'Allo 'Allo! (TV Series) The British Are Coming (1982) User Reviews

Listen very carefully, I shall say this only once.

[monsieurfairfax · 8/10 · 9 May 2020]

I am on my stint watching World War II movies at the moment, and between movies, I decided to visit one of my all-time favorites - 'Allo 'Allo. When it comes to joking about one of the most horrible periods of recent world history, then leave it to British. I remember seeing this show the first time nearly twenty years ago. Between that time I've managed to see single episodes every once in a while. Now, I have to say, the show is very well-aged, and as I've matured, many jokes have grown better (that means, I now understand them) like a good wine.

Many jokes don't come out at first because they become running gags throughout the show, but the pilot episode offers enough moments for guffaws. There are rough slapstick, clever word plays, and subtle innuendoes. Genius acting with overly theatrical accents to attuned to the nationality of the characters. That itself is a neat trick to pull off. Plus, it is not a joke only at the expense of French, or even Germans, but the Brits are getting their fair share too. Not to mention the Italians in the later episodes. The events get going with such a speed, that one has to wonder why it took nearly two years to develop the pilot into full series.

'The British Are Coming' is a wonderful introduction to the timeless wartime spoof. I promise the show grows funnier as it develops on and running gags start to work properly without turning repetitive or dull. Go on, and watch the show.

Intelligent, Well-Executed Farce Is a Joy Forever

[darryl-tahirali · 9/10 · 10 April 2022]

Intelligent, well-executed farce is a joy forever, and "The British Are Coming," the premiere episode of the long-running British situation comedy "'Allo 'Allo!," indeed holds up to repeated viewing thanks to the witty, intricate, ribald script by series creators Jeremy Lloyd and David Croft, who also produced and directed.

Lloyd and Croft drew their inspiration from "Secret Army," the acclaimed 1970s British World War Two drama about a Belgian Resistance effort, the fictional Lifeline, that secretly facilitated the return of downed Allied airmen to Britain, and from the 1960s American sitcom "Hogan's Heroes," whose premise involved an Allied intelligence and sabotage unit operating covertly from a German prisoner-of-war camp for downed enemy airmen. Both series informed the seriocomic premise of "'Allo 'Allo!," set in the French coastal town of Nouvion, where harried café owner Rene Artois must mollify both the occupying Germans and the underground French Resistance--and a few other parties besides.

Moreover, "'Allo 'Allo!" tweaked the nose of "Hogan's Heroes" through a brilliant and hilarious device: To obviate the need for subtitles, everyone spoke in an exaggerated accent that indicated what language they were supposed to be speaking. (In "Hogan's Heroes," everyone simply spoke English--even the German characters when they were speaking only among themselves.) However, because of the preponderance of both French and German characters, "'Allo 'Allo!" does make a "Hogan's Heroes"-styled concession by implying that they are all bilingual--nothing lost in translation.

The opener introduces virtually all the Series One regulars. Rene runs the bar with his wife Edith while, unbeknownst to her, he is having affairs with waitresses Yvette Carte-Blanche and Maria Recamier, unbeknownst to each other. All of them must serve the local Germans including Colonel Kurt von Strohm and his adjutant Captain Hans Geering--although for Maria and Yvette that service includes more than food--Lieutenant Hubert Gruber, who would like more than refreshment service from Rene, and Gestapo agent Herr Otto Flick, who is carrying on with von Strohm's secretary, Private Helga Geerhart.

Indeed, as they had done with their previous sitcom "Are You Being Served?," Croft and Lloyd make liberal use of sexual innuendo, leaving viewers to ponder the erotic possibilities of what Maria and Yvette do with that wet celery while Otto's clipped domination of outwardly imperious Helga certainly arouses them both. Yet all is not simply gratuitous titillation (as it would be in an American program)--if Yvette must use the flying helmet and feather duster, it means a few more liters of German paraffin for her poor widowed mother.

Also part of the regular cast is Michelle "of the Resistance" Dubois, who arrives at Rene's café and informs him that it is the new underground safehouse for two downed British airmen, Flight Lieutenants Fairfax and Carstairs, soon to arrive, capping the clandestine radio previously installed under his mother-in-law Fanny La Fan's bed in her attic room and the arrival of documents forger Roger Leclerc, sprung from jail in a riotous breakout and a participant in the equally hilarious botched coded exchange that leaves Gruber attracted to Rene.

As Rene, Gorden Kaye stage-manages the flurry of activity that nevertheless proceeds organically from circumstance and is never extraneous--pay attention to the setup here because it is catalyst for the subsequent episodes as "'Allo 'Allo!" advances along a story arc whose overt hilarity is underscored by shards of tension inherent in the premise of the extremely promising "The British Are Coming."

Not many were better than Allo Allo.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 10/10 · 5 December 2019]

What baffles me is why it took two years for the full series to follow this wonderful pilot episode. It's funny watching it now as some of the jokes didn't seem to land fully here, Michelle of the Resistance's listen very carefully for example, zero laughter here, and yet I and others would fall about for years to come.

The language barrier is one of the key jokes, with The British airmen speaking in these wonderful RP accents.

Super funny, wonderful slapstick, terrific use of misunderstanding, and of course in typical British fashion making a funny situation out of a scenario that in reality was hell on Earth.

It lasted for ten years, I'm sure it was love at first viewing for many fans.

A tremendous start.

10/10.

A brilliant start to the series

[roboh-1 · 10/10 · 20 February 2020]

It is amazing how much is fit into just one episode. We are introduced to almost all of the major cast, and immediately get a picture of what makes them tick. Many of the running gags from the series are there on display. And the basic stories that stretched through most of the series, that of the missing painting and the stranded British airmen, kick off right here.

And there is still time to get some great laughs in as well. Highlights are Rene and Gruber's first interaction at the cafe, the struggle between the French and English to communicate, and Hans hiding the cuckoo clock.

Truly, the perfect start to a wonderful series!