Life is tough for Cafe owner, Rene Artois. Not only is there a war on but he's reluctantly in cahoots with the French Resistance, has two British airmen secreted in his basement and a radio transmitter hidden upstairs. He spends the whole time not being shot by the Nazis, one of whom fancies him. But Rene's real problem is his wife, Edith, and what she will do to him when she finds out about the affairs he is having with two sexy waitresses.

Sexual espionage
Of course, no British comedy from this time would be complete without a fistful of double entendres and Allo Allo was no different. Despite being set during the darkest period of the 20th century it was one big bedroom farce a la Carry On. Practically every episode seemed to feature a French maid or Helga, the Nazi secretary, stripping down to stockings and suspenders. One of the Carry On team, Kenneth Connor, even appeared in Allo Allo as the senile old undertaker.

Good moaning
Another reason this show was such a success, with nine series spanning a period much longer than World War II itself, was because of its many ridiculous characters, such as Officer Crabtree, a British secret agent, who posed as the local policeman. Unfortunately, his French was terrible, but in the show this meant merely pronouncing everything is a stupid way, a la Peter Sellers, with phrases such as "God moaning. The resistonce have planted a bum. They are going to ex-plod the whaleway brodge". Childish? Maybe. Hilarious? Always.

"Listen very carefully. I shall say zees only once."
When the show's popularity was at its height, this catchphrase, uttered by Michelle, the sultry leader of the French Resistance, became a well known saying, establishing itself throughout the UK. Few people who use the phrase for its comic effect realise that the programme began as a spoof of the highly serious BBC drama series Secret Army, shown in the late 70s.

Now the war is over
The programme has long since ended, and most of the cast have disappeared from our screens altogether. Allo Allo's appeal did not go away, as proved by a successful stage version with original cast members that went on tour internationally throughout the 90s. In addition, Guy Siner, who played the effeminate Lieutenant Gruber, appeared in the smash hit blockbuster Pirates of the Caribbean in a scene opposite Johnny Depp!