Latest news with #Hi-de-Hi!
The Guardian
19-04-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
TV tonight: a big night in with Elton John and Brandi Carlile
9.05pm, ITV1 The two musicians have been friends for more than two decades and have a new duets album, Who Believes in Angels?. They perform these songs for the first time at a special gig at the London Palladium, along with covers of each other's hits. But that's not all: Dan Levy is host for the evening and will be sitting the pair down to get all the gossip. Hollie Richardson 7.15pm, BBC One With wary nurse Belinda (Varada Sethu) now along for the ride, the Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa) sets down in 50s Miami. But strange things are afoot in the pastel paradise. Might it have something to do with cinema fixture Mr Ring-a-Ding, a tuneful cartoon character voiced by Alan Cumming? Get your popcorn ready. Graeme Virtue 8.30pm, Channel 4 Previously shown on More4, Hugh Dennis and David Baddiel go on holiday together in a genial travelogue, which at least benefits from them being friends in real life. Having known each other for 40 years, the comics are cycling around France: week one takes them from Arcachon on the Atlantic coast to the Garonne valley. Jack Seale 9pm, Channel 5 The actor – who is now basically the queen of Channel 5 – hosts a lively quiz about all things 70s. Comedians Shaparak Khorsandi and John Thomson are the team captains, with Tiswas host Sally James, Stars in Their Eyes presenter Matthew Kelly, Hi-de-Hi! star Su Pollard and The Madame Blanc Mysteries star Steve Edge. HR 9.35pm, BBC Two This concert film opens with an aerial shot of the Manhattan skyline that slowly zooms in on a 600,000-strong crowd, gathered in Central Park to hear Paul Simon. It's a powerful illustration of the success of Simon's internationally flavoured albums Graceland (1986) and The Rhythm of the Saints (1990), music from both of which he plays here. Ellen E Jones 10.20pm, ITV1 Rebel Wilson has been spotted in Yorkshire filming her upcoming Christmas film, but this weekend she's in Jonathan Ross's London studio. Also in the lineup: Freddie Flintoff, who has a documentary coming out, Government Cheese star David Oyelowo and Alma's Not Normal creator Sophie Willan. HR Lightyear, 5.40pm, BBC One This is the film that (fictionally) inspired the Buzz Lightyear toy in Toy Story – but Pixar's 2022 meta-animation takes a different trajectory to its forebear, visually and comedically. We meet space ranger Buzz (voiced by Chris Evans) as his mistake leads his spaceship to crash on a dangerous planet. Test-flights of a new hyperdrive lead to time dilation, so his ground crew age more quickly than him. Then Emperor Zurg appears … Buzz here is smarter than his plastic avatar, and the action is in the stars not the suburbs, but it retains that Pixar focus on the strength of family. Simon Wardell The Game, 9pm, Legend Xtra What do you get the man who has everything for his birthday? How about an existential crisis? David Fincher's tightly wound 1997 thriller about banker Nicholas Van Orton delivers peak Michael Douglas – a smug man brought low but learning valuable lessons. The gift of a mysterious game by his brother Conrad (Sean Penn) is the start of a dark few days of the soul for Nicholas, as a series of increasingly fraught role-playing scenarios (or are they actually real?) – bring up memories of their father's suicide and focus his mind on his own empty life. SW Snooker: The World Championship, 10am, BBC Two The morning session on day one, as Kyren Wilson begins his defence of the title. Women's Champions League Football: Arsenal v Lyon, noon, TNT Sports 1 A semi-final first leg at the Emirates. Super League Rugby: Leigh v Warrington, 1.25pm, BBC Two At Leigh Sports Village. Premiership Rugby Union: Harlequins v Sale, 2.45pm, TNT Sports 1 Saracens v Gloucester is at v Leicester is on Sun, 2.30pm. Women's Six Nations Rugby:England v Scotland, 4.30pm, BBC Two From Welford Road, Leicester. Premier League Football: Aston Villa v Newcastle, 5pm, Sky Sports Main Event Ipswich v Arsenal is on Sun at 1pm; Leicester v Liverpool at 4pm.
The Guardian
24-02-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
‘They now put trigger warnings on Hi-de-Hi!' Jeffrey Holland on starring in British comedy classics
To the general showbiz warning about never acting with animals, Jeffrey Holland has a specific footnote to add about equine erections. While filming Hi-de-Hi!, the 1980s BBC sitcom set in a holiday camp, Holland one day found himself playing the front half of a pantomime horse, with co-star Su Pollard in the rear. The visual gag was that the rag nag ends up riding a real one. 'So the horse had to be in the scene,' recalls Holland. 'But it took rather an interest in the pantomime one and started sniffing around its hindquarters. Su said words to the effect of, 'Oh, eck!' and asked for help. But I'm afraid all I could say was, 'You'd better brace yourself, Su. I'm going to eat some grass!'' A horseman on set diverted the randy stallion, but the incident triggered a flashback for Holland. A panto he once appeared in included a Coventry production with real horses. One would become aroused as soon as it walked on stage, forcing the director to place an actor with a large flag between it and the audience. 'Apparently, it was responding to a perfume an actress was wearing,' Holland recalls – and being careful with scent around mounts is one of the many useful tips for younger performers contained in Holland's new memoir, The First Rule of Comedy ..! The title comes from the 'professional' advice that Paul Shane, as campsite entertainment host Ted Bovis, would give to Holland, playing younger comedian Spike, in Hi-de-Hi! That show dominates the book, but Holland's involvement in it was the result of sheer chance. In 1975, dismayed at not being cast in two plays at Chichester, the then 29-year-old went grumpily and reluctantly to audition for a London stage show of Dad's Army. 'I was furious when I arrived. But David Croft, the director, cast me and that was the day that changed my life. It's better not to think about it having gone the other way, really. It's terrifying.' In this theatrical spin-off from the Home Guard sitcom, Holland had 'five or six costumes, and it was 78 steps from the stage to my dressing room so I was up and down them all night. I think that may have stuck in David's mind: Jeff Holland likes silly costumes! So Spike, who was always appearing in outrageous get-ups, was written with me in mind.' Holland became a member of Croft's TV repertory company. As well as Hi-de-Hi! he appeared in two other shows Croft co-wrote with Jimmy Perry (Dad's Army, You Rang M'Lord?), one collaboration with Jeremy Lloyd (Are You Being Served?) and one with Richard Spendlove (Oh, Doctor Beeching!) He missed out on Croft and Lloyd's 'Allo 'Allo! on TV but got the full set by appearing in a stage version. 'Allo 'Allo! was a parody of Secret Army, a serious BBC drama set in occupied Belgium. It is thought that Holland is the only actor to have been in both franchises, although his first performance in Secret Army offered a clue to where his career was headed: 'I played a French resistance fighter called Michel. Wearing a beret, doing comedy eye acting, I looked a complete tit. When my then wife saw it, she thought it was the funniest thing she'd ever seen. Maybe that's why I've mainly done comedy.' Croft's successes were, unusually for sitcoms, often set in the past, whether the second world war home front, the 1920s stately home of You Rang, M'Lord?, the 1950s holiday camp of Hi-de-Hi!, or the 1960s branch railway station of Oh, Doctor Beeching! This, Holland believes, was key: 'David always said that if you set them in the past, they wouldn't date. He also disliked doing Christmas specials because those could only be repeated once a year. That was his producer's brain at work. 'The knack David and his co-writers had is that they were wonderful at creating situations in which people who would otherwise never have met were forced to be together. Those businessmen in Dad's Army would never have socialised but, under the umbrella of the Home Guard, they had to. And in Hi-de-Hi!, they were all failures who would have given anything not to be stuck with those other flops. Spike Dixon was desperate to be a comedian but had no hope whatsoever.' Croft's theories of comedy worked to the extent that, 37 years after its final episode aired, Hi-de-Hi! is still streaming on multiple platforms including ITVX, while Holland attends regular fan days in Harwich, where it was filmed. He also goes to Dad's Army events in Thetford, Norfolk, although he only played the small part of a truck-driver who mud-splatters Captain Mainwaring. He is one of the last surviving actors from the show, so feels it is his duty to attend. 'It's extraordinary how the shows live on. At the last Hi-de-Hi! event, there was a six-year-old who knew all the episodes by heart and really loved Spike, who she wanted to meet. Her mum tactfully warned her that Spike would look very different today – which obviously I do! – but she didn't seem to care. Her mum wasn't even born when we made the show. I don't think I'm recognisable now but, just the other day in the street, someone shouted out, 'Hi-De-Hi Mr Holland!'' In fact, he's Jeffrey Parkes, the name of the family into which he was born in 1946 in Walsall, the West Midlands still audible in his speech. As with many actors, he was forced to change his surname under Equity rules because a soundalike already had it. 'I only use Holland in the business. I couldn't bring myself to change my first name – though I know actors who have – because I've been Jeff all my life. Holland was my grandma's maiden name and it's suited me well. He has Parkes and Holland bank accounts, the latter for acting fees. He is from the generation that still get 'residuals' (repeat fees) rather than 'buyouts' (a single payment). A comedy rerun channel, That's TV 2, shows You Rang M'Lord at 8pm every evening. Holland's role as James Twelvetrees ('almost a straight role in a comedy') is his favourite TV character and he was astonished to discover that 'it's shown in Hungary every day in either English or Hungarian. They just love it. It's because they recognise that two-tier system, the unfairness of it, from having been under the communists for decades.' Another recent residual payment was £140 for a recent BBC Four repeat of the 1978 Thomas Hardy serial The Mayor of Casterbridge, in which he played a cart-driver. Holland rewatched not from vanity but morbid curiosity. When filming, he was still heavily stitched from a vasectomy the previous day, and a scene in which he jumps down from the cart sent shockwaves through his penis. 'I still remember the pain. But, watching it, you really couldn't tell. Which gives me a certain professional pride. I played through it.' He has generational regrets about the way he feels the profession has changed, finding many young stage actors inaudible: 'They're not taught voice projection like I was. The college I went to in Birmingham was known for vocal training. Young actors aren't taught how to produce the voice from the diaphragm. I've sat in the third row of the stalls and not been able to hear what's being said. You want to shout, 'Speak up!'' His speech teacher would be pleased that, even at 78, his impression of an irritated theatregoer hits the back wall of the living room, threatening to tremble the Pointless Celebrities trophy that he recently won with Su Pollard. And, having spent much of his career in the TV genre of 'Mrs Slocombe's pussy', pantomime and Ray Cooney stage sex farces, Holland also regrets the contemporary crackdown on innuendo and sexual slapstick. He is careful to draw a distinction between sexualised behaviour in workplaces or in public – 'that's clearly wrong' – and the policing of lines in old shows: 'David [Croft] and Jimmy [Perry] would turn in their graves. They put a trigger warning on Hi-de-Hi! on BritBox to say these are dated opinions and some people might be offended. The fact that they think Hi-de-Hi! might offend is beyond me. But there you go. People are just over-sensitive about everything now. They're looking for trouble.' His memoir reveals that a 'very big' publisher turned down The First Rule of Comedy..!, after initially expressing interest, because of rumours that Holland had worn blackface makeup in an edition of Are You Being Served? He is indignant about this: the character was white and what was then called a 'hippy' with what was known at the time as an 'afro' hairdo. But, although this isn't mentioned in the book, Holland admits that he did once wear blackface. On ITV's Russ Abbot's Madhouse, he, Abbot, Les Dennis and Michael Barrymore played a soul quartet group called The Four Bottoms, a spoof of Motown quartet the Four Tops. 'You couldn't do it now,' he admits. But does he wish he hadn't done it then? 'No. Because in the 80s, it got no letters from anyone at all. It was the lyrics that were funny and to sing them we had to dress accordingly. That was then, this is now.' A longtime career ambition was a one-man show about comedian Stan Laurel, which he has performed four times at the Edinburgh festival and toured around the UK. In the book, though, Holland says he will be happy to be remembered as 'that bloke from Hi-de-Hi!' But is that just memoir bravado? 'No! I've never understood those actors – I could name them but I won't – who become known for a series and, when it's over, they don't want to know any more. I'm thrilled to have played Spike in the success that Hi-de-Hi! was and still is.' He is excited to be published, although suffers the irritation of many modern autobiographers: 'There are three other books on Amazon claiming to be the story of Jeffrey Holland. But it's just internet shit.' On the retail site, 'Lawrence Hardison' is offering 58 pages for £15.99, 'Elliot Lewis' 44 pages for £15.50 and 'Jack Astley' 93 pages for £14.99. Readers may suspect that a more honest nom de plume for the authors would have the initials AI. 'We put up a tweet straight away with me holding the real book. The problem is it's not actually illegal. Although we're looking at taking action at the the one who claims 'Jeffrey Holland takes you through the highs and lows of his life' because obviously I don't.' True admirers should pay for the 256 pages of The First Rule of Comedy..!, in which you also get Su Pollard's comment about sex workers to Prince Andrew. The First Rule of Comedy..! by Jeffrey Holland is available now, published by the History Press
Yahoo
17-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Su Pollard hits out at ‘dreadful' cancel culture in stern message to BBC
British actor Su Pollard has hit out at 'cancel culture' as she accused the BBC of policing humour. The 75-year-old star of Hi-de-Hi! added her thoughts to the ongoing furore around a spate of TV personalities who have been accused of 'inappropriate behaviour'. She particularly expressed sympathy for Go Compare opera singer Wynne Evans. Evans was axed from the Strictly Come Dancing tour earlier this year after being accused of making 'lewd sexual remarks' to presenter Janette Manrara. He has denied all wrongdoing. It comes shortly after Top Gear host Jeremy Clarkson defended Evans, TV chef Gino D'Acampo, MasterChef's Gregg Wallace and The Apprentice star Dr Jana Denzel. Clarkson said the men had done 'nothing illegal' but had had their reputations damaged with 'no trial'. Pollard said she could empathise as a woman whose humour is 'often based on double entendres, innuendo and word play', in an interview with the i. Although admitting she was unaware of the full nature of Evans' comments, she appeared offended by the corporation's attempts to curtail speech based on a difference in humour. 'Don't tell me what I should be offended by,' she said. 'Where did this insidiousness come in, this dreadful cancel culture? I don't think social media has helped because things get taken out of context.' In her forthcoming variety show, Pollard said she shares humorous anecdotes with a disclaimer: 'Now don't get offended, because this is FUNNY!' Wallace, D'Acampo, and Evans, have been at the centre of controversy as reports of 'inappropriate behaviour' emerged. Their work has been intermittently affected by the claims, with shows removed and presenters replaced. They have vehemently all denied any wrongdoing. TV chef D'Acampo, 48, was the latest to find himself at the centre of a firestorm after ITV News reported dozens of allegations against him, describing 'unacceptable', 'distressing' and 'horrendous' behaviour over a 12-year period. He has vehemently denied all claims, with sources suggesting he was encouraged to adopt a 'cheeky chappie' persona by bosses. 'It's getting to the point where, soon, only Monty Don will be left,' Clarkson said in a column for The Sun over the weekend. Clarkson insisted that the men had done nothing 'illegal'. 'We are not talking here about kiddy-fiddlers or international terrorists,' he continued. 'None of them is accused of doing something illegal. They just said something or did something which someone found offensive. 'And that's that. It doesn't even have to be a current misdemeanour. There's no trial. No chance to mount a defence. They're just out. On the scrapheap.'
The Independent
17-02-2025
- Entertainment
- The Independent
Su Pollard hits out at ‘dreadful' cancel culture in stern message to BBC
British actor Su Pollard has hit out at 'cancel culture' as she accused the BBC of policing humour. The 75-year-old star of Hi-de-Hi! added her thoughts to the ongoing furore around a spate of TV personalities who have been accused of 'inappropriate behaviour'. She particularly expressed sympathy for Go Compare opera singer Wynne Evans. Evans was axed from the Strictly Come Dancing tour earlier this year after being accused of making 'lewd sexual remarks' to presenter Janette Manrara. He has denied all wrongdoing. It comes shortly after Top Gear host Jeremy Clarkson defended Evans, TV chef Gino D'Acampo, MasterChef 's Gregg Wallace and The Apprentice star Dr Jana Denzel. Clarkson said the men had done 'nothing illegal' but had had their reputations damaged with 'no trial'. Pollard said she could empathise as a woman whose humour is 'often based on double entendres, innuendo and word play', in an interview with the i. Although admitting she was unaware of the full nature of Evans' comments, she appeared offended by the corporation's attempts to curtail speech based on a difference in humour. 'Don't tell me what I should be offended by,' she said. 'Where did this insidiousness come in, this dreadful cancel culture? I don't think social media has helped because things get taken out of context.' In her forthcoming variety show, Pollard said she shares humorous anecdotes with a disclaimer: 'Now don't get offended, because this is FUNNY!' Wallace, D'Acampo, and Evans, have been at the centre of controversy as reports of 'inappropriate behaviour' emerged. Their work has been intermittently affected by the claims, with shows removed and presenters replaced. They have vehemently all denied any wrongdoing. TV chef D'Acampo, 48, was the latest to find himself at the centre of a firestorm after ITV News reported dozens of allegations against him, describing 'unacceptable', 'distressing' and 'horrendous' behaviour over a 12-year period. He has vehemently denied all claims, with sources suggesting he was encouraged to adopt a 'cheeky chappie' persona by bosses. 'It's getting to the point where, soon, only Monty Don will be left,' Clarkson said in a column for The Sun over the weekend. Clarkson insisted that the men had done nothing 'illegal'. 'We are not talking here about kiddy-fiddlers or international terrorists,' he continued. 'None of them is accused of doing something illegal. They just said something or did something which someone found offensive. 'And that's that. It doesn't even have to be a current misdemeanour. There's no trial. No chance to mount a defence. They're just out. On the scrapheap.'
The Independent
04-02-2025
- Entertainment
- The Independent
Sitcom stars lead tributes to ‘wonderful' Man About The House actor Brian Murphy
George And Mildred and Man About The House star Brian Murphy has been remembered as a 'wonderful' actor by his fellow classic sitcom stars Jeffrey Holland and Vicki Michelle. Murphy died aged 92 at his home in Kent on Sunday morning with his wife, Hi-de-Hi! actress Linda Regan, by his side, his agent said. He also starred as Nora Batty's (Kathy Staff) neighbour Alvin Smedley in Last Of The Summer Wine, and appeared in a host of other TV shows, including comedy series The Catherine Tate Show, Benidorm and This Is Jinsy. Regan, who married Murphy in 1990 after they starred opposite each other in a play as husband and wife, said: 'I was lucky to have in my lifetime found my soulmate Brian, who I will love forever.' Murphy had not retired, and was filming for a comedy before Christmas and had been due to start production on a road movie in June in which he would star alongside Regan as a husband and wife duo. Hi-de-Hi! actor Holland wrote on X that he and his wife, On The Up actress Judy Buxton, are 'very sorry to hear of the passing of dear' Murphy. He added that he was a 'wonderful actor', and he had 'fond memories of appearing with him in Ray Cooney's (comedy play) Run For Your Wife in London's West End and Vancouver'. 'Our thoughts are with Linda at this sad time,' Holland added. 'Sleep well old friend.' 'Allo 'Allo! star and soap actress Michelle wrote: 'So so sad to hear of the passing of Brian Murphy. Great actor and gorgeous friend, always fun. 'My heart goes out to Linda and family. Such a wonderful couple. Lovely memory at my Lady Ratlings lunch in May. RIP Brian. Sending lots of love.' Murphy came to the public's attention with ITV's Man About The House, a popular sitcom that began airing in 1973, and spawned a US version called Three's Company. It saw Murphy play landlord George Roper, opposite the late Yootha Joyce as his wife Mildred Roper, who wants to climb up the social ladder and drives him crazy. The show, which ended in 1976 was considered controversial for the time because it featured two single women living with a man, and led to a spin-off with Murphy and Joyce starring in George And Mildred, which ran for five series until 1979. In the 1960s Murphy appeared in Z-Cars, a TV police drama also featuring Judy Matheson, who said in her tribute to him on X: 'Heartbroken about the death of my dear friend of over 50 years, Brian Murphy. ' One of the finest actors I have known, and one of the kindest.' Born on September 25 1932 on the Isle of Wight, he trained at The Royal Academy Of Dramatic Art after completing National Service with the RAF. He started his career in the 1950s as a member of the Theatre Workshop, founded by Joan Littlewood, and appeared in both the stage and 1962 film version of Littlewood's comedy Sparrows Can't Sing, the latter starring Barbara Windsor and James Booth. He also performed in First World War musical satire Oh! What A Lovely War. Murphy was a jobbing actor before appearing in TV shows including The Avengers and Z-Cars, and ITV sitcom The Incredible Mr Tanner in 1981 and BBC's L For Lester in 1982. In 1993, he starred in the first major stage version of The Invisible Man, based on the science fiction classic by HG Wells. In the noughties, he portrayed Maurice in The Booze Cruise alongside Martin Clunes and Neil Pearson, and from 2011 he appeared in The Cafe. In later years, he voiced the character Mr Lovelybuns for the animated series Claude, based on Alex T Smith's best-selling books. Murphy's agent Thomas Bowington told the PA news agency the actor was told he had cancer in his spine and shoulders after 'a sudden attack' that saw the actor develop a pain in his back around three weeks ago. His agent remembered him as a 'sprinkler of joy on stage, screen and in life' and as a person who was 'joyful, warm, kind and caring to everyone'. Murphy had shot scenes for a comedy series in November last year and was due to start filming for a feature film, with a working title of The Last Goodbye, directed by Jason Figgis, about 'life late in life', his agent said. Mr Bowington said Regan still plans to star in the film but they will 'need to take a breath first' before casting her co-star because he said 'Brian is not easily replaced'. Murphy is survived by his wife and two sons.
