A Tribute to a Comedic Genius - RIP David Croft

It was with great sadness that I heard yesterday that the great, indeed possibly Britain's greatest ever comic writer, David Croft has passed away. At the age of 89, he outlived his wife of 61 years Ann Croft by a matter of just months.

It was only last month that I blogged here about the death of the legend John Howard Davies and now the comedy world has lost another great man from that golden era of comedy in the 1960s, 70s and 80s.

His writing and producing credits are like a Who's Who of Britian's best comedy through the decades.

With Jimmy Perry, he wrote Dad's Army, It Ain't Half Hot Mum, Hi-de-Hi! and You Rang M'Lord? With Jeremy Lloyd he wrote Are You Being Served? and 'Allo 'Allo as well as others. His final comedy piece was Oh, Doctor Beeching! which he co-wrote with Richard Spendlove.

His writing was refreshing as it was targeted for a family audience and as a result has remained timeless down through the decades. I must admit that I am a huge fan as my DVD collection will testify. The almost full range of Dad's Army, as well as many episodes of Hi-de-Hi, You Rang M'Lord and Oh Doctor Beeching! sit proudly on the shelf at home. I'm also a fan of Are You Being Served? and 'Allo 'Allo. He also introduced us to some of the now most well known comic catchphrases that have lasted the stretch of time. Such favourites as "Stupid boy". "They don't like it up 'em", "Don't Panic!" and "We're doomed!" all come from Dad'd Army alone!

It was David Croft who, as a producer, introduced the famous vignettes of the main cast after each episode of his various series following the now immortal words "You Have Been Watching ...".

Here is just a sample of my favourite David Croft inspired comic creations...





 

 
But I'll leave the final word on these classic comic creations with Croft himself,,,
 

 

 

You Have Been Watching...a Comedy Genius