How Dad’s Army nearly became a casualty of BBC battle

New show tells of bosses’ attempts to axe sitcom before it aired for fear of offending veterans

ON AIR, it sent up perfectly the wellmeaning but bumbling Home Guard, with its portrayal of veterans and boys readying to protect Britain’s shores from the Nazis. But Dad’s Army very nearly failed to make it to television because the BBC feared it would cause offence.

The story of the struggles to get the sitcom broadcast is to be told on BBC Two, in a comedy drama about the robust negotiations and dithering executives that stood in its way.

Detailing the “casting woes, personal clashes and production difficulties that put the show’s very existence in jeopardy” it will shed new light on the comedy. The drama will be based on inter- views, archive material and a history of the series by Graham McCann. It will focus on the journey of Dad’s Army’s creators, Jimmy Perry and David Croft, from the script’s beginnings, in a story described as so absurd in parts it could not have been made up.

In particular, it will detail how the pair, along with head of comedy Michael Mills, ran up against executives concerned about poking fun at the Home Guard.

Keith Allen will play Sir Paul Fox, the then-head of BBC One, who insisted the original title sequence – featuring real footage of Nazi soldiers – be changed before it could go on air.

The decision, made to avoid offending viewers who had personal experience of the Second World War, led directly to the creation of the famous title sequence of the show, with the arrows moving across Europe.

Perry will be played by Paul Ritter, and Croft by Richard Dormer, while John Sessions will take the role of Arthur Lowe, who played Capt Mainwaring. Charlotte Surtees, executive producer of the show and head of drama development at the production company DSP, said the original sitcom had faced major concerns from executives.

“At the time, the knives were out for the BBC – Mary Whitehouse had almost declared war at that point and there was a big political situation going on,” she said.

“There was a concern that they didn’t want to be the channel poking fun at the Second World War.

“The other worry was: would any- one really care? Would people watch it, and would they even want to be reminded of war?”

Gregor Sharp, commissioning editor at BBC Comedy, said: “Dad’s Army is the most iconic and enduring of all television sitcoms so we’re thrilled to be bringing the story of how David Croft and Jimmy Perry came to create it to the screen where it’s delighted audiences for so long.”

The new show, Making Dad’s Army, made by DSP, part of the Endemol Shine Group, will begin shooting soon.