The Complete a-Z of Dad's Army

by Richard Webber, David Croft

'The success of Dad's Army can be summed up in a line from the first episode when the bumptious Captain Mainwaring "The machine-guns could have a clear field of fire from here to Timothy White's ... if it wasn't for that woman in the telephone box."' The Independent Dad's army is quite simply the most successful British TV sitcom of all time. Eighty episodes were made and are constantly repeated. The first black-and-white series, re-shown for the first time in 1999, attracted 4.6m viewers outperforming Have I got News for You and almost outstripping Channel Four's most popular programme Friends. When the second series was shown on Saturday nights in 1998 it took 7 million viewers and 40% of the audience. This book will be the last word on the series. There have been other books, but this is first to present the whole story from how the series got made - scripts, locations, filming, the real history of the Home Guard, the background to the actors who played in the series, every episode catalogued and much more. The creators have volunteered to open their archives which include the original programme research, annotated scripts and location photographs. Now recognised as one of the great shows of this and any TV era, Perry and Croft have decided the programme requires a monument and this book will be it.

Hardcover

First published October 12, 2000

Reviews

[Sophie Crane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Being a complete fan of Dad's Army, this book was such a treat for me to buy and read through. It gives more information about a much loved (by me) show, titbits, anecdotes and stories that would never be seen on the show. I do recommend to any Dad's Army fan...I do like being able to get more from a show that has finished and leaves me wanting more. So buying books keeps the journey going, for me at least.

[Alan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I do enjoy Dads Army, but I am not a massive fan, so when I saw this in a local Charity shop I thought why not. And it is brilliant. I have not exactly read it, but I have spent several occasions dipping into various pages, having just intended to look one item up.
This truly is an a-Z of anything Dads Army you could want to know.