Last year it was reported that Bernard Cribbins might be cast in the three episodes of Dad's Army Gold are remaking in 'The Lost Episodes' strand. Well today it's thankfully been confirmed! Cribbins will be playing Private Godfrey and I for one think it's inspired casting. The three episodes being filmed were all from 1969 and sadly the originals were destroyed after broadcast. Back in the day it wasn't so easy to preserve programming and many now classic shows fell victim to the decision to wipe recordings so tape could be reused. The episodes - A Stripe For Frazer, The Loneliness of the Long Distance Walker and Under Fire will feature new casts playing the well loved characters and the whole endeavour is being supported by the estates of the series' creators, Jimmy Perry and David Croft.
Kevin McNally (who has played Tony Hancock in the past) will star as Captain Mainwaring and Robert Bathurst as Sergeant Wilson. Interestingly, Bathurst played John Le Mesurier, the actor who played Wilson between 1968 and 1977, in the 2011 biopic Hattie, about the life and career of Hattie Jacques. Meanwhile Kevin Eldon will play Corporal Jones, Matthew Horne will be Walker, David Hayman will star as Frazer and playing Private Pike will be Tom Rosenthal. Hopefully these remakes will be true to the original style and humour of Dad's Army and the rest of the casting will be both interesting and sympathetic to the original series and its superb band of actors. It will also be splendid to see Bernard Cribbins back on our screens. Bernard's autobiography was recently published and you can find out more about that here.
Intriguing news today involving a certain Mr Bernard Cribbins. Apparently the television channel Gold will be remaking three classic episodes of Dad's Army for broadcast early next year and Cribbins will be playing Private Godfrey. The three episodes being filmed were all from 1969 and sadly the originals were destroyed after broadcast. Back in the day it wasn't so easy to preserve programming and many now classic shows fell victim to the decision to wipe recordings so tape could be reused. The episodes - A Stripe For Frazer, The Loneliness of the Long Distance Walker and Under Fire will feature new casts playing the well loved characters and the whole endeavour is being supported by the estates of the series' creators, Jimmy Perry and David Croft.
While no official casting announcements have been made, it is believed Bernard will be playing the aged Private Godfrey, originally brought to life by the wonderful Arnold Ridley. Other names thought to be involved are Kevin McNally (who has played Tony Hancock in the past) as Captain Mainwaring and Robert Bathurst as Sergeant Wilson. Interestingly, Bathurst played John Le Mesurier, the actor who played Wilson between 1968 and 1977, in the 2011 biopic Hattie, about the life and career of Hattie Jacques. Hopefully these remakes will be true to the original style and humour of Dad's Army and the rest of the casting will be both interesting and sympathetic to the original series and it's superb band of actors. It will also be splendid to see Bernard Cribbins back on our screens in this his 90th year. Bernard's autobiography was recently published and you can find out more about that here.
The classic BBC situation comedy series Dad's Army will reach a major milestone this summer. The venerable series, which spanned eighty episodes over nine years, debuted on 31st July 1968 making it an amazing fifty years old. Written by Jimmy Perry and David Croft, Dad's Army told the story of the Walmington-on-Sea Home Guard, a platoon of older men who would defend home soil as they were considered to old to fight overseas. As a child I didn't really appreciate just how wonderful this show is. I was put off by the old fashioned sets and costumes and the mainly older cast of actors. What a short-sighted boy I was! It is only now, in adulthood, that I have come to view Dad's Army as a complete and utter joy. It is packed with sublime acting talent with a cast headed by Arthur Lowe, John Le Mesurier and Clive Dunn and the scripts from Perry and Croft are, if you pardon the pun, uniformly superb. The series has different layers of humour from quite smart, subtle jibes at the class divisions between Lowe's Mainwaring and Le Mesurier's Wilson. There is also a fair amount of slapstick too which means it appeals on a broader level, and still to this day. I love the ensemble feel to the programme and so do the audiences of 2018 as the series is still shown each week on BBC Two.
So in this, the Golden Anniversary year of Dad's Army, what better time than to take a look back at some of the intriguing Carry On links with this best of British sitcom for the glory days of comedy? Let's begin with a Carry On connection you may not be completely aware of. Dad's Army only really came to fruition in the guise we've come to know, love and cherish thanks to the then Head of Comedy at the BBC, Michael Mills. Not only did Michael rename the original setting for the show from Brightsea-on-Sea to Walmington-on-Sea, he also came up with the title for the series itself. And Dad's Army is a term which is still very much in common parlance to this day. Perhaps Michael's biggest and best decision was to pair Jimmy Perry with David Croft to work together on the series. Thus began one of the most successful comedy writing and producing partnerships in British television history. And the Carry On connection here? Well, Michael Mills was married to the very glamorous star of six Carry Ons, the lovely Valerie Leon. So what of the on-screen talent then? Let us start off with the main cast. In the role of Private "stupid boy" Pike was the actor Ian Lavender. Ian, by far the youngest cast member in Dad's Army, appeared in the 1975 Carry On film, Carry On Behind, in the supporting role of Joe Baxter. Next up is the wonderful actor Arnold Ridley, who played the beloved, gently bewildered Private Godfrey in all eighty episodes. In 1973, Arnold's small screen fame led to him making a cameo at the beginning of Carry On Girls. Playing the sleepy Alderman Pratt in the initial council offices scene saw him work with Sid James, Marianne Stone, June Whitfield and Kenneth Connor. The brilliant James Beck played the spiv Private Walker in the series from 1968 until 1973, when the actor died very suddenly at the age of just 44. Sadly, James was one of the many actors who filmed scenes for a Carry On only to find them cut from the final print. In 1970 he shot scenes as a Mr Roxby, a client of Kenneth Williams (I believe) in Carry On Loving.
Finally, another regular in the series, best remembered for playing ARP Warden Hodges, the thorn in the side of Captain Mainwaring in Dad's Army - yes Bill Pertwee. Pertwee popped up briefly in two Carry Ons, first of all playing a barman in Carry On Loving in 1970. Bill did film scenes for Carry On At Your Convenience the following year as the manager of The Whippit Inn, however his performance was cut. He did return once more to the world of Carry On, playing the local fire chief in the 1973 film Carry On Girls. Now to the legion of guest actors who dropped in for some fun with the platoon during their nine year reign. Let's start with main Carry On team members. The classic 1975 episode "The Face on the Poster" guest starred one of my all-time favourite Carry On actors, the late great Peter Butterworth, in the role of Mr Budgen. Another leading Carry On face to appear in Dad's Army was the brilliant Barbara Windsor. In the very first series in 1968, Barbara played Laura La Plaz in "Shooting Pains". One of Barbara's longest serving EastEnders co-stars who found lasting fame as Miss Brahms in Are You Being Served? also appeared in Dad's Army. The much-missed Wendy Richard made four separate appearances in the series between 1970 and 1973. Wendy played Edith Parish in two episodes in 1970 - "The Two and a Half Feathers" and one of my favourites, "Mum's Army". In 1972 she returned to play Private Walker's cockney girlfriend Shirley in the episode "The King was in his Counting House". Wendy came back again the following year to reprise the role of Shirley in the episode "My British Buddy".
The actor E.V.H Emmett makes six appearances in the first series of Dad's Army in 1968, although we only ever hear his voice. Credited as "The Voice Of…:" Emmett played a similar role four years earlier when he was the narrator in the film Carry On Cleo. Between 1969 and 1972 Larry Martyn guest starred in four episodes playing in no particular order, a soldier, a sailor, an Italian Prisoner of War and the Signals Private. Larry made cameos in two Carry Ons in the 1970s. He was the irate shooting gallery owner in Carry On At Your Convenience in 1971 while four years later he was the clubhouse electrician in Carry On Behind. Playing a character called Mrs Prentice in a 1972 episode entitled "All is Safely Gathered in" was that familiar face the actress Brenda Cowling. Brenda cropped up in two of the later Carry Ons in small roles. In Carry On Girls she played the Matron of the maternity hospital Mayor Bumble visits to unveil a commemorative plaque. Two years later she returned for an uncredited role as a woman in the audience of the lecture Professor Crump delivers at the start of Carry On Behind. In the episode "Room at the Bottom" in 1969, character actor Anthony Sagar made the first of two appearances in the show. He played Drill Sergeant Gregory before returning the year later to play the Sergeant Major in "Fallen Idol". Sagar made several small appearances in the Carry Ons. In the very first, Carry On Sergeant, he played the Stores Sergeant. In Carry On Nurse he was the First Ambulance Man and in Carry On Constable he was an angry customer. In 1960 he played a Bus Conductor who encounters Kenneth Williams out for walkies with a chimp while Carry On Cruising saw Anthony play a cook opposite Lance Percival. He played a Policeman in Carry On Screaming in 1966 before returning for his final screen credit as a hospital patient bemused by Richard O'Callaghan and Jacki Piper in 1970's Carry On Loving. Sagar apparently filmed scenes as a Heckler in Carry On Henry later that year however the scenes were deleted.
The glamorous Penny Irving played the Chambermaid in the very clever 1975 episode "My Brother and I" which saw Arthur Lowe play the dual role of Captain Mainwaring and his scheming brother Barry. Penny was something of a regular in the works of Perry and Croft - she went on to play Mr Grace's secretary Miss Bakewell in 22 episodes of David Croft's Are You Being Served? between 1976 and 1979 before joining the Perry and Croft holiday camp comedy Hi-de-Hi, playing yellow coat Mary between 1980 and 1981. Penny had, back in 1974, played Lizzy, one of Joan Sims' Birds of Paradise in Carry On Dick. Another glamorous Carry On face to guest star was Sally Douglas. in 1969 she played Blodwen in the episode "War Dance." Sally had by then played a girl at Dirty Dick's in Carry On Jack, an Amazon Guard in Carry On Spying, Antony's Dusky Maiden in Carry On Cleo, Kitikata in Carry On Cowboy and finally, a girl in 1966's Carry On Screaming. In 1975, the actress Janet Mahoney played a Barmaid in the Dad's Army episode "Ring Dem Bells". Janet had played the supporting role of Gay, girlfriend to Julian Holloway and "flat" mate to Jacki Piper and Imogen Hassall in the 1970 film Carry On Loving. Finally, there was the original big screen film version of Dad's Army, made in 1971. While the vast majority of the original television cast reunited for the film, there was one exception. Janet Davies played Mrs Pike over the course of thirty episodes between 1968 and 1977, however for the film her part was re-cast with familiar Carry On actress Liz Fraser in the part. Apparently this decision was down to the film company and had nothing to do with the cast or crew of the television series. Indeed, many of those involved voiced their criticism at the move, showing loyalty to Davies. Despite this, Liz is of course very good in the film.
I hope you've enjoyed this run through some of the classic Carry On connections with the wonderful comedy series, Dad's Army. I am sure there will be many commemorations to mark this special milestone this summer, so look out for those. And of course, Carry On watching the show both on BBC2 and on GOLD. You can follow me on Twitter @CarryOnJoan and on Instagram
It's time to dip once again into the archives of the classic British television show, This Is Your Life. Today's we're going way back over 41 years to 1976 and we join Eamonn Andrews as he surprises a legend of British theatre and comedy, the wonderful Arnold Ridley. Now I know this is a Carry On blog and Arnold's role in the series is very small, but this show is such a joy I just couldn't resist blogging it. Arnold, best known as both the author of the play The Ghost Train, and latterly as Private Godfrey in the classic BBC sitcom, Dad's Army, did of course play a cameo role in Carry On Girls in 1973. Appearing in the very first scene at a council meeting with Sid James, Kenneth Connor, Marianne Stone and June Whitfield, Arnold has very little to do but it is always a lovely surprise to see him. Arnold played the delightful Godfrey for the full run of Dad's Army between 1968 and 1977 and it was really this series that made his name and provided his lasting legacy. The show is a joy and sees most of his Dad's Army colleagues come together to share his tribute. Arthur Lowe, John Le Mesurier (of course once married to Hattie Jacques), Bill Pertwee, Clive Dunn and recent Carry On Behind star Ian Lavender are all present and correct. Dad's Army marked the end of his screen career however Arnold would outlive several of his colleagues, despite being by far the oldest. He passed away at the age of 88 in March 1984 at the home for retired actors, Denville Hall. Enjoy his wonderful tribute:
