'Allo 'Allo - Series 3 And 4 (Box Set) > Reviews > " Good Moaning"

Author's product rating:   

Did you enjoy it?	Loved it
Story	Good
Characters / Performances	Good
Special Effects	Unmemorable
How does it compare to similar films?	Good

Advantages:	Silly, cheap and fun with a range of amusing accents .
Disadvantages:	Silly .  Slightly dated .  No extras, unlike the US edition .

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

[Suggested edit for price information]
I picked up my copy of the series 3 and 4 box set from play.com at a bargain price of £7.99 - seems pretty reasonable for 13 episodes of around 30 minutes each, a cost of around 60p an episode. One of the nicest things about the move to DVD is the fact that quite a few of these sitcoms are now being released in an affordable format...
[/edit for price information]

[Second edit: DVD extras]
Unlike the American edition of this box set, which is released by the BBC, this edition does not unfortunately have any DVD extras unless you count the 'extra' episode, "The Gateau From The Chateau", which was a Christmas special.
[/edit for DVD extras]

Well, here we are; series 3 and 4 of the fabulously silly BBC TV series based around cafe life in the sleepy little town of Nouvion, occupied France. Cafe-owner Rene Artois (Gorden Kaye) worries his way through life one crisis at a time. Still dealing with his own 'death' by firing squad and subsequent resurrection as his own twin brother, as seen in the first box-set, he's got more than enough to worry about.

There are two British airmen hiding in the cupboard in his mostly-bedridden mother-in-law's room, who he just doesn't seem to be able to shake off, no matter what he tries - you'd have thought catapulting them into the sky in a model plane stolen from a local museum and run by a lawnmower engine was pretty much bound to succeed; no such luck. London communicates regularly via the radio under his mother-in-law's bed, and of course Michelle from the resistance (Kirsten Cooke) drops in regularly, says everything only once, and disappears like a phantom in the night.

Rene's love life, however, is doing fine - although Rene himself is beginning to wonder if there isn't a little too much of it. His grieving widow, Edith (Carmen Silvera), the spiritual twin of Edith Piaf with just one flaw (the inability to carry a tune, even if you glued on carry handles and a sign saying 'this way up'), is picking out veils for the reprise of their marriage. Despite their little trips upstairs with the wet celery, the egg-whisk and a German officer or two, cafe waitresses Yvette (Vicky Michelle) and Maria (Francesca Gonshaw) both hold a candle for Rene. Or stand on a chair for a kiss, or arrange secret trysts in the pantry or airing-cupboard.

And as for the Germans, there's more Gestapo in the limping silhouette and spectacled gazes of Herr Flick (Richard Gibson) and Herr von Smallhausen (John Louis Mansi), who debuts in Season 3, with Helga (Kim Hartman) returning to show off her suspenders and swastika-branded corset at every opportunity. Lieutenant Gruber (Guy Siner) still parks his little tank regularly outside Cafe Rene in the hope of exchanging a few words with the unrequited love of his life or perhaps pick up a few orders for forgeries of various valuable paintings, with the original to be kept for sale 'after ze var' - more often than not, by Colonel Von Strohm (Richard Marner) and his sidekick, Captain Hans Geering (Sam Kelly).

Perhaps one of the nicest things about watching this sitcom is that it's all instantly familiar. There are so many running gags that if you've seen one episode, the whole show will immediately be comfortably familiar for at least one season thereafter. Almost everything's part of a story arc, whether it's the ongoing struggle to get the airmen out of the cafe and en route to Britain, or the storage of the valuable cuckoo clock and the smuggling and reproduction of the famous painting of the 'Fallen Madonna with the Big Boobies' by Van Klomp.

However, things do change here, especially between Season 3 and 4. Take for example Francesca Gonshaw's departure at the end of Series 3, with her character, Maria, apparently attempting to post herself out of a prisoner-of-war camp and failing to make use of enough stamps, or Sam Kelly's character, the lovably silly Captain Geering, who is smuggled to England by the Resistance under the mistaken impression that he is in fact a British airman. Then of course there's the introduction in Season 4 of Mimi la Bonque (Sue Hodge), Maria's diminutive but frankly murderous replacement, or the charming but entirely self-interested Italian captain sent to replace Geering, one Captain Alberto Bertorelli (Gavin Richards), whose catchphrase was the unfortunately forgettable 'Whata mistaka to maka'.

A little history; 'Allo 'Allo, which started in 1984, is actually a tribute to an older TV series, Secret Army (1977-1979). Somehow, the show hits the sweet spot between 'incredibly offensive to practically everybody' and 'lovably daft', with its merciless portrayal of hopeless stereotypes and national traits, and of course its famous method of dealing with the language barrier - simply speak with the accent of the language you're speaking in. The British airmen speak with an exaggerated upper-crust English accent, while the French speak with a strong French accent, and of course Crabtree, the British spy working undercover in Nouvion as a policeman, speaks with a 'Franglais' touch, prompting: 'Oh, 'eck, it's that policeman who thinks 'e can speak French'...

The French love this show at least as much as the British seem to - so the authors must have done something right. For the record, the authors were Jeremy Lloyd and the prolific David Croft, who also wrote for shows such as Hi-De-Hi, Dad's Army and You Rang, M'Lord?

I recommend this box set for anybody who hasn't seen the show for a good long time. Beware, though. It is possible to overdose on 'Allo 'Allo!