Dad's Army News - May 2003

Dad's Army CD Boxed Set

June will see the release of Dad's Army, The Collector's Edition: Series 1, a deluxe box set containing all 21 episodes from the first radio series transmitted on BBC Radio 4 beginning in 1974.

The 11 CDs are accompanied by full track listings, cast biographies and a history of the series.

The eleventh CD will contain the Christmas 1974 one hour Special "Present Arms" which as yet has not recieved a commercial release from BBC Enterprises.

Many Dad's Army fans will be delighted at news of the box set release, as at last they will be able to own the episodes in Chronological order, something which BBC Radio Collection hasnt previously done.

Back on BBCTV!

Dad's Army made a return to BBC2 on May Day Bank Holiday Monday, with the repeat of the rediscovered episodes Operation Kilt and The Batlle of Godfrey's Cottage.

The episodes followed the World Snooker Final, which overran by nearly three quarters of an hour (as previously warned on these pages), resulting in the documentary Don't Panic! The Dad's Army story been cancelled.

Stay tuned however, as another repeat beckons on Sunday 18th May, as "My Brother and I" a feature length episode from 1975 is repeated at 1pm on BBC1.

New Sitcom Story Series on BBC1

A new documentary series commences on BBC1 on Monday 12 May at 10:35pm. Dawn French takes a look at the Sitcom Story over the next few weeks, which will feature among others, Dad's Army.

From the days of I Love Lucy through to Till Death Do Us Part and on to the wild and wacky Absolutely Fabulous, this first programme shows how the relationship between husband and wife, domestic discontent, human anguish and the everyday occurrences most people can identify with have made the sitcom such a hugely popular television genre.

Contributors include Ronnie Barker, Richard Wilson, Ricky Tomlinson, Caroline Quentin, Richard Briers, Ardal O'Hanlon, Warren Mitchell, Penelope Keith, Patricia Routledge, Neil Morrissey, June Whitfield, Wendy Richard and Ben Elton.

Having cemented her position as one of Britain's best-loved comedy actresses as half of double act French and Saunders and the star of The Vicar of Dibley, Dawn French is an inspired choice to tell The Sitcom Story, and appear on the cover of the latest issue of Radio Times (10-16 May 2003).

In a special feature, RT reporter Brian Viner discovers how tough it is to make the nation laugh and asks whether there is such a thing as the perfect situation comedy.

Dad's Army News Written & Compiled by Andy Howells