The danger of constantly celebrating the past

Nostalgia. Easy promotability. A blend of old and new. Low risk. Lots of press. And a brand new half hour to be written by Clement and Frenais, writers of the near-perfect Porridge. What's not to like? As a consumer of comedy, I'm fine with all of the above obviously. As a writer of comedy, my feelings are slightly more mixed.

David Croft would be 'turning in his grave' at remakes

Sitcom legend Melvyn Hayes has gone to war on the Dad's Army film and Are You Being Served? re-make, saying they would have creator David Croft "turning in his grave".

The star, who played Bombardier "Gloria" Beaumont in It Ain't Half Hot Mum - another of the writer's hits - demanded they "let old TV series lie".

Video: Footage of original Dad's Army cast unearthed

News footage of the original cast of Dad's Army being interviewed has been unearthed.

The real-life wars of Dad's Army actor Arnold Ridley

As the film version of Dad's Army is released at cinemas across the country, BBC News looks at the life of Arnold Ridley, the only actor in the original television series to serve in both World War One and Two.

Veteran calls Dad's Army a 'total injustice'

A 91-year-old World War II veteran has called both the Dad's Army TV series and films a "total injustice" to the almost 1.5 million men who served in the UK's real-life Home Guard.

Radio Times review

This nigh-on perfect episode is The Arthur Lowe Show in all but name. A training weekend for the platoon enables Lowe to run through his sublime Mainwarisms: the "throat-clutching choke", the "skewed cap and glasses", and the rare but wonderful "trying desperately not to appear drunk". (Almost as funny is Sergeant Wilson's teddy-bear hiding - an Embarrassment Masterclass from John Le Mesurier.)

It all comes about as a result of Captain "What! What!" Square and a bunch of whisky-swilling officers leading Mainwaring astray, to the scowling disenchantment of Frazer and co. And it takes a genuine crisis to restore him in the eyes of his men...

"Fallen Idol" is delicious to the last drop, when an "Iris Out" homage to the silent era provides the show's best-ever sign-off.

Dad's Army was a strikingly accurate portrayal

In his 1974 book The Real Dad's Army, the historian Norman Longmate used the memories of ordinary people to document the impact of extraordinary events.

Extraordinary bravery of the real-life Dad's Army

Documents have revealed the heroics of the 'real-life Dad's Army' in stark contrast to the television comedy's hapless soldiers.

Dad's Army soldiers on: it's still a sitcom masterclass

It has an antiquated look and Arthur Lowe may occasionally fluff his lines, but the historical setting of Dad's Army has helped it endure, and rank as some of the finest British farce.

Radio Times review

Self-important Mainwaring and bull-in-a-china-shop Hodges have never shied away from airing their differences. But in this episode the boundary lines are drawn - in chalk. A bombed ARP HQ forces the wardens and Home Guard to share the village hall - the expected jostlings ensue.

It's a resolutely low-fi outing - the painted backdrop to the Verger's hedge-clipping scenes are as amateur- hour as some of the slapstick - but, as ever, there's great fun to be had. Clive Dunn looks like he's trying not to laugh at making a chicken noise from a tin and some string (well, who wouldn't?), there's a stunt that will be familiar to Porridge fans, and Frazer gets almost too carried away with one of his shaggy dog stories.