Dad’s Army: A Nostalgic Music and Laughter Show of Britain’s Finest Hour
In the spring of 1975, following the success of the television programme and the big screen outing came a stage adaptation of the popular BBC sitcom Dad’s Army.
Writers: Jimmy Perry and David Croft adapted material from the original scripts, making changes to allow for the absence of location filming. Commissioned by Bernard Delfont in the spring of 1975 the stage show opened up in the Billingham Forum theatre for two weeks, before moving onto London’s West End from 4th October to 21st February 1976, where it was disrupted twice by bomb scares. In March of the same year the show would tour the country until September.
Some years later in 2004-2005, with many of the original cast now passed on, the stage show was revived, billed as Dad’s Army—The Musical, and toured Australia and New Zealand, starring Jon English.
Summary
The stage show took the style of a revue, featuring wartime songs, familiar scenes from the show, and individual turns for cast members.
Clips
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Cast
Whilst many of the original cast members reprised their TV roles for the West End Show, there were some exceptions. We believe that the full TV cast re-united for the 1976 tour.
Captain Mainwaring – Arthur Lowe
Segeant Wilson – John Le Mesurier
Lance Corporal Jones – Jack Haig
Private Walker – John Bardon
Private Pike – Ian Lavender
Private Frazer – Hamish Roughead
Private Godfrey – Arnold Ridley
Private Maple – Norman Macleod
Chief Warden Hodges – Bill Pertwee
Rev Farhing – Frank Williams
Verger – Edward Sinclair
Details
Adapted By: Jimmy Perry and David Croft
Tour Dates:
4th – 18thSeptember, 1975 (Billingham)
2nd October, 1975 – 21st February, 1976 (Shaftsbury Theatre, London)
23rd March, 1976 – 4th September, 1976 (nationwide tour)