Dad's Army Choir Practice

Dad's Army "Choir Practice", special short.
Filmed at the The London Palladium.
Script by David Croft and Jimmy Perry.
Cast
Arthur Lowe as Captain Mainwaring
John Le Mesurier as Sergeant Wilson
Clive Dunn as Lance Corporal Jones
Hamish Roughead as Private Frazer
John Bardon as Private Walker
Arnold Ridley as Private Godfrey
Ian Lavender as Private Pike
Janet Davies as Mrs Pike
Bill Pertwee as ARP Warden Hodges
Frank Williams as The Vicar
Edward Sinclair as The Verger
Janet Davies as Mrs. Pike

[@andrewcisalowicz1326]

Sorry to hear today the news of Ian lavender passing away.Rip.😥

[@James_Rivett]

Yes very sad news, and now all of the main cast have passed on.

[@andrewcisalowicz1326]

Thanks for the reply.Always looked forward to Saturday evening's when I was a kid watching this with my family.Brings back lots of laughter in our house!

[@lordeden2732]

All every one has passed ​@@James_Rivett

[@thomaspearson1919]

Gone but definitely Dads army will never be forgotten. The best.

[@James_Rivett]

I think the recent attempt to recreate it for the big screen only went to serve that you can't improve on a masterpiece, and I think helped to make us apricate what we had even more.

[@jamesgale2147]

Unbeatable, unforgetable, unequaled, unapproachable. The joy for those of its time, cherished in our hearts when revisited reprising the unique collation of a cast of characters from an altogether nobler age.

[@edmondscott7444]

Great Dads Army sketch.

[@DeirdreMcNamara]

They are so amazing. A truly noble era...so glad I had part of my childhood with such as these, so great.

[@jimmyclarke1032]

still very funny and always will be

[@ayutthayatrojan]

Hilarious and a very enjoyable flash from the past -- thank you!¡!

[@AnthonySmith-fv5iv]

Best of British television 😊

[@James_Rivett]

along with Allo Allo, It aint half hot mum, You rang M'lord, Hide Hi, Are you being served, Grace & Favour, and Oh Dr Beaching, all great comedies produced by David Croft. I feel even the ones the BBC only allowed 1 season of were good. A lot of modern "comedy" is not funny, very blunt or forced, these classic comedies just flowed naturally.

[@JohnBlundell-n3w]

They are all gone now RIP Don’t tell um your name pike ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤😂

[@eveb446]

Absolutely fabulous, Dads Army sketch.

[@stefanmacgill3747]

Not on;y arethey superb actors, but passable musicians!

[@tirzhaprinsloo2774]

What a surprise the choir's voices were very good

[@BigAmp]

Outstanding!

[@Mike8981]

ATV ident!!

[@sheepdogman1]

One of the best comedy shows ever produced

[@James_Rivett]

Most things from David Croft were very good, even the series the BBC only made one or two season of.

[@angelacooper2661]

It would have been my first Christmas, as I was born in June and so six months old!

[@oml81mm]

Brilliant !

[@stuman01]

Love it.

[@Nick-mm5ml]

they will always be the very best

[@stevesutton1991]

Thats not the real Frasier, I think the original popped his clogs

[@James_Rivett]

John Laurie was still much alive, but was unavailable for the filming, so Fraser was played by Hamish Roughead The actual filming was 1975 for the main part, by which time James Beck had died, so Walker was played by John Bardon (who sometimes played him on the radio show) but has no lines in this production.

[@johnking5174]

@@James_Rivett Hi, just to give you more details. John Laurie didn't want to take part in the stage show of Dad's Army, of which this sketch is part of. Dad's Army toured their stage show in 1976 after premiering it in London in autumn of 1975. John felt he was not fit to be touring around the country, he suffered from asthma and just was not up to touring and so Hamish Roughead was brought in as his replacement. This is the reason why no new series of Dad's Army was made in 1976, just a Christmas special, as they were very busy with the stage show.

[@James_Rivett]

@@johnking5174 thank you for that info. I knew John didn't do the stage show but didn't know why. I seam to remember that Clive Dunn was unavailable for all of the stage show dates I may remember wrong, but didn't Jack Haig stand in for him?

[@johnking5174]

@@James_Rivett That is right. Jack who would later go on to appear in Allo Allo. All the information I have is from Bill Pertwee who played the warden. Bill wrote a brilliant book on Dad's Army, and I treasure that book in my house.

[@James_Rivett]

@@johnking5174 yes I have his book, which is wonderful, but been a few years since I read it.

[@stevengrotte2987]

I do wish that the white flashes were not present but it was 52 years ago.

[@crb1939]

Absolutely wonderful! !!!

[@jackthebassman1]

John Le Mesurier certainly mimed the piano excellently, I’d guess he played piano himself.

[@James_Rivett]

He could actually play the piano in real life. I can't remember if it was the original BBC version of this that got wiped, or the Radio version of the Godiva affair where he is alleged to have played the tune.

[@telemachus53]

Are you sure he was miming?

[@avryllsixtus3429]

He was an accomplished musician, sportsman and linguist...well raised in cultural areas....he always played languid type of roles as it suited him..was married to the chubby actress Hatti Jacques..got divorced after many years of marriage....He did play a couple if more sinister roles in MI5 type of films where he was languidly threatening.....just saying.

[@Kim-gv5bw]

I honestly cannot stand Mainwaring!!His pomposity,snobbery and jealousy of Wilson(who never stated=thought he was any better than ANYONE else,even Mainwaring!)Loved it when Mainwaring got his comeuppance by being demoted and when Wilson received his title!The class system is alive and sickeningly well even here in Australia.So who's the "stupid boy"??RIP guys❤

[@James_Rivett]

It's his pomposity that makes him so funny. Mainwaring came from a working class background but strived to be at the top. Just like in real life with Arthur Lowe. Wilson was born into a titled family but didn't care for all the hierarchy that came with it. Just like with John Le Mesurier. Mainwaring was demoted in the series 3 episode "room at the bottom" first reduced to a lieutenant then to private and Wilson took over over and was so inept, disaster followed. All the men (except Fraser who applied for the job as Home Guard commander) wrote to GHQ to say they wanted Mainwaring back (Walker even Offered a bribe of 2 bottles of Whisky) so captain Bailey returned from GHQ to say they decided to make Mainwaring up to full captain who would also oversee other local platoons (but we never did see this latter thing happen). In the last ever episode it was found out that during world war one Wilson had been a Captain in the Army and wore his WW1 uniform to Jones and Mrs Fox's wedding. I loved it when you had Captain's Mainwaring and Square going up against each other.