At the same time René is acting as a safehouse for downed British airmen. He is forced to work with the Resistance, who would otherwise shoot him for serving Germans in his cafe. Rene is also trying to have an affair with his two waitresses without his wife discovering.
These few plot devices provided the basic storyline throughout the entire series, on which were hung classic farce setups, physical comedy and sight gags, fake theatrical foreign accents, and a fast-paced running string of broad cultural clichés, which owed something to Monty Python. Each episode ran on from the previous ones, often requiring that the previous episode be also watched. Fortunately, Rene would inform the viewer as to what had previously transpired, in a gag based on a threadbare device of second-rate serials.
| Character | Actor |
| René Francois Artois | Gorden Kaye |
| Edith Melba Artois | Carmen Silvera |
| Madame Fanny La Fan (Edith's mother) | Gorden Kaye |
| Yvette Carte-Blanche | Vicki Michelle |
| Maria Recamier (series 1-3) | Francesca Gonshaw |
| Mimi Labonq (series 4-9) | Sue Hodge |
| Michelle "of the Resistance" Dubois | Kirsten Cooke |
| Monsieur Roger Leclerc (series 1-5) | Jack Haig |
| Monsieur Ernest Leclerc (series 6-9) | Derek Royle (series 6) Robin Parkinson (series 7-9) |
| Monsieur Alphonse | Kenneth Connor |
| Colonel Von Strohm | Richard Marner |
| Lieutenant Hubert Gruber | Guy Siner |
| Captain Hans Geering (series 1-4) | Sam Kelly |
| Captain Alberto Bertorelli (series 4-7) | Gavin Richards (series 4-6) Roger Kitter (series 7) |
| Private Helga Geerhart | Kim Hartman |
| Herr Otto Flick | Richard Gibson (series 1-8) David Janson (Series 9) |
| Herr Engelbert Von Smallhausen (series 2-9) | John Louis Mansi |
| Officer (Captain) Crabtree (series 2-9) | Arthur Bostrom |
| RAF Flight Lt. Fairfax (series 1-7) | John D. Collins |
| RAF Flight Lt. Carstairs (series 1-7) | Nicholas Frankau |
A good online source of information for 'Allo 'Allo is http://www.coldcut.com/video/aa/