David Croft, co-writer and pro­du­cer of clas­sic com­ed­ies includ­ing ‘Allo ‘Allo and Hi-de-Hi has died at the age of 89. 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 You 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 ‘Allo ‘Allo, which was set in Nazi-occupied France. All of his hits were pro­duced for the BBC, the last being Oh Doc­tor Beech­ing in 1993 before he retired from the corporation.

via BBC