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.
Jimmy Perry and David Croft adapted material from the original scripts, making changes to allow for the absence of location filming. The show was in the style of a revue, with songs, familiar scenes from the show, and individual turns for cast members. It was directed by Roger Redfarn, who shared the same agent as the writers.
Contents
Cast
Jeffrey Holland, who would frequently collaborate with Croft in the future, portrayed multiple roles, as did actor Ronnie Grainge, who as well as singing and dancing in all the musical numbers, also played an RAF officer and German General.
Dates
The show opened at the Forum Theatre, Billingham, County Durham on 4 September 1975 for a two-week try out. A local critic wrote of the event:
"The special bond of affection between cast and audience helped each item spark along" - Kevin Eason
After cuts and revisions, the show transferred to London's West End and opened at the Shaftesbury Theatre on 2 October 1975. On the opening night there was a surprise appearance by Chesney Allen, singing the old Flanagan and Allen song Hometown with Arthur Lowe.
The show ran in the West End until February 1976, where it was disrupted twice by bomb scares, and then toured the country until 4 September 1976. Jack Haig took over from Clive Dunn as Lance Corporal Jones for the second half of the tour. The stage show was later revived, billed as Dad’s Army—The Musical, and toured Australia and New Zealand in 2004–2005, starring Jon English.
Running order
Act One
Scene 1 Who do you think you are kidding Mr Hitler?
Scene 2 Put that light out
Scene 3 When Can I Have a Banana Again?
Scene 4 Command Post
Scene 5 Private Pike's Dream
Scene 6 Cliff top: Lance Corporal Jones stands guard
Scene 7 Battle of Britain
Scene 8 Choir practice
Act Two
Scene 9 The song that we would rather forget
Scene 10 Unarmed combat
Scene 11 Tinpan alley
Scene 12 Morris Dance
Scene 13 A Nightingale sang in Berkley Square
Scene 14 Radio personalities of the 40s
Scene 15 The beach
Scene 16 Finale
New stage show
In April 2007 a new Dad's Army stage show was announced. It featured two lost episodes ("The Loneliness of the Long Distance Walker" and "A Stripe for Frazer") combined with two additional episodes "Room at the Bottom" (of which only a black-and-white version survived, until its colour was recreated in December 2008) and "The Deadly Attachment". A sequel to the 2007 stage show was announced in December 2009 with the tour starting the following year. It features the same cast as the 2007 show, but has different episodes, including "Branded" and "Mum's Army".