I have Series 1 to 7 on DVD, and while I've seen all of the Porridge series, I haven't even got to Dad's Army yet. That says something for the farce style quality of 'Allo 'Allo.While the series tailed off at the end it's great to see how the cast settle in over the first 3. By the time they got to "Gateaux in the Château" in Series 3 all the characters had developed their style and the budget was obviously improving.The script by David Croft is, and the entire cast are, superb. But in particular I fully agree with comments on Jack Haig ("can you never underplay anything?" - Rene at the bridge before the insane handover of the famous picture in the knockwuerst), and of course Sam Kelly. His portrayal of Capt. Hans Geering was sublime, and the series deteriorated when he left.Kirsten Cooke occasionally showed a wonderful leg - if you watch carefully, but, for me, Francesca Gonshaw (as waitress Maria Recamier in the earlier series) was totally captivating. Watch when she's in the background of a scene, and not spitting lines; stunning face.Strangely she left the series and never seemed to do TV or Film again. I hope she's happy at whatever she's at.I'm watching the scene in the prisoner of war camp as I write this. Rene is jumping from a roof onto a see-saw to propel Hans over the fence - part of the fun is that the entire cast were obviously having a ball doing this.Timeless classic.

"'Allo 'Allo!" is an terrific comedy most commonly known because of its funny accents. Jeremy Lloyd and David Croft experimented with a storyline that continues through the episodes: the paintings for example. But still, every episode has a story of its own. 'Allo 'Allo! is set in Nazi occupied France, in a little town called Nouvion. Café owner René Artois is trying to get through the war by dealing with the Germans (and one Italian), the Gestapo, the Resistance, the Communist Resistance, his affairs with his waitresses and his wife. Besides that, there's also the "french-speaking" secret agent Crabtree, who is dressed as a gendarme. René is usually mixed up in some ridiculous plan of Michelle ("i shall say this only once") of the resistance to help the British airman, who are hiding in his café, to escape. In the series, fun is made out of almost everything involving the war. This is why there was a lot of criticism when the show first aired. I think we shouldn't take 'Allo 'Allo! so seriously, it's just a brilliant and timeless comedy.

This awful TV comedy was a parody of the quite excellent BBC television series made in the late 70's called Secret Army. As many of us know Allied Air crew who were shot down over occupied Europe during the war were sometimes spirited back to England with the help of the evasion lines in Western Europe. These men and women took the most horrendous risks in doing their work for virtually no pay. If caught, it was torture, the concentration camp and then the firing squad. Many in the resistance and the evasion lines died horribly. On this back drop a comedy series is made. This at best is in extremely poor taste and at worst is highly offensive. Many of us would probably not be alive today were it not for the work these people did. As for the show itself, the jokes were the same week after week after week ..... the 'good moaning', 'I shall say this only once', the gay German officer etc etc There are subjects I feel should be left alone without comedies being written about them ..... this is one. For those that disagree, how would you like to see a comedy set in a death camp ? Or for our American friends, a comedy set on Death row ???

Hans says "TLER" but not because the actor refused to say "Heil Hitler"....if you go to a site called "cafe Rene" in the FAQ section there is an answer written about Sam Kelly about why he says "TLER"I highly recommend the series, although not for children as there is a lot of innuendo and some sexual scenes (such as Helga in her underwear)My favorite characters were Hans, he was just funny all over ("If you kill him with the pill from the till in the drug in the jug then you needn't light the candle with the handle in the gateaux from the château") and Gruber. I loved Gruber because he was so...sweet...you could really believe that he had a thing for Rene....he always looked so sad when Rene said he was getting married (which happened often)....and I loved his "little tank"The series is brilliant....I thought it was amazing how they made plot lines like the "sausage" stretch out over so many episodes