Season 9 • Episode 6
LatestIt's nearly the end of the season, and there are plenty of events scheduled. But when Dawn falls ill, the timetable is thrown into chaos and a replacement is needed.
Hi-de-Hi! is a British sitcom set in Maplins, a fictional holiday camp, during 1959 and 1960, and was written by Jimmy Perry and David Croft, who also wrote Dad's Army and It Ain't Half Hot Mum amongst others. It aired on the BBC from 1980 to 1988. The series revolved around the lives of the camp's management and entertainers, most of them struggling actors or has-beens. The inspiration was the experience of writers Perry and Croft: after being demobilised from the army, Perry was a Redcoat at Butlin's, Pwllheli during the holiday season. The series gained large audiences and won a BAFTA as Best Comedy Series in 1984. In 2004, it came 40th in Britain's Best Sitcom and in a 2008 poll on Channel 4, 'Hi-de-Hi!" was voted the 35th most popular comedy catchphrase.
Writing
Perry and Croft's precise farce engineering — every door slam earned.
Acting
Ruth Madoc's Gladys: operatic desperation in a whistle and clipboard.
Costume
Those Redcoat uniforms — visual gag before anyone speaks.
Creators
David Croft, Jimmy Perry
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Jimmy Perry based Gladys Pugh on a real Redcoat he knew at Butlin's — a woman who genuinely believed she was destined for opera stardom.
The show preserved a vanished Britain: by 1980, most holiday camps were dying or converting to budget hotels. Maplins was already a ghost when we were laughing at it.
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