Alex Wiseman Interviews Jeffrey Holland
Iceni Magazine’s Alex Wiseman was lucky to take time to chat to beloved British actor, Jeffrey Holland about his autobiography, ‘The First Rule of Comedy…! Memories and Moments’.
A – Jeffrey it’s a real honour to interview you as you have been in some of the nation’s favourite comedies during a wonderful and varied career.
J – I have been very lucky!
A – First things first, in 1977, you appeared in Dad’s Army. How was it joining the biggest show of its time? And was this the first time you met one of the most famous writing duos, Jimmy Perry & David Croft?
J – I first met them in 1975 when I auditioned for and was accepted into the stage show of Dad’s Army where I played in the ensemble and when we toured the UK in 1976, I took over the role of Private Walker, the spiv!
A – Are You Being Served? came along in the same year as Dad’s Army. Again, you were joining such a huge show of its time.
J – It was a lovely opportunity to play alongside some actors whom I had seen on TV in that very funny show!
A – Your big break came in 1979 when Perry & Croft wrote a series called Hi-de-Hi! Did you know it was going to be a huge hit when you first read the script?
J – Not when I read the script. I was hopeful, of course, but it wasn’t until we were actually filming the pilot episode at the holiday camp that it occurred to us that it seemed to have the same kind of magic as the other shows with the great group of players who were capable of delivering the goods. The show had all the colour and energy to be the success it deserved to become.
A – Hi-de-Hi ran for 58 episodes over 9 series. What is your favourite memory of the show? There must be a few having worked with Su Pollard, Paul Shane, Ruth Madoc…
J – The favourite moments are too numerous to mention here! You’ll have to read my book! Suffice it to say that it was quite a magical experience for all of us!
A – How did you feel when the show came to an end in 1988? Thank goodness Peggy became a Yellowcoat! Amazingly, the show ended nearly 40 years ago but it’s still repeated daily on TV.
J – We were all gutted of course! Paul Shane thought his world had come to an end! We did however have the added bonus of knowing the three of us were moving on to You Rang, M’Lord?, but it was still very much the end of an era for all of us.
A – In 1988, you went onto appear You Rang M’Lord? with lots of the Hi-de-Hi cast and then in 1995 had a mini reunion for ‘Oh Doctor Beeching!’. This series was written by David Croft and Richard Spendlove and ran for 19 hilarious episodes.
J – Yes, You Rang M’Lord? was a moderate success as the BBC never repeated more than the first three episodes. A great pity as it could have become as big a hit as the great Downton Abbey in my opinion, but it was not to be! It is, however, still a great success being repeated daily on That’s TV and also massively successful in Hungary! Oh, Dr Beeching! was an unfortunate series with great potential when it was deliberately sabotaged by the BBC to make way for more adult comedy in the mid-90s when the BBC and, indeed, the world was changing. It was deemed ‘old fashioned’ and dropped, and you can read all about that too in my book! They are of course, very much available on DVD!
A – In 2013, you won critical acclaim for your one-man play And This Is My Friend Mr Laurel which you later took on tour. That must have been great fun?
J – Yes, I waited over 40 years to get that play on to the stage and I couldn’t have been happier to get it there! Thanks to the brilliant writing of authoress Gail Louw who collaborated with me on it, we had four sell-out seasons at the Edinburgh Fringe and toured to packed houses all over the UK and abroad.
A – Your autobiography ‘The First Rule of Comedy…! Memories And Moments’ has just been published. What made you decide now was the time to publish your life story?
J – I think it was just the right time in my life to get it all out there! I am a great age now and wanted to tell my story for those who are interested enough in my achievements to read it, and the feedback so far has been amazing!
A – Was it enjoyable looking back at the projects you have done and writing about them?
J – I was very happy sitting down and recalling the events of my life, my career and my private life to some extent. I think I surprised myself with the content that was locked away in my memory! It was a great experience, and I think well worth it!
A – I can see that you are going to be out and about visiting lots of places to do book signings. One date is the Dad’s Army weekend; that sounds like fun?
J – It will be lovely to talk to the fans of not only Dad’s Army, but indeed all the Perry and Croft series during that weekend and maybe encourage a few book sales at the same time! I will be there with my great friend, the comedy historian, Robert Ross, who helped me with my book with his extensive knowledge of all the comedy greats I have been lucky enough to work with over the years. He will also be there with some of the books he has written about legends in comedy, not least of which will be about Peter Sellers, Sid James and all the Carry-On girls too!
A – Your book sounds absolutely fantastic and I can’t wait to read it myself!
J – Thank you Alex. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did writing it!
A – It has been a real pleasure to interview you, Spike! Oh, sorry… I meant Jeffrey…Hi-De-Hi!…
J – “Ho-de-Ho! That’s me!
To buy Jeffrey Holland’s book: It is available at book shops and on Amazon. Beware counterfeits! My book has a purple cover and is called “The First Rule of Comedy…! Memories and Moments”.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/First-Rule-Comedy-Memories-Moments/dp/1803996390
