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Set in the 'Maplins' holiday camp in the fictional Crimpton-on-Sea, Essex,
Hi-De-Hi! was the third sitcom from writing partners Jimmy Perry and David
Croft, following their wartime efforts Dad's Army (BBC, 1968-77) and It Ain't Half Hot, Mum (BBC, 1974-81). Inspired by Perry's experiences as a Butlins
'Redcoat' (Maplins has its Yellowcoats), it attracted audiences of up to 13
million and won a Best Comedy Series BAFTA in 1984.
The show's eight-year run presented the events of just two holiday seasons -
1959 and 1960 - beginning with the arrival of new Entertainments manager Jeffrey
Fairbrother, an upper-class Cambridge professor who, in the middle of a divorce,
had abandoned academia and come to the holiday camp in search of new
experiences. Simon Cadell's performance helped to define the programme in its
early years, with the effete Fairbrother's hesitant delivery of the series'
catchphrase, 'Hi-De-Hi, campers!', perfectly demonstrating his profound
unsuitability for his post. A regular highlight was Fairbrother's attempt at
staff meetings to read the over-critical, semi-literate bulletins of unseen camp
owner Joe Maplin. Jeffrey soon earned the ire of working-class camp host Ted
Bovis, but proved irresistibly attractive to both Chief Yellowcoat Gladys Pugh
and leggy siren Sylvia.
Much of the plot was driven by shyster Ted's attempts to win the upper hand
over the naïve Fairbrother, though he would occasionally come to his aid if it
served his own ends. The regular cast was rounded out by eager new camp comic
Spike Dixon, snooty ballroom dancers Barry and Yvonne, has-been jockey Fred
Quilly, children-hating Punch and Judy man Mr Partridge, and excitable chalet
maid Peggy Ollerenshaw, whose overriding ambition in life is to become a
Yellowcoat.
Hi-De-Hi's broad humour - which all too often centred round people being launched
into the Olympic-sized swimming pool - disguised a poignant commentary on
postwar British society, with Maplins serving as a microcosm of the class
system. In later series Fairbrother departed for a university post in Wisconsin,
and was replaced by dashing Squadron Leader Clive Dempster, with whom Gladys at
last found true love. The final episode saw Maplins close its doors for the last
time, reflecting the new competition of cheap foreign package holidays. Perry
and Croft's subsequent You Rang, M'Lord? (BBC, 1988-93) returned to the class
barrier theme, uniting Hi-De-Hi veterans Shane, Holland and Pollard with several
of their Dad's Army and It Ain't Half Hot, Mum predecessors.
Richard Hewett
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