[Flash]

With our next pick, Team Sequoia is proud to select, in the World (outside Canada/US) category, the British comedy, 'Allo 'Allo!

A comic farce set during World War II, one of the most horrific times in human history, filled with racial stereotypes? But the show wasn't out to make fun of the war, it was spoofing television's war dramas, particularly the 1970's BBC1 drama Secret Army. The programme played fair by lampooning everyone involved - the randy French, the toffee-nosed British, the corrupt Germans and the incompetent Italians.

The great strength of the show was in the casting. Gorden Kaye was born to play the part of Rene Artois - always playing it straight and therefore creating a truly believable character. He was backed up by an outstanding ensemble cast, including the formidable talents of Carmen Silvera, Vicki Michelle, Richard Marner, Arthur Bostrom, Guy Siner, Sue Hodge, Richard Gibson, Kim Hartman, Kenneth Connor and Jack Haig.

'Allo 'Allo! has a large international following, and is still regularly repeated today. With its bedroom farce, accents, double entendres, innuendos, wordplay, catchphrases, slapstick and rather tame naughtiness, it became harmless fun for the whole family to enjoy. And the show itself became a real rollercoaster - the series was deceptively simple, but with every new episode the plot thickened, with different twists, turns and cliffhangers, just like a soap opera. With most sitcoms you can watch them in random order, but here you had a continually developing story. Even the characters changed over time, with some written out and others introduced. The writing was incredibly clever a perfect example of this is how they took the obstacle of language and turned into a rich source for humour.

Pilot, part 1:


Pilot, part 2:


Pilot, part 3: