#Dads army

[theworldatwar]

A British soldier from the Royal Engineers in a crudely fashioned sniper’s mask and wearing non-regulation shoulder titles takes part in a training exercise in preparation for a potential invasion by German Forces (Operation Sea lion) - England 1940

[georgefairbrother]

A little more on Ian Lavender, who passed away February 2nd, 2024, aged 77.

Just one of the abiding friendships between the cast of Dad’s Army was between Ian Lavender himself (born 1946) and John Laurie (born 1897).

Private Pike was Ian Lavender’s first ongoing television role, while John Laurie, a Great War veteran, had appeared in British films dating back to 1929, and was a leading Shakespearean actor on stage.

John Laurie was godfather to Ian Lavender’s children, and they were both dab hands at The Times crossword. John Laurie passed away in 1980, at the age of 83.

Ian Lavender always expressed his gratitude for having worked on Dad's Army, but admitted that typecasting had held back his career, particularly in movies, although he did appear in a handful of classic mid-seventies British films, including Carry on Behind, Not Now, Comrade, and Confessions of a Pop Performer.

He reprised his Dad's Army character, Frank Pike, in a BBC radio sequel, It Sticks Out Half a Mile, and he starred alongside Mollie Sugden in one of David Croft's rare catastrophes, the sci-fi sitcom Come Back Mrs Noah. He featured with Jimmy Edwards in The Glums, and had a series of memorable cameos on British television, including in Yes Minister, Goodnight Sweetheart, and Keeping Up Appearances.

According to his obituary in The Guardian:

"...In addition to various live Dad’s Army productions, his stage work included the Peter Hall Company’s The Merchant of Venice, with Dustin Hoffman as Shylock in 1989, touring as the Narrator in The Rocky Horror Show in 2005, Monsignor Howard in the London Palladium production of the musical Sister Act in 2009, The Shawshank Redemption at the Edinburgh fringe in 2013, and his own one-man show of reminiscences, Don’t Tell Him, Pike..."

He appeared in 245 episodes of Eastenders, and was one of only two of the original Dad's Army cast members, along with Frank Williams (the Vicar), to appear in the 2016 feature film.

Here Ian Lavender recalls an unintentionally comical appearance on New Zealand radio some years after the final episode of Dad's Army.

[izzybluebell]

mainwaring stylisation practice

[scotianostra]

John Paton Laurie was born on 25th March 1897.

Laurie was born at Dumfries, to William Laurie, a clerk in a tweed mill and later a hatter and hosier, and Jessie Ann Laurie née Brown Laurie attended Dumfries Academy, before abandoning a career in architecture to serve in the First World War as a member of the Honourable Artillery Company. Upon his demobilisation, he trained to become an actor under Elsie Fogerty at the Central School of Speech and Drama, then based at the Royal Albert Hall, London and first acted on stage in 1921.

A prolific Shakespearian actor, Laurie spent much of the time between 1922 and 1939, playing Shakespearian parts including Hamlet, Richard III and Macbeth at the Old Vic or Stratford-upon-Avon.

He starred in his friend Laurence Olivier's three Shakespearean films, Henry V Hamlet and Richard III He and Olivier also appeared in "s You Like It. During the Second World War, Laurie served in the Home Guard - the only future Dad's Army cast member to do so.

His early work in films included Juno and the Paycock, directed by Alfred Hitchcock. His breakthrough third film was Hitchcock's The 39 Steps in which his menacing, understated performance as a crofter (opposite Peggy Ashcroft) is particularly memorable. Other work included Peter Manson in The Edge of the World, Clive Candy's batman in The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp, the farmer recruit in The Way Ahead, the brothel proprietor in Fanny by Gaslight, the repugnant Pew in Disney's Treasure Island and Doctor MacFarlane in Hobson's Choice. In the 1945 film I Know Where I'm Going!, Laurie had a small speaking part in a céilidh sequence for which he was also credited as an adviser.

It was on the small screen that we remember Laurie most fondly as Private Frazer in Dad’s Army with his 'Wur doomed, wur awl doomed....” catchphrase. He cropped up in four episodes of the popular classic TV Show, The Avengers, playing a different role each time and in three episodes of Dr. Finlay's Casebook again playing different roles. Of course with a voice like his he was a natural as a storyteller on the bairns TV show Jackanory.

One of his final appearances, looking slightly frail, was in Return to the Edge of the World, directed by Michael Powell in 1978.

John Laurie died aged 83 in the Chalfont and Gerrards Cross Hospital, Chalfont St Peter, from emphysema, he was cremated and his ashes were scattered at sea.

[superbeans89]

Welp, I know what I’m bingeing tonight.

RIP Ian Lavender. 16/2/46 - 6/2/24

[mybelladuveen]

[gordonsgano]

Dad's Army Radio Show!

[dec4podcast]

Last year leading television historian and author Oliver Crocker joined us on the DEC4 Podcast. Oliver's own highly successful podcast series, The Bill Podcast, has reached the milestone of 100 episodes and nearly 300K listens in 50 countries.

In part two of our conversation, Oliver recalled his early experiences in guerrilla indie filmmaking, and shared many fond anecdotes about his friend, legendary actor and playwright Frank Williams, who was best remembered as Vicar Timothy Farthing from Dad's Army. Oliver also recalled some fascinating encounters with some genuine television legends, including Bill Pertwee, Pamela Cundell, and the U-Boat Captain himself, Philip Madoc.

Oliver's filmed biography of Frank Williams was screened at the BFI in 2008 for the 40th anniversary of Dad's Army, and can now be viewed in full on YouTube. A highlight of the documentary is some candid home movies taken during the Dad's Army stage tour in the summer of 1976.

Frank Williams sadly passed away in June this year, aged 90.

More links and background in our companion newsletter as well:

[kiakahawhovatic]

What a truly historic day for England. I actually can't believe it. Fantastic television that will impact generations. What a shocker.

The first episode of Dad's Army premiered 54 years ago today!

[helmstone]

Dad's Army back on the Home Front on audio

Dad's Army back on the Home Front on audio

A British comedy classic is coming to Big Finish, in a live recording of the stage production of three classic Dad’s Army episodes, due for release on 16 January 2024. Dad’s Army – The Radio Show features performers David Benson and Jack Lane doing their incredible impressions of the original cast, and bringing a trio of adapted television episodes hilariously to life, in front of a theatre…

[muqingsleftnut]

Just finished rewatching Dads Army, such lads

[theworldatwar]

A British anti-aircraft machine gun crew armed with a Lewis machine gun watch the sky during the Battle of Britain- South coast of England, 2nd August 1940

[georgefairbrother]

Many golden age British sitcoms were recast and adapted for the US market; Steptoe and Son became Sandford and Son, Man About the House became Three's Company, 'Til Death Us Do Part became All in the Family, and For the Love of Ada became A Touch of Grace.

Some found lasting success, while others never made it past the US pilot stage. One that sank like a stone was The Rear Guard, a 1976 attempt to recreate the success of Dad's Army.

With the original cast busy with the Dad's Army stage tour during 1976, Writers Jimmy Perry and David Croft were invited by ABC (America) to submit a script, and they chose, from a catalogue of over 70 episodes by this point, an adaptation of probably the most famous and best-remembered, The Deadly Attachment, from 1973, in which Philip Madoc played a captured U-Boat captain, confined with his crew by the Home Guard awaiting transfer to a POW facility.

When the U-Boat captain demands Private Pike's name for insulting Hitler, Captain Mainwaring calls, "Don't tell him, Pike!", a moment that is often rated just behind Del-Boy falling through the bar as one of the funniest moments in British comedy.

The Home Guard was reimagined as a WWII civil defence unit for the American version, guarding against an invasion of the US mainland. Notable cast members included Eddie Foy Junior, a member of the famous Vaudeville family, who played Bert Wagner (Cpl Jones), Captain Mainwaring became Nick Rosatti (Cliff Norton) and Private Pike became Bobby Henderson, played by Dennis Kort.

(Yep, Nick Rosatti did call out, "Don't tell him, Henderson!")

The platoon sergeant, Raskin, was played by Lou Jacobi, and the likeable villain (Walker), became Don Crawford and was played by John McCook, who has since carved out a long career in The Bold and the Beautiful and won a daytime Emmy for most outstanding actor in 2022.

The pilot aired on US television in the summer of 1976, but was not particularly well received. The network wiped the master tape, although copies are held in private collections.

In a later interview, Jimmy Perry and David Croft recalled that, when they arrived in the US, they were picked up from the airport in a limousine and generally treated like royalty by the network.

They had to find their way back to the airport in a cab.

[midnightblue66]

If Thranduil saw Legolas fight in the Battle of Five Armies 

[theprodigypenguin]

Dragon literally pulled a reverse "I could tell you but then I'd have to kill you" in this chapter.

Man really was like "if you pry into this shit you're gonna have to literally fucking kill me." Poor Kuma just "man what????" He IS that overdramatic friend.

[vaguely-concerned]

the way garak looks at bashir as he puts all the clues together at the end of cardassians. the sheer 'look at that little twink go (affectionate, sexual overtones)' energy he manages to convey in the background there as bashir passionately does the presentation of their group project that garak did 80% of the actual work on. immaculate