Toby Jones (II)

Detectorists won't be coming back this year

Fans of Detectorists, the Bafta-winning Mackenzie Crook and Toby Jones BBC4 metal detecting comedy, may have a bit of a wait for a third series. Creator (and director) Crook is currently still thinking about making another chunk of the comedy.

Don't panic, it is funny... in parts

Nobody could ever make a better Captain Mainwaring than the late, great Arthur Lowe, but Toby Jones pulls off the pomposity, the middle-class chippiness and, above all, the comic timing, to something close to perfection.

Dad's Army review

Michael Gambon is glorious as Godfrey and Toby Jones charms as the deluded Captain Mainwaring in a "fond, flag-waving if faulty" film.

Dad's Army -- film review

Only Toby Jones emerges with credit in this ill-advised revamp of the BBC's cherished Home Guard sitcom.

Dad's Army - video review

Xan Brooks, Peter Bradshaw and Henry Barnes review Oliver Parker's big-screen adaptation of the much-loved 1960s sitcom, which stars Toby Jones as Captain Mainwaring, leading his Home Guard unit through their farcical trials at the tail-end of the second world war. Dad's Army, which also stars Catherine Zeta-Jones, Tom Courtenay and Michael Gambon, is released in the UK on Friday 5 February.

Video: Getting nostalgic with Dad's Army cast

The stars of the new Dad's Army film, Toby Jones and Catherine Zeta Jones, have said they grew up watching the show on TV.

The film, directed by Oliver Parker, moves the Dad's Army story to May 1944 as the Allies prepare to invade occupied Europe.

Toby Jones takes on the role plays Captain Mainwaring and Catherine Zeta Jones plays a glamorous journalist who arrives in Walmington-on-Sea to write about the Home Guard.

Cast members Sir Tom Courtenay, Sir Michael Gambon, Bill Paterson, Blake Harrison and Daniel Mays tell entertainment correspondent Tim Masters their memories of filming in Bridlington.

Review: Dad's Army (PG) - no need to panic

Toby Jones and Michael Gambon silence the doom-mongers with a worthy remake of a TV classic, says Andy Lea.

Dad's Army review: Did they like it up 'em?

Michael Gambon is glorious as Godfrey and Toby Jones charms as the deluded Captain Mainwaring in a "fond, flag-waving and family friendly" film remake.

A much-loved national treasure from the past has been dug up to leave many asking: "Shouldn't they leave it be?"

But that's a bit unfair -- Catherine Zeta-Jones isn't that bad.

She does add a touch of Hollywood glamour to a thoroughly spirited remake of a classic British comedy show.

I'm old enough to remember the original and I watched all the repeats on the Beeb.

And my report from patrol at the film's world premiere is that all the gentle wink-wink humour remains. Expect gags about being "on top" and lots of farcical hiding behind sofas.

So what if many of the jokes are older than the cast's combined age? They're the best ones. And they're delivered by great actors.

Toby Jones as Captain Mainwaring and Michael Gambon as Private Godfrey have comic timing to match the originals.

Great moments include Godfrey relieving himself against one of the platoon camouflaged as a tree.

This being a 2016 take on World War II, the females get more of a look-in, with the wives and girlfriends showing up the bumbling men.

Zeta-Jones, though, has fewer dimensions than Mainwaring's TV wife -- and we never saw her.

Of course, the action is upped for the big screen which is not always effective. Like the Walmington-on-Sea's Home Guard, this is a proud but far from perfect effort.

But, no kidding, it's sure to make you laugh.

Dad's Army review: 'permission to panic'

The beloved sitcom marches to the big screen armed with feeble gags. But thanks to a game cast - especially Toby Jones's Captain Mainwaring - it's not quite doomed.