Clive Dunn: A Tribute

Have you ever thought that life is like a banana?

LAUGHTER

EXPLOSIONS

Permission to speak, sir! I've got an idea, sir.

That man's as brave as a lion.

LAUGHTER

You can't say somebody was a sort of Clive Dunn.

There was only one.

LAUGHTER

'How would I describe Clive Dunn?'

That's an extraordinary question, actually.

What you saw was what he was.

That's all I can remember of him, really.

Fire! Fire!

Don't panic!

-Permission to speak, sir!

-Yes.

Now, I'd like to say...

He was a very, very funny man.

-Jones.

-I'm here, sir.

'Enormously gentle,'

yet twinkly.

I can't remember leaving his company without a smile on my face.

'A master of comedy timing.'

And he was one of the most offbeat people, really, I've ever known.

It was the jokes that he liked, really. He was a comic.

LAUGHTER

What's the charge?

Stealing one dozen assorted cars

and aeroplanes from Gibsons toyshop.

Clive was typical of the generation of people who'd known difficulty,

who'd taken inspiration from that

and used it in their humour.

Clive Dunn, comedy genius, chart topper

and a lifelong socialist,

died in November this year.

This is his story.

-Oh, it's Clive Dunn!

-Yes.

-Cor, marvellous!

But it was a good life.

-PRESENTER:

-'You're a Londoner, aren't you, Clive?'

CLIVE: 'Yes, I was born in Brixton.'

-'Show business background?'

-'Mmm, yep.'

'Did you travel around with your parents?

'They were variety people, weren't they?'

'Well, they were everything.

'You know, my grandfather was a musical hall comedian.

'My mother used to do summer shows in various seaside towns.

'And automatically,

'I think there was hardly any conversation about it at all.

'I went to Italia Conti stage school, and that was it.'

Clive Robert Benjamin Dunn was born 9th January 1920

to Connie and Bobby,

performers themselves who were only too happy to let him

follow in their footsteps.

'What was your first appearance?'

'Well, my first paid job, professionally,

'was in the crowd in a Will Hay film.'

'And after that?

'And then I'd been at Italia Conti a few months and I went

'into a show called Where The Rainbow Ends

-'at the Holborn Empire.'

-'Yes.'

'And played a dancing frog and then in another part of the show

'I was flying a dragon.'

'Yes, that was a busy evening.'

-There, there.

-Oh, yes.

-I started off as a nasty gnome, you see.

-Yes.

And then I graduated to an 'orrid elf,

and then I got my first adult role

as a dirty devil.

LAUGHTER

SIREN WAILS

Dunn was barely 19 when his plans for the stage were

interrupted by the outbreak of World War II.

CLIVE: Well, I was in repertory when the war started.

Everybody was blowing whistles and air raid wardens had been

given rattles and all sorts

and people were putting muzzles on dogs.

It was a weird time.

Nobody went to the theatre. Everybody was so frightened.

Mr Jones.

Can you hear a plane coming?

Yeah, and if it comes any lower, I'll give him one

right in the seat of his Heinkel, I will.

Unlike Corporal Jones, Dunn was called up for active service.

Leaving the home front behind, he set sail to defend his country.

CLIVE: My war was a funny war.

We went in a boat all the way to South Africa,

then up the east side of Africa up to

the Suez Canal to get into Egypt.

Then we went over from Alexandria to Greece

and that campaign was an absolute disaster,

so we ended up with most of the regiment getting captured.

I spent four years in a prisoner of war camp, in a labour camp, you see.

Working for Hitler, of course.

Dunn was transported from Greece and ended up spending the war

detained above a hairdresser in a small village in Austria.

That was quite easy, actually.

LAUGHTER

-Was it?

-Yes.

I went to Greece and said, "Do you want to know any secrets?"

LAUGHTER

And we were stuck in these two rooms, from Saturday mid-day

until Monday morning we'd be locked in.

So we tried to do little sketches and things like that.

And it was only the laughter and fun we had

that kept you going, really.

I think the memories of war that he had were really, generally

so painful, he didn't really want to go back to them.

For example, their uniforms were going to be debugged by being

thrown into an oven, and they were marched about

two or three miles, I think, naked, in order to do a drill after that.

And he remembered it as a very unpleasant time,

but he tried to block it all out by thinking

this was just another role,

and it was an unpleasant one.

And he tried to just contemplate

the better ones that would come along after the war had ended.

After the war, Dunn was able to resume his acting career.

He found a place to exploit his talents at The Players Theatre

a home for variety performers.

And that was the first time I ever saw him.

There was an awful lot of work for performers, just after the war.

People had gone through the war

and they wanted to be entertained.

The variety theatres,

it was one of the high spots of variety

was the late '40s and '50s.

They were packed out everywhere you went.

Clive might on each bill do two little spots

which would be two different characters, you know,

with a song or a bit of banter

or a funny dance or something.

I saw Clive coming on on roller-skates for no reason at all,

probably singing something like My Old Dutch, I don't know!

It's strange he never became a comedian,

a stand-up comedian or such, but he didn't.

LAUGHTER

Well, we'd better get off.

The finale's coming up. Hang on, old goose.

Well, bye-bye, Ethel!

'And he could do anything.'

Bye, Ethel!

'That was the extraordinary thing about him.'

He was a very unusual man in every respect.

It was while he was at The Players Theatre

he met his future wife, Pricilla Morgan.

Dunn was late for rehearsals one day

and Pricilla took his spot.

He was very dry and funny.

The first thing he said to me was, "Are you married?"

It was Valentine's Day

and we never parted from that day.

When we were very, very first together, he was doing all sorts

of bits of television.

You know, you've got to work, you've got to work.

So you did anything.

'Every year, the post office handles

more than 240 million parcels.

'Perishable or strong-smelling goods should be packed

'in a suitable container.'

'His sense of the ridiculous was marvellous.

'He was very theatrical.

'I mean, his roots with theatrical, from his family.'

And he had that wonderful

sense of theatre that translated

perfectly to television.

Now, sir, would you like to tell us your name?

Herman Crouch.

May I call you Herman?

Yes, Tony.

LAUGHTER

It wasn't long before Dunn's comedic talents were being

recognised by the comedy stars of the day.

-96.

-He's 96!

I think of him in things like, with Michael Bentine

in It's A Square World.

I remember him doing a thing with Michael Bentine

where he played an animal living in a tree.

And I think he was a human being.

Little is known about their mating habits

and only the males are left.

Experts feel that this may account for the species dying out.

'And it was just quite stunning.

'It was just so beautifully observed.'

Ah, but here come the hunters.

There comes a time when even the most timorous creature

will turn fiercely on his relentless pursuers.

LAUGHTER DROWNS OUT SPEECH

..the rhinoceros, this maddened little beast...

LAUGHTER DROWNS OUT SPEECH

..again and again.

It was during this time Dunn developed

a particular type of character that would

serve him well throughout his career.

And here to tell us

something about it tonight is a very distinguished

member of the Irish Interplanetary Society

and the British Rocketry Commission.

Let's go over and have a word with him, if you don't mind.

Good evening, doctor. I wonder if I could have a word with you, sir.

From a very early age, really late 20s, early 30s,

he was regarded in the industry, really, as one of the young men

to contact if you wanted someone to play an older man.

'There had been actors and comedians who'd played'

old people prior to Clive,

as he was the first to say.

But he was sort of definitive.

And of course, he was

always playing old men.

He had a natural aptitude for it.

And it was the show Bootsie And Snudge

that brought him national recognition for this type of role.

In it he played the butler, Old Johnson,

who was a war veteran working in a gentleman's club.

All right, Johnson, you can clear the cups away now.

You'll have to wait, sir, I've got to clear the cups away now.

Well, that's what I said!

'I don't think Clive would mind me saying,'

because he said more or less the same thing to me,

that his performance in Bootsie and Snudge

was more or less a junior version of Corporal Jones, really.

It was this performance

that caught the eye of comedy producer David Croft.

I think it was Michael Mills, head of comedy, said,

"What about Clive Dunn?"

And I said, "He works at The Players Theatre.

They're all amateurs, there."

Anyhow, David said, "That's a good idea.

"I've seen him in Bootsie And Snudge, he's very good."

I don't want him.

I don't want him.

I don't want to have him.

I'm not having him.

You have him.

After deliberation, Dunn was offered the part of Corporal Jones

at the age of 48.

CLIVE: I was a bit hesitant, cos

I only vaguely knew what it was about.

But when I found out that John Le Mesurier

was going to be the sergeant -

and he's a mate of mine - when John said he was going to do it,

I said, "Yeah, come on, let's do it."

Clive and John Le Mesurier made some phone calls

to each other before they accepted

and said, "Look, shall we do it, shan't we do it?

"What do you think of the script?

"Well, we'll give it a go.

"Won't go more than one series, but it's a bit of work."

I don't think they had great faith in it.

The odds were absurdly against us, but our spirits were always high.

The first episode of Dad's Army was transmitted on BBC1 in 1968.

Drawing nostalgically on wartime Britain,

it focussed on the misadventures of the Home Guard.

It was seen by just over seven million viewers,

disappointing figures for the day.

I'm not surprised

that it started relatively quietly

and I know the BBC were thinking of dropping it,

but the best comedies do take a little while.

Once you get to know those characters,

you want to keep coming back to them.

Left, right, left, right, left, right, halt. Stand at ease.

Evening, Mr Mainwaring. Evening, Mr Wilson.

You know me, don't you, sir?

Oh, yes. It's Mr Jones, the butcher from the high street, isn't it?

That's right, sir.

I think Clive's Corporal Jones was absolutely up there

with Mainwaring and with John Le Mes.

They, to me, were the three great characters.

Don't you think Mr Jones is perhaps a little bit too old, sir?

Old? Who are you calling old?

'You had three kingpins there, all experts in their field.'

You see, Wilson? It's keenness that counts, not age.

'Of course, Clive would soon become discontented'

if he didn't have a little corner of comedy in each episode,

as would Arthur Lowe, of course.

John Le Mesurier probably wouldn't be quite so fussy,

because he could float about being grand with his cuffs turned back.

-I'm as keen as mustard.

-Have you any previous military experience?

Now you're talking. I signed on as a drummer boy in 1884.

Later I saw service in the Sudan. Caught the fuzzy-wuzzies.

Fuzzy-wuzzies! They were the boys.

They'd come at you with a great long knife and zip you right open!

They'd soon find out if you'd got any guts or not.

I wanted to make sure that I got what we used to call "joey-joeys",

so if there's any physical comedy whatever...

..that I would have quite a good crack of the whip.

Cos Jack Jones was a bit of an old clown, really.

-I call Mr Jack Jones.

-Mr Jack Jones.

Mr Mainwaring! It went jidder-judder and tore me trousers off!

Oh! Don't panic!

LAUGHTER DROWNS SPEECH

Clowning is seeing the absurdities,

and Clive did see lovely little absurdities.

Howzat, sir? How was that?

Physical comedy is much, much harder than it looks.

He'd been developing this routine over the years

and he'd worked out how to make it funny.

Very good, sir.

This is absurd! The moment my back is t...

I think that the importance of Jones in the early series

was that we could almost leave the comedy to take care of itself

with a character like Jones.

-ALL:

-1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3, 1.

1.

Whilst that crucial relationship between Arthur and John -

Mainwaring and Wilson -

slightly more complicated social stuff

of the grammar school and the public school,

the manager and the...and so on,

that had to be done very slowly.

Oh, don't let's be snobbish, Wilson.

He doesn't have to be a public school man to hold a commission.

-This is wartime, you know.

-Well, look at his cheek.

He's got a duelling scar.

-Nine, nine...

-Jones!

-What, sir?

The character of Jones, I think it was extraordinarily important

whilst everybody found their feet, and Clive's, therefore, crucial.

I just showed him the cold steel, sir. It never fails.

They don't like it up 'em, you know, sir.

They don't like it up 'em.

-Are you listening?

-Yes, sir.

-Send reinforcements...

Dunn's character was an instant hit with the public.

He was able to draw on his extensive experience of playing old men

and he was in his element.

What Clive Dunn did brilliantly

was make his older characters incredibly vital and energetic

and active, and yet still manage to make them feel old,

which is a great achievement.

Do you mind sitting up? I can't see the screen.

He just took to it, I think. I don't really know.

It was very easy for him to do.

-Have you got any sausages?

-Hold on.

-He's got some sausages.

-He's got sausages.

Clive got this character and he got it right.

If you've got any guts or not!

The part of Corporal Jones was based on a real-life character,

an old soldier who had been with me in the Home Guard.

They don't like the cold steel, you see, sir.

They don't like it up 'em, you see, sir. They don't...

They don't like the...

Get him a chair, Wilson.

'This instructor we had, a regular soldier, probably 30 years,

'been in the '14-'18 war, used to say, "I've got a bayonet,'

"and don't forget, right there, right there,

"cos they don't like it up 'em, you know."

And you think, "Well, who wants it up 'em?"

There's no substitute for the cold steel. They do not like it up 'em.

They don't like it up 'em.

I might have mentioned that to you before.

When I first read that in the script, I didn't want to say that.

"They don't like it up 'em," it's a rather crude thing to say.

But then I thought about this old butcher who wouldn't think that.

He'd been on all these campaigns against the Mad Mahdi, you know,

and won every war and all that, and I thought, "He would say this."

So having decided that he would say it,

I said it for all it's worth. They don't like it up 'em.

You do that again, you'll get this up you.

And you will not like it!

I had a row of medals, and they were absolutely correct.

Those were all the real medals that we researched,

because we had to lock them up when we were...

cos they were quite valuable.

Copper plated, you see.

Right. Where do you want me to stand?

'And the fact that they were true and they'd been researched

'made it much easier to do, really.

'One could get right into it.'

I would like one with a very grim and serious expression.

-You know, something like this.

-I see.

Well, you'll have to hold your hand absolutely still for six seconds.

Six seconds?

I can't hold my hand still for six seconds.

Corporal Jones absolutely loves talking about his experiences

in the Sudan and all that bit.

You see, sir? It all occurred a few days before the battle of Omdurman.

'But that, of course, is in the context of the Home Guard,

'when he has some sort of point to make to Captain Mainwaring.'

Then as we rounded a corner, there was an old fakir blocking our path.

"Turn back, turn back," said the old fakir.

"It is written in the sand that before the sun sinks,

"all of you will be dead."

"Rubbish," said the colonel. "Clear out the way, you old fool."

Clive, I think, about his own war experiences, was much more...

was totally reticent, as far as I was concerned.

That, of course, is a very interesting difference

between Clive himself and Corporal Jones.

# It's a hap-hap-happy day... #

by the end of the first series, the public had taken to the show

in a big way, and viewing figures had doubled to 14 million.

For the next nine years, the cast could often be found

on location near a small market town in Norfolk Thetford.

I remember always looking forward

to going away filming for those two weeks.

I think Dad's Army was one of the happiest periods of my life.

They were a wonderful cast to work with.

We were all let off the leash at night,

wandering about the pubs, bumping into one another.

And the ones that pretended they didn't drink,

you'd see them looking a bit furtive.

You got to know the cast.

And there I was, got a lovely part, so I was a happy man.

We sort of became a sort of family, you know what I mean?

And that was it.

# You can't go wrong if you sing a song

# It's a hap-hap, hap-hap Happy, happy, happy, happy day #

One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four. One, two, three, halt!

Ah! This is the life, eh? Feel that fresh air getting into your lungs?

HE COUGHS CONSUMPTIVELY

However, there was one member of the Dad's Army family

Dunn did not always see eye to eye with Arthur Lowe.

Keep at it, Wilson. I'm going to see how the supper's getting on.

He admired him greatly for his acting. He was a fine actor.

But when it came to politics, get out the way.

Have to learn to take the rough with the smooth.

Well, I want you to know, I've still got faith in you.

-Thank you very much, Corporal.

-Even if no-one else has.

LAUGHTER

Arthur was a bit cross with him sometimes

because of his political feelings.

Clive was a very staunch member of the Labour Party.

Arthur was a very staunch member of the Conservative Party.

And I suppose they would to some extent, well...

not clash, but have a friendly argument.

Jones! What are you doing?

I'm pulling, sir, you said pull, didn't you?

You don't pull, you push.

You had the extremes with them.

And they just enjoyed tweaking each other's tails.

-Ow!

-I'm sorry, sir, but sometimes you have to be cruel to be kind.

# Singing in the rain... #

Dunn was a lifelong socialist

and became a valuable member of the Labour Party.

When I was running for the leadership in 1983,

Clive approached me spontaneously and said,

if I can help to raise money with a concert

or something like that, I'll happily do it.

Clive, together with others,

was so successful that they raised enough money

to pay for my campaign

and have £9,000 left over to give to the Labour Party.

After subtracting the odd pound or two for a drink.

I refuse to co-operate in any way whatsoever.

You won't go through with it, Jones.

Luckily for Arthur Lowe, when the script required a bomb to be put

down someone's trousers, Clive Dunn didn't let

their friendly opposition to each other get in the way.

Blimey, sir, look, there's the colonel.

'The original story was that it was going to go down Arthur Lowe's trousers.'

Ah! Arthur and his trousers. Please.

Arthur, when he arrived, obviously

hadn't really read the script until then.

Suddenly discovered he was supposed to have a bomb down his trousers.

He said no, no, no, I'm not doing that, no, no.

Platoon...halt!

Arthur Lowe, in the contract, he had the line,

"Will not appear in undignified underpants."

Where on earth are you taking the prisoners, Mainwaring?

-Well, you see...

-Captain Mainwaring thought we'd go for a walk, sir.

One of the cleverest rewrites I've ever come across in my life.

"Every speech that says Mainwaring, will you cross out Mainwaring,

"and write Jones?" And that was the rewrite.

Why isn't Corporal Jones wearing his equipment?

What is this great lump of string hanging down his trousers?

THEY SHOUT IN PANIC

And so, Clive did it. That was Clive, you know?

He was sort of game for anything, really. Great fun.

# Run rabbit, run rabbit Run, run, run

# Run rabbit, run rabbit Run, run, run... #

If there was something to trip over, he'd trip over it.

If there was something to fall off, he'd fall off it.

Of course, Clive was able to do that

because he was so much younger than the part he played.

Some of it was quite dangerous, wasn't it, really?

When you come to think about it.

I'll be all right, I'll be all right, yes, I'm all right!

We wrote for him, he did what we wanted, then he'd suggest

something and we'd write it, so all his stuff was tailor-made.

In an episode called All Is Safely Gathered In,

with a combine harvester, which was for real, a real, wonderful steam-engine-driven

combine harvester, he was more or less given this prop to play with.

-Excuse me, Captain Mainwaring.

-Yes.

-I know how it works.

Clive, here you are.

It's yours, do what you want.

The engine...the engine over here.

It just goes poop-poop-poop-poop.

That belt is working along.

The threshing here is going jib-jibba-jib-jibba-jibber.

While this is going jib-jibba-jib-jibba-jibber,

meanwhile that's causing over here another section,

this section here, like that, it's causing that movement.

A lot of the stuff he does,

kind of little physical bits,

you feel like you're watching someone kind of going,

"Hang on, I can see a way to make this even funnier."

And, in the meantime...

..the flame which is still inside, going, woom, woom!

-And then it's all done.

-Yes...

I think he did improvise a bit, a lot,

and that sort of "Don't panic, don't panic, don't panic..."

-Don't panic! Don't panic!

-We're not panicking.

We're not panicking, we're going to blame you.

He invented "Don't panic."

Don't panic! Don't panic!

Don't panic! Don't panic!

We never thought of catchphrases, as such. They just happened.

And that is the truth.

Don't panic!

Don't panic, Mr Mainwaring!

Dunn's portrayal of the dithery butcher made him a household name.

And his catchphrases were repeated with guffaws

in homes throughout the land.

It was something big. It hadn't occurred to us

that it was growing the way it was growing.

It all exploded and they all became names everywhere they went.

He loved the affection, as we all did.

Because it was affection for that show.

When I was younger, Clive Dunn was probably the favourite character.

Don't panic! Don't panic!

Captain Mainwaring, the light's flashing, what do we do?

He was one of the few people who didn't mind people

saying his catchphrases to him.

They don't call you Clive, or Mr Dunn, you're Jonesy, or Corporal.

Builders start shouting at you and things in the street,

so you know you're onto a good thing.

By the '70s, Dad's Army was a runaway success

with fans from all walks of life.

Dunn and the cast were catapulted into stardom,

winning a string of top industry awards.

The winner is...Dad's Army!

APPLAUSE

On behalf of everybody connected with Dad's Army, I'm thrilled

that it's become a national institution.

Oh, just a moment...

It was not long before fans got the chance

to see them on a stage show touring the country.

And even on the big screen.

And it was during these heady days that Dunn's popularity

was so high that he even scaled the charts with a hit record.

# I've been sitting here all day thinking.

# Same old dream 10 years away thinking... #

The idea that Corporal Jones would have a hit number one single,

in the days when that was a million records or more,

was extraordinary and no more than he deserved.

# Penny farthings on the street... #

It was charming. Written by Herbie Flowers, I think,

A jazzer and a session musician,

and he got it just right, fitted him like a glove.

Stewart, Stewpot, telephoned me and said we are playing that record

Grandad of yours on Junior Choice next Saturday.

And he played it. And their switchboard jammed.

And there were 800,000 orders placed for it.

But, there was a strike of record pressers, so, they printed it up

in Amsterdam, and were shipping it over by the vanload, I suppose.

Anyway, it did get to number one.

Who's that? Nnud Evilc? Who's he?

-You're reading it upside down, look, there.

-Oh, it's Clive Dunn!

-Yes!

Oh, marvellous!

Did I buy the single? I didn't have to do.

It was on the television all the time. Never stopped.

I wouldn't...

I wouldn't have a thing like that in my house!

He wouldn't mind!

And oh, well, we...we sent him up rotten about it!

Clive...! Na-na-na-na, na-na-na...!

# You're lovely... #

We got a little bit of stick for it.

People said, "What a load of rubbish!"

But so is Baa Baa Black Sheep.

So are lots of things.

At least it's not computer music.

And he just went, "Oh, yes, yes, yes...!

"Who's got the season at the Palladium?"

# Grandad

# Grandad... #

'They feel that you're over-age, Jones.

'Over-age?!

'I'm only 70!

'Well, that's just the point.

'You see, they feel that 70 IS over-age.'

..left, right, left.

Halt...!

By 1977, after 80 episodes, Perry and Croft

felt it was time to bring Dad's Army to an end.

Stand at ease!

Evenin'.

LAUGHTER

I think it was the BBC wanted to continue...

..but Jimmy and David thought it had been enough.

There were a lot of genuine old people in the show,

which was what made it very strong

and different to a lot of other stuff that was on.

To the bride and groom!

Probably your turn next, Mr Godfrey.

'I think by the end, I'm not sure Godfrey

'could even stand up!'

We had to hold him up at times,

and John Laurie would say, "Look at that, they're holding him up!

"Shouldn't be! Why don't they get rid of him?"

Here they come!

Perry and Croft decided to give Dunn centre stage

in the last episode - Jones finally marrying Mrs Fox.

No confetti!

'I thought it was really rather nice in the last episode,

'that it was about Jones getting married.'

The niceness of Jones was also a niceness of Clive.

-Now, I'm not going to make a long speech...

-Good.

LAUGHTER

Now, I've known Jack

for many years.

-And he's the salt of the earth.

-Hear, hear.

He's loyal, he's brave,

and he's very kind...

'The idea of it being the last episode,

'I didn't like it at all.

'You think, that's it, you won't be able to work again for years,

'because you're so well-known in that particular part.'

Thank you all for coming along, and good health, everyone...!

'And so, although it was quite a jolly thing to do,

'it wasn't really a happy occasion

'doing that bit of the wedding at the end.'

-There we are...

-Now, here we go!

-No, no, no, no!

Oh, no, that's only cardboard!

GASPS AND LAUGHS FROM AUDIENCE

It was a gold mine.

It was a wonderful part for him.

I just feel it was such a great character.

Corporal Jones...

..just seemed to actually love life, which is

I think one of the reasons we all warmed to him so much.

# Who's that walking down the street...? #

However, after Dad's Army, Dunn needn't have worried.

It wasn't long before he was given his own series,

the slapstick children's show Grandad.

# ..Grandad!

# Playin' the piano in the strangest manner... #

I remember him being upside down

playing the piano with his feet and stuff.

I suppose to me, Clive Dunn will always be Grandad

from Grandad, so that, even more so...even though

I've probably seen more Dad's Army,

the thing I first remember really loving him in was Grandad.

Grandad was Clive's idea.

We didn't have an audience for the first series,

because audiences always presented a certain amount of problems,

like we had to put somewhere for them to sit, for a start,

and they used to take up a lot of space in the studio.

But Clive was very adamant,

and he was dead right, and again, it's the wonderful theatre thing

in him - he wanted to perform to human beings, not a row of cameras.

The reaction he gets when he comes onto the screen...

It's filmed in front of an audience of kids, and they go nuts!

It's like Beatlemania - they love him so much!

Ah, it's Grandad, whay!

-Oo-ooh-ooh!

-What's up?

CHEERING AND CLAPPING FROM CHILDREN IN AUDIENCE

Kids loved him,

because he's a silly old sod, really.

And they like that, they like older people being daft.

I am the ghost who haunts in chains!

-CHAINS JANGLE

-Whoo-oh!

# O-Oklahoma, la-la-la-la Riding down the glen! #

I like when things go wrong.

When it's to one's advantage.

Ah-ooh, I...

# ..do like to be beside the seaside # CHILDREN LAUGH

The man came into the room and his sheet caught in the door,

and ripped in two,

which the audience just adored.

CHILDREN LAUGH

She said, "Never mind, just carry on!"

'He wanted to be like a naughty child.

The old man was like a naughty child, and was a thorn in the side

to any responsibility, which was very, very clever.

A lot of people have played, um,

elderly characters as a way of being able to

say and do things that they couldn't do...

as a younger person, because you sort of have

a certain amount of leeway.

Never did care for that bedroom wallpaper, any road.

As well as Grandad, Dunn continued to play a string of elderly men

in the latter part of his career.

Yes, I thank God I'm as honest as any man living

That is an old man, and no honester than I...

But as he grew older, and became a grandad himself,

he chose to spend more and more time with his family in Portugal.

There, they ran a restaurant, and he occupied himself

as an artist.

His work was a means to an end,

and the big end for Clive was family.

He was the quintessential actor.

He did his work and he went home, and that was it.

Watched a terrific lot of television.

Well, mostly the news,

and shouting at it.

The actor Clive Dunn, who became a household name in Dad's Army

as Lance-Corporal Jones, has died...

I thought, "Good old Clive, you're up there now."

You know. He was almost as old as me,

so if you read I'm dead, when he...

you won't be surprised, because we've been going

a hell of a long time.

-Here we are, sir.

-< It's the bells!

It's must be the...!

I just remember him always being...

a delight to watch. I think it was a sort of rather

sort of old-fashioned charm.

Oh, I loved him dearly, and I shall miss him so much.

Ladies and gentlemen, Clive Dunn!

APPLAUSE

I think he would like to be remembered

as a performer who gave an enormous amount of pleasure

to an enormous number of people.

Got to be ready with the old upward thrust! Whay!

'I remember Clive with huge affection, and sorrow'

that, um, a spirit like his can't at least flicker for ever.

He was too modest, he wouldn't assume. I don't think

he would say, "I would like to be remembered as..." or anything.

I don't think that was him at all!

Everyone wants a bit under the counter.

Clive Dunn has been immortalised as Jones,

running around, all elbows and knees,

um, shouting, "Don't panic, don't panic!"

As soon as I see them Nazi uniforms, it gets my blood up, sir!

He's gone, but we have the great joy

of watching him, and we see a master

of offbeat comedy timing.

..two, three, butt!

Sorry, sir, what was that you said there...?

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