Hello Campers! 45 years on how hit show Hi-de-Hi!’s still putting Dovercourt on the map
It was the hit sitcom from the writers of Dad’s Army which turned life in a fictional holiday camp into comedy gold.
Starring actors Ruth Madoc, Su Pollard and Jeffrey Holland, focused on the staff running the fictional Maplins holiday camp.
Episodes were filmed at the real life Warners Holiday camp in Dovercourt, and a special connection was forged with the Essex resort which still endures to this day.
From 1980 to 1987 when the holiday season finished in September, the cast and crew would take over.
The site was transformed, dressed with fake flowers, ornaments and high-powered lighting to make it look like summer with filming taking place until mid-October.
Hi-de-Hi! was Jimmy Perry and David Croft’s third collaboration following their success with Dad’s Army and It Ain’t Half Hot Mum and they took inspiration from the holiday camps that blossomed after the Second World War.
Su Pollard who played Peggy the chalet maid, remembers the excitement in the town when they returned each year.
Harwich Museum volunteers work hard to ensure that more than four decades on, the area’s links to the sitcom are not forgotten. Each year they hold a Hi-de-Hi! day involving cast members.