History Series / HiDeHi

The younger Yellowcoats include Gary Bolton (Terence Creasy in Series 1, Creator/ChrisAndrews thereafter); identical twins Stanley and Bruce Matthews (David and Tony Webb); attractive blonde Sylvia Garnsey (Nikki Kelly), who has a long-running rivalry with Gladys; and a revolving door of other female staffers including Betty Whistler (Creator/RikkiHoward), Mary (Creator/PennyIrving), Val (Creator/GailHarrison), Tracey Bentwood (Susan Beagley), Dawn Freshwater (Creator/LauraJackson), Babs Weaver (Creator/JulieChristianYoung), and April Wingate (Creator/LindaRegan), the last of whom was romantically involved with Spike in the later series. Many of them are fresh out of drama school and hoping, like Spike, that their jobs at Maplins will put them in view of talent scouts and agents to launch their entertainment careers.

Creator/SimonCadell left after Series 5, so Jeffrey Fairbrother was written out as having taken a faculty position at the University of Wisconsin in the USA between summer seasons and replaced by Squadron Leader, the Honourable Clive Dempster, DFC (Creator/DavidGriffin), who, in contrast to the introverted but hard-working Jeffrey, is brash, flirtatious, and perpetually on the make. Gladys almost immediately transfers her affections to Clive after Jeffrey's departure; their relationship is more turbulent but ultimately more successful. Creator/LeslieDwyer during the filming of Series 6 due to declining health (he passed right before the end of Series 8), so the camp children's entertainer position was passed to "Uncle Sammy" Morris (Creator/KennethConnor), another alcoholic music hall star fallen on hard times. Finally, Creator/BarryHoward left after Series 7, so Barry was said to have left Yvonne and was replaced by her former dance partner Julian Dalrymple-Sykes (Creator/BenAris), a more down-to-earth character who also worked as a pig farmer.

** Creator/LeslieDwyer, who played Theatre/PunchAndJudy man Mr. Partridge, left midway during production of Series 6 due to health problems with his character only appearing in that series in location footage. The following series saw his character was written out when what appeared to be his dead body was found floating in a swimming pool with a knife sticking out of its back, only for it to be revealed that he'd staged his own death and gone to live with a pub landlady in Cornwall. He was replaced by the similar Sammy Morris, played by Creator/KennethConnor. Dwyer subsequently passed away during transmission of Series 8.

** Creator/FrankWilliams plays TheVicar in "Wedding Bells", just as he had done in David Croft and Jimmy Perry's first series, ''Series/DadsArmy''. As Edward Sinclair (who had played the Verger in ''Dad's Army'') had passed away in 1977, Williams' verger in ''Hi-de-Hi!'' was played by another ''DA'' co-star, Creator/ColinBean.

* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: Gladys has a moment of this in the final act of "Stripes". Her older half-brother Gareth comes to Maplins both for a holiday and to see her, but as he was charged with (but not convicted of) lewd conduct in a cinema and obliged to leave their home village years earlier, she worries that his presence puts her recent promotion at risk. When female campers and staff members report a peeping tom at the camp late at night, Gladys assumes it is Gareth and orders him to leave immediately to avoid criminal charges. However, the next morning, Jeffrey receives a phone call announcing the arrest of the peeping tom... and Gladys is mortified to learn that it wasn't Gareth after all. As if possibly irreparably damaging her own relationship with Gareth isn't enough, Gladys learns that she has also ruined his budding relationship with Peggy, who is distraught that he left without saying goodbye. She ruefully asks Spike how she could have been so wrong about him.[[note]] The episode had the unintended side effect of providing an in-universe explanation for Gareth's absence from Gladys' [[spoiler:wedding to Clive]] in the final series. The out-of-universe explanation was that actor Talfryn Thomas, who played Gareth, died of a heart attack a month before "Stripes" aired; it was one of his last screen appearances.[[/note]]

** Creator/FrankWilliams plays TheVicar in "Wedding Bells", just as he had done in David Croft and Jimmy Perry's first series, ''Series/DadsArmy''.

* AwfulWeddedLife: Yvonne and Barry.

* BlindWithoutEm: Peggy.

* {{Jerkass}}: Gladys, when dealing with Peggy or Sylvia.

* SeeminglyWholesomeFiftiesGirl: Gladys.

* ZanyScheme

[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/hi_de_hi.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:300:The Maplins entertainment staff. L-R: [[BitchInSheepsClothing Gladys]], [[CluelessChickMagnet Jeffrey]], [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold Ted]], [[WideEyedIdealist Spike]].]]

-->'''Mr. Partridge''': This camp was covered in 'em a couple years ago, y'know.

** Ted makes a comment about auditioning for ''Series/CoronationStreet'' the pilot. In reality, Creator/PaulShane had been chosen to play Ted after Jimmy Perry saw him playing Frank Roper in a 1979 episode.

The younger Yellowcoats include Gary Bolton (Terence Creasy in Series 1, Creator/ChrisAndrews thereafter); identical twins Stanley and Bruce Matthews (David and Tony Webb); attractive blonde Sylvia Garnsey (Nikki Kelly), who has a long-running rivalry with Gladys; and a revolving door of other female staffers including Betty Whistler (Creator/RikkiHoward), Mary (Creator/PennyIrving), Val (Creator/GailHarrison), Tracy Bentwood (Susan Beagley), Dawn Freshwater (Creator/LauraJackson), Babs Weaver (Creator/JulieChristianYoung), and April Wingate (Creator/LindaRegan), the last of whom was romantically involved with Spike in the later series. Many of them are fresh out of drama school and hoping, like Spike, that their jobs at Maplins will put them in view of talent scouts and agents to launch their entertainment careers.

** In "All Change", Joe Maplin's fiancée and Yellowcoat Controller Joan Wainwright visits Crimpton-on-Sea and starts making life so miserable for Gladys - including ridiculing her for having no sporting qualifications, unlike the other Yellowcoats, and then promoting Tracy to chief Yellowcoat - that she decides to hand in her notice. However, Ted recognises "Joan Wainwright" as Beryl Green, a magician's assistant with whom he once shared a theatre bill in the 1940s... and knows that she and the magician had a mixed race child out of wedlock. He forces her to buy his silence by re-instating Gladys as chief Yellowcoat and leaving her alone henceforth.