davoshannon
I have Series 1 to 7 on DVD, and while I've seen all of the Porridge series, I haven't even got to Dad's Army yet. That says something for the farce style quality of 'Allo 'Allo.While the series tailed off at the end it's great to see how the cast settle in over the first 3. By the time they got to "Gateaux in the Château" in Series 3 all the characters had developed their style and the budget was obviously improving.The script by David Croft is, and the entire cast are, superb. But in particular I fully agree with comments on Jack Haig ("can you never underplay anything?" - Rene at the bridge before the insane handover of the famous picture in the knockwuerst), and of course Sam Kelly. His portrayal of Capt. Hans Geering was sublime, and the series deteriorated when he left.Kirsten Cooke occasionally showed a wonderful leg - if you watch carefully, but, for me, Francesca Gonshaw (as waitress Maria Recamier in the earlier series) was totally captivating. Watch when she's in the background of a scene, and not spitting lines; stunning face.Strangely she left the series and never seemed to do TV or Film again. I hope she's happy at whatever she's at.I'm watching the scene in the prisoner of war camp as I write this. Rene is jumping from a roof onto a see-saw to propel Hans over the fence - part of the fun is that the entire cast were obviously having a ball doing this.Timeless classic.
winstonfg
...I just wish the comedy had lived lived up to it. Unfortunately, a potentially wonderful situation becomes mainly a pastiche of bedroom farce, slapstick and cross-dressing humour, liberally sprinkled with that doyenne of old-tyme British comedy: the walk-on line. Only one of them ("Good moaning") was even remotely funny, but after you've heard it for the fiftieth time even it becomes tedious.As a farce, it's passable, and the excellent cast plays it with lots of energy; but the writing seems old-fashioned (David Croft was already in his sixties when the show started) and in the end it sticks in my mind as a wasted opportunity for all that undoubted talent. 5/10.
Tevfik Erhat
I agree with most of the previous comments, except for the opinion expressed by Ian Witham, sorry about that. I've seen a great number of episodes when it was run by the BBC before 1990. The situations and the characters made me laugh right from the start. And I remember that, during a journey in London, I went to the Palladium Theater (more precisely on December 31, 1989) to see the stage performance of "Allo, Allo" by René and his fellow actors. I love this sitcom. I already have the series 1 to 4 on DVD. Actually, my only concern is to know when the following series (from 5 to 9) are going to be released. Does anybody can answer ? Or help me to find out sort of an answer ? Thinks weary mooch...
Lady_Gruber
Hans says "TLER" but not because the actor refused to say "Heil Hitler"....if you go to a site called "cafe Rene" in the FAQ section there is an answer written about Sam Kelly about why he says "TLER"I highly recommend the series, although not for children as there is a lot of innuendo and some sexual scenes (such as Helga in her underwear)My favorite characters were Hans, he was just funny all over ("If you kill him with the pill from the till in the drug in the jug then you needn't light the candle with the handle in the gateaux from the château") and Gruber. I loved Gruber because he was so...sweet...you could really believe that he had a thing for Rene....he always looked so sad when Rene said he was getting married (which happened often)....and I loved his "little tank"The series is brilliant....I thought it was amazing how they made plot lines like the "sausage" stretch out over so many episodes
AD
