Allo Allo To Secret Army

You’d be forgiven now for not knowing that ‘Allo ‘Allo was a straight up parody of the flagship BBC drama Secret Army. But a look at the press coverage at the time of the pilot’s broadcast leaves that fact in little doubt.

Daily Mirror – Thursday 30 December 1982

Or this, from 1984 when the full series first began …

Birmingham Weekly Mercury – Sunday 02 September 1984

A charge at the time of Dad’s Army’s first series was that it was too soon – a charge that is remarkably still being thrown at ‘Allo ‘Allo.

Daily Mirror – Friday 07 September 1984

The series hit the ground running, and was well-received by some critics and audiences alike.

Daily Mirror – Saturday 15 September 1984

But it did take us all a few episodes to start laughing with recognition at some of the catchphrases. Listen to the silence on Michelle’s here for example.

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