'Allo 'Allo!-Series 3 & 4 (1982)

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General		Extras
Category	Comedy	Main Menu Audio & Animation
Rating
Year Of Production	1982
Running Time	385:05 (Case: 418)
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered Multi Disc Set (3)	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	David Croft Martin Dennis John B. Hobbs
Studio Distributor	Roadshow Home Entertainment	Starring	Gorden Kaye Carmen Silvera Vicki Michelle Richard Marner Guy Siner Kim Hartman Kirsten Cooke Rose Hill
Case	Amaray-Transparent-S/C-Dual
RPI	$39.95	Music	David Croft Roy Moore

    How does one begin to explain 'Allo 'Allo to the uninitiated? To those of you who know the series a précis is not required, you will just be happy to see this brilliantly silly but funny series available on DVD. To those unfamiliar with it, where do you start?

    The series revolves around the owner of a cafe in occupied France during World War II. Rene Artois has a complicated life. Along with running his cafe and making some good money out of the occupying German forces, he must be careful that his waitress Maria does not discover that he is having an affair with his other waitress, Yvette. Similarly he must be careful that Yvette does not discover he is having an affair with Maria. And of course, he must make sure his wife, Edith, does not find out he is having an affair with either waitress.

  Unfortunately for Rene, his philandering is only a part of his problems. The French resistance are using his cafe to hide two British airmen they are trying to smuggle back to England, and the German commander has Rene hiding a painting for him - the famous "Fallen Madonna with the Big Boobies" by Van Klompf - so it can be sold after the war. Of course there are also a couple of copies being hidden so these can be given to the Gestapo and Hitler so they do not realise the original is missing. Add to this mix a gay German Lieutenant who fancies Rene, and a British spy who is disguised as a policeman and speaks bad French, and you can see how Rene's life is not straightforward.

    'Allo 'Allo is classic British farce. As the series progresses the situations become increasingly complex and intertwined leading to some brilliant comedic moments. Plenty of politically incorrect humour, double entendres and slapstick are present as you would expect from the pens of Jeremy Lloyd and David Croft. These men also gave us Are You Being Served and were the backbone of British comedy during the 1970s and 1980s. Their scripts on 'Allo 'Allo are more refined than Are You Being Served and the scope to parody national stereotypes was much greater and they seemed to revel in every opportunity to play on the idiosyncrasies of every country they could think of. It's all equal opportunity however; everyone is made to look foolish.

    'Allo 'Allo ran for a total of nine seasons from 1984 to 1992, although the pilot was made in 1982. This release is Series 3 and 4, along with the 1985 Christmas Special that is often considered to be part of Season 2. For some reason the previous release, Series 1 and 2, never arrived for review, but it is out there and you would be advised to see these first as it is rather complicated to understand what is going on unless you were there at the start.

Disc 1

The Gateau From The Chateau (47:52)
    General Von Klinkerhoffen takes over command of the area and threatens to upset everyone's plans. When a party is to be held at the General's Chateau the Resistance, the Gestapo and Colonel von Strohm all decide to use the occasion to assassinate the general. Each gets in the other's way and Rene is caught in the middle.

The Nicked Knockwurst (34:31)
    The knockwurst sausage hiding a copy of the Fallen Madonna is stolen by the Communist Resistance and is held for ransom. Rene must raise the money to get it back.

Gruber Does Some Mincing (34:42)
    Lt. Gruber accidentally minces the sausage with the copy of the Fallen Madonna, so Rene must smuggle the original into Gruber's room at the Chateau so another copy can be made. Meanwhile the town undertaker, who has loaned the ransom money to Rene, demands to be paid back, so Rene pays him using forged notes.

The Sausage In The Wardrobe (34:52)
    Maria has been caught by the General smuggling the sausage containing the original painting of the Fallen Madonna into the Chateau, so he confiscates it. The Gestapo, the Colonel and the Resistance all devise separate plots to get it back leading to some classic bedroom farce.

Disc 2

Flight Of Fancy (44:00)
    The Resistance have a new plan to get the airmen back to England. They want to use an antique plane in the town museum, but the old vehicles must be moved out first. Rene must organise an antique vehicle rally as a ruse to empty the museum. The Gestapo are suspicious, and Herr Flick plans to infiltrate the rally.

Pretty Maids All In A Row (34:47)
    With the failure of the air escape, Rene must again hide the British airmen. He disguises them as waitresses and, when the Germans start to get suspicious, decides to fake their murders. Meanwhile he hides the original of the Fallen Madonna behind an old painting in the cafe not realising it is a genuine Van Gogh, which is quickly stolen by the Germans.

The Great Un-Escape(34:38)
    Another plan to get the airmen out of France. This time the Resistance plan to tunnel into the British POW camp and hide them amongst the other British prisoners. The Gestapo discover the tunnel and Rene, his staff, Colonel von Strohm and Captain Gerring find themselves trapped in the camp.

Prisoners Of War(26:17)
    Trapped in the camp Rene and the others must find a way out. The prisoners plan to get Captain Gerring out to get help while the resistance make plans of their own and Lt. Gruber also tries to help.

Camp Dance(24:06)
    Lt. Gruber has a plan to smuggle everyone out of the camp, and they must all dress as Can-Can girls in the camp concert as a diversion for the escape. Once out they discover that Maria was accidentally sent to Switzerland and the Resistance mistakenly sent Captain Gerring to England.

Disc 3

Good Staff Are Hard To Find(24:57)
    With Maria gone, Rene must find a new waitress. He knows precisely what qualifications he wants, but the Resistance assign him with a bodyguard. Colonel Von Strohn is assigned a new aide to replace Captain Gerring. He is not impressed to find his new assistant is an Italian Captain with an eye for the ladies.

The Flying Nun(24:44)
    The Gestapo are jamming the Resistance radios. A higher aerial is needed to break through the jamming and it is decided the best way to achieve it is by attaching it to a kite. Mimi, the new waitress, is disguised as a Nun to smuggle the material for the kite.

The Sausages In The Trousers (25:53)
    A complicated episode which results in a tandem bike in Rene's mother-in-law's bedroom, a microphone hidden in a daffodil and a confusion of knockwurst sausages hiding paintings, batteries, dynamite and garlic.

The Jet-Propelled Mother-In-Law (27:46)
    The General has requisitioned the local vineyard and insist the townspeople work in it. The Resistance decide to use the opportunity to assassinate the General using an exploding wheelchair.

Video

    Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.33:1 the quality of the video is quite good for a TV show made in the mid 1980s. As the source was videotape rather than film, the image has a slight softness and lacks the sharpness that a movie from the same era can achieve. Still, it is a good transfer and only suffers a couple of minor problems.

    Aside from the videotape's lack of resolution and crispness, the only other noticeable artefact is edge enhancement that can be a little heavy on occasion. Colour is good, if a little muted, and shadow details are acceptable without being exceptional. This is all a result of the source videotape rather than an issue with the transfer. The BBC have done a fine job of committing this series to DVD and the quality is as good as you would have been able to get from a TV series of this era.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

    Audio is Dolby Digital 2.0. Nothing really to report here. A fine, if basic, audio track with clear dialogue and moderate use of the stereo sound stage. This is not a special effects or music oriented series so clear dialogue is all that's really required. Within this criteria there is nothing to complain about: we are given a solid audio track that does all that is needed and no more.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

    There are no extras. The menu has the theme playing behind it and is animated, designed to look like the cafe's menu.

    This is exactly the same release as in Region 2 with the exception of the disc artwork and cover design. Region 1 does not have a release that allows direct comparison. Each series has a separate release in Region 1, so series 3 and 4 are purchased separately.

    Region 1 does, however, have some extras of arguable value. Series 3 has a segment of a TV talk show Day to Day where people who run an Allo! Allo! fan club debate with people who find the program offensive, the cast forms the celebrity panel on the UK game show Blankety Blanks, Gorden Kaye accepts the award for Funniest Show on Television from the UK's SOS Star Awards and cast biographies. Series 4 extras consist of cast biographies. Nothing overly compelling in my opinion.

    One of the funniest comedies to come out of the UK, it is a must-have for British comedy fans. It is certainly a show everyone should at least view once. It was required viewing in my house when it first aired and even today I find myself laughing out loud despite knowing where the plot is going.

    A nice, honest transfer, even if devoid of extras, makes this a desirable addition to the collection. Now, where is my review copy for series 1 and 2?

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall