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.

You've had your chips!!

Frank Williams event just one week away

Pre-booking for the Vicar and Chips event has now closed - however, do not worry if you have not managed to make your booking, you can turn up on the night - but we will not be able to provide you with dinner! So your evening will be Vicar and no Chips. As such, the entry price to those of you arriving on the night will be £6.00, but remember to have eaten beforehand!

For full event details, see the below blog-entry.

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

Podcast 35

Locations Tour 2009

Apologies for the long interval since I've last blogged - been really busy at work, home and, you'll be pleased to hear, with loads of Dad's Army related stuff.

Firstly, the 2009 locations tour podcast is now online over at the main podcast page. Make sure you check out Episodes 35a and 35b. Frank Williams was an absolute gem - I really can't get enough of that man. He is so enthusiastic about Dad's to this day, and he is so eloquent and articulate when talking about his memories of filming Dad's Army. What is also clear is his affection for his co-stars. There is no hint of envy or jealousy about the fact that he played such a minor role compared to the regular cast members. What amazes me is how youthful he is on these tours - they are not short events (four hours without a loo stop!) and the terrain is often rough enough to challenge even the fittest of fans, but not only does Frank cope admirably, he positively enjoys himself. Anyway, as always, let me know what you think of this podcast by sending me an e-mail - james@dadsarmypodcast.com If you happen to be based in or live near London then keep an eye out on the blog for a Frank related event in November this year - can't say too much at present as we're still in the early stages of planning, but if its comes off then tickets will be as keenly sought after as Walker's silk parachute-knickers!

Dad's Army podcast on Twitter!

The podcast now has a Twitter page - www.twitter.com/dadsarmypodcast I'm very new to all this interwebby promotion stuff, but realise that the next generation of fans will expect there to be a very strong, online presence (other than the podcast itself), so this is my attempt to get with it. I will try to post all the latest dad's army and podcast news on this page so make sure you keep an eye on it, and post responses! Twitter is one of the easiest modern-day networking sites to use - all you need to do is sign up (takes two minutes) and click on 'follow' and you'll be kept up to date on all things Dad's Army.

And finally.....

Keep you ears peeled for a rather exciting announcement about the future of the podcast very soon. All very mysterious I know, but I should hopefully be able to announce something fairly major that will greatly enhance the enjoyment listeners' get out of the podcast over the few weeks. More soon.