Jimmy Perry

Dad's Army: behind the lines of a comedy classic

Jimmy Perry, who with the late David Croft formed one of Britain's greatest sitcom-writing teams, recalls their 50-year partnership.

Dad's Army: the show that won't go away

David Croft, who died this week, and his partner Jimmy Perry wrote many classic comedies. But Dad's Army was surely their finest achievement.

Jimmy Perry and David Croft interview

The creative forces behind Dad's Army and You Rang M'Lord are octogenarians Jimmy Perry and David Croft.

It was pig-in-clover happiness just to watch the extracts from Dad's Army, It Ain't Half Hot, Mum and Hi-De-Hi! in the Omnibus tribute to Perry and Croft, who wrote them.

This pain-wracked (I hope) pair write "Dad's Army" (BBC1) and "It Ain't Half Hot, Mum" (BBC1) which is about the misadventures of an army concert party in India is, I think, funnier. I particularly recommend the performance of Windsor Davies as the Sergeant Major.

Jimmy Perry's and David Croft's inaugural script was pretty feeble, with an over reliance on strained little jokes, but again this may be only a scene-setting problem.