Daily Mail - 23.08.2019

Page 30 Daily Mail, Friday, August 23, 2019

T

hey are the most famous

catchphrases in British TV

history, and there are so

many of them: ‘Stupid boy!’

‘Don’t panic!’ ‘We’re doomed,

I tell ye!’ ‘My sister Dolly.. .’ ‘Do you
think that’s wise, sir?’ ‘Uncle Arthur

.. .’ ‘They don’t like it up ’em!’
But how will these immortal words sound,
spoken by new actors?
Judge for yourself, when three lost epi-
sodes of Dad’s Army recreated for TV are
screened from Sunday — and, thanks to
these previously unseen, behind-the-scenes
images, you can see how the beloved old
characters are being brought back to life.
every one of those classic catchphrases
earned a cheer during recording at Pine-
wood Studios earlier this year in front of a
live audience. ‘The cheering was so loud,’
says Kevin eldon, who plays Corporal Jones
(originally played by Clive Dunn), ‘we had to
stop the recording and politely ask them to
try to tone down their reaction.’
The recreated episodes will be aired on the
Gold channel, one a day at 8pm this Sunday,
Monday and Tuesday. But can a new genera-
tion of comedy actors really capture these
characters who, over five decades, have
become part of our national fabric?

Stupid boy! Hapless youngster

Private Pike wrestles with a fire

extinguisher in the Under Fire

episode, before the eternally

exasperated Captain Mainwaring

steps in to show him how to use it,

with the result that he ends up with

a faceful of foam (right).

by Christopher

Stevens

Old favourites:

The new cast

filming in the

faithfully

recreated set,

in front of a

studio

audience so

enthusiatic,

they had to be

asked to stop

cheering at the

catchphrases

you can decide for yourself,
from these production pictures.
Anyone with even a slight
knowledge of the show will be
able to spot Jonesy, Walker and
Pike on their bicycles. While Kevin
McNally (in pyjama bottoms) is

the spitting image of Arthur Lowe

as Captain Mainwaring.

True, it’s strange at first to view

those rumpled home Guard

uniforms in high definition. But

throughout every episode you’ll be

laughing, not just at the accuracy of

the portrayals but at the brilliance

of dialogue unheard for 50 years.

The first episode charts the

platoon’s frantic efforts to prevent

wide-boy Walker from being called

up into the regular Army — because

losing him means losing the black

market sugar, whisky and ladies’

nylons he supplies.

The second pits Private Frazer,

the dour Scottish undertaker,

against gung-ho Lance-Corporal

Jones as they vie for promotion.

The third sees an incendiary

bomb come crashing through the

roof of the church hall.

While the cast are new, the scripts

DON’T PANIC!

Dad’s Army’s back with three

new episodes. The verdict? As

these backstage snaps show...

Pictures: UKTV