Cast of new Dad's Army film announced
The cast of the new Dad's Army film have been announced.
Based on the classic BBC sitcom about bumbling members of a Home Guard unit on England's south coast during the Second World War, the new movie is due to appear in cinemas next year.
Set in 1944, the film sees the Home Guard tasked with guarding a Dover army base as the Allies prepare to invade France and finally defeat the German military. This task is seen by Mainwaring as a chance to revive spirits and reputation... however, when glamorous journalist Rose Winters arrives to write about their exploits, problems start to arise.
MI5 discover a radio signal sent direct to Berlin from Walmington-on-Sea, sparking rumours of a spy and - with the outcome of the war suddenly at stake - it falls to the veteran servicemen to step up to the plate.
Below about the actors announced, with their pictures alongside the original cast members. Jones and Nighy had previously been discussed for the lead roles, but the rest of the cast list has been freshly unveiled today.
Toby Jones - who is currently starring as Lance in BBC Four sitcom Detectorists - will take on the lead role of Captain Mainwaring.
The pompous yet brave manager of Swallow Bank, who heads up the Walmington-on-Sea platoon, was famously played by Arthur Lowe in the original shows.
Bill Nighy - the star of films such as Love Actually - will play Mainwaring's right hand man, Sergeant Wilson.
John Le Mesurier played the well-off, relaxed and confident second-in-command in the original programmes.
Michael Gambon - the celebrated screen actor, who has played roles such as Dumbledore in the Harry Potter films - will portray the elderly Private Godfrey.
Arnold Ridley played the oldest member of the Walmington-on-Sea Home Guard in the previous incarnations, with the character often needing help to complete the unit's tasks.
Tom Courtenay - whose CV includes Billy Liar and Doctor Zhivago - will play Corporal Jones in the new film.
Clive Dunn was the original actor in this role, with his local butcher character often exclaiming that the enemy "don't like it up 'em".
Blake Harrison - best known as Neil in The Inbetweeners - will play the naïve Private Pike.
Ian Lavender was the original young platoon member, with the character singing the song that led to the show's famous line, "Don't tell him, Pike!"
Daniel Mays, an actor whose previous comedy roles include the Channel 4 sitcom Plus One, has signed up to play Private Walker.
James Beck played the black market spiv in the first six series of the TV series before his untimely death.
Bill Paterson takes over the role of Frazer. The Scottish theatre, film, television and radio actor has previously starred in shows such as Outlander.
Frazer, who was Walmington's undertaker when not taking part in the Home Guard, is best remembered for exclaiming "we're doomed!" whenever he's given a chance. John Laurie was the original actor in this role.
Catherine Zeta-Jones will play the main female character in an otherwise male-dominated film.
The film will introduce the character of Rose Winters, a glamorous journalist who is tasked with writing about Walmington-on-Sea's Home Guard.
The cast list also features Annette Crosbie (One Foot In The Grave), Mark Gatiss (The League Of Gentlemen), Sarah Lancashire (Last Tango In Halifax) and Alison Steadman (Gavin & Stacey) in currently un-named roles.
Oliver Parker, who directed Johnny English Reborn, has been tasked by Universal Pictures to oversee the project, which begins filming later this month.
The movie will be shot on location in Yorkshire, rather than Norfolk, which was home to the original TV series. A spokesperson for Screen Yorkshire said: "We are very excited to be announcing this news and it doesn't get much better than this - a truly iconic series, a fabulous cast with some the cream of Britain's acting talent - and all set in the stunning landscapes of Yorkshire. This is great news for Yorkshire and for Screen Yorkshire - the culmination of months of work and our investment has played a critical part. It's a fitting finale to an already fabulous year for the region."
A Dad's Army film already exists. The 1971 movie, written by creators Jimmy Perry and David Croft, follows the platoon from their humble beginnings into their formation as a "formidable" fighting unit. Whilst not as popular as the series on which it was based, the Dad's Army movie is widely regarded as one of the better sitcom movie adaptations of the era.
When news of the idea to make a new film first emerged in November 2012, it was met with disdain from fans. When Jimmy Perry revealed plans at a meeting of the Dad's Army Appreciation Society, the news was met with "groans of dread" from the audience.
The new film project has come about after Jimmy Perry negotiated a deal over the show's rights with Ann Croft, the widow of his writing partner David Croft, who died in September 2011.
However, whilst Perry will act as a producer on the project he has not been involved in writing the new film. The script has been written by Hamish McColl, who has previously penned Mr. Bean's Holiday and Johnny English Reborn. The plot will remain faithful to the show, with Captain Mainwaring commanding the makeshift troop of soldiers and defending his hometown against the invading German army.
Ian Lavender, who played young Private Pike, is the last surviving main Dad's Army cast member, but it is not yet clear if he will make a cameo appearance in the film. James Beck died in 1973, John Laurie in 1980, Arthur Lowe in 1982, John Le Mesurier in 1983, Arnold Ridley in 1984, Clive Dunn in 2012 and Bill Pertwee in 2013.
Speaking to BBC Radio earlier in the year, Jimmy Perry made clear that he has no worries about a film starring different actors, having written two new stage versions of the series with David Croft, based on scripts of lost episodes.
Touring from 2007 and from 2010, both productions were nationally successful. He said: "Don't forget one thing - about four or five years ago when David was alive - we wrote a special stage version. It toured for two years, filled all the theatres, but they were all [different] actors. They were just ordinary actors playing the parts, and it worked very well."