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Dads army returns...
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27-04-2014 7:29pm#1As a film. Christ.The classic BBC sitcom is being made into a film featuring Bill Nighy as Sergeant Wilson and Toby Jones as Captain Mainwaring
With more than 80 episodes and three stage shows under his belt, it is little wonder Dad's Army creator Jimmy Perry, 90, has agreed to a remake on the condition he doesn’t have to do anything.
But thanks to his blessing, the hugely popular BBC show, which is still repeated almost half a century after it first aired, is to be made into a feature length film for the second time.
Toby Jones, know for his role as Truman Capote in Infamous, will play the Captain Mainwaring, whilst Bill Nighy, of Love Actually and Pirates of the Caribbean fame, will take play Sergeant Wilson.
The roles were originally made famous by Arthur Lowe and John Le Mesurier.
Perry has sold the rights for a film, which he says has “been in the air for a long time”, on one condition.
“Up to now I haven't taken it too seriously because when I signed the contract to release the film rights, one provision was that I didn't have to write anything, I didn't have to do anything. I believe in letting people get on with it,” he told Radio 5 Live.
"It's been an amazing thing in my life, really. Wherever I go it follows me.”
When asked if he would have a hand in the casting, Perry added: "Not really - I mean you know, there comes a time in your life - don't forget I'm 90 now, a very old person.
"But there comes a time when you say well there you are, you've got it, now you do what you want to do with it. You cannot interfere if you're going to sell a thing like that.”
The black and white sitcom, which aired from 1968 to 1977, attracted an audience of nearly 20 million in its heyday, with almost two million still tuning in for Sunday night repeats.
The show, which ran for nine series and 80 episodes in total, won a Bafta for best comedy in 1971 and led to a film in the same year, meaning this will be the second time the bumbling Home Guard troop march onto the big screen.
While the cast is new, with many of the original actors having passed away, not much else has changed.
The German army is still gathering in France and Captain Mainwaring, the humourless bank manager who commands the makeshift troop of unlikely soldiers, is ready to lead his men against the Nazis and defend his home town.
Set in the fictional town of Walmington-on-Sea, the show spawned a number of catchphrases including "Don't panic", the call by Corporal Jones every time things started to fall apart, and Captain Mainwaring’s put down “you stupid boy”,
Whilst their attempts to fight regularly ended in disaster on screen, many of the actors had first-hand experience of war including Arnold Ridley, who played Godfrey, who was wounded on the Somme, while Clive Dunn, who played the doddery Lance Corporal Jones, spent four years as a prisoner of war.
Damian Jones, the BAFTA award winning British producer famous for The History Boys and The Iron Lady, will produce the film and says the “universal appeal" of the show will make it a hit.
The fact there is to be a film was first revealed by Stuart Wright, the mayor of Thetford, in Norfolk, where the series is filmed, at a charity gala last week.
Mr Wright, who is also chairman of the Dad's Army Museum in the town, said they welcomed anything that would raise awareness of Dad’s Army and its links to the town.
“However we hope they do justice to what is a national institution, and that it will not be like some remakes which have not worked,” he said.
"The shows are being repeated on television and the audience figures are good. We had 10,000 visitors last year and they come from all over the country and as far afield as Australia, Canada and Holland, so the programme is a national treasure."
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/10790918/Dads-Army-to-march-back-on-to-the-screen.html
One word
Don't get me wrong, I love the show still. But the movie back in the 70s wasn't great, and this can't go well.3
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On the brink of defeat in 1944?Well I can see theyre not striving for historical accuracy straight away.0 -
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nig2SQk6jx4
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