Hallelujah!

Hallelujah! was a British sitcom made by Yorkshire Television for the ITV network and was broadcast from April 1983 to December 1984. The series was set in a Salvation Army citadel in the fictional Yorkshire town of Brigthorpe during series 1. Captain Emily Ridley has been posted there, having been an active member of the Salvation Army for 42 years. Despite the town and residents being seemingly pleasant, Emily is determined to flush out sin from behind the net curtains. Assisting Emily are her niece Alice Meredith. The programme was a repeat collaboration between Hird and the creator Dick Sharples, having worked together on the comedy series In Loving Memory between 1979 and 1986. The show even featured guest appearances from guest stars like Hird's Last of the Summer Wine co-star actor Michael Aldridge and television presenter & Countdown Legend Richard Whiteley Himself.

Comedy

Seasons

1. Retirement

Air Date: 1981-06-03

For 42 years, Emily Ridley has fought a tireless battle against the Devil and his works. Now, it seems her uncompromising brand of evangelism has fallen out of favour.

2. Repentance

Air Date: 1981-06-10

Emily believes that Brigthorpe is teeming with unrepentant sinners. Persuading them to turn their backs on the Devil is proving more difficult than she imagined.

3. Counselling

Air Date: 1983-05-13

Emily's first counselling session confirms her very worst fears: behind the net curtains of the pleasant little town is a snake pit of original sin!

4. Poor Box

Air Date: 1981-06-24

Emily's latest door-to-door collection for the poor yields little more than £1.20, two 'drop dead's and an improper suggestion. Then she opens the poor box...

5. Luncheon Club

Air Date: 1981-07-01

Emily's new Senior Citizens' Luncheon Club gets off to a flying start - with an even more interesting finish.

6. Mobile Canteen

Air Date: 1981-07-08

Emily takes delivery of a new mobile canteen, but attempts to offer tea, sympathy and a bowl of soup to the poor and needy don't work out quite as she intended, especially when a ham sandwich causes an embarrassing fall at Yorkshire Television that makes the protestor a hero!

7. Struck Down

Air Date: 1981-07-15

With Emily in hospital, struck down by a renegade ham sandwich, Sisters Alice Meredith and Dorothy Smith are left to run the Citadel. Their approach is quite unlike Emily's!

1. Marching Orders

Air Date: 1983-04-29

Captain Emily Ridley receives her marching orders to take up a new posting, but to where? To another northern Sodom or Gomorrah - or to the Salvation Army home for old soldiers?

2. Just a Song at Twilight

Air Date: 1983-05-06

Emily puts the Sally Army's reputation at stake when she agrees to compete in a musical festival - without a band, singers, or even a comb and paper!

3. Holy Deadlock

Air Date: 1983-05-13

Despite weeks of fighting the good fight, Emily still hasn't saved a single soul. Then she hits the jackpot of original sin.

4. The Snake Pit (Part One)

Air Date: 1984-11-23

Emily is convinced she is about to get her longawaited promotion, but what she actually gets is something rather different.

5. The Snake Pit (Part Two)

Air Date: 1984-11-30

Accused of running her citadel like a house of ill repute, Captain Emily Ridley's Sally Army career seems to be almost over...

6. Rock Bottom

Air Date: 1983-06-03

Songster, Alice Meredith tries to save a middle-aged dropout from himself, but is Brother Gibson quite what he appears?

7. It Happened One Night

Air Date: 1983-06-10

The secrets of Captain Emily Ridley's private life are about to be revealed...

8. A Goose For Mrs. Scratchit (1984 Christmas Special)

Air Date: 1984-12-21

Captain Ridley attempts to explain to a group of children what Christmas used to be like, using as illustration the tale of Ebenezer Dickinson - an old miser whose only enjoyment is making other people's lives a misery.

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Rating

6.0/10

Release Date

1981-06-03

Episodes

15 (2 seasons)

Status

Ended

Cast

Patsy Rowlands

Sister Alice Meredith

Thora Hird

Captain Emily Ridley