BBC releases new Dad's Army archive material

The BBC is marking the 40th anniversary of classic British sitcom Dad's Army by releasing many never-before-seen documents and pictures which tell the story behind one of the UK's most-loved comedy series.

Tomorrow, 31st of July 2008 will be exactly 40 years since the first episode of Dad's Army was broadcast. The comedy would go on to become one of Britain's top ten favourite comedies.

This collection of archive material being released by the BBC contains many items not available to the public until now, including candid post-war letters from the actors as they began their careers and internal BBC memos that show just how popular the series was right from the start. A photo gallery also looks at the stars of the show from the first episode to the last, as well as taking a peek behind the scenes.

Most interestingly is an exchange of memos that came about after the BBC1 Controller complained about the original plan to use footage of real prisoners of war and Nazis in the opening titles of the comedy. The plan was intended to illustrate exactly what the stakes had been for those elderly volunteers, which in turn showed just how brave they had been. Though series producer David Croft had the support of his head of department, Michael Mills, BBC1 Controller Paul Fox found the montage offensive and demanded changes. The result was the iconic animated sequence of Swastika-emblazoned arrows prodding a lone Union Flagged arrow back across the English Channel.

To view the archive visit www.bbc.co.uk/archive/dadsarmy

BBC TV will be celebrating Dad's Army with a weekend of programmes. Saturday evening on BBC2 is Dad's Army Night which will feature repeats of the writers' favourite episodes and documentaries about the show and star Arthur Lowe. Then on Sunday BBC1 will be broadcasting Jonathan Ross Salutes Dad's Army - a one-off TV special featuring interviews with the surviving stars (Our Guide)