Topped and tailed by the sight of Victoria Wood in Home Guard uniform driving Corporal Jones's butcher's van around the streets of Middle England, this affectionate tribute to one of Britain's best- loved sitcoms offered little in the way of new insights, but was nonetheless highly watchable.
The interviewees included the few remaining members of the original cast, some of whom have subsequently passed away - Clive Dunn, Bill Pertwee, Frank Williams, Pamela Cundell, Ian Lavender. Jimmy Perry and the late David Croft also appeared. Others interviewed included Philip Madoc and Carmen Silvera.
Cumulatively they recalled a sitcom which provided a late-career boost for many older actors, especially Arnold Ridley and John Laurie. The entire cast and crew used to go off every summer for a fortnight to Thetford in East Anglia for location filming; they had a whale of a time working, celebrating and being with one another.
Some of the cast had their particular quirks: Arthur Lowe insisted that he would not do certain things, for example, having a bomb planted down his trousers in the famous episode where the platoon looked after some Nazis (Clive Dunn took over). John Laurie became jealous when Talfryn Thomas got more laughs in the script. Arnold Ridley used to boss his wife about.
As is well known, DAD'S ARMY was nearly taken off screen before it had the chance to establish itself. Once it succeeded, however, the cast were guaranteed regular employment - year in, year out. Sometimes tragedy struck: James Beck passed away from alcoholism aged only thirty-nine, and proved irreplaceable. By 1977, when the series ended, other cast members had also been through serious illness - for example, John Le Mesurier. It was something of a tragedy that neither he nor Lowe lived long enough to see just what a cult comedy DAD'S ARMY became.
Liberally illustrated with clips from the series, together with rarely-seen color film of the cast on location, this documentary offered a suitable tribute to a classic sitcom.
The interviewees included the few remaining members of the original cast, some of whom have subsequently passed away - Clive Dunn, Bill Pertwee, Frank Williams, Pamela Cundell, Ian Lavender. Jimmy Perry and the late David Croft also appeared. Others interviewed included Philip Madoc and Carmen Silvera.
Cumulatively they recalled a sitcom which provided a late-career boost for many older actors, especially Arnold Ridley and John Laurie. The entire cast and crew used to go off every summer for a fortnight to Thetford in East Anglia for location filming; they had a whale of a time working, celebrating and being with one another.
Some of the cast had their particular quirks: Arthur Lowe insisted that he would not do certain things, for example, having a bomb planted down his trousers in the famous episode where the platoon looked after some Nazis (Clive Dunn took over). John Laurie became jealous when Talfryn Thomas got more laughs in the script. Arnold Ridley used to boss his wife about.
As is well known, DAD'S ARMY was nearly taken off screen before it had the chance to establish itself. Once it succeeded, however, the cast were guaranteed regular employment - year in, year out. Sometimes tragedy struck: James Beck passed away from alcoholism aged only thirty-nine, and proved irreplaceable. By 1977, when the series ended, other cast members had also been through serious illness - for example, John Le Mesurier. It was something of a tragedy that neither he nor Lowe lived long enough to see just what a cult comedy DAD'S ARMY became.
Liberally illustrated with clips from the series, together with rarely-seen color film of the cast on location, this documentary offered a suitable tribute to a classic sitcom.