Officer Crabtree
Encyclopedia
Officer Crabtree is a fictional character
in the BBC
sitcom 'Allo 'Allo!
, which ran from 1982 to 1992; he was played by actor
Arthur Bostrom
.
In The Return of 'Allo 'Allo!
, it was revealed that the character was partly based upon Edward Heath
, who spoke fluent French
, but with an obviously English
accent.
. His grasp of French
is limited however, and this is represented on screen by his mangling of vowel
s for comic effect. Crabtree is occasionally heard speaking his maternal English, mostly when speaking to Fairfax and Carstairs
. His bad French also seems to be contagious as several French characters (particularly Madame Edith) end up speaking like him without realising it after hearing him talk. It is also of note that others, especially lead character René, will use his mangled French to insult him, such as in "Pass off" (for "Piss off").
A running gag throughout the series is that, when any of the other characters meet British officers (even Fairfax and Carstairs on one occasion, when they were to be disguised as gendarmes) their French is just the same as Crabtree's.
After the character's introduction, various episodes were named in this talking manners (e.g. "Up the Crick Without a Piddle" for "Up the Creek without a Paddle" in Season 7).
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
in the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
sitcom 'Allo 'Allo!
'Allo 'Allo!
'Allo 'Allo! is a British sitcom broadcast on BBC One from 1982 to 1992 comprising eighty-five episodes. It is a parody of another BBC programme, the wartime drama Secret Army, and was created by David Croft, who also wrote the theme music, and Jeremy Lloyd. Lloyd and Croft wrote the first 6...
, which ran from 1982 to 1992; he was played by actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
Arthur Bostrom
Arthur Bostrom
Arthur Bostrom is an English actor, most famous for his role as Officer Crabtree, in the long-running BBC sitcom Allo 'Allo!.-Biography:...
.
In The Return of 'Allo 'Allo!
The Return of 'Allo 'Allo!
The Return of 'Allo 'Allo! is a one-off special episode of the sitcom 'Allo 'Allo!The Return of 'Allo 'Allo! was broadcast LIVE on BBC1 on 28 April 2007 at 9pm. The storyline involves René writing his memoirs after the war. The new scenes are interspersed with clips from the original series and...
, it was revealed that the character was partly based upon Edward Heath
Edward Heath
Sir Edward Richard George "Ted" Heath, KG, MBE, PC was a British Conservative politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and as Leader of the Conservative Party ....
, who spoke fluent French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, but with an obviously English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
accent.
Character overview
The character is an undercover British agent masquerading as a gendarmeGendarmerie
A gendarmerie or gendarmery is a military force charged with police duties among civilian populations. Members of such a force are typically called "gendarmes". The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary describes a gendarme as "a soldier who is employed on police duties" and a "gendarmery, -erie" as...
. His grasp of French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
is limited however, and this is represented on screen by his mangling of vowel
Vowel
In phonetics, a vowel is a sound in spoken language, such as English ah! or oh! , pronounced with an open vocal tract so that there is no build-up of air pressure at any point above the glottis. This contrasts with consonants, such as English sh! , where there is a constriction or closure at some...
s for comic effect. Crabtree is occasionally heard speaking his maternal English, mostly when speaking to Fairfax and Carstairs
Lt. Fairfax and Lt. Carstairs
RAF Flight Lieutenants Fairfax and Carstairs are fictional characters in the BBC sitcom Allo 'Allo!, which ran from 1982 to 1992. They were portrayed by the actors John D. Collins and Nicholas Frankau, respectively....
. His bad French also seems to be contagious as several French characters (particularly Madame Edith) end up speaking like him without realising it after hearing him talk. It is also of note that others, especially lead character René, will use his mangled French to insult him, such as in "Pass off" (for "Piss off").
A running gag throughout the series is that, when any of the other characters meet British officers (even Fairfax and Carstairs on one occasion, when they were to be disguised as gendarmes) their French is just the same as Crabtree's.
After the character's introduction, various episodes were named in this talking manners (e.g. "Up the Crick Without a Piddle" for "Up the Creek without a Paddle" in Season 7).