David Croft

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Major David Croft OBE

Born David John Sharland
7 September 1922 (1922-09-07) (age 85)
Sandbanks, Poole, Dorset, England
Occupation Writer, Producer, Director, Actor

Major David John Croft OBE (born 7 September 1922 in Sandbanks, Dorset, England as David John Sharland) is an English writer, producer and actor. He was born into a showbiz family: his mother, Anne, was a famous stage actress while his father, Reginald, had a successful career as a radio actor in Hollywood. He married his wife, also called Anne, on 29 June 1952, and they have seven children.

Contents

[edit] Career

During World War II Croft rose to the rank of Major, serving in North Africa, India and Singapore (He was at Sandhurst for a while), though as soon as he was de-mobbed he began working in the entertainment industry, following in his parents' footsteps. He worked as an actor, singer and writer, eventually settling as a TV producer.

He is famous for his writing on British sitcoms such as Dad's Army, Are You Being Served?, It Ain't Half Hot Mum, Hi-de-Hi!, 'Allo 'Allo!, You Rang, M'Lord?, and the Are You Being Served? spin-off, Grace & Favour. Allegedly it was his wife, a former theatrical agent, who introduced him to then actor Jimmy Perry in the mid-1960s. It was Perry who originally had the idea for a comedy based on the Home Guard during World War II, and the pair ended up co-writing Dad's Army.

His co-writers were often Jeremy Lloyd and Jimmy Perry, and later Richard Spendlove. His partnership with Perry proved so successful that the pair subsequently created and co-wrote It Ain't Half Hot Mum as well as Hi-de-Hi!

He also wrote Birds in the Bush

As a producer, his trademark was to signal the end of an episode with the caption "You have been watching", followed by vignettes of the main cast.

He became an Officer of The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire with Jimmy Perry in 1978 for services to television.

Croft is currently working on a new show, written with Are You Being Served co-creator Jeremy Lloyd, called Here Comes The Queen. It is a sitcom starring Wendy Richard and Les Dennis.[1]

[edit] Written with Jimmy Perry

[edit] Written with Jeremy Lloyd

[edit] Written with Richard Spendlove

[edit] As producer

[edit] Perry and Croft

  • Dad's Army: all 9 series
  • It Ain't Half Hot Mum: except series 3 (Graeme Muir)
  • Hi-de-Hi!: except series 5 and 9 (John Kilby and Mike Stephens)
  • You Rang, M'Lord?: all 4 series

[edit] Lloyd and Croft

  • Are You Being Served?: except series 2, 9 and 10 (Harold Snoad, Bob Spiers and Martin Shardlow)
  • Come Back Mrs Noah
  • Oh Happy Band!: all 6 episodes
  • 'Allo 'Allo!: except series 7–9 (Mike Stephens and John B. Hobbs)
  • Grace and Favour: Mike Stephens produced all 12 episodes
  • Which Way to the War: 1 episode

[edit] Croft and Spendlove

  • Oh, Doctor Beeching!: series 1

[edit] As director

  • Selected Episodes of Dad's Army, It Ain't Half Hot Mum, Hi-de-Hi!, Are You Being Served? and 'Allo 'Allo!
  • You Rang, M'Lord?: series 1–2
  • Oh Happy Band!: all 6 episodes
  • Which Way to the War: 1 episode

[edit] As executive producer

  • Hi-de-Hi!: series 5 and 9
  • Are You Being Served?: series 2, 9–10
  • Oh, Doctor Beeching!: series 2

[edit] Other writers in his shows

[edit] Main writers

  • Jimmy Perry
  • Jeremy Lloyd
  • Richard Spendlove

[edit] Other writers

[edit] Are You Being Served?

Jeremy Lloyd, David Croft and Michael Knowles wrote:

Jeremy Lloyd and John Chapman wrote:

Jeremy Lloyd wrote series 9 and 10 on his own because Croft had had a heart attack. Nonetheless, when the episodes are broadcast they are credited "By Jeremy Lloyd and David Croft", with an end credit stating "Script by Jeremy Lloyd".

[edit] 'Allo 'Allo!

John Chapman and Ian Davidson wrote:

Ronald Wolfe and Ronald Chesney wrote:

Jeremy Lloyd and Paul Adam wrote 'Allo 'Allo! series 7–9 because Croft had left the show.

[edit] Oh, Doctor Beeching!

John Stevenson wrote:

Paul Minett and Brian Leveson wrote:

John Chapman wrote:

[edit] Other producers and directors in his shows

  • Harold Snoad (Dad's Army and Are You Being Served?)
  • Bob Spiers (Dad's Army, It Ain't Half Hot Mum, Are You Being Served? and Come Back Mrs Noah)
  • Graeme Muir (It Ain't Half Hot Mum)
  • Ray Butt (It Ain't Half Hot Mum and Are You Being Served?)
  • Phil Bishop (It Ain't Half Hot Mum)
  • John Kilby (It Ain't Half Hot Mum, Hi-de-Hi! and Are You Being Served?)
  • Robin Carr (Hi-de-Hi! and 'Allo 'Allo!)
  • Mike Stephens (Hi-de-Hi!, 'Allo 'Allo! and Grace & Favour)
  • Roy Gould (You Rang, M'Lord? and Oh, Doctor Beeching!)
  • Bernard Thompson (Are You Being Served?)
  • Gordon Elsbury (Are You Being Served?)
  • Martin Shardlow (Are You Being Served?)
  • Martin Dennis (Allo 'Allo!)
  • Susan Belbin ('Allo 'Allo!)
  • Richard Boden ('Allo 'Allo!)
  • Sue Longstaff ('Allo 'Allo!)
  • John B. Hobbs ('Allo 'Allo!)
  • Don Reynolds (Which Way to the War)
  • Charles Galland (Oh, Doctor Beeching!)
  • Margaret Bond (Birds in the Bush)

[edit] References

  1. ^ Daily Mirror: Miss Brahms Is Back

[edit] External links

v • d • e
David Croft sitcoms
Dad's Army (1968) • Birds in the Bush (1972) • Are You Being Served? (1972) • It Ain't Half Hot Mum (1974) • Come Back Mrs Noah (1977) • Hi-de-Hi! (1980) • Oh Happy Band! (1980) • 'Allo 'Allo! (1982) • You Rang, M'Lord? (1988) • Grace & Favour (1992) • Which Way to the War (1994) • Oh, Doctor Beeching! (1995) • Here Comes the Queen (2008)
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