"Dad's Army" (1968) TV series 1968-1977

Creators:

David Croft
Jimmy Perry

Seasons:

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9

Release Date:

31 July 1968 (UK)

Genre:

Comedy | War

Plot:

Popular BBC comedy series set in the fictional south coast seaside town of Walmington-On-Sea during World War 2...

Plot Keywords:

Home Guard | Lance Corporal | Sergeant | Butcher | Bank Manager

Awards:

1 win & 9 nominations

Cast

Arthur Lowe	...	Capt. George Mainwaring / ... (80 episodes, 1968-1977)
John Le Mesurier	...	Sgt. Arthur Wilson (80 episodes, 1968-1977)
Clive Dunn	...	LCpl. Jack Jones (80 episodes, 1968-1977)
John Laurie	...	Pte. James Frazer (80 episodes, 1968-1977)
Arnold Ridley	...	Pte. Charles Godfrey (80 episodes, 1968-1977)
Ian Lavender	...	Pte. Frank Pike (80 episodes, 1968-1977)
James Beck	...	Pte. Joe Walker (60 episodes, 1968-1973)
Bill Pertwee	...	A.R.P. Warden Hodges / ... (59 episodes, 1968-1977)
Bud Flanagan	...	The Voice Of / ... (52 episodes, 1968-1975)
Edward Sinclair	...	Verger Henry Yeatman / ... (48 episodes, 1968-1977)
Colin Bean	...	Private Sponge / ... (43 episodes, 1968-1977)
Frank Williams	...	Rev. Timothy Farthing / ... (40 episodes, 1969-1977)

Also Known As:

The Fighting Tigers (UK) (working title)

Runtime:

30 min (80 episodes)

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Colour:

Black and White | Colour

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Singapore:PG | Australia:PG (some episodes) | Australia:G

Filming Locations:

All Saints' Church, Honington, Suffolk, England, UK

Company:

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)

Trivia:

Three episodes of this series ("Dad's Army: The Loneliness of the Long Distance Walker (#2.3)" (1969), "Dad's Army: A Stripe for Frazer (#2.5)" (1969) and "Dad's Army: Under Fire (#2.6)" (1969)) are no longer thought to exist (although the off-air soundtrack to one, "Dad's Army: A Stripe for Frazer (#2.5)" (1969), was recovered in 2008), after an archive purge at the BBC in the 1970s saw the destruction of the only known copies. Until recently, there were five missing episodes (all from the second season) before an appeal by the BBC called "Treasure Hunt" saw the return of two 16mm film recordings ("Dad's Army: Operation Kilt (#2.1)" (1969) and "Dad's Army: The Battle of Godfrey's Cottage (#2.2)" (1969)) taken from the original video tapes. These recordings had been dumped in a skip outside the Elstree Studios when they were found and taken home by one of the studio staff, 30 years before. After seeing the 'Treasure Hunt' appeal on TV in 2001, the prints were returned by a friend of the staff member, to whom the prints had been entrusted.

Quotes:

[catchphrase]
Mainwaring: I wondered how long it would take you to work that one out.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in 'We Are the Boys...': John Laurie (2006) (V)

Soundtrack:

Come on. Hold my hand now

The best comedy series of all time

I've seen lots of episodes of Dad's Army and it has to be the best comedy series of all time, even though I wasn't born when it started and too young to remember it when it finished.

It is about the Home Guard of the fictional Southern coastal town of Walmington-on-Sea and what they got up to, often falling out with Warden Hodges.

The cast: Arthur Lowe as Captain Mainwaring, John Le Mesurier as Seargent Wilson, Clive Dunn as Corperal Jones ("Don't Panic"), Ian Lavender as Pike (Stupid Boy), John Laurie as Frasor ("Doomed"), Arnold Ridley as Godfrey, James Beck as Walker, Bill Pertwee as Warden Hodges ("You ruddy hooligans"), Frank Williams as the Vicar (Timothy Farthing) and Edward Sinclair as the Verger, Mr Yateman.

Only a few of the cast are still alive today: Ian Lavender who is currently in EastEnders but is about to leave, Bill Pertwee, Clive Dunn and Frank Williams. James Beck died young of a heart attack before Dad's Army finished completely.

My favourite episode has to be The Deadly Attachment.

Dad's Army is still occasionally repeated on BBC1 and BBC2 and is always a pleasure to see it again. They certainly don't make 'em like this anymore.