Product Description

In the summer of 1968, BBC1 screened the pilot edition of a situation-comedy about the British Home Guard. It was not widely expected to catch on, but it did. Decades after the final series ended, Dad's Army is still capable of attracting massive audiences whenever and wherever it is repeated and is generally considered to be the finest sit-com Britain has ever produced. Great sit-coms project back into our homes a wryly exaggerated vision of what it is that makes us who we have no choice but to be; when we laugh at Dad's Army we laugh at ourselves. Walmington-on-Sea's community of comic characters was brought to life by a brilliant ensemble of performers who, through a mixture of temperament and design, became more and more like the characters they played. Arthur Lowe, unforgettable as the pompous Captain Mainwaring, had it written into his contract that he should not be obliged to remove his trousers in any scene, and refused to take his script home to study.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #257264 in Books
• Published on: 2001-10-15
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 304 pages

The Sunday Times, 7th October 2001
'I knew that I would enjoy Graham McCann's book because he started with the best joke British Sitcom has devised...This book is a homage.'

The Times
'Plenty of insight, particularly how much each actor resembled his character.'

The Times
'McCann's hugely entertaining book is one to relish.'

Customer Reviews

Absolutely fabulous!
I was too young to watch Dad's Army the first time round,but I've been an avid fan of the repeats,and I've been waiting for a book as good as this to appear.It covers all the ground - the evolution of the show itself,the spin-off film,stage show and radio adaptations,the BBC scuffles,the relationships within the cast - and it draws on fresh interviews with the surviving figures associated with this wonderful sitcom.The author's research is incredibly thorough,and he writes really beautifully with a dry wit that sgt Wilson would have appreciated.If you want to know about the show,the era and the achievement,this,without doubt,is the book to get.

Awfully good!
This book about the tv show explains how Jimmy Perry first thought up the idea of a sitcom about the Home Guard,and how he came to collaborate with director David Croft and the BBC to create one of the most effective and endearing tv programmes of the past 30 years.The author has clearly double-checked all of his facts(unlike the other writers who've produced books on this topic)and talked to all of the right people.I loved it.

A TRIUMPH
I got hold of a copy of this book as soon as it came out, d the author's previous efforts on Cary Gant and Morecambe and Wise.I wasn't disappointed.He researches his books so diligently,and writes so well and so intelligently,they are a pleasure to read as well as a uniquely entertaining education.This latest book tells the riveting story of how a bright idea evolved into a classic television show.It captures an entire era in popular entertainment,and makes you love the show even more than you did before.As books on TV go,this,to borrow a phrase from the author,is a class apart.