A TWO-DAY celebration of a BBC comedy has raised more than £1,200 for the Harwich Museum after cast and crew members returned to the town 45 years after first filming.
From 1980 to 1988, viewers enjoyed following the antics of the employees of Maplin’s holiday camp in the BBC comedy Hi-de-Hi! which attracted as many as 20 million viewers.
The hit sitcom was shot in Warner's Holiday Camp, in Dovercourt, which doubled up as the fictional holiday camp Maplins.
Over the weekend, the Harwich Museum played host to several of the famous faces who starred in the show, including Su Pollard, David Webb, Vince Rayner, and Charles Garland.
Fans in attendance got the chance to take part in a themed Hi-de-Hi! murder mystery on Saturday night, enjoy a meet and greet with the guests, hear their stories, have their questions answered and reminisce and chuckle about old clips.
Over the weekend some 150 ticket holders went along, with the event selling out in advance over four days.
Tony Tarran, a museum trustee and lifelong Hi-de-Hi! fan, said the weekend was a tremendous success and added: “I thank all the ticket holders, volunteers, and special guests for joining in all the fun and for their support.
“A clear £1,820 was raised for the museum for which we are extremely grateful.”
Helen Broom, of Harwich Museum, was presented with flowers from the trustees on Sunday as a thank you for writing Saturday night’s murder mystery – which saw 120 people in attendance donate to the museum.
Helen added: “About 50 attended on Sunday, with people coming as far away as Hampshire and Cleethorpes.
“The cast always say Harwich holds a special place in their hearts for the wonderful time they had filming Hi-de-Hi!.
"While Harwich Museum is open, we will always celebrate the show which meant so much to so many of our community.”
Harwich Museum has no paid employees, with every member of the team being a volunteer.
It is open 10am to 4pm Wednesday to Sunday until the winter season in December.
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