Hi-de-Hi! released. Hi-de-Hi! Hi-de-Hi! is a BBC television sitcom shown on BBC1 from 1 January 1980 to 30 January 1988. Set between 1959 and 1960 in Maplins, a fictional holiday camp, the show was written by Jimmy Perry and David Croft, who also wrote "Dad's Army" and "It Ain't Half Hot Mum" amongst other programmes. The title was the greeting the campers heard and in early episodes was written Hi de Hi. The series revolved around the lives of the camp's entertainers, most of them struggling actors or has-beens. The inspiration was the experience of Jimmy Perry, one of the writers.
Hi-de-Hi! to survive in its original format. The closing storyline of the series was the camp undergoing drastic changes to modernise with the times, meaning that many of the staff would lose their jobs as their particular talents were no longer required. The pilot episode was broadcast on 1 January 1980. "Hi-de-Hi!" ran for nine series and two Christmas Specials, totalling 60 episodes, between 26 February 1981 and 30 January 1988. Because of the programme's popularity, the BBC decided to air series 3 and 4 back-to-back, the only time the BBC has ever done this with one of their own (first