Browse content similar to Don't Panic! The Dad's Army Story. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
Line | From | To | |
---|---|---|---|
'Ere, want to find out about Dad's Army? Meet me behind Jones's van. | 0:00:02 | 0:00:07 | |
# Who do you think you are kidding, Mr Hitler | 0:00:09 | 0:00:14 | |
# If you think we're on the run? | 0:00:14 | 0:00:19 | |
# We are the boys who will stop your little game | 0:00:19 | 0:00:24 | |
# We are the boys who will make you think again | 0:00:24 | 0:00:29 | |
# Cos who do you think you are kidding, Mr Hitler | 0:00:29 | 0:00:33 | |
# If you think old England's done? # | 0:00:33 | 0:00:37 | |
AIR-RAID SIREN, GUNFIRE | 0:00:40 | 0:00:43 | |
Dad's Army is the most affectionately regarded comedy programme ever on TV. | 0:00:54 | 0:00:59 | |
We want to find out why it's so wonderful. | 0:00:59 | 0:01:03 | |
This could be the only documentary made entirely in second gear. | 0:01:03 | 0:01:08 | |
I was sitting in my office with a stack of Dad's Army videos and a cup of tea | 0:01:14 | 0:01:18 | |
and I watched 40 programmes. | 0:01:18 | 0:01:21 | |
I think I know now what makes it so wonderful. | 0:01:21 | 0:01:25 | |
I'm going into fourth gear now. | 0:01:28 | 0:01:31 | |
YES! | 0:01:31 | 0:01:32 | |
Dad's Army's on! | 0:01:33 | 0:01:36 | |
Don't panic! Don't panic! | 0:01:36 | 0:01:38 | |
It's still popular. People really do love it. | 0:01:38 | 0:01:42 | |
We're doomed...doomed. | 0:01:42 | 0:01:45 | |
It was definitely one of those shows where it was a family event. | 0:01:45 | 0:01:51 | |
Excuse me, Uncle Sergeant. | 0:01:51 | 0:01:53 | |
I was part of something important in the history of television. | 0:01:53 | 0:01:58 | |
Stupid boy! | 0:01:58 | 0:02:00 | |
When comedy really works well, you know, the secret ingredient is magic. | 0:02:00 | 0:02:05 | |
It was a miracle. The cast was right, the time was right, | 0:02:17 | 0:02:22 | |
the script was right, the tunes were right | 0:02:22 | 0:02:26 | |
and the whole situation was right. It's as simple as that. | 0:02:26 | 0:02:30 | |
# Don't let's be beastly to the Germans | 0:02:30 | 0:02:34 | |
# When our victory is ultimately won... # | 0:02:34 | 0:02:36 | |
Dad's Army ran from 1968-1977 - nine years. | 0:02:36 | 0:02:40 | |
World War II was only six. It's never been repeated! | 0:02:40 | 0:02:44 | |
Like all good sitcoms, it's based on a very simple idea - | 0:02:44 | 0:02:47 | |
a bunch of blokes in a church hall defending their country. | 0:02:47 | 0:02:51 | |
But it's about a vanished England, class, relationships, war. | 0:02:51 | 0:02:59 | |
To me, the linchpin of the whole thing is the relationship between Mainwaring and Wilson, | 0:02:59 | 0:03:05 | |
and the performances of John Le Mesurier and Arthur Lowe. | 0:03:05 | 0:03:09 | |
Stupid boy. | 0:03:09 | 0:03:11 | |
-You both went to public school. -Can't help feeling, sir, you have a chip on your shoulder about that. | 0:03:11 | 0:03:19 | |
No. What IS on my shoulder, though - three pips and don't you forget it! | 0:03:19 | 0:03:24 | |
'Captain Mainwaring loved being in charge. He made himself in charge.' | 0:03:24 | 0:03:29 | |
When it all started, everybody was volunteering for everything, | 0:03:29 | 0:03:35 | |
and he decided to volunteer to himself to become a captain. | 0:03:35 | 0:03:40 | |
-First, we have to appoint a properly appointed commander. -A what, sir? -A properly appointed commander. Me! | 0:03:40 | 0:03:47 | |
-All right? -..All right. | 0:03:47 | 0:03:50 | |
People say, "Was Arthur Lowe really pompous?" | 0:03:50 | 0:03:55 | |
He wasn't, but he didn't suffer fools gladly. | 0:03:55 | 0:03:59 | |
Mainwaring was the best example of pomposity ever. | 0:03:59 | 0:04:04 | |
-I don't think I gave you permission to sit. -I'm sorry, sir. | 0:04:06 | 0:04:10 | |
He got carried away with his own importance, or sense of importance. | 0:04:10 | 0:04:15 | |
He could fight the Germans single-handed. | 0:04:15 | 0:04:19 | |
You kind of have an empathy for... You do feel for him. | 0:04:19 | 0:04:24 | |
There were episodes where he showed himself to be a good person. | 0:04:24 | 0:04:28 | |
-We rarely get a chance to meet as equals. -No, we don't. | 0:04:28 | 0:04:33 | |
-However, tonight, you may call me George. -Thanks awfully, sir. | 0:04:33 | 0:04:38 | |
-I shall call you Arthur. -Will you really? Good. | 0:04:38 | 0:04:42 | |
The change over Arthur Lowe as the aggressive captain... | 0:04:42 | 0:04:46 | |
and he has, from time to time, to speak to his wife on the phone. | 0:04:46 | 0:04:51 | |
"Get them to do so and so and so and so!" | 0:04:51 | 0:04:56 | |
Then a complete change... "Hello? Elizabeth?" | 0:04:56 | 0:05:00 | |
Hello? Elizabeth? | 0:05:00 | 0:05:02 | |
You've taken a long time to answer, dear. Where have you been? | 0:05:02 | 0:05:07 | |
..Oh, I see. | 0:05:07 | 0:05:08 | |
-..She's been down in the air-raid shelter. -Oh... | 0:05:10 | 0:05:14 | |
..I might have a little surprise for you tonight. | 0:05:14 | 0:05:17 | |
..No, no... | 0:05:18 | 0:05:20 | |
'They wanted her to appear in an episode. Arthur didn't.' | 0:05:25 | 0:05:29 | |
I agree. We all got this different idea of what Elizabeth was like. | 0:05:29 | 0:05:37 | |
I think the only time we had a possible glimpse of her body | 0:05:37 | 0:05:43 | |
was when her great big bum was in the top bunk | 0:05:43 | 0:05:48 | |
and Arthur was underneath, Mainwaring was underneath! | 0:05:48 | 0:05:52 | |
Are you awake, Elizabeth? | 0:05:52 | 0:05:55 | |
Stuck on the bottom bunk of a joyless marriage - no wonder Mainwaring was tempted elsewhere. | 0:05:57 | 0:06:03 | |
Oh, I shouldn't have eaten all that cheese. | 0:06:03 | 0:06:06 | |
Far too rich. | 0:06:08 | 0:06:10 | |
'Only Mainwaring doesn't have anybody,' | 0:06:10 | 0:06:14 | |
except his wife that's never seen, until this one episode | 0:06:14 | 0:06:20 | |
where Miss Fiona comes into his life. | 0:06:20 | 0:06:23 | |
It was out of character for Mainwaring to drop his guard, | 0:06:23 | 0:06:28 | |
if you'll pardon the pun, and go chasing after Carmen's character. | 0:06:28 | 0:06:33 | |
But it just showed another side of his character. | 0:06:33 | 0:06:37 | |
-Captain Mainwaring? -Yes? | 0:06:38 | 0:06:41 | |
I heard you need women helpers for the Home Guard. | 0:06:41 | 0:06:45 | |
Yes, quite correct. | 0:06:45 | 0:06:47 | |
'I played a character called Fiona Grey, | 0:06:47 | 0:06:51 | |
'who'd gone down to Walmington-on-Sea' | 0:06:51 | 0:06:54 | |
to take her mother away from the bombs in London. He falls for her. | 0:06:54 | 0:07:00 | |
Fiona? | 0:07:00 | 0:07:02 | |
What a pretty name. | 0:07:02 | 0:07:05 | |
Do you think so? | 0:07:05 | 0:07:07 | |
-Yes, it's always been one of my favourites. -Oh, thank you. | 0:07:07 | 0:07:13 | |
She says, "Would you mind taking your glasses off? It gets in the way of the warmth of the eyes." | 0:07:13 | 0:07:19 | |
He blossoms! | 0:07:19 | 0:07:21 | |
'It's so sweet that he grows... He wishes he didn't need the glasses.' | 0:07:26 | 0:07:31 | |
'She realises he has a wife,' | 0:07:41 | 0:07:45 | |
so she decides to go back to London. | 0:07:45 | 0:07:48 | |
Stand clear, sir! ..And pull those blinds down! | 0:07:48 | 0:07:52 | |
Promise you'll write. | 0:07:52 | 0:07:55 | |
-Very well. I promise. -WHISTLE BLOWS | 0:07:55 | 0:07:59 | |
-Make it soon. -Goodbye, George! | 0:07:59 | 0:08:02 | |
FRANK WILLIAMS: 'I'd say something like the Brief Encounter thing | 0:08:04 | 0:08:07 | |
'actually was not out of character for Mainwaring.' | 0:08:07 | 0:08:11 | |
It added a new dimension to his character. | 0:08:11 | 0:08:14 | |
This was the other wonderful thing that happened in so many episodes. | 0:08:14 | 0:08:20 | |
You suddenly found a facet of a well-loved character that you hadn't seen before. | 0:08:20 | 0:08:27 | |
You've got to have light and shade, really, for the comedy to work. | 0:08:27 | 0:08:33 | |
If it's gag, gag, gag, gag, gag, it doesn't work. | 0:08:33 | 0:08:38 | |
You've got to have that... not tears of a clown, crying on the inside and all that, | 0:08:38 | 0:08:44 | |
but you've got to strike the balance for the comedy to work. | 0:08:44 | 0:08:49 | |
It's a wonderfully complicated relationship between Mainwaring and Wilson. | 0:08:52 | 0:08:56 | |
Wilson is upper class with a way with the ladies. | 0:08:56 | 0:09:00 | |
Mainwaring despises the upper class, but might like to be part of it. | 0:09:00 | 0:09:06 | |
The other complication is Wilson is only the chief clerk at the bank | 0:09:06 | 0:09:11 | |
and Mainwaring is the bank manager. | 0:09:11 | 0:09:14 | |
You're right. I'm the manager and you're the chief clerk. | 0:09:16 | 0:09:19 | |
I'm the officer and you're the sergeant. Pull your socks up and get about your business. | 0:09:19 | 0:09:25 | |
'The relationship between Mainwaring and Wilson in the bank' | 0:09:25 | 0:09:30 | |
was a very strange one. The manager in those days was God. | 0:09:30 | 0:09:35 | |
John Le Mesurier's character obviously came from a good family, | 0:09:35 | 0:09:42 | |
upper class, | 0:09:42 | 0:09:44 | |
and Arthur was made good from the ranks. | 0:09:44 | 0:09:48 | |
-Being a member of the aristocracy explains a lot about your character. -Really? -Oh, yes. | 0:09:48 | 0:09:54 | |
'Wilson didn't care.' | 0:09:54 | 0:09:56 | |
This worried Captain Mainwaring. | 0:09:56 | 0:09:59 | |
Wilson? | 0:09:59 | 0:10:01 | |
-What are you doing? -So sorry, sir. | 0:10:01 | 0:10:04 | |
As it was such a beautiful day, I thought, while you were chatting, | 0:10:04 | 0:10:09 | |
I'd take advantage of this glorious sun | 0:10:09 | 0:10:14 | |
and try and get myself a tan. | 0:10:14 | 0:10:16 | |
'Wilson wouldn't want to be in charge.' | 0:10:16 | 0:10:20 | |
He was only really there because Mainwaring told him to be. | 0:10:20 | 0:10:26 | |
He was actually in control, more in control than Mainwaring, really. | 0:10:26 | 0:10:31 | |
Is it the Honourable Sergeant Wilson or Sergeant The Honourable Wilson? | 0:10:31 | 0:10:37 | |
I don't want any fuss. I just want to be like an ordinary sergeant. | 0:10:37 | 0:10:42 | |
I'm sure that would suit us all, Wilson. | 0:10:42 | 0:10:46 | |
'John Le Mesurier was wished on me by Michael Mills, the Head of Comedy.' | 0:10:47 | 0:10:53 | |
You must have John Le Mesurier. He suffers so beautifully. | 0:10:53 | 0:10:58 | |
Sometimes you'd see him do that before he answered | 0:10:58 | 0:11:02 | |
or while he was answering. | 0:11:02 | 0:11:06 | |
Mainwaring would have a go at him about something and he'd say, | 0:11:06 | 0:11:10 | |
"Yes, I think you're right, sir." | 0:11:10 | 0:11:13 | |
He gets wise and he'd wait, | 0:11:13 | 0:11:16 | |
and I realised he was waiting for that light on the camera. | 0:11:16 | 0:11:21 | |
He gave this wonderful vagueness, which was important to the show. We took advantage of that. | 0:11:21 | 0:11:28 | |
-Listen, Arthur. -Yes. -Tell Captain Mainwaring I'm not having Frank going on any more marches. -I can't. | 0:11:28 | 0:11:35 | |
Well, if you don't and Frank wakes up in the night again, you won't be there to hear it! | 0:11:35 | 0:11:41 | |
We knew he was having a long-standing affair with Pike's mother, | 0:11:41 | 0:11:47 | |
but we never mentioned anything. | 0:11:47 | 0:11:49 | |
She used to say, "Oh, Arthur - he's a wonderful man. So strong!" | 0:11:49 | 0:11:55 | |
We used to put in all this innuendo! | 0:11:55 | 0:11:58 | |
-Will you be round later, Arthur, for your usual? -Maybe. | 0:11:58 | 0:12:02 | |
The clever part of the writing was that it wasn't a classy lady, | 0:12:02 | 0:12:08 | |
which you'd expect because Wilson was supposed to come from that class. | 0:12:08 | 0:12:13 | |
But here was a lady who was ordinary, almost working class. | 0:12:13 | 0:12:17 | |
Gin and tonic - there we are! | 0:12:17 | 0:12:20 | |
And don't get all Nellie Dean like last week! | 0:12:20 | 0:12:24 | |
Excuse me... Oh, cor blimey, how do you do? | 0:12:24 | 0:12:27 | |
Uncles and aunts were part of people's lives. | 0:12:27 | 0:12:33 | |
It did keep things moving very smoothly in family circles. | 0:12:33 | 0:12:38 | |
And...unquestioned. It was Uncle! | 0:12:38 | 0:12:43 | |
I never hear you leave and I never hear you come back in the morning. | 0:12:43 | 0:12:47 | |
Well, you see, I let myself in and out very quietly. | 0:12:49 | 0:12:52 | |
You never do anything else quietly! | 0:12:53 | 0:12:56 | |
'After we'd finished,' | 0:12:56 | 0:12:58 | |
I said to David, "Was John my father?" He said, "Of course he was, yes." | 0:12:58 | 0:13:04 | |
-I'm going to have this out with Captain Mainwaring. -I feel a fool! -I can't help that. | 0:13:04 | 0:13:11 | |
Evening! | 0:13:11 | 0:13:13 | |
Pike was based probably on me and the rest of us boys in the Home Guard. | 0:13:14 | 0:13:19 | |
-Uncle Arthur? -Yes? | 0:13:25 | 0:13:26 | |
-I've got an idea. -I'm delighted. | 0:13:26 | 0:13:29 | |
'Jimmy very kindly told me' | 0:13:29 | 0:13:31 | |
after about ten episodes | 0:13:31 | 0:13:34 | |
that Pike was him. "Thanks, Jim(!)" | 0:13:34 | 0:13:37 | |
Suddenly, you're playing the writer. | 0:13:37 | 0:13:40 | |
Jimmy was that age in the war and he was in the Home Guard. | 0:13:40 | 0:13:45 | |
-What do you want now, Pike? -I'm sorry, but Mrs Mainwaring's on the phone again. | 0:13:45 | 0:13:51 | |
I said you were having coffee with Mrs Fox... | 0:13:51 | 0:13:55 | |
You stupid boy. | 0:14:02 | 0:14:04 | |
He was the main foil for nearly every ambition Mainwaring had. | 0:14:04 | 0:14:11 | |
-Why don't we wrap something round the pipe? -Pike, take off your tunic. | 0:14:11 | 0:14:17 | |
-Why me?! -Because you're wet already. | 0:14:17 | 0:14:20 | |
Arthur came to me and said, "Ian, don't worry about not having a lot of lines. They'll come. | 0:14:20 | 0:14:27 | |
"For now, get yourself a funny costume and stand near me." | 0:14:27 | 0:14:31 | |
Pike? You must not wear a coloured scarf with your uniform. Take it off. | 0:14:31 | 0:14:37 | |
Mum says I mustn't take it off. I get croup. | 0:14:37 | 0:14:40 | |
# When Britain is in danger When trouble's in the air | 0:14:42 | 0:14:46 | |
# We all forget our squabbles It's trespassers beware | 0:14:46 | 0:14:51 | |
# A nation is united When danger looms in sight... # | 0:14:51 | 0:14:56 | |
The world of Walmington-on-Sea is pre-war. | 0:14:57 | 0:15:02 | |
Even in the war, things were pre-war because they didn't have time to be post-war till after the war | 0:15:02 | 0:15:07 | |
because there was a war on. | 0:15:07 | 0:15:08 | |
The society Mainwaring was a pillar of was very rigid. | 0:15:08 | 0:15:14 | |
Nobody liked Hodges. He was only a greengrocer. | 0:15:14 | 0:15:17 | |
# United we shall stand Whatever may befall... # | 0:15:17 | 0:15:24 | |
There's a wonderful variety of ages within the main group. | 0:15:24 | 0:15:27 | |
You've got the spiv Walker, who is old enough to fight but has got out of it, | 0:15:27 | 0:15:31 | |
and Pike, who is too young to fight. | 0:15:31 | 0:15:35 | |
Jones enlisted in 1880-something and gave the fuzzy-wuzzies a seeing to. | 0:15:35 | 0:15:40 | |
The cold steel, they don't like it up 'em! | 0:15:40 | 0:15:44 | |
JONES: I've been struck by something deadly. | 0:15:44 | 0:15:48 | |
I look at it this way - we're now all in possession of secret information. | 0:15:48 | 0:15:54 | |
Supposing we was captured by an enemy agent, sir, | 0:15:54 | 0:15:57 | |
how long could we stand out against torture before we revealed ourselves? | 0:15:57 | 0:16:02 | |
I spent four years in a POW camp, | 0:16:02 | 0:16:05 | |
working for Hitler, of course - | 0:16:05 | 0:16:09 | |
up a mountainside, digging and God knows what else. | 0:16:09 | 0:16:13 | |
So when I had this part, it was like a sort of revenge for me. | 0:16:13 | 0:16:18 | |
I could be aggressive. | 0:16:18 | 0:16:21 | |
It was like a wonderful happy revenge for that. | 0:16:21 | 0:16:25 | |
I signed on as a drummer boy in 1884. Later, I saw service in the Sudan. | 0:16:25 | 0:16:30 | |
Fought the fuzzy-wuzzies. They come at you with a knife and slit you right open! | 0:16:30 | 0:16:35 | |
They soon find out if you have guts! | 0:16:37 | 0:16:39 | |
'The part of Corporal Jones' | 0:16:39 | 0:16:42 | |
was based on a real character, an old soldier with me in the Home Guard. | 0:16:42 | 0:16:47 | |
They don't like the cold steel, sir. They don't like it up 'em. They... | 0:16:47 | 0:16:53 | |
Get him a chair, Wilson. | 0:16:53 | 0:16:56 | |
This instructor we had - he'd been in the 1914-18 war - used to say, | 0:16:56 | 0:17:01 | |
"Look at the bayonet, you've got to understand the cold steel. | 0:17:01 | 0:17:06 | |
"They don't like it up 'em. They can't abide the cold steel. So show 'em the cold steel." | 0:17:06 | 0:17:12 | |
You'd think, "Who wants it up 'em?" | 0:17:12 | 0:17:15 | |
When I saw it in the script, "They don't like it up 'em", I thought it was offensive. | 0:17:15 | 0:17:22 | |
Then I thought an old butcher who'd been in all those campaigns, he would say that. | 0:17:22 | 0:17:29 | |
He'd say, "They don't like it up 'em." | 0:17:29 | 0:17:32 | |
There's no substitute for the cold steel. They don't like it up 'em! | 0:17:32 | 0:17:37 | |
I might have mentioned that before. | 0:17:37 | 0:17:40 | |
The British love that sort of humour so I gave it the full works. "They don't like it up 'em, sir!" | 0:17:40 | 0:17:47 | |
You do that again and you'll get this up you and you will not like it! | 0:17:47 | 0:17:53 | |
I wanted to make sure that I got what we used to call Joey Joeys. | 0:17:55 | 0:18:01 | |
The Joey Joeys were a short term for the obvious gag - | 0:18:01 | 0:18:06 | |
the red-hot poker up the bum. | 0:18:06 | 0:18:08 | |
Attention! | 0:18:08 | 0:18:10 | |
Captain Mainwaring was very frustrated by Jones, | 0:18:13 | 0:18:17 | |
although he admired him in a way. | 0:18:17 | 0:18:20 | |
He was such a silly man, and making silly suggestions. | 0:18:20 | 0:18:25 | |
- Any suggestions? - What about a tunnel, sir? | 0:18:25 | 0:18:29 | |
- A tunnel? - Yes, sir! | 0:18:29 | 0:18:32 | |
We all go round behind that wall and dig the hole in a downwards direction, sir. | 0:18:32 | 0:18:38 | |
Down, down - and then suddenly you start digging sideways, sideways. | 0:18:38 | 0:18:43 | |
When we think we're under the mill, we dig upwards, upwards! God willing, we'd be in the mill. | 0:18:43 | 0:18:48 | |
Or Australia! | 0:18:50 | 0:18:52 | |
I think you're in the realms of fantasy again here, Jones. | 0:18:52 | 0:18:57 | |
It was a time of great hardship | 0:18:58 | 0:19:01 | |
and, yet, you know... | 0:19:01 | 0:19:04 | |
it showed how resourceful people are in those times, | 0:19:04 | 0:19:10 | |
and that hardship was obviously great raw material for comedy. | 0:19:10 | 0:19:15 | |
You know, Corporal Jones being able to do sausages for people. | 0:19:15 | 0:19:21 | |
-Got any sausages? -Hold on. | 0:19:21 | 0:19:23 | |
EXCITED CHATTER | 0:19:25 | 0:19:28 | |
'When war's on, butchers are the kings of the area. Everybody's got to keep going nicely with the butcher.' | 0:19:29 | 0:19:37 | |
And Jack Jones sort of...rather enjoyed that situation, I think. | 0:19:37 | 0:19:43 | |
-I bought that for you. -What's this? | 0:19:43 | 0:19:45 | |
-Your favourite tobacco. -Thank you, madam. -I'll be in later in the week. | 0:19:45 | 0:19:51 | |
'He was quite romantic in a way.' | 0:19:52 | 0:19:55 | |
And he was mad about Mrs Fox, | 0:19:55 | 0:19:58 | |
played by Pamela Cundell so deliciously. | 0:19:58 | 0:20:02 | |
Well, she was a flirt. There's no getting away from it. | 0:20:02 | 0:20:08 | |
She made a play for Mr Jones because she wanted sausages and kidneys. | 0:20:08 | 0:20:13 | |
I'm only a humble butcher. Is it true affection she feels for me? | 0:20:13 | 0:20:18 | |
Does she love me for myself or does she love me for my meat? | 0:20:18 | 0:20:23 | |
'They decided, Jimmy and David,' | 0:20:24 | 0:20:27 | |
that we should get married. That was a lovely episode. | 0:20:27 | 0:20:32 | |
'Oh, it was gorgeous!' | 0:20:32 | 0:20:34 | |
# ..Faint hearts don't win fair ladies, A lady's love... # | 0:20:34 | 0:20:39 | |
No confetti! No confetti! | 0:20:39 | 0:20:42 | |
I'M going to throw confetti! | 0:20:42 | 0:20:45 | |
It's not only Jonesy who has wonderful one-liners. The whole show is full of them. | 0:20:48 | 0:20:54 | |
We first became aware it was becoming very popular when people, workmen on a roof, said, | 0:20:54 | 0:21:01 | |
"Oi, Jonesy! They don't like it up..." Or, "Don't panic!" | 0:21:01 | 0:21:06 | |
- Don't panic! - Stupid boy! | 0:21:06 | 0:21:09 | |
- Permission to speak! - He's doomed! | 0:21:09 | 0:21:12 | |
You stupid boy. | 0:21:12 | 0:21:14 | |
We never thought of catch phrases. "Oh, we'll put these in and they'll catch on." They just happened. | 0:21:14 | 0:21:22 | |
You stupid boy! | 0:21:26 | 0:21:28 | |
Things crept in and the public picked them up. | 0:21:30 | 0:21:34 | |
-I'm all wet, Mr Mainwaring! -You stupid boy! | 0:21:34 | 0:21:38 | |
The fact is they do not like it up them. | 0:21:41 | 0:21:45 | |
Can't stand it, they really can't. | 0:21:47 | 0:21:50 | |
It's hard to decide if a catch phrase is intrinsically funny out of context | 0:21:50 | 0:21:57 | |
because what we know of those catch phrases is people repeating themselves now | 0:21:57 | 0:22:03 | |
in the light of it having been on Dad's Army. | 0:22:03 | 0:22:07 | |
So when someone says, "Don't panic" or "Stupid boy", | 0:22:07 | 0:22:12 | |
it's loaded with all the comedy baggage of being in a very, very successful sitcom. | 0:22:12 | 0:22:19 | |
-'Number, please!' -Walmington-on-Sea... | 0:22:19 | 0:22:24 | |
-I've forgotten the number. -You stupid boy. | 0:22:24 | 0:22:28 | |
It's Walmington-on-Sea... Just a moment. | 0:22:28 | 0:22:31 | |
All the main characters have the thing that they do, | 0:22:33 | 0:22:36 | |
which is the thing the original audience would have latched onto - | 0:22:36 | 0:22:41 | |
Godfrey always wanting to be excused - but they did much more than that. | 0:22:41 | 0:22:46 | |
So you can watch the programmes a lot and they don't pall. | 0:22:46 | 0:22:50 | |
Attention! | 0:22:50 | 0:22:52 | |
It wasn't awfully good, was it? | 0:22:53 | 0:22:56 | |
'You'd start every programme with a line-up.' | 0:22:56 | 0:23:00 | |
It's a useful way of introducing everybody. | 0:23:00 | 0:23:04 | |
What's in your pockets, Walker? | 0:23:04 | 0:23:06 | |
A pound of granulated and a pound of sultanas. | 0:23:06 | 0:23:10 | |
-You must check this sort of thing before I inspect the troops. -This is disgraceful! | 0:23:10 | 0:23:16 | |
-You'll have to throw it in the bin. -OK, but you paid for 'em. | 0:23:16 | 0:23:21 | |
Jimmy Bett's character of Private Walker, they were called spivs then. | 0:23:22 | 0:23:28 | |
He could get you anything - he could get you your nylons or lipstick or whatever. | 0:23:28 | 0:23:34 | |
He was able to make a few bob out of the war, as people were then. | 0:23:34 | 0:23:40 | |
But it was still part of that community. | 0:23:40 | 0:23:44 | |
Walker wasn't selling something huge to an outside country. | 0:23:44 | 0:23:49 | |
It was all done within that framework. | 0:23:49 | 0:23:53 | |
He always got the girl. But he's the kind of character who'd say he did! | 0:23:53 | 0:23:58 | |
It's up to you to decide. He was the only one who COULD get the girl! | 0:23:58 | 0:24:03 | |
This is a friend of mine - Edith Parish. | 0:24:03 | 0:24:07 | |
Miss Parish. Have you an occupation, Miss Parish? | 0:24:07 | 0:24:11 | |
Yes. I'm an usherette. | 0:24:11 | 0:24:14 | |
'I was Private Walker's girlfriend.' | 0:24:14 | 0:24:16 | |
She wasn't a good-time girl, but she liked fun. | 0:24:16 | 0:24:20 | |
There was never anything SEXUAL. That would be totally wrong. | 0:24:28 | 0:24:33 | |
The Second World War brought out the best in us. We could make a sponge cake with carrots and a hair net. | 0:24:33 | 0:24:41 | |
While Dad's Army is about that war, what adds a layer is you're watching people who fought in that war. | 0:24:41 | 0:24:48 | |
As a setting for a comedy, war is brilliant. | 0:24:48 | 0:24:52 | |
You don't have to have really nasty characters | 0:24:52 | 0:24:56 | |
because you've got the biggest baddie - Hitler...and his Nazis, | 0:24:56 | 0:25:03 | |
who hold the platoon captive by putting a bomb down Jones's trousers | 0:25:03 | 0:25:09 | |
in The Deadly Attachment. | 0:25:09 | 0:25:11 | |
JIMMY PERRY: It WAS going down Arthur Lowe's trousers. | 0:25:11 | 0:25:15 | |
It wasn't till we were setting up in the street, he said, | 0:25:15 | 0:25:20 | |
"I've just read the script. I have a bomb in my trousers." | 0:25:20 | 0:25:25 | |
He wouldn't have it. Anyway, they decided to put it down my trousers. | 0:25:25 | 0:25:31 | |
One of the cleverest rewrites ever. | 0:25:31 | 0:25:33 | |
David and Jimmy just crossed out Mainwaring and put Jones. | 0:25:33 | 0:25:38 | |
He was hoist with his own petard and had to go along with it. | 0:25:38 | 0:25:43 | |
I was very happy to have a bomb put down my trousers. | 0:25:43 | 0:25:47 | |
ALL: Aaaaaaargh! | 0:25:47 | 0:25:49 | |
-Save yourself, sir! -I'll cut it out. | 0:25:53 | 0:25:57 | |
It should have gone off by now. | 0:25:59 | 0:26:02 | |
So it should. | 0:26:02 | 0:26:04 | |
I've been saved! I've been saved! | 0:26:04 | 0:26:07 | |
'He was very strange about what he would and would not do.' | 0:26:08 | 0:26:12 | |
Apparently, he had an agreement with David Croft, | 0:26:12 | 0:26:17 | |
when he started to arrange what he was going to do in the show. | 0:26:17 | 0:26:22 | |
They wouldn't do any scenes where he had to remove his trousers. | 0:26:22 | 0:26:27 | |
Now that the crisis is past, would you mind asking Frazer to take his hand out of my trousers? | 0:26:27 | 0:26:32 | |
'That's as near to pornography' | 0:26:32 | 0:26:34 | |
as it got! | 0:26:34 | 0:26:35 | |
The Deadly Attachment was a favourite episode with us. | 0:26:37 | 0:26:42 | |
I suppose when you get a really strong situation and a crisis like that, | 0:26:42 | 0:26:48 | |
it's very easy to play it through. | 0:26:48 | 0:26:51 | |
< He's surly. Watch him. | 0:26:51 | 0:26:53 | |
I played the U-boat commander. | 0:26:53 | 0:26:56 | |
Myself and my crew had been captured. | 0:26:56 | 0:27:01 | |
They found out immediately, early on in the programme, | 0:27:01 | 0:27:05 | |
that Dad's Army have to look after us until the official Army arrive the next day. | 0:27:05 | 0:27:12 | |
I'm warning you...Captain. | 0:27:12 | 0:27:16 | |
Just do as you're told. | 0:27:16 | 0:27:18 | |
HE COUGHS | 0:27:25 | 0:27:28 | |
'It wasn't easy' | 0:27:28 | 0:27:30 | |
to bring the platoon face to face with the Germans. | 0:27:30 | 0:27:35 | |
In reality, they never were, virtually, so we couldn't use that much. When we did, we revelled in it! | 0:27:35 | 0:27:41 | |
I am making notes, Captain! | 0:27:41 | 0:27:44 | |
Your name will go on the list. | 0:27:44 | 0:27:48 | |
And when we win the war, you will be brought to account. | 0:27:48 | 0:27:52 | |
You're not going to win this war. | 0:27:52 | 0:27:54 | |
-Oh, yes, we are. -Oh, no, you're not. -Oh, yes, we are! | 0:27:54 | 0:27:59 | |
# Whistle while you work Hitler is a twerp | 0:27:59 | 0:28:02 | |
# He's half barmy So's his army... # | 0:28:02 | 0:28:05 | |
Your name will also go on the list. What is it? | 0:28:05 | 0:28:10 | |
-Don't tell him, Pike! -Pike... | 0:28:10 | 0:28:12 | |
'We knew we'd got the funny moment there.' | 0:28:15 | 0:28:17 | |
This was one line, one episode, that went out once. | 0:28:17 | 0:28:22 | |
The next day, in the street, people shouted, "Don't tell him, Pike!" Extraordinary. | 0:28:22 | 0:28:28 | |
# ..Couldn't be nicer Couldn't be sweeter | 0:28:31 | 0:28:34 | |
# Couldn't be better Couldn't be smarter... # | 0:28:34 | 0:28:37 | |
This is Walmington-on-Sea. All right, it isn't - there's no such place. | 0:28:41 | 0:28:44 | |
-I -know that. I work in television. | 0:28:44 | 0:28:47 | |
This is Thetford, where the team came for two weeks every year to do location filming. | 0:28:47 | 0:28:52 | |
I can't show you Stead and Simpson or Timothy White's, | 0:28:52 | 0:28:57 | |
but Walmington-on-Sea wouldn't have those places now either. | 0:28:57 | 0:29:02 | |
There's still an undertaker's and a butcher's. Is there a bank still? | 0:29:10 | 0:29:15 | |
Pikey would be 70! He'd be ordering a kebab, nipping into Sue Ryder. ..He's not real! Stupid boy! | 0:29:15 | 0:29:23 | |
A tip. If you want your comedy show to be watched and enjoyed 30 years after it was written, | 0:29:23 | 0:29:29 | |
set it in the past. Then it's already dated and it can't date. | 0:29:29 | 0:29:33 | |
Mr Mainwaring, it went jidder-judder and tore me trousers off. | 0:29:36 | 0:29:41 | |
Are you all right? | 0:29:41 | 0:29:43 | |
- I've lost what I hold most dear. - Oh, no. | 0:29:43 | 0:29:47 | |
My pocket book and discharge papers. | 0:29:47 | 0:29:50 | |
'I remember Thetford well cos we went there year after year.' | 0:29:50 | 0:29:55 | |
People were pleased to see you. The typical English town, really. | 0:29:55 | 0:30:01 | |
We liked it. | 0:30:01 | 0:30:03 | |
Arthur Lowe used to come up by coach. He could lord it a bit on the coach. | 0:30:03 | 0:30:09 | |
"Very nice. A bit of countryside. Dry..." All this sort of thing. | 0:30:09 | 0:30:14 | |
And working out if they'd got the message at the tobacconist's for his special fags. | 0:30:14 | 0:30:21 | |
Never mind what we were going to do filming. That was another world. | 0:30:21 | 0:30:26 | |
I used to drive up with John Le Mesurier. He was my mate. | 0:30:26 | 0:30:31 | |
The Bell Hotel, there was plenty of booze in the Bell. We all met at meal times. | 0:30:32 | 0:30:38 | |
An extraordinary situation. Fun. | 0:30:38 | 0:30:40 | |
FRANK WILLIAMS: Jimmy and David always had extraordinary luck with the weather. | 0:30:46 | 0:30:52 | |
Plan your summer holidays when Dad's Army is on location. It's lovely. | 0:30:52 | 0:30:59 | |
WENDY RICHARD: It was like being allowed into a gentlemen's club. | 0:31:03 | 0:31:08 | |
They were all sweethearts in their own way. | 0:31:08 | 0:31:12 | |
BILL PERTWEE: We worked hard during the day's filming. | 0:31:12 | 0:31:16 | |
No question. | 0:31:16 | 0:31:18 | |
FRANK WILLIAMS: We'd get up and go down to breakfast. | 0:31:18 | 0:31:22 | |
Arthur would complain about the kippers or something. | 0:31:22 | 0:31:26 | |
"Have you got a little ham this morning?" He said, "Off the bo-one, off the bo-one." | 0:31:26 | 0:31:33 | |
Clive wandering about, looking for his boots. | 0:31:33 | 0:31:37 | |
"Somebody put my boots somewhere." "Probably in your room." "I'll look." | 0:31:37 | 0:31:42 | |
Some of them were middle-aged and over. | 0:31:44 | 0:31:49 | |
The wives came to look after them. | 0:31:49 | 0:31:52 | |
We'd have a break in the morning and the wives would be fussing around. | 0:31:52 | 0:31:57 | |
I mean, this was a film in itself! | 0:31:57 | 0:32:00 | |
Arnold Ridley was the funniest. | 0:32:00 | 0:32:04 | |
His wife, she used to drive him to Thetford. | 0:32:04 | 0:32:08 | |
And she used to have to go and get the food from the wagon. | 0:32:08 | 0:32:14 | |
And she... He did boss her about a lot. | 0:32:14 | 0:32:18 | |
"You sit there and I'll get you a cup of tea." "Yes, dear," he said, "Mmmm!" | 0:32:18 | 0:32:24 | |
-Godfrey! -Can I be of assistance, sir? | 0:32:24 | 0:32:27 | |
Look to the front. Don't wear your hat straight like that. | 0:32:27 | 0:32:32 | |
You look like George Formby. > | 0:32:32 | 0:32:34 | |
'Godfrey was a wonderful invention,' | 0:32:34 | 0:32:37 | |
and perfectly cast with Arnold Ridley cos he was so gentle and sweet. | 0:32:37 | 0:32:43 | |
-< GODFREY! -Did someone call? | 0:32:43 | 0:32:46 | |
Godfrey was the nurse. If anyone needed medical attention, it was him! | 0:32:48 | 0:32:54 | |
We got enormous comedy out of the way they had to help him into the van. | 0:32:54 | 0:32:59 | |
His disabilities were an advantage from a comedy point of view. | 0:32:59 | 0:33:04 | |
Did he ever do anything? He always had his Red Cross box on. | 0:33:04 | 0:33:09 | |
I don't think he ever opened it. Did he? Did he? | 0:33:09 | 0:33:13 | |
-Jones has got a bout of malaria. Got anything we can give him? -Yes, sir, I've got some aspirins... | 0:33:13 | 0:33:20 | |
bicarbonate of soda... some ointment for wasp stings. | 0:33:20 | 0:33:23 | |
This is a fighting unit, not a Girl Guides' outing! | 0:33:23 | 0:33:29 | |
'I said, "Arnold, are you up to this?" ' | 0:33:29 | 0:33:31 | |
He was 73 or 74 at the time. | 0:33:31 | 0:33:34 | |
"I don't think I can protect you from having to run occasionally." | 0:33:34 | 0:33:38 | |
He said, "Yes, I think so. I think I'll manage." | 0:33:38 | 0:33:42 | |
We had to rush across a field with fixed bayonets, or whatever. | 0:33:42 | 0:33:47 | |
It was quite hard work. We did it quite a lot. | 0:33:47 | 0:33:52 | |
He used to let Arnold Ridley off and that annoyed John Laurie. | 0:33:52 | 0:33:56 | |
They were more or less the same age. | 0:33:56 | 0:33:59 | |
While we're rushing about, running the flag up the pole, Godfrey will still be climbing out of the van. | 0:33:59 | 0:34:06 | |
There's no doubt about it, they were genuinely out of breath from time to time. | 0:34:06 | 0:34:12 | |
Again, it added to the pathos of the fact that, poor old duffers, | 0:34:12 | 0:34:17 | |
they were trying to keep up, trying to do it. | 0:34:17 | 0:34:21 | |
I'm sure it isn't good for the heart. | 0:34:22 | 0:34:25 | |
JIMMY PERRY: 'They thought their careers were finished.' | 0:34:25 | 0:34:31 | |
Don't give up! | 0:34:31 | 0:34:33 | |
'They thought it was curtains for them. Suddenly, they had this terrific new lease of life.' | 0:34:33 | 0:34:40 | |
He's taken leave of his senses! | 0:34:40 | 0:34:42 | |
'John Laurie was in his mid 70s.' | 0:34:42 | 0:34:46 | |
He'd worked at the Old Vic with Gielgud, Olivier and all the greats | 0:34:46 | 0:34:51 | |
and was a fine classical actor. | 0:34:51 | 0:34:54 | |
He'd tell you he was the greatest Lear they'd had there. Very modest! | 0:34:54 | 0:35:00 | |
-This is Private Frazer. -Howdy. | 0:35:00 | 0:35:03 | |
Noo's the day and noo's the hoor, see the front of battle lour | 0:35:04 | 0:35:07 | |
and see if proud Hitler's wanton tour thraves on slavery. | 0:35:07 | 0:35:12 | |
Wha would be a traitor knave?! Wha sae base as be a slave?! | 0:35:12 | 0:35:17 | |
Wha would fill a coward's grave?! | 0:35:17 | 0:35:20 | |
Let him turn and flee! | 0:35:20 | 0:35:22 | |
'I can remember him once saying to Jimmy Perry,' | 0:35:25 | 0:35:28 | |
"You know, Jimmy, I played all the great Shakespearian roles | 0:35:28 | 0:35:34 | |
"and now I've become a household name doing this rubbish of yours!" | 0:35:34 | 0:35:40 | |
He said to Jimmy Perry, "I think this is a load of r-rubbish! | 0:35:40 | 0:35:45 | |
"I get a cheque at the end of the week, but I don't think it'll be a success. Mark my words." | 0:35:45 | 0:35:52 | |
And then when it was, he went up to Jimmy, after the second series, I think, | 0:35:52 | 0:35:59 | |
"I never had any doubt it would be a success." | 0:35:59 | 0:36:03 | |
'Great, great, laddie, great.' | 0:36:03 | 0:36:06 | |
Captain Mainwaring... | 0:36:06 | 0:36:08 | |
..did you ever hear the story of the auld empty barn? | 0:36:09 | 0:36:15 | |
No. | 0:36:16 | 0:36:18 | |
Would you like to hear the story of the auld empty barn? | 0:36:18 | 0:36:23 | |
I dished up all that "We're doomed!" | 0:36:26 | 0:36:28 | |
He was doing that in Will Hay films 40 years beforehand. | 0:36:28 | 0:36:32 | |
The story of the auld empty barn. | 0:36:32 | 0:36:37 | |
Well... | 0:36:38 | 0:36:40 | |
There was nithing in it. | 0:36:43 | 0:36:45 | |
# There's something about the soldier | 0:36:46 | 0:36:49 | |
# Something about the soldier | 0:36:49 | 0:36:51 | |
# Something about the soldier that is fine, fine, fine... # | 0:36:51 | 0:36:55 | |
DAVID CROFT: 'It did the cast a lot of good - | 0:36:55 | 0:36:59 | |
'they were all getting on, quite old -' | 0:36:59 | 0:37:02 | |
to wave them about in the fresh air every spring. | 0:37:02 | 0:37:06 | |
'We had fun.' | 0:37:06 | 0:37:08 | |
CLIVE DUNN: 'We were all let off the leash at nine, wandering about the pubs, bumping into one another.' | 0:37:14 | 0:37:20 | |
The ones that pretended they didn't drink, they'd look furtive. You got to know the cast. | 0:37:20 | 0:37:27 | |
We'd all go down to the bar and Arthur would be on the stool, | 0:37:27 | 0:37:32 | |
immaculately dressed, slightly red in the face, | 0:37:32 | 0:37:36 | |
and with what he called "an amazon", | 0:37:36 | 0:37:39 | |
which was a gin with ginger ale and one - not two - one slice of cucumber in it. | 0:37:39 | 0:37:47 | |
He'd be propped up against the bar and we'd all drift in - | 0:37:47 | 0:37:52 | |
I don't know why we all dressed up, we did - and we'd yarn. | 0:37:52 | 0:37:56 | |
BILL PERTWEE: I remember Arthur said to David Croft one day, about me, | 0:37:59 | 0:38:02 | |
"Where did you get this fellow from?" | 0:38:02 | 0:38:05 | |
David said, "Well, he's been in variety..." "Hmm, really?" | 0:38:05 | 0:38:10 | |
Why don't you pick on someone your own size? Come on! | 0:38:10 | 0:38:14 | |
Hold my glasses, Wilson. | 0:38:14 | 0:38:16 | |
'I was an outsider to start with.' | 0:38:16 | 0:38:19 | |
Don't you tangle with him in your crippled state. I'll do it for you, sir. | 0:38:19 | 0:38:25 | |
'It was as if I was somebody looking in,' | 0:38:25 | 0:38:29 | |
looking into this group of seven. | 0:38:29 | 0:38:32 | |
Bill Pertwee, bless his heart, who played Hodges, | 0:38:32 | 0:38:36 | |
is a sort of villain of the piece. | 0:38:36 | 0:38:40 | |
I became Mainwaring's private Hitler. | 0:38:40 | 0:38:42 | |
I suppose it was with great pleasure that the writers wrote it if there was any water, he'd get it. | 0:38:42 | 0:38:48 | |
BILL PERTWEE: 'I took the brunt of a few stunts.' | 0:38:48 | 0:38:53 | |
Ruddy hooligans! | 0:38:53 | 0:38:55 | |
He was terribly good natured about it. | 0:38:55 | 0:38:58 | |
Oh! Here we go again! | 0:38:58 | 0:39:00 | |
One of the situations was alarming. | 0:39:01 | 0:39:04 | |
-There's an object in the water. -Won't be long now. | 0:39:04 | 0:39:08 | |
'We were doing late-night filming at Lowestoft, 2am, | 0:39:08 | 0:39:11 | |
'and my boat overturned with me | 0:39:11 | 0:39:14 | |
'and the water got underneath the strap of my helmet.' | 0:39:14 | 0:39:17 | |
I was all right. I gurgled a bit and spat a bit of water out. | 0:39:20 | 0:39:24 | |
Everybody had gone. There was only one person left. | 0:39:24 | 0:39:27 | |
They'd all gone to the next shot! | 0:39:27 | 0:39:31 | |
I said, "Where is everybody?" "Gone." Never mind about me! | 0:39:31 | 0:39:37 | |
Then we couldn't chuck him in the water because we were filming in rivers with rats in them. | 0:39:37 | 0:39:43 | |
Health and Safety don't like comedy. | 0:39:43 | 0:39:47 | |
Then, you could chuck somebody in a river - usually Bill. | 0:39:47 | 0:39:53 | |
As long as I got the cheque at the end of the week. | 0:39:53 | 0:39:57 | |
# The very thought of you... # | 0:39:57 | 0:40:00 | |
That summer, the show reached its highest viewing figures yet. | 0:40:00 | 0:40:05 | |
Firmly established as a hit comedy, the platoon seemed unstoppable. | 0:40:05 | 0:40:11 | |
DAVID CROFT: The first person to die was Jimmy Beck. That was a shock. | 0:40:11 | 0:40:17 | |
He became ill on location, I think, | 0:40:17 | 0:40:20 | |
and he was hovering for about a fortnight, at death's door, as it were. | 0:40:20 | 0:40:26 | |
Jimmy dying so young, at 39, presented a lot of difficulties | 0:40:26 | 0:40:32 | |
because no way would we have recast that part. | 0:40:32 | 0:40:35 | |
And I'm afraid he was a very, very heavy drinker. It just got him in the end. | 0:40:37 | 0:40:41 | |
The next episode, Jimmy was not going to be in it, | 0:40:43 | 0:40:46 | |
in that last episode of the series. | 0:40:46 | 0:40:51 | |
It was very sad, very poignant. | 0:40:51 | 0:40:53 | |
The camera goes along the line and comes to a gap. | 0:40:53 | 0:40:58 | |
'And there's a note where he would have been standing.' | 0:40:58 | 0:41:03 | |
Captain Mainwaring - personal. | 0:41:03 | 0:41:05 | |
Personal? Give it to me! | 0:41:05 | 0:41:08 | |
Unusual perfume. | 0:41:14 | 0:41:15 | |
Petrol. | 0:41:17 | 0:41:19 | |
"Dear Cap, | 0:41:22 | 0:41:24 | |
"Thanks for letting me off." | 0:41:24 | 0:41:26 | |
"Had to go up to the smoke for a few days to do a deal." | 0:41:28 | 0:41:33 | |
CLIVE DUNN: 'The shock. From a selfish point of view, I thought,' | 0:41:33 | 0:41:37 | |
"What will happen to the programme? Are we still going to be able to do it?" | 0:41:37 | 0:41:42 | |
So it was awful for his wife and for all his friends. | 0:41:42 | 0:41:49 | |
It was a bad time, a bad time. Hmm. | 0:41:49 | 0:41:52 | |
Yeah, something went... most certainly. | 0:41:52 | 0:41:56 | |
Despite the success of the four or five series we did without Jim, | 0:41:56 | 0:42:01 | |
something wasn't there, no doubt about that. | 0:42:01 | 0:42:05 | |
# ..The very thought of you, my love. # | 0:42:05 | 0:42:09 | |
There was an effort to replace Jimmy. It was an impossible task. | 0:42:09 | 0:42:14 | |
You couldn't take over from somebody like him. | 0:42:14 | 0:42:20 | |
The next series, a lovely Welsh actor called Talfryn Thomas - had teeth like that - Mr Cheeseman. | 0:42:20 | 0:42:27 | |
He was on the local newspaper, the Walmington Bugle. | 0:42:27 | 0:42:31 | |
He was war correspondent. | 0:42:31 | 0:42:34 | |
He had an armband with "WC" on the side. | 0:42:34 | 0:42:38 | |
-What's that? -Oh, that's so everyone knows what I do. | 0:42:38 | 0:42:42 | |
-What DO you do? -Well, WC - War Correspondent. | 0:42:45 | 0:42:50 | |
John Laurie came to me once and said, "James, can I have a word, please?" | 0:42:50 | 0:42:55 | |
He said, "Is yon Welsh fella going to be in the next series?" | 0:42:55 | 0:43:00 | |
I said, "I don't know." He said, "Well, make sure he isn't. He's getting far too many laughs." | 0:43:02 | 0:43:07 | |
Totally ruthless. | 0:43:07 | 0:43:10 | |
Talfryn was not in the next series, and he was SO funny, very, very funny. | 0:43:10 | 0:43:16 | |
30 years on, the show remains as fresh as ever. | 0:43:16 | 0:43:21 | |
Inevitably, many of that wonderful cast are no longer with us. | 0:43:21 | 0:43:24 | |
I think it's rather sad that Arthur and John | 0:43:36 | 0:43:40 | |
and some of the other actors never lived to see the extent of the fame | 0:43:40 | 0:43:45 | |
that Dad's Army reached. | 0:43:45 | 0:43:48 | |
I never mind watching it when I turn it on. My children like it. | 0:43:48 | 0:43:53 | |
My two oldest children are seven and five-and-a-half. They find it funny. | 0:43:53 | 0:43:58 | |
I think one of the things they like about it is it's grown-ups being silly and trying to be serious | 0:43:58 | 0:44:05 | |
and coming undone as a result. | 0:44:05 | 0:44:08 | |
They enjoy that side of it. | 0:44:08 | 0:44:11 | |
I met a little boy the other day in a shop and his daddy said, "Mrs Fox, can you meet my son?" | 0:44:11 | 0:44:18 | |
So he came up and we shook hands. | 0:44:18 | 0:44:21 | |
We had a little talk and I said to him, "Why do you like Dad's Army?" | 0:44:21 | 0:44:26 | |
He said, "Because it's funny and not rude." | 0:44:26 | 0:44:30 | |
Now, out of the mouths of babes... | 0:44:30 | 0:44:33 | |
It was absolutely wonderful. | 0:44:33 | 0:44:36 | |
What do you think of this? | 0:44:36 | 0:44:38 | |
-It's awful... -What? | 0:44:40 | 0:44:44 | |
No, no, no, it's awfully good. | 0:44:45 | 0:44:48 | |
Oh, dear. Ha-ha-ha-ha! Oh, dear, oh, dear. | 0:44:48 | 0:44:52 | |
LAUGHTER GETS LOUDER > | 0:44:55 | 0:44:58 | |
Watch it, Wilson. You might snap your girdle. | 0:44:58 | 0:45:02 | |
'A few years ago,' | 0:45:02 | 0:45:05 | |
at a charity event at St James's Palace, I met the Queen Mother. | 0:45:05 | 0:45:10 | |
She likes people to stand in a semicircle, not a straight line. | 0:45:10 | 0:45:15 | |
I said, "I do believe, Ma'am, I was in a programme which is a favourite of yours - Dad's Army." | 0:45:15 | 0:45:22 | |
She went, "Oh, yes!" She addressed the whole ensemble and said, | 0:45:22 | 0:45:27 | |
"You know, after a bad day and you come home, put your feet up and pop on a video, | 0:45:27 | 0:45:34 | |
"and there you are, laughing again." | 0:45:34 | 0:45:36 | |
There is a nostalgic thing about Dad's Army which people value, | 0:45:49 | 0:45:54 | |
and it is looking back on something which one sort of, in a way, longs for - | 0:45:54 | 0:46:00 | |
not the horrors of war, but the feeling of community and belonging to one another. | 0:46:00 | 0:46:07 | |
I think that's important. | 0:46:07 | 0:46:09 | |
DAVID CROFT: The British public behaved very well at that time. We took advantage of that. | 0:46:14 | 0:46:21 | |
That's one of the appeals of the programme. | 0:46:21 | 0:46:25 | |
WENDY RICHARD: It showed the spirit - which is lacking today - | 0:46:25 | 0:46:29 | |
that people had, pulling together and keeping our country safe. | 0:46:29 | 0:46:35 | |
That is an aspect of it, but I don't relate to that at all. | 0:46:35 | 0:46:40 | |
I had, like a lot of people, a foul war and wouldn't want to go back to that, no. | 0:46:40 | 0:46:46 | |
It's 60 years since the real Dad's Army, the Home Guard, was formed, | 0:46:52 | 0:46:57 | |
30 years since Arthur Lowe and John Le Mesurier recorded episode one. | 0:46:57 | 0:47:02 | |
It's two different lifetimes away, but we're still watching them. | 0:47:02 | 0:47:06 | |
Mainwaring struggling to maintain his dignity, Wilson rarely losing his, Godfrey having to be excused | 0:47:06 | 0:47:13 | |
and all the other brave soldiers marching across yet another field | 0:47:13 | 0:47:16 | |
to make us laugh again and again. | 0:47:16 | 0:47:19 | |
I think there are some wonderful comedy shows around now. | 0:47:25 | 0:47:29 | |
I don't think all old comedy is good, but what Dad's Army has got is | 0:47:29 | 0:47:33 | |
it's celebratory and it's positive and it's innocent. | 0:47:33 | 0:47:37 | |
It's got some fantastically wonderful performances. | 0:47:37 | 0:47:42 | |
It's full of wit, pathos, character, slapstick, farce, overplaying, underplaying. | 0:47:42 | 0:47:48 | |
It's stuffed full. It's like a draught excluder. What? You know what I mean. | 0:47:48 | 0:47:52 | |
# Keep young and beautiful | 0:47:58 | 0:48:01 | |
# It's your duty to be beautiful | 0:48:01 | 0:48:04 | |
# Keep young and beautiful If you want to be loved... # | 0:48:04 | 0:48:09 | |
CAPTAIN MAINWARING: We'll stick together, you can rely on that. | 0:48:09 | 0:48:13 | |
If anybody tries to take our homes or our freedom, they'll find out what we can do. We'll fight. | 0:48:13 | 0:48:18 | |
There are thousands of us all over England... | 0:48:20 | 0:48:23 | |
FRAZER: And Scotland! | 0:48:23 | 0:48:25 | |
MAINWARING: And Scotland. | 0:48:25 | 0:48:27 | |
Men who'll stand together when their country needs them. | 0:48:27 | 0:48:30 | |
It would be a nice idea if we were to pay our tribute to them. | 0:48:30 | 0:48:35 | |
For once, I agree. | 0:48:36 | 0:48:38 | |
To Britain's Home Guard. | 0:48:38 | 0:48:41 | |
ALL: To Britain's Home Guard. | 0:48:42 | 0:48:44 | |
# ..The lack of one is wounding to our pride | 0:48:59 | 0:49:03 | |
# Last night we saw the cutest Little German parachutist | 0:49:03 | 0:49:07 | |
# Who looked like it and giggled a bit and laughed until he cried | 0:49:07 | 0:49:11 | |
# We'll have to hide that armoured car when marching to Berlin | 0:49:11 | 0:49:16 | |
# We'd almost be ashamed of it in Rome | 0:49:16 | 0:49:19 | |
# So if you've caught the blighters with a Bren gun | 0:49:19 | 0:49:23 | |
# The Home Guard might as well The Home Guard might as well | 0:49:23 | 0:49:26 | |
# The Home Guard might as well go home! # | 0:49:26 | 0:49:29 | |
Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd | 0:49:29 | 0:49:32 |