Dad's Army Podcast

James and Oliver are back with a commentary to the series 3 episode, War Dance. Enjoy this commentary – I don't think we've ever made so many mistakes during a recording! Well, all these commentaries are recorded ‘as live’ with no editing and quite honestly, under the influence of a bottle of rather nice white wine... Episode 51 will be out late August and will feature coverage of this year’s Dad’s Army weekend held in June – and what a weekend that was! I was able to record interviews with Jimmy Perry, Michael Knowles and Harold Snoad along with a few others. It was great to meet so many listeners over the weekend too – thank you all for being so friendly and complimentary about the podcast.We will also announce the winner of the competition on the next show, so keep your ears tuned if you entered! Thanks also to everyone who has sent in feedback – once again we’ve had a load and Oliver and I look forward to going through it all in detail in a future podcast very soon.Send in your feedback to us at james

James and Oliver are back with episode 49 of the Dad's Army podcast. This month is a feedback episode - you've all been so busy writing to us we've had to dedicate an entire podcast to discussing all your thoughts and opinions about all things Dad's Army! Thank you all so much - it's an absolute joy to receive so many emails.We'll be back next month with coverage of the Dad's Army weekend being held in Thetford in June. Let us know if you are planning to go!In the meantime, please keep the feedback coming in - james@dadsarmypodcast.com or oliver@dadsarmypodcast.com are the e-mail addresses you need. You can follow both of on Twitter - www.twitter.com/dadsarmypodcast and www.twitter.com/olivercrockerEnjoy the show.

Hello and welcome to episode 48 of the Dad’s Army podcast. Yes, this is the second DAP in under a month! This time around, Oliver and I catch up on the latest Dad’s Army news – of which there has been quite a bit! From restored props to a new DVD, we cover it all here.We also welcome Paul Carpenter from the Dad’s Army Appreciation Society back to the show to preview the upcoming Dad’s Army weekend being held in Thetford and Bressingham over the weekend of the 19th and 20th June 2010 - some really exciting events are planned to celebrate everything Dad's Army. The next podcast will be a review of the new Dad’s Army Marches On stage play – you’ll hear what I think along with the reaction of other audience members fresh out of the theatre. That should be online in the first week of June or thereabouts.As always, keep your feedback coming into either james@dadsarmypodcast.com or oliver@dadsarmypodcast.com, follow us on twitter at www.twitter.com/dadsarmypodcast or www.twitter.com/olivercrocker and leave comme

Hello and welcome to a special edition of the Dad’s Army podcast. Oliver goes it alone this edition and covers the recent Perry and Croft tribute luncheon organised by the Heritage Foundation. Sit back and enjoy speeches from Frank Williams, Pamela Cundell, Bill Pertwee, Harold Snoad, Jimmy Perry, Su Pollard, Ruth Madoc, Vicki Michelle and Paul Shane. The sound quality in this podcast is varied and some speeches are clearer than others – but I didn’t want to cut anything!We’ll be back towards the end of May with Episode 48, and will bring you a preview of the Dad’s Army weekend at Thetford being held in June this year. All good stuff!As always, please send in your feedback to us as james@dadsarmypodcast.com, follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/dadsarmypodcast and make sure you enter our competition! Your chance to win an entire set of Dad’s Army DVDs. Stay tuned beyond the closing credits for details or take a listen to Episode 46.Enjoy the show!

Hello and welcome to a rather special edition of the Dad’s Army podcast. Special for two reasons – one, we have an absolute first here; we have a member of the cast join Oliver and I for a commentary podcast - yes, Mr Frank Williams, better known as the Vicar of Walmington on Sea, joins us in commentating on the classic series six episode, The Royal Train. This episode is one of Frank’s favourites and hearing his memories about making the programme is a joy to behold.As I said, this episode is special for two reasons – the second is that this is your opportunity to bag yourself the whole set of Dad’s Army DVDs by entering our new competition. Yes, series one to nine and the three Christmas specials are up for grabs by simply identifying eleven clips from the series. Could it be simpler?! Take a listen and find out! Feedback as always is welcome – send it in to james@dadsarmypodcast.com. You can also follow us on twitter at www.twitter.com/dadsarmypodcast or www.twitter.com/olivercrocker.

Hello and welcome to podcast 45! Firstly, the podcast is a little later than usual this month so apologies for that – but hopefully the content makes up for it! This month Oliver and I go through the latest Dad’s Army news, and once again empty the bulging podcast mailbag. Thanks once again to everyone who has sent in feedback – you’ve raised some great points and we thoroughly enjoyed sitting back, eating a toasted cheese supper and sipping some rather fine black-market port whilst reading your emails! We also welcome Tony Gallichan to the show who joins me to discuss the very first episode of Dad’s Army, The Man and the Hour. You can hear Tony over at the Flashing Blade podcast talk about all things Doctor Who at www.flashingblade.org.uk Next month we have a rather special episode for you. Keep your eyes peeled for a commentary episode with a member of the cast in mid-April!Thanks again for listening and please keep your feedback coming in – james@dadsarmypodcast.com. You can follow James on Twitter a

Hello and welcome to Episode 44 of the Dad’s Army podcast. This month Oliver and I discuss the recent Dad’s Army board game/e-bay story, read a review from one of our listeners on Nicolas Ridley’s new book about his father - Godfey’s Ghost, and to a triumphant fanfare, announce the winner of the signed copy of that very book. All that, and a commentary on the superb series six episode, The Honourable Man. What more could you possibly ask for?!In March’s podcast, we’ll be reviewing the very first episode of Dad’s Army, The Man and the Hour, so please send in your thoughts and comments to me at james@dadsarmypodcast.com and we’ll read them out and discuss them during our review.As usual, you can follow the podcast on twitter – www.twitter.com/dadsarmypodcast and keep an eye on the blog – yes, despite me neglecting it far too much! That’s over at www.dadsarmypodcast.blogspot.com.Enjoy the show.

Happy New Year everyone! And welcome to the first Dad's Army podcast of 2010. This month Oliver and I catch up on the Dad’s Army news and spend pretty much the remainder of the podcast going through the loads of fantastic feedback we’ve received. You really have been very busy sending in your views and its humbling when I consider the amount of time and effort you have all put into airing your opinions via the podcast. I am also pleased to include a superb piece recorded especially for the podcast by Dave Homewood. Dave introduces himself during this episode and has a rich history in Dad’s Army fandom. His website is http://www.cambridgeairforce.org.nz/ and follow the Dad’s Army link.Next month will be a commentary podcast on The Honourable Man – feel free to send in your thoughts about this episode.Please keep your views coming in – james@dadsarmypodcast.com is the email address to get in touch. Our twitter page is www.twitter.com/dadsarmypodcast. Hope you enjoy the show.

Merry Christmas everyone!Pull up a chair, make a toasted cheese supper and see if Walker has a spare bottle of whiskey handy – this is our 2009 Christmas special! Oliver joins me once again and together we commentate on Turkey Dinner – the unofficial festive edition of Dad’s Army. Why Turkey Dinner gets shown as Christmas is anybody’s guess as it has nothing to do with Christmas and certainly does not appear to be set in winter! If you have any ideas then send them in to me at james@dadsarmypodcast.com! In the meantime, have a great Christmas and we’ll be back with a regular episode in late January. Oh, and keep an ear out for a special Christmas message from a mystery man of the cloth!Enjoy the show.

And welcome to a very special episode of the Dad’s Army podcast. This episode of the show features coverage of the ‘Vicar n Chips’ event held in London on 21 November this year. We bring you Frank’s interview in its entirety – that’s over an hour Frank spent talking to Tony and I, along with brief interviews with the producer and director Frank has been working with recently. We also feature a snippet of Frank’s interview with Radio London and some clips of Frank’s more recent acting work.You can see Frank on his very own YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/user/frankwilliamstv The event and this podcast is the culmination of an incredible amount of work put into organising the event, and my thanks go to Oliver Crocker and Paul Carpenter for their invaluable help in putting the evening together.Don’t forget to check out a review of the evening over on the podcast’s blog www.dadsarmypodcast.blogspot.com and please send you feedback to us at james@dadsarmypodcast.comEnjoy the show!

Welcome to Episode 40 of the Dad’s Army podcast.This time around we interview Nicolas Ridley, Arnold’s son and discuss many aspects of Arnold’s life and career. Of course Nicolas is able to provide a unique insight into the life of his father and talks about Arnold’s involvement in both world wars, his outlook on life and his attitude towards fame. Nicolas has recently written a book about his father called Godfrey’s Ghost: From Father to Son. I really enjoyed the book – for me, it stands out from the other books you may have read about the stars from Dad’s Army, partly because of the way it is told and partly as you know the facts that are given in the texts are indisputable. You can win a signed copy of the book by answering the question Nicolas asks at the end of the interview – email your entries to james@dadsarmypodcast.com and include the words ‘Godfrey’s Ghost’ in the subject line.Alternatively, you can buy Nicolas’ book from Amazon or other on-line retailers, or find out more about it from Mogzill

This special mini-podcast is to give you a flavour of what is to come at the forthcoming event, 'An Evening with Frank Williams' that is taking place on 21 November 2009 in Kentish Town in London.The event will see the premier of the full, un-cut version of 'Dad's Army and Beyond: The Frank Williams Story'. Frank will be present for a Q&A session after the screening.For full details, including how to book, head on over to www.dadsarmypodcast.blogspot.comThe next full podcast will be out mid-November - in the meantime, keep your feedback coming in - james@dadsarmypodcast.com is the way to get your voice heard on the show.

Hello and welcome to podcast number 39. This is an additional episode to normal schedule, and features a commentary on series nine’s Number Engaged. The idea is that you watch the episode with the sound down and subtitles on at the same time you listen to this podcast. As this has been the first commentary for some time, I have recorded a brief intro too which should help you sync the episode on your DVD/Computer with the commentary.Oliver Crocker joins me for this podcast, and I have to say that his knowledge and ability recall facts about Dad’s Army facts is far superior to my own! Ah well, he’s younger than me!Please send your feedback to james@dadsarmypodcast.com – pretty much all feedback is read out on a future show.Enjoy the podcast.

Welcome to the latest edition of the Dad’s Army podcast. This month we continue to sift through the vast swathes of feedback that fills up our mailbag – thank you so much to listeners who have sent in e-mails over the last month – it really is very much appreciated. This month’s feedback includes Morris dancing, Dad’s Army in the United States and Mrs Mainwaring’s bottom – although not in that order! Remember to vote for either Number Engaged or Everybody’s Trucking – podcast 39 will be out in couple of weeks and will form a commentary on whichever these two episodes gets the most votes! Register your vote by sending an e-mail to me at james@dadsarmypodcast.com or by leaving a ‘tweet’ for me on Twitter where my username is dadsarmypodcast.Remember to take a look at Katie’s new James Beck website - http://www.jamesbeckonline.co.uk/Enjoy the show!

Hello and welcome to Episode 37 of the Dad’s Army podcast.Lots of really interesting news this month – we announce the first event that the Dad’s Army podcast has had a hand in organising (along with the Appreciation Society) and that’s a ‘Vicar and Chips’ evening being held in November 2009 with none other than Frank Williams. Tune in to find out more! We also cover the imminent publication of Nicolas Ridley’s book about his father (Arnold Ridley, Pte Godfrey) and review Ian Lavender’s recent interview on LBC Radio.All that, and loads of feedback! We finally go through the podcast’s mailbag and read the vast swathes of e-mails listeners have sent in. Along with a short review of The Armoured Might of Lance Corporal Jones, what more could you possibly want?!Oh, I made a rather big error when discussing Everybody’s Trucking – I mistook it for Number Engaged! Apologies, and I will address on the September podcast.The urls mentioned in the promos that feature in this episode are:The Box Room: http://theboxroo

Welcome once again to another edition of the Dad’s Army podcast. This month we bring you an absolutely jammed-packed episode full of features. Frank Williams and Oliver Crocker join me to discuss the vicar-centric episode The Recruit. We also feature the speeches made by Bill Pertwee, David Croft, Jimmy Perry, Harold Snoad, Philip Madoc, John Clegg, Michael Knowles and Frank once again at the Dad’s Army Appreciation Society’s Members Meal. If that wasn’t enough we also go through the most recent Dad’s Army news. Given this podcast runs at just over an hour, the feedback section I mention in the intro will now feature in podcast 37 which is due for an August release.Don’t forget to check out all the news stories we mention on the Dad’s Army podcast’s blog at www.dadsarmypodcast.blogspot.com and follow me on Twitter at www.twitter.com/dadsarmypodcastAs always, please send your feedback to me at james@dadsarmypodcast.com.Enjoy the show.

Colin Bean, who played Private Sponge, passed away on Saturday 20 June 2009. Sponge featured in 76 of the 80 episodes and was No 2 section’s leader. Colin was a great advocate of everything Dad's Army stands for and his presence at Dad's Army events will be sorely missed.Colin even suggested a story to the writers that centred around the platoon helping harvest a wheat crop as he had seen Home Guard members do when he was young. The result was 1972s All Is Safely Gathered In - a highly regarded episode to this day and remembered for Jones antics with a threshing machine.Rest in peace Colin, and thank you for contributing to what so many perceive as a phenominal piece of comedy gold.

Welcome to Podcast 35 part 2! This ten minutes or should have been on the end of the last podcast – however, as I let Jones and Pike edit that particular edition, there was a technical foul up. Right up. Anyway, here’s part 2 of the 2009 Locations Tour. Frank Williams (the Vicar) joins us as we visit more locations used in the filming of Dad’s Army.Don’t forget to send me your feedback – james@dadsarmypodcast.com. Look forward to speaking to you all once again in podcast 36 next month.Enjoy the podcast.

Hello and welcome to part 1 of Episode 35 - a very special edition of the Dad’s Army podcast. Special, for two reasons – (1) it’s the 2009 Locations Tour podcast and (2) I had a nightmare in editing this edition so it’s much shorter than usual – and this is also the reason why the podcast has been delayed so much this time around.Anyway - the day before Perry and Croft day 2009, a group of intrepid Dad’s Army fans boarded a double decker bus (a routemaster, no less) and ventured over Stanta – the huge Ministry of Defence training ground used by the Dad’s Army production crew for the vast majority of location shooting back in the 1960 and 70s. We were accompanied by a very large soldier who prevented us from getting blown up. This podcast are (the majority) of the recordings I made during the tour. Frank Williams (the Vicar) joined us and regaled us with tales of filming Dad's Army. Tony Pritchard of the Dad’s Army Appreciation Society provides the inside info on a number of locations.So hop on the bus, com

Welcome to another edition of the Dad’s Army podcast. This month, Paul Carpenter from the Dad’s Army Appreciation Society joins me for the whole episode and previews the premier event on the Society’s calendar, the 2009 Perry and Croft Day which is due to be held on Sunday 10 May at Bressingham Steam Museum. The museums's website is http://www.bressingham.co.uk/ Paul announces which of the stars will be appearing (subject to work commitments and good health) and provides an insight into what it takes to put on such an event. We then discuss the first episode of Dad’s Army I ever saw, Don’t forget the Diver – an absolute classic series 4 episode from 1970.Episode 35 of the podcast will feature a number of interviews and chats with the stars of Dad’s Army - I hope to be talking to several of the cast and crew at Bressingham next week. Take a listen to episodes 20 and 21 of the podcast to hear coverage of last years event.As per ususal, we’d love to hear from you, so please send in your feedback to us at jam