Dad’s Army turns 50 – time to enlist
‘WELCOME to Walmington-on-Sea!’ our guide greets our party as we set out on a walking tour of the places where Dad’s Army, the nation’s favourite sitcom, was filmed.
The real-life Walmington-on-Sea is actually the Norfolk market town of Thetford – 40 miles from the coast – and it has become a Mecca for fans of Jimmy Perry and David Croft’s TV classic, which celebrates its 50th anniversary this year.
Our Dad’s Army mini-break began when we checked into the 15th Century Bell Inn in Thetford on a Friday afternoon. This was the old coaching inn where most of the cast and production team stayed when filming on location every year from 1968 to 1977.
The hotel is a shrine to the show. There is a Pike’s Bar and a Sergeant Wilson room. On a wall, alongside the blackand-white pictures of Captain Mainwaring and his Home Guard heroes, there is a plaque that says: ‘On April 1, 1968, the cast of BBC’s Dad’s Army, who were staying here, gathered together in this area for the first day’s filming for the series and continued to do so over the next nine years.’
After the day’s shooting, the cast returned to the Bell for dinner and would often stay up late socialising.
Almost everywhere you go in Thetford there are reminders of Dad’s Army. On King Street, there’s J. Jones, family butcher’s, home of the Walmington Banger, while the clock on the Guildhall was used in the episode Time On My Hands, where a German pilot is left dangling. Down below, scenes for The Captain’s Car were shot, including when the visiting French general kisses ARP warden Hodges. The Dad’s Army Museum is at the rear of the Guildhall. Opened in 2007, it’s full of exhibits and photos of the cast in and around Thetford.
Back at the Bell Inn, we sit in Pike’s Bar and reflect on our weekend manoeuvres, during which we did not panic once.
Captain Mainwaring would be proud that having delighted us on television for 50 years, his platoon are now bringing in the tourists, too. Do tell them all about it, Pike!