Dad's Army

Dad's Army is a BBC sitcom about the British militia called the Home Guard during the Second World War. It was written by Jimmy Perry and David Croft, and broadcast on the BBC from 1968 to 1977. The sitcom ran for nine series and 80 episodes in total; there was also a radio version based on the television scripts, a feature film and a stage show. The series regularly gained audiences of 18 million viewers, and is still repeated worldwide.

This article is about the television series. For other uses, see Dad's Army (disambiguation).

Dad's Army
Series title card
GenreSituation comedy
Historical fiction
Created byJimmy Perry
Written byJimmy Perry & David Croft
Directed by
  • David Croft
  • Harold Snoad
  • Bob Spiers
StarringListed in closing credits:
Opening themeBud Flanagan
"Who do you think you are kidding, Mr Hitler?"
Country of originUnited Kingdom
No. of series9
No. of episodes80 (3 missing) (list of episodes)
Production
ProducerDavid Croft
Running time30 minutes
Distributor
Release
Original networkBBC 1
Original release31 July 1968 (1968-07-31) –
13 November 1977 (1977-11-13)
External links
Website
Co-writers David Croft and Jimmy Perry during a Dad's Army event at Bressingham Steam Museum, May 2011

The Home Guard consisted of local volunteers otherwise ineligible for military service, either because of age (hence the title Dad's Army) or by being in professions exempt from conscription. Dad's Army deals almost exclusively with men over military age, and featured older British actors, including Arnold Ridley, John Laurie, Arthur Lowe and John Le Mesurier. Younger members of the cast included Ian Lavender, Clive Dunn (who played the oldest guardsman, Lance Corporal Jones, despite being one of the younger cast members), and James Beck (who died suddenly during production of the sixth series in 1973). Other regular cast members included Frank Williams as the vicar, and Bill Pertwee as the chief ARP warden.

In 2004, Dad's Army came fourth in a BBC poll to find Britain's Best Sitcom. It had been placed 13th in a list of the 100 Greatest British Television Programmes drawn up by the British Film Institute in 2000 and voted for by industry professionals.[1]

The series has influenced British popular culture, with its catchphrases and characters being well known. The Radio Times magazine listed Captain Mainwaring’s “You stupid boy!" among the 25 greatest put-downs on TV.[2] A 2001 Channel 4 poll ranked Captain Mainwaring 21st on their list of the 100 Greatest TV Characters.[3][4] A second feature film of Dad's Army with a different cast was released in 2016.[5]

In 2019 UKTV recreated three missing episodes for broadcast in August that year on its Gold channel under the title Dad's Army: The Lost Episodes starring Kevin McNally and Robert Bathurst as Captain Mainwaring and Sergeant Wilson.[6]

Origins

Originally intended to be called The Fighting Tigers, Dad's Army was based partly on co-writer and creator Jimmy Perry's experiences in the Local Defence Volunteers (LDV, later known as the Home Guard)[7] and highlighted a somewhat forgotten aspect of defence during the Second World War. Perry was only 17 years old when he joined the 10th Hertfordshire Battalion. His mother did not like him being out at night, and feared he might catch cold; he partly resembled the character of Private Pike.[8] An elderly Lance Corporal in the 10th Hertfordshire often referred to fighting under Kitchener against the "Fuzzy Wuzzies" (Hadendoa), and was the model for Corporal Jones.

Other influences included the work of comedians such as Will Hay, whose film Oh, Mr Porter! featured a pompous ass, an old man and a young man; together, this gave Perry the ideas for Mainwaring, Godfrey and Pike. Film historian Jeffrey Richards has cited Lancastrian comedian Robb Wilton as a key influence;[9] he portrayed a work-shy husband who joined the Home Guard in numerous comic sketches during WW2.[10]

Perry wrote the first script and gave it to David Croft while working as a minor actor in the Croft-produced sitcom Hugh and I, originally intending the role of the spiv, later called Walker, to be his own.[8] Croft was impressed and sent the script to Michael Mills, the BBC's Head of Comedy and the series was commissioned.[11]

In his book Dad's Army, Graham McCann explains that the show owes much to Michael Mills. It was he who renamed the show Dad's Army. He did not like Brightsea-on-Sea, so the location was changed to Walmington-on-Sea. He was happy with the names for the characters Mainwaring, Godfrey and Pike, but not with other names, and he made suggestions: Private Jim Duck became Frazer, Joe Fish became Joe Walker and Jim Jones became Jack Jones. He also suggested adding a Scot. Jimmy Perry had produced the original idea but needed an experienced man to see it through. Mills suggested David Croft, and so their partnership began.

When an episode was shown to members of the public to gauge audience reaction prior to broadcast of the first series, the majority of the audience thought it was very poor. The production team put the report containing the negative comments at the bottom of David Croft's in-tray. He only saw it several months later,[12] after the series had been broadcast and had received great acclaim.[13][14]

Situation

The show is set in the fictional seaside town of Walmington-on-Sea, on the south coast of England. The exterior scenes were mostly filmed in and around the Stanford Training Area [STANTA], near Thetford, Norfolk.[15] Walmington, and its Home Guard platoon, would be on the front line in the event of a German invasion across the English Channel. The first series has a loose narrative thread, with Captain Mainwaring's platoon being formed and equipped, initially with wooden guns and LDV armbands, later on with full army uniforms; the platoon is part of the Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment.

The first episode, "The Man and the Hour", begins with a scene set in the "present day" of 1968, in which Mainwaring addresses his old platoon as part of the contemporary '"I'm Backing Britain" campaign. The prologue opening was a condition imposed after initial concerns from Paul Fox, the BBC1 controller, that it belittled the efforts of the Home Guard.[16] After Mainwaring relates how he had backed Britain in 1940, the episode proper begins; Dad's Army is thus told in flashback, although the final episode does not return to 1968. Later episodes are largely self-contained, albeit referring to previous events and with additional character development.

As the comedy in many ways relies on the platoon's lack of participation in the Second World War, opposition to their activities has to come from another quarter and this is generally provided by Air Raid Precautions (ARP) Warden Hodges, and sometimes by the verger of the local church (St Aldhelm's) or by Captain Square and the neighbouring Eastgate Home Guard platoon. The group does have some encounters related to the enemy, such as downed German planes, a Luftwaffe pilot who parachutes into the town's clock tower, a U-boat crew and discarded parachutes that may have been German; a Viennese ornithologist appears in "Man Hunt" and an IRA suspect appears in "Absent Friends".

The humour ranges from the subtle (especially the class-reversed relationship between grammar school-educated Mainwaring, the local bank manager, and public school-educated Wilson, his deputy at the bank) to the slapstick (the antics of the elderly Jones being a prime example). Jones had several catchphrases, including "Don't panic!" (while panicking himself), "They don't like it up 'em", "Permission to speak, sir?" and talk about the "Fuzzy-Wuzzies". Mainwaring says "You stupid boy" to Pike in many episodes. Other cast members used catch phrases including Sergeant Wilson who regularly asked ‘Do you think that’s wise?’ when Captain Mainwaring made a suggestion.

The early series occasionally include darker humour, reflecting that, especially early in the war, the Home Guard was woefully under-equipped but was still willing to resist the Wehrmacht. For instance, in the episode "The Battle of Godfrey's Cottage", the platoon believes the enemy has invaded Britain. Mainwaring, Godfrey, Frazer and Jones (along with Godfrey's sisters, who are completely unaware of the invasion) decide to stay at the cottage to delay the German advance, buying the regular army time to arrive with reinforcements; "It'll probably be the end of us, but we're ready for that, aren't we, men?", says Mainwaring. "Of course", replies Frazer.

Characters
The characters of Dad's Army (left to right): Privates Pike and Frazer, ARP Warden Hodges, Private Godfrey, Captain Mainwaring, Private Walker, Lance Corporal Jones and Sergeant Wilson
Main article: List of Dad's Army characters

Main characters
  • Captain George Mainwaring (/ˈmænərɪŋ/) (Arthur Lowe), the pompous, if essentially brave and unerringly patriotic local bank manager, Mainwaring appointed himself leader of his town's contingent of Local Defence Volunteers. He had been a lieutenant in the First World War, but is embarrassed by the fact that he never saw combat, being sent to France only in 1919 after the Armistice and then part of the Army of Occupation in Germany.
  • Sergeant Arthur Wilson (John Le Mesurier), a diffident, upper-middle-class Chief Bank Clerk who would quietly question Mainwaring's judgement ("Do you think that's wise, sir?"). Wilson had actually served as a Captain during the First World War, but he only reveals this in the final episode. He does not live with the Pike family but is implied to be in a relationship with the widowed Mrs Pike. (On the last day of filming David Croft confirmed to Lavender that Uncle Arthur was his father).[17]
  • Lance Corporal Jack Jones (Clive Dunn), the local butcher, born in 1870. Jones was an old campaigner who enlisted as a drummer boy at the age of 14 and participated, as a boy soldier, in the Gordon Relief Expedition of 1884–85 and, as a man soldier, in Kitchener's campaign in the Sudan in 1896–98. Jones also served during the Boer War and the Great War. He often suffers from the effects of malaria caught during one of his campaigns, and has to be calmed during his "shudders". Often seen as fastidious and old, he is the world's worst worrier and has a catchphrase of "They don't like it up em!" when referencing any potential Nazi attack. Dunn was considerably younger than his character, being only 48 at the start of filming. This allowed him to take part in some of the more physical comedy of the show.
  • Private James Frazer (John Laurie), a dour Scottish former Chief Petty Officer on HMS Defiant in the Royal Navy. He served at the Battle of Jutland as a ship's cook and also has a medal for having served on Shackleton's Antarctic expedition. He grew up on the Isle of Barra. In episode one, he states that he owns a philately shop, but subsequently his profession is always undertaker. His catchphrase was "We're doomed. Doomed!"
  • Private Joe Walker (James Beck), a black market spiv, Walker was one of only two able-bodied men of military age among the main characters (the other one being Private Pike). In the first episode, Walker claimed he was not called up to the regular army because he was in a reserved occupation as a wholesale supplier. In one of the missing episodes, it was revealed that he wasn't called up because of an allergy to corned beef. Following Beck's death in 1973, during series 6, Walker was omitted from the remaining series.
  • Private Charles Godfrey (Arnold Ridley), a retired shop assistant who had worked at the Army & Navy Store in London. He lives in Walmington with his elderly sisters and serves as the platoon's medical orderly. He has a weak bladder and often needs to "be excused". A conscientious objector during the First World War, he was nevertheless awarded the Military Medal for heroic actions as a combat medic during the Battle of the Somme. He also demonstrated bravery during his Home Guard service particularly during the "Branded" episode where Mainwaring, unconscious in a smoke-filled room, is rescued by Godfrey.
  • Private Frank Pike (Ian Lavender), the youngest of the platoon, a cosseted, somewhat immature mother's boy, often wearing a thick scarf over his uniform to prevent illness and a frequent target for Mainwaring's derision ("You stupid boy!"). Pike is not called up to the regular army due to his rare blood group (in series 8 he is excused for this reason). He works for Mainwaring in his day job as an assistant bank clerk. He frequently addresses Sergeant Wilson as "Uncle Arthur".

Supporting characters
  • ARP Chief Warden William Hodges (Bill Pertwee), the platoon's major rival and nemesis. Mainwaring looks down on him as the local greengrocer and dislikes that Hodges saw active service in the Great War. As an Air Raid Precautions (ARP) Warden, he is always demanding that people "put that light out".
  • The Reverend Timothy Farthing (Frank Williams), the effete, huffy vicar of St Aldhelm's Church. He reluctantly shares his church hall and office with Mainwaring's platoon.
  • Maurice Yeatman (Edward Sinclair), the verger at St Aldhelm's Church and Scoutmaster of the local Sea Scout troop. He is often hostile to the platoon while frequently sycophantic to the vicar, who often struggles to tolerate him.
  • Mrs Mavis Pike (Janet Davies), Pike's overbearing widowed mother, who is often implied to be in a relationship with Sergeant Wilson.
  • Mrs Fox (Pamela Cundell), a glamorous widow. There is a mutual attraction with Corporal Jones and the couple marry in the last episode. Illicit little "extras" are passed across the counter on her regular visits to Jones's butchers shop and she helps the platoon with official functions. In the episode "Mum's Army", she gives her Christian name as Marcia, but by the final episode she has become Mildred.
  • Private Sponge (Colin Bean), a sheep farmer. He led the members of the platoon's second section (the first section being led by Corporal Jones) and thus had only occasional speaking parts, although his character became more prominent in later series. He appeared in 76 of the 80 episodes.[18]
  • Private Cheeseman (Talfryn Thomas), a Welshman who works for the town newspaper. He joined the Walmington-on-Sea platoon during the seventh series after the sudden death of James Beck, who played Private Walker.
  • Captain Square (Geoffrey Lumsden), the pompous commanding officer of the rival Eastgate Platoon, and a former soldier who served with Lawrence of Arabia during the Great War. He is frequently at loggerheads with Mainwaring (whose name he persists in mispronouncing as spelt, "Main-wearing", instead of the correct "Mannering") and has the catchphrase, "You blithering idiot!"
  • Mrs Yeatman (Olive Mercer), the somewhat tyrannical wife of Maurice Yeatman, the verger. Over the course of the series, she was named as Beryl, Anthea and Tracey.
  • Mr Sidney Bluett (Harold Bennett), an elderly local man who is occasionally involved with the antics of both the platoon and Hodges. He and Mrs Yeatman are implied to be having an affair.
  • Edith Parish (also called Shirley) (Wendy Richard), a cinema usherette and girlfriend of Private Walker.
  • Dolly (Amy Dalby and Joan Cooper) and Cissy Godfrey (Nan Braunton and Kathleen Saintsbury), Private Godfrey's spinster sisters, who reside with him at their cottage.
  • Elizabeth Mainwaring (Unseen character), Mainwaring's reclusive, paranoid and domineering wife who is never seen on-screen. Her marriage with Mainwaring is not a happy one and Mainwaring does his best to avoid her at any opportunity. The marriage is childless.

Other actors who appeared in small roles include Eric Longworth, Timothy Carlton, Nigel Hawthorne, Geoffrey Hughes, Fulton Mackay, Anthony Sharp, Carmen Silvera, Caroline Dowdeswell, Don Estelle, Michael Knowles and Barbara Windsor.

Larry Martyn appeared as an unnamed Private in four episodes, and later took over the part of Walker in the radio series following the death of James Beck. The former cricketer Fred Trueman appeared in "The Test".

Opening and closing credits

The show's opening titles were originally intended to feature footage of refugees and Nazi troops, to illustrate the threat faced by the Home Guard. Despite opposition from the BBC's Head of Comedy Michael Mills, Paul Fox, the controller of BBC 1, ordered that these be removed on the grounds that they were offensive.[19][20] The replacement titles featured the now familiar animated sequence of swastika-headed arrows approaching Britain.[21] The opening titles were updated twice; firstly in Series 3, adding colour and noticeably better animation and then again in Series 6, which made some slight tweaks to the animation.

There were two different versions of the closing credits for the show. The first version, used in Series 1 and 2, simply showed footage of the main cast superimposed over a still photograph, with the crew credits rolling over a black background. The more familiar closing credits, introduced in Series 3, were a homage to the end credits of the film The Way Ahead (1944) which had covered the training of a platoon during the war. In both instances, each character is shown as they walk across a smoke-filled battlefield. One of the actors in Dad's Army, John Laurie, also appeared in that film and his performance in the end credits of The Way Ahead appears to be copied in the sitcom. Coincidentally, the film's lead character (played by David Niven) is named Lieutenant Jim Perry.

Music

The show's theme tune, "Who do you think you are kidding, Mr Hitler?" was Jimmy Perry's idea, intended as a gentle pastiche of wartime songs. It was the only pastiche in the series, as the other music used was contemporary to the 1940s. Perry wrote the lyrics himself and composed the music with Derek Taverner. Perry persuaded one of his childhood idols, wartime entertainer Bud Flanagan, to sing the theme for 100 guineas (equivalent to £1,900 in 2019). Flanagan died less than a year after the recording. At the time it was widely believed to be a wartime song.[22]

The version played over the opening credits differs slightly from the full version recorded by Flanagan; an edit removes, for timing reasons, two lines of lyric with the "middle eight" tune: "So watch out Mr Hitler, you have met your match in us/If you think you can crush us, we're afraid you've missed the bus." Bud Flanagan's full version appears as an Easter egg on the first series DVD release and on the authorised soundtrack CD issued by CD41.[23] Arthur Lowe also recorded a full version of the theme.[24]

The music over the opening credits was recorded at Riverside Studios, Bud Flanagan being accompanied by the Orchestra of the Band of the Coldstream Guards. The closing credits feature an instrumental march version of the song played by the Band of the Coldstream Guards conducted by Captain (later Lieutenant Colonel) Trevor L. Sharpe, ending with the air-raid warning siren sounding all-clear. It is accompanied by a style of credits that became a trademark of David Croft: the caption "You have been watching", followed by vignettes of the main cast.

The series also contains genuine wartime and period songs between scenes, usually brief quotations that have some reference to the theme of the episode or the scene. Many appear on the CD soundtrack issued by CD41, being the same versions used in the series.

TV episodes
Main article: List of Dad's Army episodes

The television series lasted nine series and was broadcast over nine years, with 80 episodes in total, including three Christmas specials and an hour-long special. At its peak, the programme regularly gained audiences of 18.5 million.[25] There were also four short specials broadcast as part of Christmas Night with the Stars in 1968, 1969, 1970 and 1972.

Missing episodes
Main article: Dad's Army missing episodes

The first two series were recorded and screened in black and white, while Series 3 to 9 were recorded and screened in colour. Even so, one episode in Series 3, Room at the Bottom, formerly only survived in black and white and remains on the official DVDs in this form. This episode has benefited from colour recovery technology, using a buried colour signal (chroma dots) in the black-and-white telerecording to restore the episode back to colour and was transmitted on 13 December 2008 on BBC Two. Dad's Army was less affected than most from the wiping of videotape, but three second-series episodes remain missing: episode 9 "The Loneliness of the Long Distance Walker", episode 11 "A Stripe for Frazer" and episode 12 "Under Fire". (All three missing episodes were among those remade for BBC Radio with most of the original cast, adapted from the original TV scripts. Audio recordings of all three were included as bonus features on The Complete Series DVD collection.) Two further series 2 episodes were believed lost until 2001. Two of the three missing episodes have since been performed as part of the latest stage show.

In 2008, soundtracks of the missing episode "A Stripe for Frazer" and the 1968 Christmas Special "Present Arms" were recovered. The soundtrack of "A Stripe for Frazer" has been mixed with animation to replace the missing images.[26] The Audio soundtrack for the 1970 Christmas Special "Cornish Floral Dance" has also been recovered.

Dad's Army: The Lost Episodes (2019)

In 2018, UKTV announced plans to recreate the three missing episodes for broadcast on its Gold channel. Mercury Productions, the company responsible for Saluting Dad's Army, Gold's 50th anniversary tribute series, produced the episodes, which were directed by Ben Kellett. The recreations were broadcast in August 2019, coinciding with the 50th anniversary of their original broadcast on the BBC.[27] Kevin McNally and Robert Bathurst were the initial casting announcements as Captain Mainwaring and Sergeant Wilson,[28] with Bernard Cribbins portraying Private Godfrey.[29] The full cast was announced in January 2019, with McNally, Bathurst and Cribbins joined by Kevin Eldon, Mathew Horne, David Hayman and Tom Rosenthal.[30] However, Bernard Cribbins subsequently withdrew from the project, and was replaced as Godfrey by Timothy West.[31]

Cast

Films

1971 film
Main article: Dad's Army (1971 film)

In 1971, in common with many British sitcoms of that era, Dad's Army was made into a feature film. Backers Columbia Pictures imposed arbitrary changes, such as recasting Liz Fraser as Mavis Pike and filming outdoors in Chalfont St Giles, Buckinghamshire rather than Thetford in Norfolk, which made the cast unhappy. The director, Norman Cohen, whose idea it was to make the film, was nearly sacked by the studio.[32]:168

Jimmy Perry and David Croft wrote the original screenplay. This was expanded by Cohen to try to make it more cinematic; Columbia executives made more changes to plot and pacing. As finally realised, two-thirds of the film consists of the creation of the platoon; this was the contribution of Perry and Croft, and differs in a number of ways from the formation of the platoon as seen in the first series of the television version. The final third shows the platoon in action, rescuing hostages from the church hall where they had been held captive by the crewmen of a downed German aircraft.

Neither the cast nor Perry and Croft were happy with the result. Perry argued for changes to try to reproduce the style of the television series, but with mixed results.

Filming took place from 10 August to 25 September 1970 at Shepperton Studios and other locations. After shooting the film, the cast returned to working on the fourth television series.

The film's UK première was on 12 March 1971 at the Columbia Theatre, London. Critical reviews were mixed, but it performed well at the UK box office. Discussions were held about a possible sequel, to be called Dad's Army and the Secret U-Boat Base, but the project never came to fruition.[32]:164–169

Michael Gambon as Private Godfrey (2014)

2016 film
Main article: Dad's Army (2016 film)

A second film was released in 2016, written by Hamish McColl and directed by Oliver Parker and featuring Toby Jones as Captain Mainwaring, Bill Nighy as Sergeant Wilson, Tom Courtenay as Lance Corporal Jones, Michael Gambon as Private Godfrey, Blake Harrison as Private Pike, Daniel Mays as Private Walker and Bill Paterson as Private Frazer. The cast also includes Catherine Zeta-Jones, Sarah Lancashire and Mark Gatiss. The film was mostly made on location in Yorkshire. Filming took place on the beach at North Landing, Flamborough Head, Yorkshire and at nearby Bridlington. It opened in February 2016 to mainly negative reviews.[33][34][35][36][37]

Stage show
Main article: Dad's Army (stage show)
A poster advertising the stage show

In 1975 Dad's Army transferred to the stage as a revue, with songs, familiar scenes from the show and individual "turns" for cast members. It was created by Roger Redfarn, who shared the same agent as the sitcom writers. Most of the principal cast transferred with it, with the exception of John Laurie (he was replaced by Hamish Roughead). Following James Beck's death two years earlier, Walker was played by John Bardon.

Dad's Army: A Nostalgic Music and Laughter Show of Britain's Finest Hour opened at Billingham in Teesside on 4 September 1975 for a two-week tryout. After cuts and revisions, the show transferred to London's West End and opened at the Shaftesbury Theatre on 2 October 1975. On the opening night there was a surprise appearance by Chesney Allen, singing the old Flanagan and Allen song Hometown with Arthur Lowe.

The show ran in the West End until 21 February 1976, disrupted twice by bomb scares and then toured the country until 4 September 1976. Clive Dunn was replaced for half the tour by Jack Haig (David Croft's original first choice for the role of Corporal Jones on television). Jeffrey Holland, who went on to star in several later Croft sitcoms, also had a number of roles in the production.[32]:178–180

The stage show, billed as Dad's Army—The Musical, was staged in Australia and toured New Zealand in 2004–05, starring Jon English. Several sections of this stage show were filmed and have subsequently been included as extras on the final Dad's Army DVD.

In April 2007, a new stage show was announced with cast members including Leslie Grantham as Private Walker and Emmerdale actor Peter Martin as Captain Mainwaring.[38] The production contained the episodes "A Stripe for Frazer", "The Loneliness of the Long Distance Walker", "Room at the Bottom" and "The Deadly Attachment".

In August 2017, a new two-man stage show titled, Dad's Army Radio Hour, opened at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe It starred David Benson and Jack Lane. Between them, the pair voiced the entire cast of Dad's Army, including incidental characters. The episodes adapted from the original radio scripts are "The Deadly Attachment", "The Day the Balloon Went Up", "Brain Versus Brawn", "My British Buddy", "Round and Round Went the Great Big Wheel" and "Mum's Army". The current production features three episodes not adapted for the radio series "When You've Got to Go", "My Brother and I" and "Never Too Old". The show was well received critics and the David Croft estate for its respectful and uncanny performances. In 2019, the production changed its name to Dad's Army Radio Show and continues to tour nationally throughout the UK until the end of 2020.[39]

Radio series
Main article: List of Dad's Army radio episodes

Many of the TV episodes were remade for BBC Radio 4 with the original cast, although other actors played Walker after James Beck's death (which took place soon after recording and before transmission of the first radio series). These radio versions were adapted from the original television scripts by Harold Snoad and Michael Knowles, and featured John Snagge as a newsreader, who set the scene for each episode. Different actors were used for some of the minor parts: for example Mollie Sugden played the role of Mrs Fox, and Pearl Hackney played Mrs Pike. The first episode was based on the revised version of events seen in the opening of the film version, rather than on the TV pilot. The entire radio series has been released on CD.[40]

Knowles and Snoad also developed a radio series, It Sticks Out Half a Mile, which told what happened to some of the Dad's Army characters after the war. It was originally intended to star Arthur Lowe and John Le Mesurier, reprising their Dad's Army roles, but Lowe died after recording the pilot episode in 1981, so Bill Pertwee and Ian Lavender were brought in to replace him. Ironically, if Arthur Lowe had lived the series might never have been made, as the illness from which he suffered towards the end of his career badly affected his voice, which led to an initial decision not to commission it. In the event the revised cast recorded a 13-episode series. This might have led to more episodes and a second series, had it not been for the sudden death of John Le Mesurier in November 1983.

The last radio recording of Dad's Army occurred in 1995, when Jimmy Perry wrote a radio sketch entitled The Boy Who Saved England for the "Full Steam A-Hudd" evening broadcast on Radio 2, transmitted on 3 June 1995 on the occasion of the closure of the BBC's Paris studios in Lower Regent Street. It featured Ian Lavender as Pike, Bill Pertwee as Hodges, Frank Williams as the Vicar and Jimmy Perry as General Haverlock-Seabag.

Other appearances

Lowe, Le Mesurier, Laurie, Beck, Ridley and Lavender (wearing Pike's signature scarf) appeared as guests in a 1971 edition of The Morecambe & Wise Show on BBC2 in the Monty on the Bonty sketch, with Lowe as Captain Bligh and the others as crewmen on HMS Bounty.

The cast appeared in a 1974 public information film, in character but set in the modern day, showing how to cross the road safely at Pelican crossings.

Lowe, Le Mesurier, Dunn, Lavender and Pertwee, and Jones's van, appeared in character at the finish of the 1974 London to Brighton Veteran Car Run.

Lowe, Le Mesurier and Laurie again made a cameo appearance as their Dad's Army characters in the 1977 Morecambe and Wise Christmas Special. As Elton John is following incomprehensible instructions to find the BBC studios, he encounters them in a steam room. On leaving, Mainwaring calls him a "stupid boy".[41]

A pilot episode for an American remake called The Rear Guard was produced by ABC and broadcast on 10 August 1976, based on the episode "The Deadly Attachment". However, it failed to make it past the pilot stage.[42]

Lowe and Le Mesurier made a final appearance in Dad's Army garb for a 1982 television commercial advertising Wispa chocolate bars.

Clive Dunn made occasional appearances as Lance Corporal Jones at 1940s themed events in the 1980s and 1990s and on television on the BBC Saturday night entertainment show Noel's House Party on 27 November 1993.[43]

Arthur Lowe twice appeared on the BBC children's programme Blue Peter. The first time was with John Le Mesurier, in which the two appeared in costume and in character as Captain Mainwaring and Sergeant Wilson when walking around looking at and discussing a mural which schoolchildren had painted featuring the characters from the show at a Christmas party, among whom was Mainwaring's unseen wife Elizabeth – or rather, what the children thought she looked like (Mainwaring remarks "Good grief. What a remarkable likeness!"). Arthur Lowe made a second appearance as Captain Mainwaring on Blue Peter with the Dad's Army van which would appear in the forthcoming London-Brighton run and showed presenter John Noakes the vehicle's hidden anti-Nazi defences.

Awards

During its original television run, Dad's Army was nominated for multiple British Academy Television Awards, although only won "Best Light Entertainment Production Team" in 1971. It was nominated as "Best Situation Comedy" in 1973, 1974 and 1975. Also, Arthur Lowe was frequently nominated for "Best Light Entertainment Performance" in 1970, 1971, 1973, 1975 and 1978.[44]

In 2000, the show was voted 13th in a British Film Institute poll of industry professionals of the 100 Greatest British Television Programmes. In 2004, championed by Phill Jupitus, it came fourth in the BBC poll to find Britain's Best Sitcom with 174,138 votes.[45]

Tributes
Statue of Captain Mainwaring, erected in Thetford in June 2010

In June 2010, a statue of Captain Mainwaring was erected in the Norfolk town of Thetford where most of the exteriors for the TV series were filmed. The statue features Captain Mainwaring sitting to attention on a simple bench in Home Guard uniform, with his swagger stick across his knees. The statue is mounted at the end of a winding brick pathway with a Union Flag patterned arrowhead to reflect the opening credits of the TV series and the sculpture has been designed so that members of the public can sit beside Captain Mainwaring and have their photograph taken. The statue was vandalised not long after the unveiling by a 10-year-old boy, who kicked it for 10 minutes and broke off the statue's glasses, throwing them into a nearby river. The statue has since been fixed.[46]

The British sitcom Goodnight Sweetheart paid tribute to Dad's Army in episode one of its second series in 1995, "Don't Get Around Much Any More". Here, lead character Gary Sparrow – a time-traveller from the 1990s – goes into a bank in 1941 and meets a bank manager named Mainwaring and Wilson, his chief clerk, both of whom are in the Home Guard. When he hears the names Mainwaring and Wilson, Gary begins singing the Dad's Army theme song.

A brief visual tribute to Dad's Army is made at the start of the episode "Rag Week" from Ben Elton's 1990s sitcom The Thin Blue Line.[47]

In June 2018 the Royal Mail issued a set of 8 stamps, featuring the main characters and their catchphrases, to mark the comedy's 50th anniversary.[48]

Cultural influence

The characters of Dad's Army and their catchphrases are well known in the UK due to the popularity of the series when originally shown and the frequency of repeats.

Jimmy Perry recalls that before writing the sitcom, the Home Guard was a largely forgotten aspect of Britain's defence in the Second World War, something which the series rectified.[32]:12 In a 1972 Radio Times interview, Arthur Lowe expressed surprise at the programme's success:

We expected the show to have limited appeal, to the age group that lived through the war and the Home Guard. We didn't expect what has happened – that children from the age of five upwards would enjoy it too.[49]

The fact that a pub in Shoeburyness has been named (albeit incorrectly) after a main character indicates the programme's popularity.

By focusing on the comic aspects of the Home Guard in a cosy south coast setting, the TV series distorted the popular perception of the organisation. Its characters represented the older volunteers within the Home Guard but largely ignored the large numbers of teenagers and factory workers who also served. Accounts from Home Guard members and their regimental publications, inspired Norman Longmate's history The Real Dad's Army (1974).[50]

Media releases
Main articles: Dad's Army books and memorabilia, Dad's Army DVD and Video releases and Dad's Army Audio releases.

The BBC released two "Best of" DVD sets in October 2001 and September 2002, but it was not until September 2004 that the full series began to be released, with the first series and the surviving episodes of the second series being released first, along with the documentary Missing Presumed Wiped. By November 2007, the entire series had been released on DVD, with the final edition featuring the specials "My Brother and I" and "The Battle of the Giants" along with various other appearances, including several "Christmas Night with the Stars" sketches and excerpts from the 1976 stage show. The DVDs also include short individual biographical documentaries about the characters and their actors called We Are the Boys. The Columbia film adaptation is separately available; as this is not a BBC production, it is not included in the box set.

In 1973 the series was adapted into a comic strip, drawn by Bill Titcombe, which was published in daily newspapers in the UK.[51] These cartoon strips were subsequently collected together and published in book form, by Piccolo Books, in paperback.[52]

See also

References
Notes
  1. British Film Institute TV100 URL accessed 4 June 2006 Archived 30 October 2006 at the Wayback Machine
  2. "TV's top 25 put-downs published". BBC News. 26 February 2008. Retrieved 18 May 2015.
  3. "100 Greatest TV Characters". Channel 4. Archived from the original on 31 May 2009. Retrieved 26 May 2019.
  4. "100 Greatest ... (100 Greatest TV Characters (Part 1))". ITN Source. Archived from the original on 21 February 2015. Retrieved 13 May 2019.
  5. "Gambon and Courtenay to star in Dad's Army film". BBC News. 8 October 2014. Retrieved 18 May 2015.
  6. "Kevin McNally and Robert Bathurst to star in new Dad's Army". comedy.co.uk. 9 November 2018. Retrieved 9 November 2018.
  7. "'Dad's Army' Press Release". BBC. July 1968. Retrieved 14 December 2016.
  8. Clark, Neil (20 September 2013). "Jimmy Perry turns 90: a tribute to the genius behind Dad's Army". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 18 May 2015.
  9. Richards, Jeffrey (15 September 1997). Films and British National Identity: From Dickens to Dad's Army. Manchester University Press. p. 356. ISBN 978-0-7190-4743-5.
  10. "The Times Digital Archive - Mr. Robb Wilton". The Times. 2 May 1957. p. 15. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
  11. Dennison, Stephanie (16 December 2001). "Life support". The Observer. Retrieved 4 June 2006.
  12. Last Word, BBC Radio 4, 30 September 2011 – in an obituary for David Croft, quoted by Jimmy Perry.
  13. "BBC Archive, 'Dad's Army' Audience Response Report". BBC. Retrieved 14 December 2016.
  14. "BBC Publicity Memo on 'Dad's Army'". BBC. 19 September 1968. Retrieved 14 December 2016.
  15. Thetford tourist website discussing the reasons for shooting in Norfolk. Retrieved 5 June 2006 Archived 8 March 2006 at the Wayback Machine
  16. Clark, Anthony. "Dad’s Army" at BFI Screen online. Retrieved 4 June 2006.
  17. ""If this lot can get on, we could have a hit on our hands" – Ian Lavender looks back on the making of Dad's Army". Radio Times. At the end of the last episode, I said to David Croft, ‘I just have to ask you one thing: is Uncle Arthur my father?’ And he looked at me and said, ‘Of course he is!’”
  18. "Colin Bean: Actor best known for playing Private Sponge in". Independent.co.uk. 29 June 2009. Retrieved 15 October 2017.
  19. Mills, Michael (23 May 1968). "Argument about Opening Titles of 'Dad's Army'". BBC. Retrieved 14 December 2016.
  20. "Memo from Controller of BBC1 to Head of Comedy". BBC. 27 May 1968. Retrieved 14 December 2016.
  21. "Row changed opening of Dad's Army". BBC News. 30 July 2008. Retrieved 30 July 2008.
  22. Juergen Kamm; Birgit Neumann; Ken McGregor; Frank Klepner (2016). British TV Comedies: Cultural Concepts, Contexts and Controversies. Springer. p. 40. ISBN 978-1137552952.
  23. Vinyl record: On the Air: 60 Years of BBC Theme Music, BBC Enterprises 1982 (track 4). The Dad's Army title sequences and theme are viewable in RealPlayer at TV-Ark Archived 7 March 2006 at the Wayback Machine
  24. Article about the recording by David Noades Dadsarmy.tv, accessed 14 August 2006
  25. Museum of Broadcast History website, URL accessed 4 June 2006
  26. "'Lost' Dad's Army show back on TV". BBC News. 12 December 2008. Retrieved 18 May 2015.
  27. Braxton, Mark (3 October 2018). "Lost episodes of Dad's Army to be remade with a new cast". Radio Times. Retrieved 7 November 2018.
  28. "Kevin McNally and Robert Bathurst to star in new Dad's Army". comedy.co.uk. 9 November 2018. Retrieved 9 November 2018.
  29. "Bernard Cribbins, the new Private Godfrey". The Oldie. 12 November 2018. Archived from the original on 29 March 2019. Retrieved 3 March 2019.
  30. "Cast revealed for Dad's Army: The Lost Episodes". comedy.co.uk. 16 January 2019. Retrieved 1 March 2019.
  31. "Timothy West replaces Bernard Cribbins in Dad's Army remakes". comedy.co.uk. 19 February 2019. Retrieved 2 March 2019.
  32. Webber, Richard (1997). Dad's Army: A Celebration. London: Virgin Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7535-0307-2.
  33. Gambon and Courtenay to star in Dad's Army film, BBC News, 8 October 2014
  34. "Dad's Army". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 15 October 2017.
  35. "Dad's Army". Metacritic. Retrieved 15 October 2017.
  36. "Dad's Army review: Mainwaring's men are back. And better than ever". The Independent. 26 January 2016. Retrieved 27 January 2016.
  37. Bradshaw, Peter (26 January 2016). "Dad's Army review: who don't you think you are kidding?". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 27 January 2016.
  38. "Dad's Army to be revived on stage". BBC News. 18 April 2007. Retrieved 30 April 2010.
  39. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/theatre/what-to-see/just-two-actors-dads-army-radio-hour-straightforward-pleasure
  40. Dad’s Army.tv page about the radio series, URL accessed 4 June 2006 Archived 7 February 2006 at the Wayback Machine
  41. Morecambe and Wise Christmas Special 1977 at IMDb, URL accessed 26 September 2006
  42. The Rear Guard at IMDb, URL accessed 26 September 2006
  43. The Last Hurrah of Lance Corporal Jones. YouTube. 15 November 2010.
  44. List of awards at IMDb, URL accessed 4 June 2006
  45. The final top-ten of Britain’s Best Sitcom, URL accessed 4 June 2006
  46. "Dad's Army captain Thetford statue vandal caught". BBC News. 19 July 2010. Retrieved 14 May 2013.
  47. "Hidden in the Ranks – Walmington-on-Line". Walmington-on-Line. 21 November 2012. Retrieved 20 August 2017.
  48. Moss, Stephen (12 June 2018). "No wonder we are still hooked on Dad's Army – in Brexit Britain we are reliving it". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 June 2018.
  49. MacDonald, Deirdre (18 March 1972). "Arthur Lowe, cheerful on parade as Mr. Drake the eccentric sleuth". Radio Times. Retrieved 4 June 2006.
  50. Longmate, Norman. The Real Dad's Army: The Story of the Home Guard. Hutchinson.
  51. "Bill Titcombe". lambiek.net. Retrieved 15 October 2017.
  52. ISBN 9780330237598 – Piccolo/Pan, London – 1973
Further reading
  • Croft, David; Perry, Jimmy; Webber, Richard (2003). Dad's Army: The Complete Scripts. Orion. ISBN 0-7528-6024-0
  • Croft, David (2004). You Have Been Watching...: The Autobiography of David Croft. BBC Consumer Publishing (Books). ISBN 0-563-48739-9
  • Croft, David; Perry, Jimmy; Webber, Richard (2000). The Complete A-Z of Dad's Army. Orion. ISBN 0-7528-1838-4
  • Longmate Norman (2010) The Real Dad's Army: The Story of the Home Guard. Amberley. ISBN 978-1445654034
  • McCann, Graham (2001). Dad's Army: The story of a classic television show. Fourth Estate. ISBN 978-1-84115-308-7.
  • McKenzie, Simon (1995). The Home Guard: A military and political history. OUP. ISBN 0-19-820577-5
  • Perry, Jimmy (2003). A Stupid Boy. Arrow. ISBN 0-09-944142-X
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