Dad's Army

Dad's Army was a much-loved BBC sitcom - written by Jimmy Perry and David Croft - which ran from 1968 to 1977. It featured the exploits of the Walmington-on-Sea Home Guard led by the pompous Captain Mainwaring and supported by the debonair and indecisive Sergeant Wilson.

The original idea for the series came from Perry's own experiences in the Local Defence Volunteers (LDV) or Home Guard as it was later called. Perry was only 15 when he joined the Hertfordshire Battalion and Private Pike and Mavis Pike are clearly based on himself and his mother. While serving in the platoon he also came across a veteran of Kitchener's campaigns who used to talk about the 'Fuzzy Wuzzies' - which provided the inspiration for Corporal Jones.

The series derived much humour from the fact that all the leading characters had 'day jobs' in Walmington-on-Sea. Mainwaring, Wilson and Pike all worked in Swallow's Bank, while Jones was the butcher, Hodges the greengrocer, Fraser the undertaker and Walker the local spiv and black marketeer.

Although the idea was Perry's - both he and David Croft used to write the scripts. They would meet to discuss various possibilities for the plot and then go away and write each episode separately. Perry and Croft both had a theatrical background and had a shared love of farce - so their ideas usually gelled together perfectly.

The series was originally going to be called 'The Fighting Tigers' - but was later changed to Dad's Army. Many modern sitcom writers including Ben Elton and David Renwick have paid homage to the quality of the Dad's Army scripts.

Captain George Mainwaring   Arthur Lowe

Sergeant Arthur Wilson         John Le Mesurier

Lance Corporal Jack Jones    Clive Dunn

Private Joe Walker                James Beck

Private Charles Godfrey         Arnold Ridley

Private James Fraser             John Laurie

Private Frank Pike                 Ian Lavender

Chief Warden Hodges            Bill Pertwee

Reverend Timothy Farthing     Frank Williams

Verger Maurice Yateman        Edward Sinclair

Mrs Fox                                Pamela Cundell

Mrs Pike                               Janet Davies

Most of the external footage for the series was filmed in and around Thetford. Each summer the cast and crew would come up to Thetford and stay in either the Bell or the Anchor Hotels in Bridge Street. The actors usually stayed at the more 'up market' Bell while the crew lodged at The Anchor.

Walmington-on-Sea Town Hall was actually Thetford Guildhall and it was from the clock tower that the German pilot dangled in 'Time On My Hands' (1972). The Guildhall was also used in 'The Captain's Car' (1974).

The flint cottages of Nether Row were used in four episodes and Thetford's Palace Cinema featured in both 'The Big Parade' (1970) and 'A Soldier's Farewell' (1972). The Palace was also the place were the cast gathered at the end of each week's filming to watch the 'rushes'. Newtown, Old Bury Road and Mill Lane, in the town, also make an appearance.

The Anchor Hotel was used for the first scene of the first show called 'Man of the Hour' in 1968. It made use of the 'Norvic Room' which was then the restaurant. (The Anchor Hotel is now boarded up and derelict.)

The end-credit sequence of the show, where we see the platoon members running across open ground, was shot at the Stanford Battle Area. Many other external scenes were shot in Norfolk or Suffolk. 'Sons of the Sea' (1969) was shot on the Norfolk Broads and 'Don't Forget the Diver' (1970) at Drinkstone windmill in Suffolk. Other locations used include: Honnington, Bardwell, Bressingham, Wacton, Brandon, Santon Downham, Oxburgh Hall, West Tofts, Weeting, Great Yarmouth, Lowestoft and Lynford Hall (Mundford). Many of the extras for the series were drawn from the Thetford Music and Drama Society or the Thetford Senior Citizen's Club.

Weybourne Railway Station in North Norfolk was the location for 'The Royal train' (1973)

The Steam Museum at nearby Bressingham provided authentic fire engines, steam rollers and traction engines for a number of the episodes. Today, Bressingham hosts an impressive recreation of Walmington-on-Sea - as well as a collection of Dad's Army memorabilia.

A Dad's Army museum has recently been created in Thetford Guildhall and town councillors are considering erecting a Captain Mainwaring statue.

However, when Columbia Pictures came to make the Dad's Army movie(released in 1971) - they abandoned the normal Norfolk locations and headed further south. Chalfont St Peter in Buckinghamshire was transformed into Walmington-on-Sea - while other scenes were shot at Seaford in Sussex and at Shepperton Studios. The famous scene with the white horse on the raft heading down river was filmed at Chobham in Surrey.
 

Mainwaring: 'You stupid boy, Pike.'

Godfrey: 'May I be excused?'

Frazer: 'We're doomed!'

Jones: 'Don't Panic, Mr Mainwaring!', 'They don't like it up 'em!' and 'Permission to speak, sir'.

Hodges: 'Put that light out!' and 'I'm going to get you Napoleon.'

Wilson: 'Is that wise, Sir?'
 

Nether Row

Nether Row

The Anchor Hotel in a sad state

Bell Hotel

Thetford Guildhall

Main Cast

Weybourne Station
Photo by Peter Boggis

The Palace CInema

Links:

Dad's Army Appreciation Society

Explore Thetford

Bressingham Steam Museum

North Norfolk Railway

Thetford Trail Leaflet - click here to
download the .pdf leaflet (requires Adobe Reader)