apparently silly,
0:15:36 > 0:15:41it's trying to get at some universal truth, and that's why, when it's good, it has so much power.
0:15:41 > 0:15:43We'll stick together, you can rely on that.
0:15:44 > 0:15:48If anybody tries to take our homes or our freedom away from us, they'll find out what we can do.
0:15:48 > 0:15:49We'll fight.
0:15:50 > 0:15:54You could sense it was the writers nodding their acknowledgement
0:15:54 > 0:16:00towards the fact that the whole thing had been triggered by the experiences
0:16:00 > 0:16:04of real men in the war, and I thought that was really effective.
0:16:04 > 0:16:06To Britain's Home Guard.
0:16:08 > 0:16:10ALL: To Britain's Home Guard!
0:16:13 > 0:16:15It's quality stuff. It's timeless stuff.
0:16:15 > 0:16:17You stupid boy.
0:16:17 > 0:16:19Don't panic! Don't panic!
0:16:19 > 0:16:22The fact that Dad's Army is, that millions still watch it,
0:16:22 > 0:16:23says something.
0:16:23 > 0:16:26- I am an officer.- Yes, quite, Sir, yes.- You're supposed to be an NCO.
0:16:26 > 0:16:29- Yes, of course, yes.- Right. Very well. Remember...
0:16:31 > 0:16:35Every Saturday, it's on. I'll be in later in the week.
0:16:38 > 0:16:40My grandchildren, they love it.
0:16:40 > 0:16:42Even when I'm not in it!
0:16:45 > 0:16:51And it was real life again that inspired Croft's first hit series with writing partner Jeremy Lloyd.
0:16:53 > 0:16:57MUSIC: "Porcelain" by Moby
0:17:05 > 0:17:07I had the idea for Are You Being Served?
0:17:07 > 0:17:10because I'd slaved away for three years at Simpson's in Piccadilly,
0:17:10 > 0:17:12which was a big gentleman's outfitters.
0:17:12 > 0:17:16The people, actually, that we created in Are You Being Served?
0:17:16 > 0:17:18were all types of people that I'd worked with.
0:17:18 > 0:17:20Oh, that does suit you!
0:17:22 > 0:17:24Oh, that does suit you!
0:17:27 > 0:17:29Oh, that does suit you!
0:17:29 > 0:17:33We had a chat, and we had lunch, and I'd already written four or five pages,
0:17:33 > 0:17:36which he read and said, "Well, let's do it."
0:17:36 > 0:17:39And Lucas, while you're down there, straighten those seams.
0:17:39 > 0:17:43- I hate to see crooked seams.- Yes, Mr Peacock.- Hm?- Captain Peacock.
0:17:53 > 0:17:55Aaaah!
0:17:55 > 0:17:59David actually had a marvellous idea, which I hadn't had,
0:17:59 > 0:18:03which was that the ladies' and gentlemen's departments should be put together,
0:18:03 > 0:18:08so there'd be a lot of conflict, and that was the actual nub of the show,
0:18:08 > 0:18:11and it worked marvellously, and the pecking order worked marvellously.
0:18:11 > 0:18:15I have been deeply distressed to learn of a slump in our sales
0:18:15 > 0:18:18over the past four weeks, which I'm sure you've all observed.
0:18:18 > 0:18:20Yes, I have observed it. Haven't you, Mr Grainger?
0:18:20 > 0:18:23Oh, a very definite slump, I would say.
0:18:23 > 0:18:25- Have you observed it, Mr Humphries? - Oh, I've observed it, Mr Grainger.
0:18:25 > 0:18:29- You observed it, too, didn't you? - Oh, yes, definitely!
0:18:29 > 0:18:34In order to do situation comedy, or perhaps almost any comedy,
0:18:34 > 0:18:36you need to have a situation in which there are rules.
0:18:38 > 0:18:43Mr Grainger returned from lunch, 14:03.
0:18:43 > 0:18:45Would you sign, please?
0:18:48 > 0:18:52I'm sorry, Captain Peacock, but I must refuse to sign your book.
0:18:54 > 0:18:59These rules, then, are in danger of being broken, and from that arises most of the comedy.
0:18:59 > 0:19:01That's a brandy for Mr Grainger.
0:19:02 > 0:19:05Well done, Mr Grainger. The way you stood up to him.
0:19:05 > 0:19:08We shall always remember you for that, Mr Grainger, when you've gone.
0:19:11 > 0:19:17The doubles entendres, the double meanings were an essential part of it.
0:19:17 > 0:19:21And, sometimes, they were so outrageous that when we did
0:19:21 > 0:19:25the read-through we'd say, "We can't say that, we'll all be arrested!"
0:19:25 > 0:19:29At seven o'clock tonight, my pussy's expecting to see a friendly face!
0:19:29 > 0:19:34I personally think that Mrs Slocombe's pussy is the funniest joke ever written in any medium,
0:19:34 > 0:19:38and I can watch it any number of times and never be bored and never stop laughing.
0:19:38 > 0:19:41I never have any trouble in getting up in the morning.
0:19:41 > 0:19:43My pussy's just like an alarm clock.
0:19:45 > 0:19:48David would say, "Look, you do it as though you haven't
0:19:48 > 0:19:52the slightest idea that there is any double meaning at all,
0:19:52 > 0:19:56so it's done completely innocently, and no one will mind."
0:19:56 > 0:19:59I think, looking back now, were my parents thinking,
0:19:59 > 0:20:03"Oh, some of those innuendos, are they getting them?" There must be a bit of that.
0:20:03 > 0:20:06I certainly didn't get any of them, I don't think.
0:20:06 > 0:20:10Trousers are at a complete standstill.
0:20:10 > 0:20:13You're lucky to get your tape up once a day.
0:20:13 > 0:20:17It was how you deciphered it. If you thought it was rude, that was...
0:20:17 > 0:20:19Or, it could have been totally innocent.
0:20:19 > 0:20:22Whatever has happened to the central heating in here?
0:20:22 > 0:20:25My ballpoint'll never function in this weather.
0:20:25 > 0:20:30The key in the writing was that they can't get out of their scenario.
0:20:30 > 0:20:35It's very limiting, but it means you've got to really focus on the jokes.
0:20:35 > 0:20:39You've got to focus on getting laughs, because there's not much else you can do with it.
0:20:39 > 0:20:42Mmmm! She's a healthy girl, isn't she?
0:20:44 > 0:20:47Miss Brahms, get out the 44s.
0:20:49 > 0:20:51The Kilimanjaro range.
0:20:51 > 0:20:57My favourite character in that was always young Mr Grace.
0:20:57 > 0:21:00You've all done very well!
0:21:02 > 0:21:04I just never tired of that.
0:21:04 > 0:21:06And again, "You're all doing very well"
0:21:06 > 0:21:10just became a phrase that we used whenever it was prompted.
0:21:10 > 0:21:13You've all done very well!
0:21:13 > 0:21:15ALL: Thank you, Mr Grace!
0:21:15 > 0:21:20There isn't hardly ever a time, somebody did some research on this, actually,
0:21:20 > 0:21:25when an episode of Are You Being Served? isn't being shown on some station, somewhere.
0:21:25 > 0:21:29Ho, ho, ho, little boy! Have I got a surprise for you!
0:21:37 > 0:21:40Some company sent us in a book, which was a quiz of Are You Being Served?
0:21:40 > 0:21:46Penny, my daughter, was saying, "Oh, Dad, what was Mrs so-and-so's maiden name before she got married?"
0:21:48 > 0:21:51"Er, urm, can't remember at the moment,"
0:21:51 > 0:21:55he said, and they couldn't answer half the questions that came out,
0:21:55 > 0:21:59and said, "My goodness, people do really listen!"
0:21:59 > 0:22:02I said, "Well, you've always said that!"
0:22:02 > 0:22:06MASTERMIND THEME MUSIC
0:22:09 > 0:22:12It Ain't Half Hot Mum, in two minutes, starting now.
0:22:12 > 0:22:14Which character uses the expression, "it ain't half hot, Mum",
0:22:14 > 0:22:16when writing home during the first episode?
0:22:16 > 0:22:17- Gunner Parkin.- Correct.
0:22:17 > 0:22:19In the seventh series, Captain Ashworth's given
0:22:19 > 0:22:21an experimental anti-malarial drug by mistake.
0:22:21 > 0:22:24- What effect does it have on him?- His skull grows through his hair.
0:22:24 > 0:22:26Yeah, he loses his hair.
0:22:26 > 0:22:28When Bombardier Beaumont kicks the Sergeant Major, what punishment
0:22:28 > 0:22:30does he receive from the Colonel?
0:22:30 > 0:22:33- He can't play Ginger Rogers again.- No, he can't.
0:22:33 > 0:22:35- You enjoying your tea, Gunner? - Yes, thank you.
0:22:35 > 0:22:36What the hell's going on?!
0:22:36 > 0:22:42If anybody says to me, "What's your favourite?" Without a doubt, it's Ain't Half Hot Mum.
0:22:45 > 0:22:48# Meet the gang, cos the boys are here
0:22:48 > 0:22:51# The boys to entertain you! #
0:22:51 > 0:22:54Jimmy actually ran a concert party.
0:22:54 > 0:23:00We'd left India just a few days before India got its independence.
0:23:00 > 0:23:03Of course, that's why I've got all these stories!
0:23:06 > 0:23:11David spent most of the war not doing anything very theatrical,
0:23:11 > 0:23:15although he was involved with a concert party when he was in India.
0:23:15 > 0:23:18They always wrote from their own experiences, basically.
0:23:18 > 0:23:22They took reality and stretched it.
0:23:22 > 0:23:27The train will be back for us just before 18:00 hours, so, Bombardier, do not make it a long show.
0:23:27 > 0:23:29You can rely on me, Sergeant Major!
0:23:29 > 0:23:33The only thing I can rely on you for, Bombardier, is to ponce about.
0:23:33 > 0:23:39It Ain't Half Hot Mum was a concert party out in the jungle,
0:23:39 > 0:23:42right, playing to nobody, maybe two or three people,
0:23:42 > 0:23:46two officers who think they were wonderful, wonderful artists,
0:23:46 > 0:23:50a Sergeant Major who just wants to get these men as men, up there fighting.
0:23:50 > 0:23:54Leave yourself alone, Bombardier, or I will make you wear boxing gloves.
0:23:58 > 0:23:59Pay attention, lovely boys.
0:23:59 > 0:24:03This is the hottest time of the year, but we are not going to give in.
0:24:06 > 0:24:09We can fight it.
0:24:11 > 0:24:17It's really very, very, very difficult to write big, ensemble comedy, you know,
0:24:17 > 0:24:21to keep each character's plate spinning on a stick.
0:24:21 > 0:24:24Your university education won't do you much good up there, will it?
0:24:25 > 0:24:29- No, Sergeant Major. - "No, Sergeant Major!"
0:24:29 > 0:24:34The intellect that is able to cope with all those different people,
0:24:34 > 0:24:40perhaps as many as 15 people in the cast, and still keep all the threads going
0:24:40 > 0:24:42and keep true to all the characters is extraordinary.
0:24:42 > 0:24:46I'm afraid there's nothing else for it. Things are getting very desperate.
0:24:46 > 0:24:49We'll have to break into the cocktail snacks.
0:24:49 > 0:24:52- Surely not, sir!- Yes, I'm afraid so.
0:24:52 > 0:24:55He was very good at creating brilliant characters, and then all you have to do
0:24:55 > 0:25:00is stick different ones in the room, and they kind of talk to themselves, in a way, in the writer's mind.
0:25:00 > 0:25:02Coo-ee!
0:25:05 > 0:25:07I think he heard me.
0:25:07 > 0:25:11He's got them all together there, so you can bounce off each other,
0:25:11 > 0:25:15and as a group comedy, it works marvellously well. They were masters at it.
0:25:15 > 0:25:19Sir? Guess what the thermometer's reading.
0:25:19 > 0:25:21Something light? Agatha Christie?
0:25:23 > 0:25:26David had the ability to gather a group of characters together
0:25:26 > 0:25:28who wouldn't normally want to be in the same room with each other,
0:25:28 > 0:25:31and from that, create this marvellous comedy.
0:25:31 > 0:25:34Let me go out there and win them with my personality!
0:25:36 > 0:25:41I think that a lot of David's comedy was very broad and,
0:25:41 > 0:25:44you might say, silly, farcical, ludicrous, in some ways,
0:25:44 > 0:25:46like out of the dressing up box.
0:25:56 > 0:26:01Gloria, bless him, I mean, you know, as far as he's concerned, life is wonderful, life is showbusiness.
0:26:01 > 0:26:06I'm meant to be a girl in an English garden, not Tarzan in the jungle!
0:26:08 > 0:26:12After about four weeks, David said to me, "We're going to find it very difficult to write for you."
0:26:12 > 0:26:17I said, "Why is that?" He said, "You're playing it very effeminately, very camp."
0:26:17 > 0:26:19I said, "Just a minute, David.
0:26:20 > 0:26:26Gloria is a feminine name, wears a wig, lots of make-up and dresses.
0:26:26 > 0:26:28How else can I play it?"
0:26:28 > 0:26:33And he went, "Yeah, I see what you mean. Mmm, carry on, then!"
0:26:33 > 0:26:39Listen to that! They're shouting "We want Gloria!" My public are clamouring for me!
0:26:39 > 0:26:44David used to say to the make-up artists, "Let the boys do their own camp make-ups."
0:26:45 > 0:26:48So you got these lads, Chris and Michael, all the lads,
0:26:48 > 0:26:51and they'd put these terrible make-ups on with the big lipstick.
0:26:51 > 0:26:54AUDIENCE LAUGHTER DROWNS OUT SINGING
0:26:57 > 0:27:00That's how soldiers would have done it.
0:27:00 > 0:27:04AUDIENCE LAUGHTER DROWNS OUT SINGING
0:27:09 > 0:27:14Shut up! This is all your fault, Gunner Sugden! Shut up!
0:27:16 > 0:27:20He wrote the part of Sergeant Major Williams
0:27:20 > 0:27:24as a standard cockney Sergeant Major.
0:27:24 > 0:27:28"Left, right, left, right!" But we were wrong.
0:27:28 > 0:27:32Windsor came in to read the part, and he's Welsh,
0:27:32 > 0:27:36and he read it in cockney, and I said, "That's wrong. Would you read it in Welsh?"
0:27:36 > 0:27:41And he read it in Welsh, and that's where the whole thing started.
0:27:41 > 0:27:43He played it for reality.
0:27:43 > 0:27:46Fix bayonets!
0:27:46 > 0:27:51I loved working with Windsor. He was a warm, generous man.
0:27:53 > 0:27:58So concentrated, he'd be the Sergeant Major all the time on the set.
0:27:58 > 0:28:00Right, Johnny.
0:28:00 > 0:28:03SERGEANT MAJOR SPEAKS URDU
0:28:03 > 0:28:06Sergeant Major Williams Sahib, Gunner Parkin Sahib.
0:28:06 > 0:28:09Who do you damn well think you're talking to?
0:28:15 > 0:28:17SERGEANT MAJOR SPEAKS URDU
0:28:17 > 0:28:21Why don't you talk to me in English, in which I am articulate?
0:28:21 > 0:28:24Otherwise I would not be able to hold up this occupation.
0:28:24 > 0:28:27I am Grade 2, not some damn native.
0:28:29 > 0:28:34The faces he pulled when he was angry, or when he was happy,
0:28:34 > 0:28:37he was just amazingly good.
0:28:37 > 0:28:41HE SPEAKS URDU
0:28:41 > 0:28:44One cup of heavenly, enchanted tea coming up.
0:28:46 > 0:28:48Sergeant Major, Sir.
0:28:49 > 0:28:52In a minute, my lovely.
0:28:52 > 0:28:56The decision to cast a white actor, Michael Bates, in the part of the Bearer,
0:28:56 > 0:28:59would lead to the series running into controversy.
0:28:59 > 0:29:03Somebody said it was racist, and one of the reasons it was racist
0:29:03 > 0:29:09was because Michael Bates was white and was playing an Indian character.
0:29:09 > 0:29:13# Moonlight becomes you... #
0:29:13 > 0:29:14HE SINGS IN URDU
0:29:17 > 0:29:22Michael spoke fluent Urdu, and was educated in India until he was 16.
0:29:22 > 0:29:26Knowing David and Jimmy the way I do,
0:29:26 > 0:29:30I don't think they would do anything that was racist.
0:29:30 > 0:29:34A lot of David's work is of its time, and the attitudes of its time.
0:29:34 > 0:29:39I had too much to drink last night. Oh, I've got such terrible pullover!
0:29:41 > 0:29:46I think the notion of It Ain't Half Hot Mum being politically incorrect
0:29:46 > 0:29:49is definitely a retrospective notion.
0:29:49 > 0:29:54Sergeant Major Sahib swore me to complete secrecy, so I will tell only you.
0:29:54 > 0:29:59We did watch it as a family, and really enjoyed it.
0:29:59 > 0:30:02I don't want this fellow to hear, because he is Nosey Parker!
0:30:04 > 0:30:08HE SPEAKS URDU
0:30:08 > 0:30:09Nosey Parker!
0:30:09 > 0:30:11If I say you are Nosey Parker, you are Nosey Parker!
0:30:13 > 0:30:14Oh, shut up!
0:30:15 > 0:30:22And the fact that you had three regular Indian characters on television
0:30:22 > 0:30:27who were involved, they weren't the butt of the joke all the time,
0:30:27 > 0:30:32they weren't there to be lampooned, they weren't on the periphery of the programme,
0:30:32 > 0:30:37they were very much a part of it, was incredibly, kind of, exciting
0:30:37 > 0:30:42and reassuring for us as British Asian viewers.
0:30:42 > 0:30:47And what could be nicer than a glass of pure water from the heavens above?
0:30:47 > 0:30:49HE SPEAKS URDU
0:30:49 > 0:30:51..glass of beer.
0:30:51 > 0:30:54Sit up straight when you are punkah-ing!
0:30:54 > 0:30:57Equally, it was making fun of the British Army.
0:31:00 > 0:31:05One of the most respected elements of our society, of this country.
0:31:05 > 0:31:07They may even have slipped something into the chai.
0:31:09 > 0:31:11So no one must drink the tea until...
0:31:14 > 0:31:17- Are you all right, Ashworth? - Yes, I think so, sir.
0:31:17 > 0:31:19Well, that's all right, then. You can drink the tea, chaps.
0:31:21 > 0:31:26- Oh, my Godfathers! - Good God! Is he...?
0:31:26 > 0:31:28I went to sit down and there wasn't a chair there!
0:31:36 > 0:31:41Croft and Perry went to great lengths to make the locations look as realistic as possible.
0:31:45 > 0:31:49Everyone thought we filmed in India, but in actual fact it was in Norfolk,
0:31:49 > 0:31:54and the desert scenes were shot in a huge sandpit, which they tricked out
0:31:54 > 0:31:59with palms and things, and the jungle itself was woods or forest nearby,
0:31:59 > 0:32:06in which they imported, so they told me at the time, £500,000 worth of foreign or exotic plants,
0:32:06 > 0:32:10and planted them among the trees, and it gave the impression of India.
0:32:10 > 0:32:13The greatest thing we've got going for us is that sweat.
0:32:13 > 0:32:15Everybody used to say, "Where did that...?"
0:32:15 > 0:32:18It was bottles of glycerin mixed with water,
0:32:18 > 0:32:21and before every shot it would be under the arms, over the face.
0:32:21 > 0:32:24Stop scratching yourself, Sugden!
0:32:24 > 0:32:29I can't help it, Sergeant Major. I've got prickly heat. I'm covered in little bumps.
0:32:29 > 0:32:33As far as I is concerned, Sugden, you is one big little bump, now shut up!
0:32:33 > 0:32:37Normally, first day at rehearsals, you do the line, everybody would laugh.
0:32:37 > 0:32:40Crew, everybody would laugh, thinking, "That's very funny!"
0:32:40 > 0:32:43Second time, nobody laughs because they've seen it, except David.
0:32:43 > 0:32:48David would laugh, and he would laugh on every run through, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday,
0:32:48 > 0:32:53Thursday, Friday, right up to the day of transmission, he would still laugh.
0:32:53 > 0:32:57Though he'd seen it 20 times, he would still find it amusing, and that's very encouraging.
0:32:57 > 0:33:01So, each time we rehearsed it, you know, this is good, this is what he wants.
0:33:01 > 0:33:07It say: "They are caught like rats in trap."
0:33:07 > 0:33:10That's it. I knew it. We should never have come here alone!
0:33:10 > 0:33:12They should have sent some soldiers with us!
0:33:12 > 0:33:17The better the sitcom, the fewer the actual jokes.
0:33:17 > 0:33:20It's all about the interaction of the people.
0:33:20 > 0:33:24The strongest material has to emanate from character.
0:33:24 > 0:33:28And it was the characters that Croft and Perry had themselves encountered
0:33:28 > 0:33:30who formed the basis for the next series.
0:33:30 > 0:33:34The characters in Hi-de-Hi! were archetypal.
0:33:34 > 0:33:39The Punch and Judy man that hated kids, and I'm sure that happened.
0:33:39 > 0:33:42And now, your kiddies' entertainer, Uncle Willy!
0:33:43 > 0:33:45Get out the way. Get out the way!
0:33:48 > 0:33:54The dancers, who were just wonderful, you know, that thought themselves a cut above everybody else,
0:33:54 > 0:33:58and used to bring their own wallpaper and pin it up.
0:33:58 > 0:34:03A little higher, Barry. The stalk's not quite lined up with the flower.
0:34:03 > 0:34:06It's happened before, dear, it'll happen again.
0:34:08 > 0:34:12So all these characters were based on real people.
0:34:12 > 0:34:17Everyone that David and Jimmy cast, whatever it was, they were a failure.
0:34:19 > 0:34:21Hello, campers. Hi-de-Hi!
0:34:21 > 0:34:23ALL: Ho-de-Ho!
0:34:23 > 0:34:26The heroism comes in the fact that they all keep going.
0:34:26 > 0:34:28Jeffrey can't hear you. Hi-de-Hi!
0:34:28 > 0:34:30ALL: Ho-de-ho!
0:34:30 > 0:34:33Give me strength!
0:34:33 > 0:34:37Most of them were never going to make anything in a million years, but you know what?
0:34:37 > 0:34:40They all had hope given to them.
0:34:40 > 0:34:43When that entertainments director comes down, could you get me an interview?
0:34:43 > 0:34:46You know, about being a Yellowcoat. You did promise.
0:34:46 > 0:34:50- Well, I said I'd try. He's a very busy man.- Oh, please, do your best!
0:34:50 > 0:34:54- Of course I will, Peggy. - Oh, bless you! You're a lovely man!
0:34:54 > 0:34:56Well, thank you.
0:34:56 > 0:34:59They portrayed that life can be difficult,
0:34:59 > 0:35:01and it's sometimes like wading through treacle,
0:35:01 > 0:35:04and you sat back and go, "Good, it's not just me."
0:35:04 > 0:35:05What happened?
0:35:05 > 0:35:08What happened? It were a bloody disaster!
0:35:09 > 0:35:13- What are you talking about? It can't have been!- You see these two feet?
0:35:13 > 0:35:15I died on them tonight.
0:35:15 > 0:35:19- That's the success of their shows. - That's right, it was always putting people together.
0:35:19 > 0:35:20It went for the underdog.
0:35:20 > 0:35:25I'm terribly sorry about all this, Peggy. Are you all right?
0:35:25 > 0:35:28I think I'm getting the hang of it! Can we do it again?
0:35:28 > 0:35:33All I remember is just waiting, every week,
0:35:33 > 0:35:37for Ruth to go ding-ding-ding!
0:35:37 > 0:35:38GLOCKENSPIEL PLAYS
0:35:38 > 0:35:43Hello, campers! Hi-de-Hi!
0:35:43 > 0:35:46CAMPERS: Ho-de-Ho!
0:35:46 > 0:35:47Oh!
0:35:48 > 0:35:55What a hot day it's been, and what a lot of fun we've all had in the Olympic-size swimming pool.
0:35:55 > 0:35:59I couldn't get enough of her flirting with Simon Cadell.
0:35:59 > 0:36:04Thinking about it, David Croft probably had a very strange effect
0:36:04 > 0:36:08on my learnings of romance, as a boarding school girl,
0:36:08 > 0:36:14so I would have learned about unrequited love from Simon Cadell and Ruth Madoc.
0:36:15 > 0:36:17Morning, Jeffrey.
0:36:17 > 0:36:19MUSIC: "Someone Like You" by Adele
0:36:21 > 0:36:23Beautiful.
0:36:27 > 0:36:31If you give out a little more, you'd be surprised what you get back in return.
0:36:33 > 0:36:40That quivering, unfulfilled romance between Ruth Madoc's character
0:36:40 > 0:36:43and Simon Cadell's manager.
0:36:43 > 0:36:48There's so much of you that doesn't show on the surface.
0:36:48 > 0:36:54A lovely, exquisitely-teased out, comic, tragic romance.
0:36:54 > 0:36:59If only he'd take notice of her in the right way,
0:36:59 > 0:37:01and he never did, God love him.
0:37:07 > 0:37:11Croft and Perry found their own unique way of developing the storylines.
0:37:11 > 0:37:14We worked out this sort of technique,
0:37:14 > 0:37:19so we used to write it very rough, and then we'd act it.
0:37:20 > 0:37:25They enjoyed it, because they'd get all their acting, their bits of wanting to act
0:37:25 > 0:37:27out of their system, didn't it, really?
0:37:27 > 0:37:32We'd put it on one of those little mini recorders, and just listen to it.
0:37:32 > 0:37:36Ted into microphone. "Hello, campers! Welcome to Maplins.
0:37:36 > 0:37:40"Hi-de-Hi!" Gladys. "Go on, Yellowcoats. Get amongst 'em!"
0:37:40 > 0:37:43Yellowcoats move in amongst the campers getting off the coach.
0:37:43 > 0:37:46Ted continues into the microphone. "I'm Ted Bovis...
0:37:46 > 0:37:49..your camp host. If you want to know anything, don't ask me.
0:37:49 > 0:37:51Make your way to reception and sign in,
0:37:51 > 0:37:54and the Yellowcoats will help you to your chalet.
0:37:54 > 0:37:57Hello, Mrs Evans! Back again? Lovely to see you, darling!
0:37:57 > 0:38:03- They did every voice.- Yeah.- If it was Peggy, "Oh, no, not Miss Cathcart!"
0:38:03 > 0:38:06If it were Ted, "Spike, what are you doing, lad? Come here!"
0:38:06 > 0:38:09But he used to tell us sometimes, in rehearsals, how they did it,
0:38:09 > 0:38:14and I'd say, "None of us sound like that! You're terrible actors!"
0:38:14 > 0:38:18Cut to Gladys. "Oh, no, not him!" She hurries away.
0:38:18 > 0:38:24Spike sees her reaction. Spike. "What's the matter? Where are you going, Gladys?" He follows.
0:38:24 > 0:38:28Cut to Ted for more of his announcements.
0:38:28 > 0:38:32You back again? I thought we drowned you last year! Never mind, we'll soon fix that!
0:38:32 > 0:38:35They knew what they wanted to hear on that screen.
0:38:35 > 0:38:37They have the time of their lives writing Hi-de-Hi!
0:38:37 > 0:38:39They used to fall off their chairs laughing!
0:38:39 > 0:38:43I received a letter from Joe Maplin this morning.
0:38:43 > 0:38:46I don't know about you, but I really do enjoy reading these letters,
0:38:46 > 0:38:51because Joe writes as he thinks, and they really are sincere.
0:38:52 > 0:38:53Get this into your thick heads.
0:38:55 > 0:38:58That's the letter, it's not me.
0:38:59 > 0:39:03I suppose, David Croft comedy, they are unique.
0:39:03 > 0:39:07They're, sort of, I think it's theatre on television, really.
0:39:07 > 0:39:10They're just productions, really camp, theatrical,
0:39:10 > 0:39:13ensemble productions that you just don't get now.
0:39:13 > 0:39:15- Tie Gladys to the stake. - Just doing that.
0:39:17 > 0:39:21Well there's no need to put so tight, it's only pretend.
0:39:21 > 0:39:24It's got to be tight. Virgins have to struggle for their honour.
0:39:24 > 0:39:26I'm surprised you can remember that far back.
0:39:28 > 0:39:33People absolutely loved, they absolutely loved the physical aspect of their comedy.
0:39:33 > 0:39:36Visual jokes were a very strong vein,
0:39:36 > 0:39:40and you can see them in Hi-de-Hi! with the pantomime horse.
0:39:40 > 0:39:42Will you sign for this, please?
0:39:51 > 0:39:55When I was given the reins of the real horse to hold, because I was in the front of the pantomime horse,
0:39:55 > 0:40:02this horse took a shine to me, and it started doing what horses do, blowing its nose at my nose.
0:40:07 > 0:40:11- What am I going to do with it? - It'll have to live in the stable!
0:40:11 > 0:40:14Oh, blimey! We'll take the shortcut along the beach.
0:40:23 > 0:40:26That's what put Hi-de-Hi! on the map, that scene.
0:40:31 > 0:40:38It's what he was so brilliant at, is that he had the combination of the massive laughs,
0:40:38 > 0:40:40and this delicacy.
0:40:40 > 0:40:45His great thing about a character, he didn't want them to be one-dimensional.
0:40:47 > 0:40:50I'm sorry to bother you, Mr Fairbrother.
0:40:50 > 0:40:54I just wanted to thank you for getting me that interview with the Entertainments Director.
0:40:55 > 0:41:00I did ever so well. Oh, he was nice, he talked to me just like a father.
0:41:01 > 0:41:05He said I was to carry on trying, and working hard at me job,
0:41:05 > 0:41:09and he keep a special eye on me, and later in the season he'd let me know.
0:41:11 > 0:41:15I think he wanted to convey that, certainly the characters in Hi-de-Hi!,
0:41:15 > 0:41:19you know, they're all trying to make a better life for themselves in whichever way they knew.
0:41:19 > 0:41:24He managed to write characters with such, not only broad brush strokes
0:41:24 > 0:41:28that we understood why they were funny, but such detail,
0:41:28 > 0:41:31so he just had the right combination, I don't know how he did it.
0:41:33 > 0:41:36I just want you to know, I'm not going to give up.
0:41:36 > 0:41:41I'll keep on trying, and I'll be wearing that yellow coat one day, you'll see.
0:41:41 > 0:41:42Hi-de-Hi.
0:41:43 > 0:41:45ALL: Ho-de-Ho.
0:41:45 > 0:41:47APPLAUSE
0:41:47 > 0:41:52David always wanted a reality about his work, insofar as he wanted you to be sincere,
0:41:52 > 0:41:57and he said it doesn't really matter, even if you think, "Oh, God, this is laying this on a bit thick."
0:41:57 > 0:42:02He said, "No, if you're in that situation, and you know that character well enough,
0:42:02 > 0:42:08that's what I want. I want you to never be afraid to bring a tear to somebody's eye."
0:42:12 > 0:42:17Croft and Perry weren't afraid to bring successful series to a close.
0:42:17 > 0:42:20But it wasn't always easy for the writers.
0:42:20 > 0:42:24The worst one, for the last episode, was Hi-de-Hi!
0:42:24 > 0:42:28Well, that's it, folks. It's the last night of the season.
0:42:28 > 0:42:30AUDIENCE GROAN
0:42:30 > 0:42:32We all hope you've had a wonderful holiday.
0:42:32 > 0:42:34AUDIENCE: Yes!
0:42:34 > 0:42:36Because we've had a wonderful time entertaining you.
0:42:36 > 0:42:42There was a huge sadness, and I will never forget singing
0:42:42 > 0:42:47Goodnight Campers for the last time in the Hawaiian ballroom.
0:42:47 > 0:42:50Let's all join in with a good old farewell song...
0:42:51 > 0:42:53that is being sung at this very moment...
0:42:55 > 0:42:58in Maplins holiday camps all over the country.
0:42:58 > 0:43:05It was so poignant, and there were real tears from us,
0:43:05 > 0:43:11from Su Pollard and myself. I daren't look at Pollard!
0:43:11 > 0:43:14# Goodnight, campers
0:43:14 > 0:43:18# See you in the morning. #
0:43:18 > 0:43:21- Everybody was in floods of tears. - It was, true.
0:43:21 > 0:43:23Because it was a very, very emotional ending to that last one.
0:43:23 > 0:43:26- Yes, it was.- That was the manner of the man. He knew his job.
0:43:26 > 0:43:30It was a long time, and we were a great family, really,
0:43:30 > 0:43:33and we just went, "Oh, well, this is it, then."
0:43:33 > 0:43:35You know, it was really very poignant.
0:43:35 > 0:43:42Oh, Ted! It's been just wonderful. I did it! I got me yellow coat!
0:43:43 > 0:43:46I'll remember this week for the rest of me life!
0:43:50 > 0:43:55# Goodnight! #
0:44:12 > 0:44:15Hi-de-Hi!
0:44:18 > 0:44:24And the whole audience were in tears. They just sat there. I said, "Thank you, everyone."
0:44:25 > 0:44:30And a woman said, "Have we got to go, now?" Great moments.
0:44:33 > 0:44:37David and Jimmy are very hot on using people from their various other sitcoms,
0:44:37 > 0:44:39if they felt they married up.
0:44:39 > 0:44:42And the next series would bring together some familiar faces.
0:44:44 > 0:44:48You Rang, M'Lord? was certainly our favourite of the three shows we did together, I think.
0:44:48 > 0:44:52You Rang, M'Lord?, David and I thought it was the best.
0:44:52 > 0:44:55Where are you going to find the £73 7/6 you owe her?
0:44:55 > 0:44:56I've got the 7/6.
0:44:59 > 0:45:02It was certainly David's favourite show of all.
0:45:02 > 0:45:04He said he thought it was part of the best of his work.
0:45:04 > 0:45:08- What was it David said about it? The jewel in his crown? - The jewel in his crown.
0:45:08 > 0:45:14This was given to me by my father on my 21st birthday, for being a good girl.
0:45:15 > 0:45:21And that was given to me by the Turkish ambassador, for not being a good girl.
0:45:23 > 0:45:25It was very similar to Upstairs, Downstairs, with laughs.
0:45:25 > 0:45:32They were very, very interested in putting social comment underneath the comedy.
0:45:32 > 0:45:35I don't suppose you've been in a room like this very often.
0:45:35 > 0:45:40No, your Lordship. Not since I done the grate this morning.
0:45:40 > 0:45:43It has a lot of comment about exactly the changing of the world,
0:45:43 > 0:45:49and how things developed majorly in the '20s and '30s.
0:45:50 > 0:45:54Beautiful, you're wonderful, with your shiny, scrubbed face,
0:45:54 > 0:45:56and those glasses with the thumbprints on them!
0:45:56 > 0:45:57Give over!
0:45:59 > 0:46:04Teddy was great fun to play. People still come up to me and say, "carbolic soap",
0:46:04 > 0:46:08and "smudgy glasses", and things.
0:46:08 > 0:46:10Oh, I loved it, because it was outrageous, really.
0:46:10 > 0:46:16- Why do you go in for servants? - I don't know. It just comes over me.
0:46:17 > 0:46:22I find myself creeping up the attic stairs, my heart pounding,
0:46:22 > 0:46:26then I push open the door, and there's the smell of carbolic soap.
0:46:28 > 0:46:34Oh, the production values on You Rang, M'Lord? were marvellous, I mean, like a feature film, almost.
0:46:34 > 0:46:40Every piece of furniture, the cutlery, the glasses, everything, even down to the cigars we smoked.
0:46:40 > 0:46:44I like the period altogether, the cloche hats, the beautiful '20s coats.
0:46:45 > 0:46:49It was just, you were transported into another world.
0:46:49 > 0:46:53Surrounded by beautiful props and wearing lovely costumes.
0:46:53 > 0:46:56And all real, by the way. There was nothing fake.
0:47:00 > 0:47:03They had them watched, 24 hours a day.
0:47:03 > 0:47:07David used to say it cost a fortune to hire the props.
0:47:07 > 0:47:08Chocks away!
0:47:08 > 0:47:11- Is that right?- Hold on to your hat!
0:47:12 > 0:47:18The clever thing about all David's programmes is that they're set in the past, so that they never date.
0:47:18 > 0:47:20They're already in the past.
0:47:20 > 0:47:26And it was a historical event that inspired another hit series for David Croft and Jeremy Lloyd.
0:47:26 > 0:47:29Here comes that idiot Englishman who thinks he can speak our language.
0:47:29 > 0:47:36Crabtree. Good moaning. Rene. Good moaning. Crabtree. Do you want the good nose or the bad nose?
0:47:38 > 0:47:40Oh, do let us have the good nose!
0:47:40 > 0:47:45I have hushed up the shutting of the two tits.
0:47:49 > 0:47:50What does Crabtree say, Yvette?
0:47:50 > 0:47:53He has hushed up the shooting of the two tarts.
0:47:53 > 0:47:59You could hear them in the room, going, "Ha, ha, ha! Ho, ho, ho!"
0:47:59 > 0:48:04The laughter that was coming out... "You can't say that." "I think we can!"
0:48:05 > 0:48:09Stand by for inspection by General von Klinkerhoffen. Hans.
0:48:09 > 0:48:12General von Klinkerhoffen! Colonel. General von Klinkerhoffen! Michelle.
0:48:12 > 0:48:17There is a gun in your back. If you give us away, you will be the first to die.
0:48:17 > 0:48:21You will do exactly as I say. Rene. Now listen very carefully...
0:48:21 > 0:48:24..I will say this only once.
0:48:24 > 0:48:28It was quite bold of David and Jeremy
0:48:28 > 0:48:32to put a series together called 'Allo 'Allo!,
0:48:32 > 0:48:37set in France, occupied by the Germans.
0:48:37 > 0:48:42It was quite heavily criticised at the time for taking the Mickey out of all these brave people.
0:48:42 > 0:48:49David said, "But we don't send up anyone in particular," he said. "We send up everyone."
0:48:49 > 0:48:53"The Germans are kinky, the French are randy and the English are stupid."
0:48:53 > 0:48:55Hello!
0:48:57 > 0:49:02The phone rang, and it was my agent, and she said, "I've just been on the telephone
0:49:02 > 0:49:06for nearly three-quarters of an hour with David Croft,
0:49:06 > 0:49:11and he's got this idea for a new series, a new comedy series."
0:49:11 > 0:49:16"He's eager to have you in it, Gorden, and he's sending the script."
0:49:16 > 0:49:21I started to read it, and I was laughing about a third of the way down.
0:49:21 > 0:49:27I thought, "This is funny. It's not one of my lines, it's just a description of what's going on."
0:49:28 > 0:49:31And, eventually, I got through it, and I thought,
0:49:31 > 0:49:36"I've got to ring agent up and say yes please, with knobs on."
0:49:36 > 0:49:40Otto Flick, the Gestapo officer, is having dinner in the back room.
0:49:40 > 0:49:43Upstairs are two German officers in their underwear,
0:49:43 > 0:49:48because I have borrowed their uniforms to help two British airmen to escape.
0:49:48 > 0:49:52The pianist over there is in fact a forger for the Maquis,
0:49:52 > 0:49:55and the German officer at that table fancies me.
0:49:57 > 0:50:00And it is only Tuesday!
0:50:00 > 0:50:05You shouldn't be laughing at it, because it breaks all the rules of political correctness,
0:50:05 > 0:50:08but at the end of the day, it's full of joy and delight.
0:50:08 > 0:50:10Is the secret camera operating correctly?
0:50:10 > 0:50:12I will demonstrate, Colonel!
0:50:14 > 0:50:16OWL HOOTS
0:50:18 > 0:50:25No, I wasn't the only one in the piece that wondered if we would get away with lines like these.
0:50:25 > 0:50:28I have three fallen Madonnas, with six pink boobies.
0:50:30 > 0:50:33We were very lucky getting Gorden Kaye,
0:50:33 > 0:50:38who was from Huddersfield, who does the most marvellous French accent.
0:50:38 > 0:50:41I expect you would like a light.
0:50:41 > 0:50:42Thank you, you're very kind.
0:50:44 > 0:50:46I have no matches.
0:50:50 > 0:50:52Then why do you ask me if I would like a light?
0:50:53 > 0:50:55I'm very sorry.
0:50:57 > 0:51:02If you have no matches, if you have no matches, take mine.
0:51:02 > 0:51:06- I have a spare box. - Are you one of them?
0:51:09 > 0:51:13Really, it was very lonely on the Russian Front.
0:51:16 > 0:51:21Jeremy and David wrote so that you laughed out loud.
0:51:21 > 0:51:25Even if you didn't want to laugh, you laughed.
0:51:25 > 0:51:28The scripts were beautiful, and we all knew where the laughs were.
0:51:42 > 0:51:45Er, do you have a light?
0:51:47 > 0:51:49What do you want a light for? I just lit it.
0:51:51 > 0:51:55I don't want a light, I just wondered if he had a light.
0:51:57 > 0:51:59I have no matches.
0:52:00 > 0:52:03I've just given you some matches!
0:52:07 > 0:52:10These are your matches, they're not my matches!
0:52:14 > 0:52:17- Is he one of us? - No, he's one of them!
0:52:17 > 0:52:19Please, don't tell everybody!
0:52:20 > 0:52:25David had a wonderful brain for construction of shows,
0:52:25 > 0:52:29what was funny, how to put it all together.
0:52:29 > 0:52:33Scripts, when they came for new series, I would read them and I'd think,
0:52:33 > 0:52:36"Oh, I can't wait for so-and-so to say that line,"
0:52:36 > 0:52:39because I knew exactly how they would do it,
0:52:39 > 0:52:43and therefore David and Jeremy themselves obviously knew how they would do it.
0:52:43 > 0:52:47- Listen very carefully. I shall say this only once.- I beg your pardon?
0:52:49 > 0:52:54It's so clever if you've got a character that people can engage in so much,
0:52:54 > 0:53:00and be interested in enough to just have quite simple catchphrases
0:53:00 > 0:53:04and find them so funny and want to see them every week.
0:53:04 > 0:53:06It is I, LeClerc.
0:53:06 > 0:53:09It's only when somebody says it and it gets a laugh,
0:53:09 > 0:53:15and then they say it again the next week and it gets a laugh, it then becomes a catchphrase.
0:53:15 > 0:53:19I think people liked the knowledge that somebody's going to do it, and then enjoy it when they do.
0:53:19 > 0:53:21You stupid woman!
0:53:22 > 0:53:27The catchphrases, probably, that stick are the ones which
0:53:27 > 0:53:31coincide perfectly with the character, in some way.
0:53:31 > 0:53:34Oh, Rene!
0:53:34 > 0:53:37It was David's idea, which I also thought was brilliant,
0:53:37 > 0:53:41to have the English arriving not speaking French,
0:53:41 > 0:53:44the French not understanding them, but everybody speaking English.
0:53:44 > 0:53:49Go and find us a table where we will be alone. I have a little English, I will explain.
0:53:51 > 0:53:54OK, chaps. Follow the boss.
0:53:54 > 0:53:56Oh, good God! She speaks English!
0:53:56 > 0:54:00The French seem to be able to understand the Germans
0:54:00 > 0:54:03and vice versa, but nobody understood the English.
0:54:03 > 0:54:05Are you expecting us, by any chance?
0:54:06 > 0:54:09- What does he say? - I don't know, I don't speak English.
0:54:09 > 0:54:15David Croft himself used to say, "It's a can of worms, don't go there, you know."
0:54:17 > 0:54:23These are the rules, you know, don't go too deep into that, but it's working so far!
0:54:23 > 0:54:25I say, is anyone down there?
0:54:25 > 0:54:30Oh, my God! Not another stupid English man!
0:54:30 > 0:54:34I'll never forget David walking into the studio rehearsals one day,
0:54:34 > 0:54:36and saying to me, I think, halfway through the first series,
0:54:36 > 0:54:42saying to me, "I've had the most brilliant idea! I've had a brilliant idea last night!"
0:54:43 > 0:54:50He said, "I'm bringing in an English policeman who can't speak French."
0:54:50 > 0:54:56I just, basically, wanted to see the policeman, who was hilarious.
0:54:56 > 0:54:58Good moaning.
0:54:58 > 0:55:03At school, I mean, we never not said "Good moaning".
0:55:03 > 0:55:06That's what we'd say, good moaning. It was just a catchphrase for us all.
0:55:08 > 0:55:11I was pissing by the door...
0:55:11 > 0:55:13AUDIENCE LAUGH
0:55:17 > 0:55:18..when I heard two shats.
0:55:19 > 0:55:21It had kind of gone to my head a bit.
0:55:21 > 0:55:25David came up to me and said, "Yes, yes, we'll do that again,
0:55:25 > 0:55:29and this time, don't come in knowing you're going to be funny."
0:55:30 > 0:55:32Which is actually devastating!
0:55:35 > 0:55:36Good moaning.
0:55:38 > 0:55:42And I think it's probably the best note I've ever been given in my whole career.
0:55:42 > 0:55:44I've never forgotten it, I never will forget it.
0:55:44 > 0:55:48- You bear a most remarkably close resemblance to Rene.- I know.
0:55:50 > 0:55:55- You even have the same pretty rings. - Ah, yes, yes. He left them to me.
0:55:55 > 0:56:02Now I come to look, your eyelashes are a little longer, and your hands are more artistic.
0:56:03 > 0:56:07The Colonel told me you arrived from Nancy this morning.
0:56:07 > 0:56:10- Yes, yes, quite right. - Is that where you and Rene were born?
0:56:10 > 0:56:12Yes, we were both Nancy boys.
0:56:20 > 0:56:25It's a wonderful thing to know that I worked with one of the great,
0:56:25 > 0:56:28one of the greats of our profession.
0:56:28 > 0:56:34He gave something to British comedy that is like a treasure chest.
0:56:34 > 0:56:37MUSIC: "Run" by Snow Patrol
0:56:47 > 0:56:52They don't come like David any more. Those sort of writers are gone.
0:56:53 > 0:56:55So sad, in a way.
0:56:55 > 0:56:59He was a great mentor, and you couldn't want for anybody better, could you?
0:56:59 > 0:57:04I'm so grateful to him for the laughs, and all that he's done for the genre that I love so much.
0:57:04 > 0:57:05What have we got here?
0:57:07 > 0:57:09Is it a mushroom?
0:57:09 > 0:57:14His work was injected with a sense of fun, I think, as well.
0:57:14 > 0:57:16A kind of optimism.
0:57:16 > 0:57:20They can put 20 bombs down my trousers, and they will not make me crack!
0:57:22 > 0:57:26He wasn't just liked by everyone that worked with him,
0:57:26 > 0:57:27he was loved by everyone that worked with him.
0:57:27 > 0:57:32This man, Croft, had a knack for making people smile.
0:57:32 > 0:57:34Plenty of room under the arms for movement.
0:57:34 > 0:57:37I get quite carried away when I put one of...aaaah!
0:57:39 > 0:57:41You don't argue with somebody who's got
0:57:41 > 0:57:45a list of successes like he has, over the years.
0:57:47 > 0:57:53He had a very good ear and a very good eye. I was very, very lucky to meet him.
0:57:53 > 0:57:56I screamed and screamed, but nobody came.
0:57:56 > 0:57:59We thought you were singing.
0:57:59 > 0:58:05I'd like to say this as a tribute to David, because he was so easy.
0:58:05 > 0:58:10We never had a row. He knew it all. Can you say that about somebody?
0:58:44 > 0:58:47Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:58:47 > 0:58:50E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk