Dated — but loads of laughs

’Allo ’Ållo at the Lowry

AUDIENCES stepped back in time for the touring stage show of this popular TV sit-com.

And although plotlines and jokes were a blast from the past, this didn’t bother the audience who, having watched the TV series the first time round, were once again eager to uncover the whereabouts of the portrait of the Fallen Madonna with the Big Boobies.

The stage play remains resolutely faithful to the original programme.

Set in occupied France during World War Two, it follows the mix-ups and mishaps of café owner Rene Artois as he tries to please his wife, his waitresses, the local Nazi officers and the French Resistance.

Playing the hapless Rene is Peter Alexander, whose speedy patter and great connection with the audience is enjoyable to watch, not too dissimilar to television actor Gordon Kaye, who made the part his own.

Carol Ann Crawford plays his long-suffering wife Edith and brings a really loveable side to the terrible chanteuse.

Comic turns by James Rossman as Herr Otto Flick and Nell Jerram as his sidekick Helga Geerhardt had the theatre shrieking at their Nazi naughtiness.

However, Martin Carroll’s portrayal of Italian officer Captain Alberto Bertorelli was one dimensional and had a truly terrible accent.

Some of the show’s humour shows its age but those looking for light-entertainment straight out of a saucy seaside postcard with plenty of Hitler gags will love it.