Herr Otto Flick is the local head of the Gestapo, and the main antagonist of the BBC Sitcom 'Allo 'Allo!, which ran from 1982 to 1992.
Biography
Herr Flick is a senior officer of the Gestapo, the Nazi secret police during World War II. On the rare occasions he wears uniform, he is shown to be an equivilent of a Major.
Of all the charaters in the series, Herr Flick is one of the few completely straight ones, despite how strange or unusal the situations got, he would alwaays remain the same.
He is portrayed as unemotional (his voice never changes in relation to how he feels, even once while in pain he rather calmly stated "I am suspended by the Clappers') the only emotion he ever shows is anger, and even this is rare.
He is the godson of Heninrich Himmler, the head of the SS and Gestapo. He explains in one episode that he is an orphan and was raised by nuns when he was little, however this is unclear as in one episode, (Christmas Puddings) he is shown talking to his mother on the phone and when asked by Von Smallhausen if he'd been talking to Hitler, Flick replies, 'No, it was my mother...she wanted to know if the underwear she sent fitted.' He has stated that he originally didn't want to join the Gestapo, but Himmler convinced him.
Over the course of the programme he receives several letters from Himmler, usually admonishing him for his actions, such as failing to find the portrait of the Fallen Madonna By Van Klomn. When he is arrested by General Von Klinkerhoffen (once for pretending to be Helga's replacement and the other time for dressing up as a member of the French Resistance), Himmler comes to his rescue by sending a telegram to the General demanding Otto's release.
Herr Flick, is often portrayed as greedy, and arroagant. He has a hatred for the German officers in Nouvion, and constantly works against them, or tries to set them up for the fall, a fact he rarely succeeds at as the General is the supreme commander in the area and often uses his soldiers to threaten Herr Flick. On one occasion Herr Flick tried to assasinate the General.
He is assisted by Engelbert Von Smallhausen, a junior officer of the Gestapo who is not too intelligent. Herr Flick comanly bullies, insults or physically abuses, Von Samallhausen. Whenever Von Smallhausen makes a statement that is either stupid or does not agree with Flick's thinking, he always hits Von Smallhausen on the head with whatever object he can find at the time.
Herr Flick is in love with Private Helga, a fact which he does not often show. When she comes to see him he always says "You may kiss me." She then proceeds to kiss him passionately, while he stands quite still, with his facial expression not changing. He is excessively domineering, not just to her, but to Von Smallhausen as well. He comanly abuses her, but at the same time truelly loves her, as seeing her with other men, is the only thing which causes him to show any form of emotion.
His secret HQ's address is Rue de Gangoine 32. In his dungeon, Herr Flick has many disguises. He and Von Smallhausen are often shown in disguise, trying to gain entry to somewhere he is not supposed to be such as the château. He often adds the word 'Gestapo' as an adjective to various gadgets and items he uses. Examples include: "My powerful Gestapo binoculars", "My Gestapo staff car", and "The Gestapo Dance".
Herr Flick has a fondness for using experimental truth sera made from assorted exotic animals such as the Self-inflating Peruvian Marsh Frog or the Patagonian Fruit Bat. These sera often have interesting physical side effects on his victims.
There is also an extensive collection of Gestapo gramophone records dealing with such subjects as "How to fool French peasants into believing you are English in one easy lesson" He plays the violin extremely well and his favourite animal is the rat (because it is small, shifty and disgusting) this is apparently why he tolerates Von Smallhausen as he compares him to a rat. He owns a homing pigeon named Boris.
At the start of series 9 he has plastic surgery so when the allies invade he will not be recognised. He is last seen being taken away by the Allied Forces.