WARTIME France is still the location for the stage version of hit BBC comedy 'Allo 'Allo, which invades the Victoria Theatre, Halifax, on Monday.
But the show has Yorkshire connections and one of its stars, glamorous Vicki Michelle, has her own links to the county, albeit via another TV channel.
Vicki – who played sexy café waitress Yvette Carte-Blanche in the long-running TV series – has most recently been seen on our screens as Patricia Foster in ITV soap Emmerdale. Her co-star in the original BBC comedy was Gorden Kaye, the Huddersfield-born actor who played hapless French café owner René.
And although he is not in the current show, Calderdale actor Peter Alexander – who has also starred in Emmerdale – took the role of Captain Von Strohm in a previous tour.
The 18-date national tour follows a special one-off episode marking the 25th anniversary of the show, released last year and entitled The Return of 'Allo 'Allo, in which several of the original cast were reunited.
The stage show is, says Vicki, "like a long episode of 'Allo 'Allo", and has been greeted with glee by theatre-goers up and down the country. "It has had such a brilliant reception," she says.
But although she played Yvette in all nine series of the programme, following it with West End, national and international tours, she was not certain if she wanted to slip into the waitress's outfit for the revival tour.
But she was persuaded to hit the road by Jeffrey Holland – known to many as Spike Dixon in the hit BBC comedy series, Hi-De-Hi, who is playing René – and by Calibre Productions. It was behind the acclaimed £2 million box office success of Dad's Army – The Lost Episodes, which played in Manchester 18 months ago.
Vicki says: "Jeffrey and I had worked together before. I wasn't sure, but the producers asked me to see Dad's Army on stage. You would have thought it was the original cast, although most of them have passed away.
"I said 'if you can do a job like that with 'Allo 'Allo, I'll do it'. The current cast are spookily like the originals and the show is written by Jeremy Lloyd and David Croft so it makes you laugh out loud. How many things nowadays make you laugh out loud? Some people end up crying with laughter.
"Jeffrey fits the role of René very well – he has the deadpan face that Gorden has and his timing is fantastic."
Set in occupied France during World War Two, 'Allo 'Allo follows René and his wife Edith as they struggle to hide a priceless portrait stolen by the Nazis and hidden in a sausage in their cellar. Adding to René's woes, the French Resistance force him to aid their persistent attempts to return two bumbling British airmen to England. At the same time, René is trying to keep his long-running affairs with his two waitresses from his wife.
While Nazi-occupied France may not have seemed a likely topic of humour, the show's premise was not to make fun of the war, but to spoof war-based film and TV dramas – in particular, a BBC1 drama about the resistance movement, Secret Army.
The stage show contains cherished catchphrases like "You stupid woman!", "Listen very carefully. I shall say this only once", "Good moaning!" and "Ooooh, Renee".
Vicki, whose career has included many straight acting roles in series including The Professionals and Minder, has also worked with many comedy legends, including Les Dawson, the Two Ronnies, Ken Dodd, Kenny Everett and Dick Emery.
She believes that a large spoonful of laughter and the exercise she gets running around on the stage, helps to keep her trim and youthful. "I put it down to my mother, her genes," she says. "I haven't had Botox or a facelift. And this business keeps you young.
"I am the eternal optimist. I laugh at everything – I don't think about getting old. I don't want to go there!"
Despite her enjoyment of comedy, Vicki says she would like to do more TV work.
"It would be nice to do a bit more serious acting," she says. "But I am just enjoying working."

• 'Allo 'Allo is on from Monday to Wednesday (7.30pm, with a Wednesday

matinee at 2.30pm).