Dad's Army Appreciation Society

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Dad's Army Appreciation Society
Formation1993 (1993)
Website http://www.dadsarmy.co.uk/

The Dad's Army Appreciation Society is an organisation dedicated to the British television show Dad's Army . It is run by a small group of individuals and has over 1,700 members.

Contents

History

The society was founded in 1993 by Bill Pertwee (who played Warden Hodges), Frank Williams (who played the Vicar) and fans of the show. The society, in association with the Bressingham Steam and Gardens, set up the Dad's Army Collection, which was officially opened on 14 May 2000 by Dad's Army creators Jimmy Perry and David Croft. Also, Thetford (where much of the show was filmed) opened a Dad's Army Museum in 2007. In 2003 the secretary of the society, Tony Pritchard, designed a heritage trail for Dad's Army fans, in part funded through a grant from the European Union. [1]

As of 2009, the society had 1,700 members, [2] having grown from approximately 300-500 members in 1997 and 1998. [3] [4]

Key figures

PositionPerson
President Michael Knowles
Vice President Harold Snoad
Membership & EnquiriesTony Pritchard
Magazine Items & EnquiriesPaul Carpenter
Video and Audio LibraryAndrew Biggs

Events

The society holds many individual events around the country where they show and play rare Dad's Army items and footage. However, there is a main event in May/June when the society members meet up, have the annual society dinner, and go to the Dad's Army Collection at the Bressingham Steam and Gardens.

Events have included a gathering in 1997 at The Oval attended by a number of the original cast (including Clive Dunn and Ian Lavender) as well as the shows writers, Jimmy Perry and David Croft, [5] and a 1998 gathering at Cambridge (New Zealand) attended by Stephen Lowe, the son of the show's Arthur Lowe who played Captain George Mainwaring. [6] More recently, a 2009 gathering was held at Whitmore Hall at which Frank Williams was able to attend and speak to the society's members, [2] and before his death Colin Bean (who played Private Sponge in the series) regularly turned out to events, even though he used a wheelchair at the time. [7] Since then (and from 1998) the Society have arranged annual events based at or around Thetford attended by the writers and cast members, including tours of the restricted Stanta Battle Area used for location filming. The Society organised several events to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Croft and Perry partnership in 2018.

Permission To Speak, Sir!

The society publishes a member's magazine called Permission To Speak, Sir!, three times a year. It includes society news, society merchandise and Dad's Army items for sale by members. Regular features are "Guest Appearances" and "Letters from Members".

In 2018 the Society published an updated version of the Dad's Army Companion to coincide with the 50th anniversary celebrations.

Video and Audio Library

The Video and Audio Library features a large selection of video and audio items that can be borrowed by members. In December 2020 a special section of the society's website was set aside for fan fiction written by the members, the first submission was made in January 2021 and was entitled Dad’s Army Negotiates Brexit and was by Niles Schilder. [8]

List of presidents

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bill Pertwee</span> English actor (1926–2013)

William Desmond Anthony Pertwee, was a British comedy actor. He played the role of Chief ARP Warden Hodges in the sitcom Dad's Army.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arthur Lowe</span> English actor

Arthur Lowe was an English actor. His acting career spanned 37 years, including starring roles in numerous theatre and television productions. He played Captain Mainwaring in the British sitcom Dad's Army from 1968 until 1977, was nominated for seven BAFTAs and became one of the most recognised faces on UK television.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Croft (TV producer)</span> English writer, producer and director (1922–2011)

Major David John Croft, was an English television comedy screenwriter, producer and director. He produced and wrote a string of BBC sitcoms with partners Jimmy Perry and Jeremy Lloyd, including Dad's Army, Are You Being Served?, It Ain't Half Hot Mum, Hi-de-Hi! and 'Allo 'Allo!

<i>You Rang, MLord?</i> British TV sitcom (BBC1, 1988–93)

You Rang, M'Lord? is a BBC television sitcom written by Jimmy Perry and David Croft, the creators of Dad's Army. It was broadcast between 1990 and 1993 on the BBC. The show was set in the house of an aristocratic family in the 1920s, contrasting the upper-class family and their servants in a house in London, along the same lines as the drama Upstairs, Downstairs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Beck</span> English actor (1929–1973)

Stanley James Carroll Beck was an English television actor. He appeared in a number of programmes, but is mainly known for the role of Private Walker, a cockney spiv, in the BBC sitcom Dad's Army from the show's beginning in 1968 until his sudden death in 1973.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harold Snoad</span> British television producer, writer and director

Harold Edward Snoad is a British television producer, writer and director. He is best known for the television sitcom Keeping Up Appearances, starring Patricia Routledge and Clive Swift. He is also well known for having directed and produced Ever Decreasing Circles starring Richard Briers and Peter Egan, as well as Don't Wait Up starring Tony Britton and Nigel Havers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jimmy Perry</span> English writer, scriptwriter, producer, author and actor (1923-2016)

James Perry was an English script writer and actor. He devised and co-wrote the BBC sitcoms Dad's Army (1968–77), It Ain't Half Hot Mum (1974–81), Hi-De-Hi (1980–88) and You Rang, M'Lord? (1988–93), all with David Croft. Perry co-wrote the theme tune of Dad's Army, "Who Do You Think You Are Kidding, Mr. Hitler?" along with Derek Taverner, for which Perry received an Ivor Novello Award from the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors in 1971.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Knowles (actor)</span> British actor

Michael Sydney Knowles is a British actor and scriptwriter who is best known for his roles in BBC sitcoms written by Jimmy Perry and David Croft.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frank Williams (actor)</span> English actor (1931–2022)

Frank John Williams was an English actor, best known for playing Reverend Timothy Farthing in the BBC television sitcom Dad's Army (1969–1977).

"The Battle of Godfrey's Cottage" is an episode in the British comedy series Dad's Army. It was originally transmitted on Saturday 8 March 1969.

"The Lion Has 'Phones" is the third episode of the third series of the British comedy series Dad's Army. It was originally transmitted on 25 September 1969.

"The Big Parade" is the first episode of the fourth series of the British comedy series Dad's Army. It was originally transmitted on Friday 25 September 1970.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Janet Davies (actress)</span> English actress

Janet Kathleen Davies was an English actress best known for her recurring role as Mrs. Pike in the long-running sitcom Dad's Army.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">All is Safely Gathered In</span> 8th episode of the 5th series of Dads Army

"All Is Safely Gathered In" is the eighth episode of the fifth series of the British comedy series Dad's Army. It was originally transmitted on 24 November 1972. The episode was a favourite episode of writer David Croft, which he described in an interview with Graham McCann as "a joyous thing".

<i>Dads Army</i> (stage show) 1975 sitcom "Dads Army"

Dad's Army: A Nostalgic Music and Laughter Show of Britain's Finest Hour was a 1975 stage adaptation of the BBC sitcom Dad's Army. Following the success of the television programme, the stage show was commissioned by Bernard Delfont in the spring of 1975.

<i>Dads Army</i> British comedy TV series

Dad's Army is a British television sitcom about the United Kingdom's Home Guard during the Second World War. It was written by Jimmy Perry and David Croft, and originally broadcast on BBC1 from 31 July 1968 to 13 November 1977. It ran for nine series and 80 episodes in total; a feature film released in 1971, a stage show and a radio version based on the television scripts were also produced. The series regularly gained audiences of 18 million viewers and is still shown internationally.

The Dad's Army Museum is a museum located in Cage Lane in Thetford in Norfolk, England, dedicated to the BBC comedy series Dad's Army. Many of the outdoor locations were filmed in the local area. The museum is housed in the old fire station at the rear of Thetford Guildhall, which itself stood in for Walmington-on-Sea Town Hall in several of the episodes.

References

  1. "Europe puts Dad's Army on the map". The Times . London, United Kingdom. 29 December 2003. p. 6.
  2. 1 2 "'They like it up 'em' as star regales fans". The Sentinel . Stoke-on-Trent, United Kingdom. 6 April 2009. Retrieved 20 November 2009.
  3. Stephenson, Hannah (14 November 1997). "Wartime Memories Live on...". The News Letter . Belfast, Northern Ireland. p. 12.
  4. Webber, Richard (19 July 1998). "Why We're Dad's Barmy!". Sunday Mirror . London, England. p. 22.
  5. "Don't panic". The Times . London, United Kingdom. 7 August 1997. p. 14.
  6. MacLeod, Scott (3 August 1998). "Don't panic ... it's just Dad's Army". Waikato Times . Hamilton, New Zealand. p. 3.
  7. "Colin Bean - Cameo actor best known for playing Private Sponge in Dad's Army and who often appeared as policemen in other TV programmes". The Times . London, United Kingdom. 24 June 2009. p. 59.
  8. Schilder, Niles. "fanfiction". dadsarmy.co.uk. Archived from the original on 26 January 2021. Retrieved 22 February 2021.