Where Allo Allo Was Filmed

 

What do you do if you're a British airman shot down in WWII France? If you're like RAF pilots Carstairs and Fairfax, you hook up with the French Resistance, and hope they can help you sneak behind enemy lines and return to England. That may mean disguising yourself as onion sellers on bicycles, but better indignity than imprisonment or death.

What do you do if you serve in the military of a country whose leadership has been corrupted? If you're like Colonel Kurt von Strohm and Captain Hans Geering, you get assigned to a quiet town in France. There you can ride out the war, pay lip service to your own country's political agendas, and keep everyone happy without actually having to fight and kill others.

Of course, if you can salt away a few little prizes for your old age, like a priceless painting or a unique Cuckoo clock, so much the better.

What do you do if you're running your own business in wartime, and wish to avoid the fighting by continuing to use your talents and abilities to serve your community? If you're like cafe owner Rene Artois, you serve German officers like Colonel von Strohm and Captain Hans Geering, and do your best to keep them happy. By making friends, they're liable to can help you acquire things like butter, sugar, and paraffin that you need to keep operating and serving everyone.

Oh, and if your beloved serving girls must entertain the German officers in your rooms upstairs with things like pieces of wet celery and an egg whisk...well, you learn to live with it.

 

What do you do if a French Resistance leader like Michelle Dubois insists that you hide two British airmen in your cafe, along with a forger the Resistance has broken out of prison, until they can smuggle the chaps out of the country? If you're like Rene, with German officers constantly visiting your cafe, you hide them as best you can, whether it be in the chicken coup, or the closet in the room of your bedridden mother-in-law.

 

What if, as a result of your involvement with the French Resistance, you end up in jail? Well, if your crimes are deemed punishable by death, you hope that your German friends Colonel von Strohm and Captain Geering can supply the firing squad with wooden bullets, which should disintegrate before they hit you.

If you're presumed dead, you can always take on the identity of your previously unknown twin brother. That will allow you to keep running the cafe, and continue your life as before. Of course, the fact that your twin brother was also named Rene will make it easier to get on with things and survive this crazy war.

 

What do you do if you wish to keep safe and continuing serving others amid a pandemic? If you're like me, you read comics and books, watch fun TV shows like "Allo Allo," and write blogs. Of course, if you visited Lynford Hall, an old manor house in England where the TV series was filmed, you share your memories of that visit with others. And you keep believing that by doing your best to help yourself and others survive, eventually this crazy wartime occupation will end. Then you will be able to reclaim the liberties you once enjoyed, like traveling to such storied places.

Dragon Dave

P.S. "Allo Allo" was created by David Croft and Jeremy Lloyd. David Croft oversaw the production of "Dad's Army," and the duo also created the unforgettable "Are You Being Served?"

A Change is as Good as a Rest

Dalek the Gray guards my wife's Pork & Stilton pie.

In an episode of the British comedy, “Are You Being Served?”

Mr. Grace transfers the staff of Gents and Ladies’ Apparel

To the Toy Department.

 

Mr. Humphreys falls in love with the Wibbly-Wobblies.

Mrs. Slocumbe abandons all pretense, 

And lavishes great care upon the dolls.

Old Mr. Grainger dislikes children, 

But finds he loves the trains.

At home I rarely drink hot tea.

I never eat meat pastries.

I always choose ice cream over cookies, cakes and scones.

And I never, ever picnic.

Yet in England, 

I find myself emulating the locals,

And loving it.

In deference to poor Perky,
I opted for the Cornish Pastie.
(At least that's my story).

Feeling down, stressed, or in need of a change?

I encourage you to do something different.

Embrace change. 

Do something different than you ordinary would.

Don’t choose something big or monumental.

Start with something small, and seemingly inconsequential.

And see where it takes you.

As they say in that episode of “Are You Being Served?”

"A change is as good as a rest."

Thanks for considering my suggestion,

Dragon Dave

Related Dragon Cache entries

The Great Anachronism

Propelled By Hope

“As Time Goes By” in Holland Park: Part 2

The Great Anachronism

As the Horse Guard passed me by, I wondered why I was photographing it.  As I took a video, I wondered why I was recording the scene.  As I followed the horses, the impacts of their hooves rising above the revving of the motorcycle and automobile engines, I wondered why I was hurrying along the outskirts of St. James Park, instead of relishing its scenic beauty.  Finally, when I reached the parade grounds, I wondered why I was bothering to raise my camera above my fellow tourists to record what was occurring.  As at Buckingham Palace, why did so many, from all around our little (or big) world, feel this was an important event to witness?

On the face of it, the entire ceremony seems absurd, unnecessary, a relic of the past that serves no useful purpose.  For crowd control, and to satisfy modern security concerns, police (on foot and on motorcycle) are mobilized to protect the Horse Guard from harm.  Isn’t it time to abandon this old tradition in order to make way for an activity or event more relevant to our lives today?

Ultimately, the only way I can understand the Horse Guard is through “Are You Being Served?”  In this British sitcom, poor sales on their separate floors lead to the Women’s clothing department being moved in with the Men’s.  Mr. Granger, the crotchety, old head of the Men’s department, views this as an invasion.  While he may resign himself to sharing the floor, he never comes to value the ladies’ presence.  Worse, as Mr. Lucas, the Men’s Junior frequently points out, he is “past it.”  He falls asleep in meetings (or during working hours), he grumps and complains, and he never willingly accepts a new idea.

While the death of the actor who played Mr. Granger (Arthur Brough) did not mean the end of the series, it did leave an absence that was never filled.  In succeeding seasons, others would arrive to take over as head of Men’s Apparel.  Yet none embodied the danger that Mr. Granger posed.  The Junior Salesman, Mr. Lucas, never feared Mr. Tebbs or Mr. Goldberg.  When the new head salesman used an unwanted complication to justify expelling the Women’s department from their floor, his argument never carried the same weight.  Nor did his replacements charm the viewer like Mr. Granger.  Charm?  Yes!  For while Mr. Granger frequently served as an obstacle to other characters’ plans, he also had a way of endearing himself with the viewer.  The BBC produced another five series of the show after Mr. Granger departed Grace Brothers, but eventually those in charge stopped trying to replace him.  The show remained funny, but was, nonetheless, diminished by his absence.

Looking back on my life, I can see numerous times in which I wished that a particular person would simply “go away.”  Whether that situation involved school, family, church, my work, a committee, or some other group or organization, I saw that person as a drain on my time, an obstacle to my plans, and a ripple in my otherwise placid pond.  Yet, when that person eventually left (they always do), I found the particular group diminished.  For each of these people, in their strange way, somehow mattered.  Yes, they offered a danger to be surmounted; they frequently forced a compromise; and yet, inexplicably, I always came to mourn their absence.  (And, after facing less resistance, my victories tasted less sweet).  

Just as it’s always tempting to push someone to the side, it’s never difficult to come up with reasons why a tradition is irrelevant for today.  But be careful when removing a particular brick from your life.  For while its absence might not cause a collapse, in all probability, you will one day rue its loss.

So, while I may not understand the meaning behind your ceremony, or what relevant purpose you serve, rock on, Horse Guard!

Related Dragon Cache Links:

The previous entry in my England series.

The first entry in my England series.

The aim and overall philosophy behind my blog.

The Sausage that Brings Isolation: Part 1

From movies and TV, we all know where the Prime Minister of Britain lives: in 10 Downing Street.  When a crisis arises (such as in the episode “Aliens of London” in “Doctor Who”), political and military leaders converge on this seemingly nondescript building in Whitehall.   When a new political party takes control of the House of Commons (as in the film “Love Actually”), a limousine rolls up outside the building, and out walks the new Prime Minister (in this case, played by Hugh Grant).   Or, as portrayed in the first “Yes, Minister” episode, when James Hacker gets a call from the Prime Minister, we next see him outside Number 10, and learn that he has just become Minister of the fictional Department of Administrative Affairs (DAA).  

I had chosen to tour Whitehall this evening, not only because the DAA would have been located there, but also because I wanted to see this famous building (and residence).  I didn’t expect to see the Prime Minster standing outside, or to be ushered into the Cabinet Room to speak with him (an honor accorded the staff of Grace Brothers department store in an episode of “Are You Being Served”), but I had hoped to see the 10 Downing Street that I was familiar with from the episode “The Key” in Antony Jay and Jonathan Lynn’s sequel series “Yes, Prime Minister.

In “Party Games,” the last episode of “Yes, Minister,” Sir Humphrey Appleby is promoted to the role of Cabinet Secretary, the highest Civil Service position in Britain.  Then the Prime Minister announces he will retire before the next election, and DAA Minister James Hacker ends up succeeding him through party machinations and the furor he arouses over the so-called “English Sausage.”  In “The Key,” Sir Humphrey is trying too hard to control Hacker, so the new Prime Minister changes the lock to the hallway that has, until now, allowed Sir Humphrey to burst in on any meeting he is conducting.  With his way through the intervening corridor blocked, Sir Humphrey walks outside, past a typical English policeman or “bobby,” and the people standing outside waist-high metal fencing.  He is only prevented from visiting entering Number 10 by another “bobby” who tells him his name is not on the daily list, so he cannot be admitted.  Had I done my homework, I would have read of the IRA bombing in 1991, several years after “The Key” was filmed.  Thus, I would not have been flabbergasted to see this.

Not your typical English "bobbies"

Clearly, my beloved Fiction had let me down.

This story will conclude in my next post: The Sausage that Brings Isolation: Part 2

“Aliens of London” is included in Doctor Who Series 1, which features the exploits of the Ninth Doctor (portrayed by Christopher Eccleston).  “Party Games” and “The Key” are included in “Yes, Prime Minister.”  Both series, as with "Are You Being Served?" and the movie "Love Actually" are available on DVD (and well worth watching).