Michelle Dubois
Encyclopedia
Michelle Dubois is a fictional character in the situation comedy
'Allo 'Allo!
. The part was played by the actress Kirsten Cooke
.
She is a tall, thin, dark-haired young woman who usually dresses in the unofficial "uniform" of the Gaullist French Resistance
, a tan trench coat
and black beret
(usually with a silk scarf and a dress underneath). Unlike the other French
characters, she speaks fluent English
, and is the only local person in Nouvion who can communicate with the two downed Royal Air Force
men who are hidden in the town (the only other character to do this is Officer Crabtree). Her undercover alias is that of the post mistress in the other village, who has a lisp
. During Series 5 she also poses as a window cleaner and a builder.
Her recurring catch-phrase (delivered in a faux-French accent) is: "Listen very carefully, I shall say this only once." She also has a habit of jumping out on Rene with her gun drawn, and asking him "are we alone?", even when in a crowded cafe, and has an obsession with secrecy and disguises. Her usual manner of entering René's café is through the window in the back room, but on occasion she has also used the back passage and the front door, albeit disguised as an old woman, a German soldier, a pregnant woman, a window cleaner and once in plain clothes when she "urgently" needed René and Edith to help her (she had not had time to do her washing).
Although, unlike most of the other women in the show, she is not even remotely attracted to René Artois, she pretends to be in love with him at one point to get him to cooperate with her schemes but explains this to Yvette (following a scene in which Michelle walked in on Yvette in René's arms, called him a "faithless deceiver" and René was forced to tell Yvette that "Michelle ze ice-cold untouchable 'ead of ze Resistance turned out to 'ave ze 'ots for me") and promises to "do to 'im something very 'orrible" so that Yvette can have him back when the Resistance no longer needs him. René himself is not enthusiastic about the Resistance or the Germans, and would much prefer, given his own inclinations, to just run his cafe and have affairs with his waitresses.
Although Michelle is devoted to the Resistance, there have been episodes when her morals are doubtful. In one episode she shoots the ceiling of René's café to make the customers pay 400 francs for a bottle of wine instead of 200. In another episode she takes some money from the till of the café. In another episode she even threatens René and Edith with a gun for money. She has also been known to spend Resistance money (or money intended for the Resistance) at the hairdresser's.
when the main character Gary Sparrow, disguised as a French General, made contact with a member of the French Resistance.
Situation comedy
A situation comedy, often shortened to sitcom, is a genre of comedy that features characters sharing the same common environment, such as a home or workplace, accompanied with jokes as part of the dialogue...
'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...
. The part was played by the actress Kirsten Cooke
Kirsten Cooke
Kirsten Cooke is an English stage actress who trained at the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art, London. Almost all of her acting work has been in the field of comedy....
.
She is a tall, thin, dark-haired young woman who usually dresses in the unofficial "uniform" of the Gaullist French Resistance
French Resistance
The French Resistance is the name used to denote the collection of French resistance movements that fought against the Nazi German occupation of France and against the collaborationist Vichy régime during World War II...
, a tan trench coat
Trench coat
A trench coat or trenchcoat is a raincoat made of waterproof heavy-duty cotton drill or poplin, wool gabardine, or leather. It generally has a removable insulated lining; and it is usually knee-length.-History:...
and black beret
Beret
A beret is a soft, round, flat-crowned hat, designated a "cap", usually of woven, hand-knitted wool, crocheted cotton, or wool felt, or acrylic fiber....
(usually with a silk scarf and a dress underneath). Unlike the other French
French people
The French are a nation that share a common French culture and speak the French language as a mother tongue. Historically, the French population are descended from peoples of Celtic, Latin and Germanic origin, and are today a mixture of several ethnic groups...
characters, she speaks fluent English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
, and is the only local person in Nouvion who can communicate with the two downed Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
men who are hidden in the town (the only other character to do this is Officer Crabtree). Her undercover alias is that of the post mistress in the other village, who has a lisp
Lisp
A lisp is a speech impediment, historically also known as sigmatism. Stereotypically, people with a lisp are unable to pronounce sibilants , and replace them with interdentals , though there are actually several kinds of lisp...
. During Series 5 she also poses as a window cleaner and a builder.
Her recurring catch-phrase (delivered in a faux-French accent) is: "Listen very carefully, I shall say this only once." She also has a habit of jumping out on Rene with her gun drawn, and asking him "are we alone?", even when in a crowded cafe, and has an obsession with secrecy and disguises. Her usual manner of entering René's café is through the window in the back room, but on occasion she has also used the back passage and the front door, albeit disguised as an old woman, a German soldier, a pregnant woman, a window cleaner and once in plain clothes when she "urgently" needed René and Edith to help her (she had not had time to do her washing).
Although, unlike most of the other women in the show, she is not even remotely attracted to René Artois, she pretends to be in love with him at one point to get him to cooperate with her schemes but explains this to Yvette (following a scene in which Michelle walked in on Yvette in René's arms, called him a "faithless deceiver" and René was forced to tell Yvette that "Michelle ze ice-cold untouchable 'ead of ze Resistance turned out to 'ave ze 'ots for me") and promises to "do to 'im something very 'orrible" so that Yvette can have him back when the Resistance no longer needs him. René himself is not enthusiastic about the Resistance or the Germans, and would much prefer, given his own inclinations, to just run his cafe and have affairs with his waitresses.
Although Michelle is devoted to the Resistance, there have been episodes when her morals are doubtful. In one episode she shoots the ceiling of René's café to make the customers pay 400 francs for a bottle of wine instead of 200. In another episode she takes some money from the till of the café. In another episode she even threatens René and Edith with a gun for money. She has also been known to spend Resistance money (or money intended for the Resistance) at the hairdresser's.
Popular culture
Her catchphrase "Listen very carefully, I shall say this only once" was the most used catchphrase in the show and had several variations, including "Look very carefully, I shall show this only once", which was first used when showing one of her legs to René and Monsieur Alfonse, "listen very carefully, we shall sing this only once" when singing a song in René's café with Officer Crabtree and "get out of my way, I can spray this only once" when using a fire extinguisher at General von Klinkerhoffen's chateau. Due to the show's popularity "Listen very carefully, I shall say this only once" has also been used infrequently on other shows, especially those set in World War II France. A notable example is a fifth season episode of Goodnight SweetheartGoodnight Sweetheart
Goodnight Sweetheart is a sitcom that ran for six series on BBC1 from 1993 to 1999. It stars Nicholas Lyndhurst as Gary Sparrow, an accidental time traveller who leads a double life after discovering a time portal allowing him to travel between the London of the 1990s and the same area during the...
when the main character Gary Sparrow, disguised as a French General, made contact with a member of the French Resistance.