Row changed opening of Dad's Army

[Warden]

A row between BBC bosses prompted a complete change to the opening titles of classic comedy Dad's Army, archive letters have revealed.

See BBC news report here

Harry

 

[lizylou]

I used to live in a town called Thetford here in England, They actually had a a weekend for it just this past Saturday. I saw on the banner that they wanted people to come in 40's clothing and enjoy the festivities. My husband and I wanted to go, but he fell ill to Hayfever~! :rage: Im sure we would have had a blast!

 

[Warden]

Lovely part of the world Norkfolk.

I keep meaning to go to a Dad's Army weekend, but never managed to make it.

Harry

 

[LizzieMaine]

Interesting article, and very telling on the internal workings of the BBC in the late sixties. I suspect this attitude may also have something to do with the subtle change in tone the series went thru between its second and third series -- the later episodes seemed to put far less emphasis on the real danger of imminent invasion, unlike the earlier shows, where it seemed to be played up much more strongly. One of my favorite moments in British TV is the episode where Mainwaring, Jones, and Frazer are convinced that the invasion has begun -- and they're the only members of the platoon available to defend the town. They plot out a quick plan, and Mainwaring sums it up very calmly: "Of course, it'll be the end of us. But we're ready for that, men." "Yes sir, yes sir." "Good show."

Pretty strong stuff for an "innocent sitcom," I have always thought. I wish DA was run more often here in the States.

 

[Warden]

The BBC have put online a series of images from the Dad's Army tribute weekend event

http://www.bbc.co.uk/norfolk/content/image_galleries/dads_army_weekend_thetford_july2008_gallery.shtml

Enjoy

Harry

 

[Warden]

What ho gang

Just found this story on the net

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/newsnight/7778770.stm

A black and white copy of an episode of the BBC's classic comedy Dad's Army has been restored to its original colour.

Toodle Loo

Harry

 

[MisterGrey]

Interesting article, and very telling on the internal workings of the BBC in the late sixties. I suspect this attitude may also have something to do with the subtle change in tone the series went thru between its second and third series -- the later episodes seemed to put far less emphasis on the real danger of imminent invasion, unlike the earlier shows, where it seemed to be played up much more strongly. One of my favorite moments in British TV is the episode where Mainwaring, Jones, and Frazer are convinced that the invasion has begun -- and they're the only members of the platoon available to defend the town. They plot out a quick plan, and Mainwaring sums it up very calmly: "Of course, it'll be the end of us. But we're ready for that, men." "Yes sir, yes sir." "Good show."

Pretty strong stuff for an "innocent sitcom," I have always thought. I wish DA was run more often here in the States.

Sounds like M*A*S*H syndrome.

 

[Warden]

For those of us who are Croft and Perry fans will be sad to learn of the death of Hi-De-Hi!'s Yvonne who died aged 78

Comic actress Diane Holland, who played condescending dance instructor Yvonne Stewart-Hargreaves in holiday camp sitcom Hi-De-Hi! has died aged 78.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7894800.stm

Harry

 

[Warden]

Actor Colin Bean, who played Private Sponge in Dad's Army for many years, has died aged 82 in Wigan Infirmary.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/manchester/8113790.stm

Harry

 

[H.Johnson]

As I recall it, the controversy surrounding Dad's Army was a bit wider than the BBC internal documents suggest. Many people had developed a stance that WW2 was not a suitable subject for comedy unless you had been involved in it yourself. In the 1940s and 1950s it was OK to joke about it if you had been there, but making fun of other people who had been prepared to 'put their lives on the line' was regarded as disrespectful mockery, which the BBC and most of 'the media' were anxious to distance themselves from.

There was still an element of this among older people and traditionalists in the 1960s when DA was being made. Croft and Perry (and many of the cast) had, of course, 'been there' and so qualified under the above 'rule', but there was still a lot of disquiet about the idea of DA that had to be overcome. For instance Paul Fox, Controller of BBC1, insisted that the opening scene was set in 1968. You will recall that Mainwairing addresses members of his old platoon, likening the then-current export drive and the need to compete economically in Europe with the early days of WW2. For a reason that I think we find hard to understand today, that was seen to overcome the problems of taste referred to above.

I think it's clear that the writers of DA try to avoid references to 'hot war' tragedies as much as they can. By contrast, later motion pictures such as MASH and Catch 22 exploit these aspects as 'black humour'. Although I like both of these, my early indoctrination (like having my head slapped by veterans of Tobruk when I imitated their joking mime of an officer going to relieve himself behind a sand dune and blowing himself up on a landmine) makes me uneasy at their comedy.

I guess this attitude is completely out of date, so many people today probably can't understand what the fuss over Dad's Army was in 1968.