Welcome to 1959, campers: Hi-De-Hi!
Published: Sunday 9th July 2023
As the Eighties dawned, British television viewers embarked on a unique holiday experience that was destined to last for the best part of a decade. The location? A branch of Maplins holiday camps, located in Crimpton-on-Sea in Essex. The time? The entire eight-year run takes place across just two summer holiday seasons, of 1959 and 1960.
For this was the world of Hi-De-Hi!. Across eight series and 58 episodes, Jimmy Perry and David Croft's sitcom enlivened our evenings as we watched the likes of Ted Bovis, Gladys Pugh, Peggy Ollerenshaw and an assorted small army of Yellowcoats keep the camp afloat on our screens from 1980 to 1988.
If, as is often said, that the past is a different country, then Hi-De-Hi! might as well have been on a completely different planet. Although only set in a time only just over twenty years before it was first broadcast (had they been real people, it is all too easy to imagine older versions of most of the show's characters tuning in to watch it for themselves), Hi-De-Hi! whisked audiences back to a time before Beatlemania and the sexual revolution and, more pertinently, before the economic and industrial upheavals of the Seventies and Eighties.
The nostalgic mood was established early with a title sequence incorporating archive newsreel footage of Harold Macmillan, communist leaders Khruschev and Castro, and celebrities of the time such as Laika, the Soviet space dog, and a young Elvis Presley. Holiday Rock, the show's infectiously catchy rock-and-roll theme tune written by Jimmy Perry, may as well have been sung by Maplins' own Entertainment Manager, Ted Bovis (Paul Shane). In fact, the vocals were supplied by Ken Barrie, the man soon to be cast as the voice of Postman Pat. In point of fact, a version of the theme tune with Paul Shane leading the vocals was released in 1981, achieving top forty success after a performance by the cast on popular children's game show, Cheggers Plays Pop.
The real story of Hi-De-Hi! began not in 1980 or 1959, however, but just after the war when writer Jimmy Perry had himself worked as a Redcoat at Butlin's camps located in Filey and Pwllheli. Thirty years later, he still retained fond memories of post-war holiday camp life: he had relished compering talent shows alongside such staples as the Ugliest Face and Knobbly Knees competitions. Later, he was promoted to camp producer. Sometimes he would shout "Oompa lumpah!" prompting an enthusiastic "Stick it up your jumper!" response from the crowd. Sometimes the cry was different. "Hi-de-hi!" Perry would shout meaninglessly. "Ho-de-ho!" the crowd would always roar back.
By the end of the 1970s, Perry and his writing partner, David Croft had already mined many aspects of Perry's past life with great success. His youthful experiences in the Home Guard had already helped inspire top sitcom Dad's Army (1968-77) while his time running the Royal Artillery Concert Party in India formed the basis for It Ain't Half Hot Mum (1974-81). Now he hoped to do the same thing again, with Croft drawing upon his own experiences of producing revues in holiday camps during the same period.
Butlin's themselves refused to participate in the project as they were actively seeking to abandon their old-style holiday camp image by this point. Hi-De-Hi! would instead be filmed at a Warner holiday camp at Dovercourt, near Harwich, Essex, which according to Perry, writing in his autobiography, had "just the right frayed at the edges look". Maplins, the Yellowcoats entertainment team and the camp's fictional unseen all-powerful founder Joe Maplin were all invented out of thin air, as was Crimpton-on-Sea (perhaps a similar resort to the equally fictitious Walmington-on-Sea, the setting of Dad's Army?) The action was updated from the late 1940s austerity period of Perry's Butlin's experience to the "Never had it so good" era at the turn of the Sixties, providing a welcome contrast to early Eighties news headlines about rising unemployment, inner-city rioting and economic recession.
A sense of dissatisfaction with the modern world was not, of course, unique to the Eighties. Indeed, in the pilot episode of Hi-De-Hi!, aired on New Year's Day 1980, one character reflects ruefully on the state of the nation in 1959: "We've lost the Empire, Eden's gone and hordes of teddy-bear boys are tearing up cinema seats." she laments. She was Mrs Fairbrother (Joyce Grant) and as the pilot opens she is trying to prevent her son Jeffery (Simon Cadell) from abandoning his old life as a professor of archaeology amidst the gleaming spires of Cambridge, in favour of a radical change of career: becoming Entertainment Manager at Maplins. Although clearly a horrendous snob, his mother is essentially right. Jeffery Fairbrother, a generally reserved, upper-class academic who has clearly never been anywhere near an all-in holiday camp in his life, is clearly, hopelessly, hilariously ill-suited to the life of swimming pools and knobbly knees contests that make up day-to-day camp life. He is nevertheless determined to press on. "I'm in a rut, Mother," he argues. "My wife's left me. She says I'm boring. My students fall asleep in lectures...I was dozing too. But now I've woken up!"
The key to Jeffery Fairbrother's character is that he is, in Jimmy Perry's words "embarrassed by everything". He is embarrassed to introduce popular camp events such as the "Who's Wearing The Wrong Trousers?"; he is embarrassed by the unrelenting ardour of chief Yellowcoat Gladys Pugh's obvious passionate personal devotion to him; he is also embarrassed to read out loud occasional corrective instructions from camp director, Joe Maplin. Although - in the glorious tradition of overbearing sitcom monsters - we never see more Maplin on screen, we quickly learn that he is a much blunter, plainer-speaking man than the academic Fairbrother. "Use your loaf son, or you'll end up back at that school" (i.e. Cambridge University) Fairbrother reads, after an ill-advised attempt to introduce the music of Shostakovich to a wider audience within the camp. We later learn that Joe Maplin's autobiography is entitled How I Done It.
Simon Cadell (who would tragically die aged just 45 in 1996) was perfect in the role of Jeffery Fairbrother. He appeared throughout the first four series, eventually leaving to be replaced by Squadron Leader Clive Dempster (David Griffin) at the start of Series 6 - that point also marking the series' turn from autumn 1959 into the following spring and the start of the 1960 holiday season. Although equally posh, Clive was in many ways the polar opposite of the nervous Jeffery: a dashing, roguish, spendthrift bachelor and war hero who had never really adjusted to civilian life in the years since. Clive quickly replaced Jeffery as the new object of Gladys's affections.
With very few prominent female characters appearing in Croft and Perry's most famous early sitcoms, it is pleasing to see Hi-De-Hi! has at least two: chalet maid Peggy and Chief Yellowcoat, Gladys Pugh. Hopelessly besotted with both of her bosses, Gladys (Ruth Madoc) is trapped, having remained at Maplins far longer than she ever intended. Drunk on the small amount power her position has granted her, she resents the youth and beauty of the other Yellowcoats (particularly Sylvia, played by Nikki Kelly, who Gladys emphasises "has been here for donkey's years") and guards the regimes of Jeffery and Clive jealously.
Gladys's other function is to be the public voice of the camp, speaking through the Maplins public address system (dubbed 'Radio Maplins'), providing campers with information about the latest round of Kiddie's Fancy Dress or bingo in the Hawaiian ballroom and sometimes even singing them a song (whether they like it or not) in her distinctive Welsh lilt. Gladys's voice is often the one we hear from first, her trademark greeting "Hello campers!" always foreshadowed by the customary "bing bong bing" emitted from her glockenspiel. "We've got a fun-packed programme this afternoon," reads one typical announcement. "Two o'clock: Glamorous grandmothers. Half past three: Mr Universe by the Olympic Swimming Pool." Another announcement extols the virtues of Maplins' own "cordon blue" chef who, as a special treat on Italian night, will be cooking a meal of "spaghetti and chips".
Gladys is also a constant thorn in the side of Peggy, the daffy, fun-loving chalet maid who dreams of enjoying the life of a Yellowcoat just as fervently as many actual Yellowcoats dream of escaping it. The role of Peggy provided the perfect vehicle for actress Su Pollard, propelling her into a brief pop music career and lifelong household name status.
Then there's Ted Bovis (Paul Shane), ageing teddy boy and camp host. Ted resents Fairbrother - who he regards as "a toffee-nosed, posh-voiced, upper-class twit" - and later Clive, feeling the position of Entertainment Manager rightly belongs to him. Yet, in truth, though he doesn't know or appreciate it, Ted has already found his perfect niche in life. Although he dreams of better things (a glorious comedy career on radio or TV perhaps), his position allows him free rein to operate as many scams and dubious sidelines as he can get away with - not to mention, as is often hinted at, taking advantage of willing female holidaymakers! Though a popular host, Ted is clearly too corrupt to be promoted to Entertainment Manager and not a good enough comic to ever find success anywhere else; his crude comedy routines such as 'Famous People on the Toilet' doomed to fall flat anywhere outside the confines of the wilful joy-seeking environs of holidaymaking.
The pilot, incidentally, features Ted referring to an audition he had just attended for a new TV show based in Manchester "about a lot of people living in this mucky street. Apparently I'm dead right for it". This was an in-joke: Shane, who in fact had a similar background to Ted, had been recruited after writer Jimmy Perry saw him playing Frank Roper in an episode of Coronation Street in 1979.
Ted shares a chalet with Spike (Jeffrey Holland), a young, aspiring comedian who sees Ted as his mentor. Always eager to dress up as a cowboy, caveman, octopus or pantomime horse to entertain the campers, Spike's routines often end in disaster. It is all too easy to imagine that in twenty years Spike might find himself in a similar career cul-de-sac to the one Ted is in now.
The rest of the camp staff are peopled by an assorted range of wannabes, has-beens and never weres. Some, like Mr Partridge (Leslie Dwyer), the grumpy, boozy Punch and Judy man who hates children are, like Fairbrother, fundamentally unsuited to their jobs. Others, such as ex-jockey and riding instructor Fred Quilley (Felix Bowness) have a shady past, while unhappily married onetime ballroom dancing champions Yvonne and Barry Stuart-Hargreaves (Diane Holland and Barry Howard) are desperately snobby and have only been forced to endure the indignity of Maplins employment out of pure financial desperation.
All of which makes Hi-De-Hi! sound a lot more melancholy than it actually is. In truth, Jimmy Perry was keen to shed light on a bygone era. In an age in which foreign holidays were increasingly the norm, he was keen to celebrate a vanishing era of British holidays in which "Flush Your Granny Down The Loo" contests and spaghetti-eating competitions were the norm. As with It Ain't Half Hot Mum and later American sitcoms such as The Larry Sanders Show and 30 Rock, Hi-De-Hi! revealed how the behind-the-scenes antics involved in producing comedy can often provide a rich source of humour in themselves.
Despite the upheaval of Simon Cadell's replacement by David Griffin at the start of the fifth series, Hi-De-Hi! remained hugely popular across Britain and also enjoyed two successful live stage productions, playing at venues in from Blackpool to London and Bournemouth to Aberdeen. The seventh series would prove to be the penultimate outing for the show and saw a few late cast changes, both for sad reasons.
Firstly, it saw the camp thrown into a minor crisis by the news that ballroom dancer Barry had unexpectedly done a bunk, fleeing years of marital disharmony with Yvonne. This slightly mysterious development (which prompted Yvonne to retreat into a sulk in her chalet for several days) had in fact been prompted by actor Barry Howard's departure from the cast due to his growing alcoholism. This proved a golden opportunity for actor Ben Aris, who had appeared briefly in Series 4 as Yvonne's old flame, Julian Dalrymple-Sykes, who had filled in as Yvonne's dance partner when Barry was rendered temporarily incapable due to back problems. Julian now stepped into Barry's dancing shoes permanently, assuming the role of Yvonne's professional partner for the rest of the show's run. Aris could never replicate Barry Howard's unique capacity for delivering pithy, cutting, bitchy remarks or peevish sulky looks, but both character and performance were in every other respect a perfect replacement.
In a perhaps unlikely development, the camp also welcomed new children's entertainment manager Sammy Morris following the death of veteran actor Leslie Dwyer (puppeteer Mr Partridge) in 1986. Now fallen on hard times and living a semi-tramp-like existence, Morris had been a colleague of Joe Maplin's during the war, and was now employed at the camp under his orders.
Played by veteran Carry On star Kenneth Connor, Connor's late-life role as Sammy ran parallel to his time appearing as undertaker Monsieur Alfonse in 'Allo 'Allo!, another period sitcom hit from David Croft (in partnership with Jeremy Lloyd).
By the time Hi-De-Hi! ended, the show had featured appearances by John Le Mesurier, David Troughton, John Fortune, Gillian Taylforth, Bill Pertwee, Ballard Berkeley and Frank Williams. It had been an immediate success, remaining popular until its final episode, in 1988.
Indeed, such was its success that the breakout trio - Paul Shane, Jeffery Holland and Su Pollard - reunited in Croft and Perry's final two period comedies, You Rang M'Lord? (1988-93) and Oh Doctor Beeching! (1995-97); and with the exception of Kenneth Connor all of the regular cast remain more famous for being in Hi-De-Hi! than for anything else.
Today the sitcom remains highly watchable. Many years have passed now since Su Pollard bellowed her emotional "Hi-de-hi!" for the final time, but the series is a much-treasured relic of a now-vanished golden age of British situation comedy.
Where to start?
Series 1, Episode 1 - Desire In The Mickey Mouse Grotto
The first four series of Hi-De-Hi! are quite traditionally episodic, with only a loose arc uniting the storylines; this reverses with Series 5, a stronger, soap-like continuity taking over. We'd therefore normally recommend beginning with the pilot as it introduces the premise and all the regular cast (along with an aspiring singer called Matty Storm, played by Richard Cottan, who did not make it into the regular series).
However, whilst all the ingredients were there from the start, you may wish to skip straight to the Series 1 premiere, Desire In The Mickey Mouse Grotto, which first aired in February 1981, just over a year later: like many sitcoms, Hi-De-Hi! works best when the situation is already fully established.
Help us publish more great content by becoming a BCG Supporter. You'll be backing our mission to champion, celebrate and promote British comedy in all its forms: past, present and future.
We understand times are tough, but if you believe in the power of laughter we'd be honoured to have you join us. Advertising doesn't cover our costs, so every single donation matters and is put to good use. Thank you.
Love comedy? Find out moreHi-De-Hi! - The Complete Collection
Welcome to Maplin's, Britain's favourite holiday camp, where the sun-drenched summer never ends. Here we find our heroic Yellowcoats involved in all kinds of jolly japes and comic capers, in the chalets, in the Hawaiian Ballroom and all around the Olympic-sized swimming pool. So roll up your trousers and get those knobbly knees out, it's time for a complete season of fun and frolics - come on campers, Hi-De-Hi!
First released: Sunday 22nd September 2013
DVD DVD- Released: Monday 2nd November 2015
- Distributor: Universal Pictures
- Region: 2
- Discs: 13
- Catalogue: 8306268
Buy and sell old and new items
Search for this product on eBay
BCG may earn commission on sales generated through the links above.
- Distributor: Universal Playback
- Region: 2
- Discs: 13
- Catalogue: 8296552
Buy and sell old and new items
Search for this product on eBay
BCG may earn commission on sales generated through the links above.
Hi-De-Hi! - Companion
This long awaited book coincides with the 30th anniversary of the popular and award winning BBC sitcom, Hi-De-Hi! by Jimmy Perry and David Croft - writers of Dad's Army and It Ain't Half Hot Mum.
Written with full co-operation from the writers and cast members, this full colour book begins with an overview of the holiday camp movement before charting the history of the programme with many anecdotes from those who made and appeared in it.
Many of the images included are from personal collections and have never been seen before.
Cast biographies are included along with a complete episodes guide. Other chapters deal with costumes, the stage musical, behind the scenes and locations to name a few.
It doesn't end there. This is TWO books in one.
Flip the book over and you have a volume on You Rang, M'Lord?. This was Jimmy Perry and David Croft's last series, and by far the most sumptuous.
Based on an Edwardian household the show ran for four series before being pulled by the BBC. Running at 50 minutes, each episode was given time to develop.
The You Rang, M'Lord? section covers all aspects of the series, with many never before seen photographs of the cast and behind the scenes images.
No Hi-De-Hi! or Perry and Croft fan should be without this book.
First published: Sunday 1st November 2009
- Publisher: The Dad's Army Appreciation Society
- Catalogue: 978-0954770211
Buy and sell old and new items
Search for this product on eBay
BCG may earn commission on sales generated through the links above.