An Evening with Frank Williams

The Vicar has left the Building....

The first event the Dad's Army podcast has co-ordinated with the Dad's Army Appreciation Society took place yesterday evening, in a church hall in Kentish Town. Frank Williams played host to over 70 attendees who braved the driving rain to hear Frank talk about his time in Dad's Army and his wider career.

Frank spent over an hour speaking to the attendees and relished regaling the rapt audience with stories from his time on Dad's Army. He also talked about growing up in the second world war and about his first job within the acting business.

The evening also saw the UK premier of a new documentary about Frank entitled 'Dad's Army and Beyond: The Frank Williams Story' which the audience gobbled up and then asked questions of Frank. Producer Oliver Crocker and Director Mervyn Cumming were also on hand to discuss their experiences of making the documentary. It is hoped that the programme will be made available through the Appreciation Society in the near future - more news on that as it happens.

Episode 41 of the podcast will be a longer than usual podcast and will feature Frank's interview in full. It will also include a five minute interview Frank gave to Radio London early yesterday morning to promote the event.

On a personal note, I was mortified (as was Frank, Oliver and pretty much everyone else there) at how bad the sound was for the first half an hour of the night - which included two screenings of Frank's work. It was almost impossible to make any of the words out at all - as Frazer would have said, it sounded as though the actors were 'mumblin', mumblin'!! At the time though, this was far from a laughing matter. Fortunately, this was a temporary hitch and we able to vastly improve the quality of the sound after the first very awkward half an hour. Many thanks to all the wonderful attendees for being so patient with us - lessons have been learned.

The technical difficulties aside, the food was great, the premier of Oliver's documentary was exceptionally well received and many people came up to me after the event and said how much they enjoyed the evening. You were all so very kind!!

Hope you enjoy the podcast of the evening once I've managed to edit it all together - should be online over on the main podcast page by mid-December.

Come and meet his Reverence!

Vicar and Chips event nears

Frank Williams will be attending an evening wittily (ahem) entitled 'Vicar and Chips' on Saturday 21 November 2009 at a church hall in Kentish Town. The Dad's Army podcast and Dad's Army Appreciations Society are jointly organising the evening.

As the title suggests, the evening will centre on Frank Williams and will feature several clips from his television and film career including some of Franks most recent work for independent production companies.

The highlight of the evening will be the full, un-cut British premier of 'Dad's Army and Beyond: the Frank Williams Story'. Oliver Crocker (producer), Mervyn Cumming (director) and of course Frank will be present and will be interviewed - by me! Poor souls. The DVD will also be on sale to attendees who will of course, have the opportunity to get copies signed by Frank, Oliver and Mervyn.

The details are:

Venue:
Our Lady Help of Christians
4 Lady Margaret Road
Kentish Town
London
NW5 2XT

Time:
6.30pm to 10.00pm

Price:
£7.50 per ticket (includes fish and chip supper)

In order to book you can complete the booking form below and send it off as quickly as possible. Tickets are selling well but are limited - there are however a number still available.

BookingForm

Vicar n Chips!

Frank Williams event announced for November 2009

Frank Williams will be appearing at an event the podcast is jointly organising with the Dad's Army Appreciation Society on 21st November 2009. The centrepiece of the evening will be the premier of Dad's Army and Beyond: the Frank Williams Story. The producer of the show will also be present and hopefully the director too. I will be interviewing all three after the screening, and the audience will have a chance to ask questions too. Oh, and you get a fish n chip supper too! Listen to podcast 37 for more details.

The event will begin at 6.30pm and be held in a Church Hall - yes, the Vicar is returning to a church hall!

The address of the venue is:

Our Lady Help of Christians
4 Lady Margaret Road
Kentish Town
London
NW5 2XT

A map can be found by clicking here.

Dad's Army Appreciation Society members can book by filling in the booking form published in the most recent Society magazine (PTSS 61) or can visit the Society's members page, non-members can e-mail me at james@dadsarmypodcast.com to request a form - or until I an figure out how to upload a pdf document onto the blog! Tickets cost £7.50 each.

Tour of Locations 2009

Perry and Croft weekend 2009

A set of photos taken on the tour of Dad's Army locations that took place on 9 May 2009 is now available by clicking on the slideshow to the right. The tour was organised by the Dad's Army Appreciation Society and visited several locations on the Ministry of Defence ground at Stanta. The MOD ground is usually a no-go area to members of the public so this specially arranged tour was a real treat. We were accompanied by Frank Williams who shared several of his memories whilst filming at Stanta.

As there was last year, there will be a podcast containing the commentary from Frank, and our tour guide Tony Pritchard of the Appreciation society. What Tony doesn't know about Dad's Army really isn't worth knowing! The recordings will form podcast 35 and be on-line as soon as I have had a chance to edit the numerous anecdotes I managed to record.

New podcast online

Episode 34

Episode 34 of the Dad's Army podcast is now on-line and available to listen to or download from the main podcast page.

This month, Paul Carpenter from the Dad’s Army Appreciation Society joins me for the whole episode and previews the premier event on the Society’s calendar, the 2009 Perry and Croft Day which is due to be held on Sunday 10 May at at Bressingham Steam Museum. Paul announces which stars will be appearing (subject to work commitments and good health) and provides an insight into what it takes to put on such an event.

We then discuss the first episode of Dad’s Army I ever saw, Don’t forget the Diver – an absolute classic series 4 episode from 1970.

Episode 35 of the podcast will feature a number of interviews with the stars of Dad’s Army - I hope to be talking to several of the cast and crew at Bressingham.

Take a listen to episodes 20 and 21 of the podcast to hear coverage of last years event.

As always, we’d love to hear from you so please send in your feedback to james@dadsarmypodcast.com.

Dad's 40th (updated 11th July 2008)

40th Anniversary of Dad's Army celebrated

Yesterday (9th July 2008) saw a number of Dad's Army stars and fans celebrate the anniversary of programme at the Imperial War Museum in London. The first episode, The Man and the Hour was originally transmitted on 31st July 1968, and the Dad's Army Appreciation Society, together with the Imperial War Museum organised an celebration to remember. The event attracted significant interest from the press, and the story appeared in many of today's national dailies. The Sun's story is available on line here and focusses on some of Ian Lavender's comments - the sentiments of which he echoed when I interviewed him for the podcast. The BBC were also there, filming interviews with the cast and production crew.

In attendance were Jimmy Perry, David Croft, Clive Dunn, Ian Lavender, Bill Pertwee, Frank Williams, Pamela Cundell, Eric Longworth, Harold Snoad, Mary Husband, Jefferey Holland, Ronnie Grange and Joan Le Mesurier. We were also joined by the former forces sweetheart, Dame Vera Lynn.

Tony and I from the podcast were there too with our trusty MP3 recorders, and we managed to speak to many of the stars. Look out for podcast 25 where you will get to hear the speeches made by the stars, and my interviews with them - including one with none-other than Dame Vera Lynn! I never thought I would be chatting to the person who sung the immortal words we'll meet again, don't know where, don't know when about Dad's Army!!

Pictures of the event will be on the blog over the next few days. If you attended then event then please feel free to send in your photos and stories about the day to me at james@dadsarmypodcast.com - it would be great to hear from you. I'm off now to find Dame Vera's back-catalogue on iTunes....

**updated 11 July 2008**

The BBC also reported the story on-line here.

New Dad's Army podcast on-line

Episode 22

Episode 22 of the Dad's Army podcast is now on-line and available to download from http://www.dadsarmy.podomatic.com/

This week sees the second and final of the Croft and Perry Weekend Specials and features speeches made by Pamela Cundell, Harold Snoad, Michael Knowles, Jimmy Perry and David Croft at the Dad’s Army Appreciation Society’s annual members meal.

The cover-art this week is of David and Ann Croft at the event – with me at the same table! If you like the sound of the event and would like to attend in future years, then you will need to join the Appreciation Society to be in with a chance of getting a ticket. Joining is ludicrously cheap – take a look at www.dadsarmy.co.uk for details.

We’ll be back in two or three weeks time with a ‘regular’ episode of the podcast and Tony and I will be discussing ‘The Test’. Feel free to send us your comments on this episode and we’ll read out your e-mails, or play your MP3s during the show. Contact us at james@dadsarmypodcast.com

Special Edition of the Dad's Army Podcast now online

Frank Williams and Harold Snoad join DAAS members on locations tour

As mentioned in my last posting (Location, Location, Location...) we at the podcast were lucky enough to attend a guided tour of locations used whilst filming Dad's Army all those years ago.

Accompanied by my trusty MP3 recorder, I managed to speak to Frank and Harold as they recounted their memories of filming. The Dad's Army Appreciation Society were also on hand and jammed-packed full of Dad's Army trivia which the attendees lapped up.

Click on the cover-art above to be redirected to Episode 21 of the Dad's Army podcast. Please feel free to let me know what you think of this podcast, especially as it's the first massive departure from our regular format - my e-mail address is james@dadsarmypodcast.com Feedback is always welcome, be it positive or negative. Alternatively, you can leave your comments on this blog by clicking on the 'comments' tag at the foot of each posting.

In a fortnight's time, Episode 22 will be on-line and will feature the speeches and interviews made at the DAAS members meal. It will be the most star-laden podcast yet and will include discussions with David Croft, Jimmy Perry, Michael Knowles, Pamela Cundell, Harold Snoad - and a University Professor who lectures in Dad's Army!!

Location, Location, Location....

Tour of Dad's Army film locations

On Saturday 10th May 2008, the Dad's Army Appreciation Society (DAAS) organised a tour of locations in and around Thetford that were used in the series . A old red routemaster collected a group of DAAS members and their guests at around 11:00am. We were accompanied by Frank Williams (the Vicar) who was able to entertain us with stories about the cast and crew whilst filming was taking place, and by Harold Snoad who was responsible for suggesting Thetford be used for external shooting all those years ago. Harold was also responsible for finding suitable locations for non-studio bound scenes in series 1 to 4 - unfortunately we only visited one location used during Harold's time on the programme and that was Brandon station, used in The Big Parade.

Other locations visited included;

Elvedon Hall (the tower is pictured above and in the final scenes of Battle of the Giants)

The field where Mainwaring is chased by a dog with a grenade in his mouth in Fallen Idol

The bridge where the fire engine used in Brain vs Brawn was stopped by the Army

The green where the pageant was held in Knights of Madness

The church used for the external Church scenes in Ring Dem Bells and The Captain's Car

The Anchor Hotel which featured in The Man and the Hour and was used as cast and crew accommodation

Both Tony and I from the Dad's Army podcast were invited to come along and we managed to secure a number of recordings with the event organisers and Frank and Harold. You will be able to hear those interviews on episode 21 of the podcast due for release over the next few days.

Pictures taken on the tour were few in number as I was so busy making recordings, but click on the slideshow to your right to see the photos we did manage to take. If you were with us on the tour and took some pictures and would like to see them on this page, then please e-mail them to me at james@dadsarmypodcast.com - we will credit all photographs we recieve.

All slideshow photos taken by James at the Dad's Army Podcast

Bressingham is coming.......

Croft and Perry Day, Sunday 11th May 2008

The year's highest-profile Dad's Army event is taking place at Bressingham Steam Museum next Sunday.

This year will be particularly special as it's the programme's 40th anniversary. Guests invited include Jimmy Perry, David Croft, Harold Snoad, Ian Lavender, Bill Pertwee, Pamela Cundell, Eric Longworth, Michael Knowles and John Clegg. There will a whole host of other stars there too from many other Perry and Croft programmes.

I have included few pictures of previous Bressingham events in this posting - my usual podcast co-presenter Tony is pictured with Jones' van. There is also a picture of a house in Nether Row - the road was used in many episodes taken in Thetford town centre.

If you are planning on coming to Bressingham then please come up and say hello - if we're not roaming the museum looking for interviews then we'll be in or aound the DAAS tent.

There is special mini-podcast previewing the event with Tony Pritchard, one of the day's organisers available on the main podcast page. This brief podcast gives you a little bit of history about the event and offers an insight into how much planning goes into putting on a really spectacular day.

For more information about the event, hop over to either the Dad's Army Appreciation Society's page, or the Bressingham Steam Museum site.

Look forward to seeing you there!

New Dad's Army Podcast

Episode 18 now on-line

Episode 18 of the podcast is now available to listen to on-line or to download from www.dadsarmy.podomatic.com

This fortnight James brings you a round up of the recent goings-on in the world of Dad’s Army, sifts through the Podcast’s mailbag and introduces a new voice to the show. Don’t forget to nominate your favourite Dad’s Army episode before 9th May and be in with a chance of winning the bumper prize draw. This week’s featured episode is season one’s The Enemy Within the Gates - just the fourth episode of Dad's Army to be made.

We'll be back in three weeks time with podcast 19 - when amongst other things, we'll bring you a preview of the upcoming Croft and Perry Day (being held at Bressingham Steam Museum on 11th May 2008 and organised by the Dad's Army Appreciation Society). In the meantime, please get in touch with us at james@dadsarmypodcast.com

Enjoy the podcast.

New Dad's Army podcast on-line

Episode 17


Episode 17 of the Dad's Army podcast is now on-line and available to listen to at www.dadsarmy.podomatic.com

This fortnight sees the much delayed discussion of the season 3 classic, Branded. In addition, Tony reviews the stage play after seeing it twice the week the production was in Poole! We also have an update from the Dad's Army Appreciation Society on the Perry and Croft day being held at Bressingham steam museum in May this year. All this and the regular news and feedback features.

Please get in touch with us and let us know what you think of the podcast or anything else Dad's Army related at james@dadsarmypodcast.com

Permission to speak, sir!

Well hello there, and thank you for taking the time to read this blog.

The Basics

In case you are new to Dad's Army, then firstly - where have you been?! Dad's Army was a British television programme that ran for nine series from 1968 to 1977. Written by Jimmy Perry and David Croft, the comedy follows the movements of a Home Guard platoon based in the fictional town of Walmington-on-Sea. I won't go into more detail - there are many websites that go into the history of the programme and the characters elsewhere on the net - the best in my opinion being the Dad's Army Appreciation Society's and is available at www.dadsarmy.co.uk Anyway, this blog is not intended to be a documentary on the series - more of a chronicle of events that concern Dad's Army as they arise - along with my opinion! Yes, believe it or not, Dad's Army is still very much alive and as popular as ever.

The Podcast

Podcast?! There's a Dad's Army Podcast?! Well yes, strange as it may seem! In May 2007 I started producing a very amatuer downloadable production discussing the series. The show was very simple, completely un-edited and consisted primarily of myself chatting with Tony, my co-presenter, about one of the classic Dad's Army episodes. We had just 200 listeners after our second show. Almost a year later, we now have 4,000 listeners all around the world and regularly receive feedback from them. The podcast is now edited - although not professionally and sounds far better than when we started a year ago, although clearly there is still room for improvement. We have managed to interview a variety of people associated with Dad's Army - including a recent interview with Frank Williams who played the vicar in around 40 episodes. The podcast is available to download from iTunes, or directly from our website - http://www.dadsarmy.podomatic.com/ or by clicking on the podcast's badge below.





The Blog

This blog is really for me to share any Dad's Army news with you that I can't get on the podcast either due to recording deadlines or time restrictions. I'll also report on the odd press article or event that fans may be interested in and post any pictures that may be of interest. I may also use if for a number of other things I haven't thought of yet! We'll just see how it goes.


That's it for the introdution - hope you enjoy the blog and please feel free to post your comments.

James