Dad’s Army co-writer Croft dies

27 September 2011 Last updated at 10:27 ET

David Croft, co-writer and producer of classic comedies including ‘Allo ‘Allo and Hi-de-Hi has died at the age of 89, his family has announced.

He died peacefully in his sleep at his home in Portugal. His family called him a “truly great man” in a statement.

Croft’s military sitcoms It Ain’t Half Hot Mum and Dad’s Army, written with Jimmy Perry, were hits in the 1970s.

He is also credited with Are Being Served and its 1990s spin-off Grace and Favour.

Croft, who was awarded an OBE in 1978 for services to television, worked alongside Jeremy Lloyd on both the department store sitcom and wartime farce ‘Allo ‘Allo, which was set in Nazi-occupied France.

Fruitful partnership

All of his hits were produced for the BBC, the last being Oh, Doctor Beeching in 1993 – after which he retired from the corporation.

A decade later, Croft was honoured with a lifetime achievement award at the British Comedy Awards.

Croft was born as David John Sharland to stage actress Annie Croft and Reginald Sharland, a successful Hollywood radio actor.

He enlisted in the army during World War II, which was to provide some of his later comic inspiration for Dad’s Army and It Ain’t Half Hot Mum.

Wartime sitcom Dad’s Army was one of Croft’s most enduring creations

Dad’s Army was the first of his series to come to TV screens, in 1968, and marked the start of his fruitful and long-lived comic partnership with Jimmy Perry.

The BBC initially had misgivings about the concept – which followed the fortunes of a Home Guard platoon, the last line of defence should the Germans have invaded Britain during World War II.

But the affection with which the characters were treated soon endeared the show to audiences and corporate bosses alike.

The series went on to gain the creative partnership a trio of awards from the Writers’ Guild of Great Britain in 1969-71.

More than 40 years after it was first screened, the sitcom is still being shown.

Among Croft’s other achievements was writing the scripts for numerous well-loved pantomimes and producing television shows in Hollywood and Australia.

The statement posted on his official web by his family added: “He was a truly great man, who will be missed by all who had the great fortune of knowing and loving him.

“We know that he would of been proud that had all been watching,” a nod to the tagline that appeared at the end of Croft’s TV sitcoms.

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