DAD’S ARMY
Private Pike and vicar on the sitcom that lives on
WHEN Jimmy Perry came up with the idea for Dad’s Army, colour television was still in its infancy and Neil Armstrong had yet to set foot on the moon.
Co-written with David Croft, the series – originally titled The Fighting Tigers – found comedy gold in the trials and tribulations of the Walmington-onSea Home Guard, helped by a brilliant cast who had honed their skills over years in repertory theatre.
In nine years, there were 80 episodes, with three missing ones recreated last year by UKTV from the original scripts.
Now, 52 years since Captain Mainwaring and his men first marched on to our screens, millions still regard it as the pinnacle of British comedy and its viewing figures regularly trounce those of more modern rivals.
The two surviving cast members – Frank Williams, who played the waspish vicar, and Ian Lavender, alias Private Pike – reflect on the BBC show’s perennial popularity.
Ian, 74, who was just 22 when he was offered the role of Pike, said: “I don’t think it was ever the funniest thing on TV but the important factor was that everybody could watch it – and still can. It’s ideal family viewing.”
Frank, 89, who also played a priest in Perry and Croft’s Hi-De-Hi! and You Rang, M’Lord? agreed: “I think it’s stood the test of time because it’s funny and not rude. As Ian says, a family can sit down and watch together knowing that there isn’t going to be anything which will embarrass or offend anyone.
“Plus, the plots are all wonderfully simple. A group of men in extraordinary circumstances doing their best against the odds. The characters are well drawn and very funny in themselves. So they’ll always be that way, regardless of how many years ago the episodes were made – such quality doesn’t fade with time.”
Both agree that making Dad’s Army was one of the happiest times of their professional lives. Frank said: “Everything about the programme was a joy. Over the years, I’ve had couples getting married asking if I’ll perform the ceremony.
“And fan letters still arrive from people of all ages, including children.”
Ian added: “It’s something the entire family can watch and there aren’t too many shows like that around now.
“Jimmy and David wanted Pike to suck his thumb more than I actually did. But despite what the critics said, I never thought of the character as an idiot. He was more sheltered and naive – I tried making everything he did logical.”
Both have fond memories of working with the cast, including Arthur Lowe, John Le Mesurier and John Laurie.
Lowe, who had made his name playing Mr Swindley in Coronation Street, was a specialist in comic timing and stamped his unique style all over Captain Mainwaring.
Just like Mainwaring, Lowe was always dapper. He carried a briefcase to work and nail clippers in his pocket. And he didn’t suffer fools gladly, either.
Frank recalled one time the cast were
Don’t ask him for an autograph, he’s a miserable old toad FAN SPEAKING OF LOWE, ACCORDING TO FRANK
approached by autograph hunters. He said: “We all signed their books and bits of paper. Arthur, though, wasn’t prepared to be so obliging. ‘Oh no, no, no, I don’t do that when I’m working’. Later, another army of fans arrived and started didiscussingi which cast members they should approach. ‘Look, there’s Arthur Lowe’, said one. ‘ Shall I go and ask him?’ ‘I wouldn’t,’ said another. ‘He’s a miserable old toad’.”
Lowe sometimes frustrated the writers and other cast members, especially John Le Mesurier, by refusing to take his scripts home to learn.
He insisted a script would never cross his doorstep but David Croft sent him two copies, suggesting he place one under his pillow in the hope some of the words would penetrate his sleeping mind. He wasn’t amused.
Le Mesurier played the languid, self-effacing Sergeant Wilson, whose laid-back style infuriated Mainwaring.
Every role Le Mesurier performed was a version of himself. Though always punctual and word-perfect, his trademark was to appear the opposite.
Frank said: “He was vague and made a thing out of appearing helpless at times. I’m sure it was a ploy to get people to do things for him.”
The on-set chemistry between Le Mesurier and Lowe was key.
They watched each other intently, both had an acute ear for the audience reaction and never trod on a laugh. Ian struck up a strong friendship with John Laurie, who played doom-mongering Private Frazer. He recalled: “Often I’d drive him home. I remember driving from Brighton, where we’d been filming. He asked whether I’d like him to recite something.
“I jumped at the offer and from there to London he gave a splendid solo performance of Tam O’Shanter.”
The acerbic Laurie once told
Jimmy Perry he had played all the great Shakespearian roles at the Old Vic but had to wait until he was 74 to get “famous playing in this rubbish”.
Ian also has fond memories of working with Bill Pertwee, who played officious Chief Warden Hodges.
Away from the cameras, Pertwee’s enthusiasm rubbed off on everyone. “He was always upbeat, cheerful and had a relaxed personality,” said Ian.
The same could be said of Jimmy
Beck, who played the spiv, Private Walker. Beck died aged 44 when his pancreas burst during an operation.
When it came to filming the seventh series in 1974, the first after his death, a cloud hung over the remaining cast.
“It was very odd without Jimmy,” said Ian. “We stopped doing lots of silly little things. Often, when we were standing around waiting to shoot a scene, we’d have a bit of a singsong.
“We’d all have a go harmonising while Arthur conducted. Someone started doing it while we were waiting to shoot the first episode of that series and no one joined in. It just didn’t seem right.”
The oldest cast member was Arnold Ridley, who played Private Godfrey. A playwright, he lost out on a fortune after selling the amateur rights to his most successful play, The Ghost Train.
Much rivalry existed between Ridley and Laurie. Ian said: “At the start of filming once, Arnold arrived in a big limo. He’d broken his hip and with a leg in plaster, he needed plenty of legroom. We all went out to greet him, except John. From a distance, all John could see was David Croft leaning towards Arnold, with his arm going up and down. John turned to me and said: ‘Look, they’re pumping him up’.”
Clive Dunn, alias Corporal Jones, initially hesitated to take the role, fearing the show came too soon after Granada TV’s sitcom, The Army Game, about National Service.
But now The Army Game is long forgotten and Dad’s Army marches on.
We’d often have a bit of a sing-song while we waited to shoot scene IAN LAVENDER ON LIFE FILMING DAD’S ARMY