David Croft (I)

Why Dad's Army has never been beaten in British comedy

They wouldn't get away with it today. No black faces, nor any character remotely ethnic other than John Laurie's tetchy Scotsman. Women only in subsidiary roles. And certainly no suggestion of sexual ambiguity beyond a wet clergyman. The BBC's modern cultural commissars wouldn't give the pilot script a second glance. White. Middle class. Home Counties. Show him the door, Doris.

Preview: Hi-de-Hi!

Yesterday we learned of another comedy great to join the ever increasing list of people to have died this year: comedy writer Jimmy Perry.

Are You Being Served? (BBC1) review

The episode may have seemed cut-short, being wrapped up just as a plot was begin to take form, but this was an otherwise perfectly-pitched remake of an audience classic. One would have struggled to think of a writer better qualified to bring back Are You Being Served?, and I would be incredibly surprised if it didn't follow in the footsteps of Still Open All Hours and were not at least considered for a more permanent return.

10 AYBS? quotes that won't be repeated in the remake

David Croft and Jeremy Lloyd, whose back catalogue included 'Allo 'Allo!, Dad's Army and Hi-de-Hi! created the original show, which was littered with innuendo and double-entendres, many of which would struggle to make family viewing times in the current era. And as for the sexual politics of the show, Twitter would be lit up like Mrs. Slocombe's pink rinse.

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".

Dad's Army review

Don't panic! Oliver Parker's big screen version of classic British sitcom Dad's Army (48 years old this year) is remarkably faithful to Jimmy Perry and David Croft's much-loved original and by no means the travesty that some had feared.

Film review: Dad's Army (PG)

How do you improve on the perfection of Jimmy Perry and David Croft's sitcom Dad's Army, which began active service in 1968 and remains a jewel in the crown of the BBC comedy archives? You don't.

We're Doomed: The Dad's Army Story dramatises the tale of jobbing actor Jimmy Perry (Paul Ritter) who together with his agent's husband David Croft (Richard Dormer) wrote one of the nation's favourite sitcoms. When I first started watching We're Doomed I thought that writer Stephen Russell's work would be up there with other making of dramas such as The Road to Coronation Street and An Adventure in Space and Time. However I gradually realised that We're Doomed lacked the bite of both of those shows and it was a little bit too light for its own good. One of the main problems with We're Doomed was that Dad's Army wasn't beset with many problems aside from a sceptical BBC Boss and an audience who may not have been ready for a comedy about a recently fought war. But what We're Doomed lacked in edge it made up for in two sympathetic lead characters who were played by a couple of fine performers. Paul Ritter perfectly portrayed Perry as the wannabe star who became an accidental sitcom writer after trying to net himself the role of Walker. Ritter's animated turn was perfectly balanced by Richard Dormer's very dry interpretation of the grounded David Croft. The action started to pick up when the familiar faces of the actors started to appear on screen most notably Arthur Lowe who was convincingly portrayed by John Sessions. Sessions made Lowe the star of the show both on and off camera especially when Croft and Perry worried that he'd struggle to remember any of his lines. The humour of the piece was perfectly offset by a couple of more emotional moments such as when Perry realised he wasn't going to play Walker and when later he watched his hero Bud Flanagan perform the iconic Dad's Army theme tune. Even though it was a little rushed, I felt that We're Doomed told its story well primarily due to its combination of wit and sympathetic characters. Ultimately the drama was the perfect fit for the festive schedules and also provided the perfect taster for the upcoming Dad's Army film.

Dad's Army is one of the best-loved sitcoms but this comedy drama tells the story of its troubled creation and how it nearly failed to make it. It's set in the BBC of the 1960s in what seems like a dingy British equivalent of Mad Men: executives in boxy suits smoke in their offices but the American show's sleek glamour is replaced here with absurdity and frustration.

Jimmy Perry came up with the idea for Dad's Army when he was a struggling actor being constantly rejected for roles. He turned to writing out of desperation, thinking he could create a part for himself where he'd be sure to be cast. Teaming up with David Croft, they perfected the script but there were grumblings from BBC bigwigs that the war was "old hat" and no-one would be interested in the show. Then there was the task of persuading actors to take on silly roles. Poor Perry, despite having written a part from himself, was told he couldn't be cast as the show would work as an "ensemble" and an actor can't also be the writer as it would upset the balance.

Heartbroken, he threw himself into making it the best sitcom it could be, and worked to court and persuade the chosen actors, many of whom were initially difficult and not impressed at being asked to play daft old men.

Paul Ritter stars as frustrated thesp Jimmy Perry, while Richard Dormer is David Croft, a jaded comedy producer feeling pushed out by the BBC. When Perry comes to Croft with his script for a sitcom tentatively titled The Fighting Tigers, the two men begin a battle against "the enemy within" to get it made by the BBC. The dialogue may be on the broad side, but the acting and direction are splendid. Ritter and Dormer are grippingly good, while John Sessions makes for an astonishing Arthur Lowe.