Wednesday 16 January 2019
Kevin R. McNally, Robert Bathurst and Bernard Cribbins are set to star in Gold's remake of Dad's Army: The Lost Episodes alongside Kevin Eldon, Mathew Horne, David Hayman and Tom Rosenthal.
McNally (Pirates of the Caribbean, Designated Survivor) will be heading up the platoon as Captain Mainwaring, with Bathurst (Cold Feet, Toast of London) following suit as Sergeant Wilson and Cribbins (Doctor Who) stepping into the role of mild-mannered Private Godfrey.
Kevin R. McNally said:
Now look here men, HQ tells me that three episodes of Dad's Army have gone missing. And it has fallen to us to step in and replace them. I have been asked to double for Captain Mainwaring and daunting as that may be, I accept the responsibility and look forward to leading the Walmington-on-Sea Home Guard in three last pushes against the Jerries. I hope you'll join us and enjoy the ride.
Robert Bathurst said:
I've played soldiers before, but find I handle guns with all the bloodcurdling authority of Sergeant Wilson. I'm looking forward to playing him. I hope we can honour Croft and Perry's lost episodes. It's a celebration of their writing, with understudies.
Bernard Cribbins said:
What a way to start the New Year. Back in khaki again - just like I was in 1947.
_
Eldon (Murder on the Blackpool Express, Damned) will try not to panic as Lance Corporal Jones, whilst Horne (Gavin & Stacey, Bad Education) reports for duty as Private Walker, Hayman (Taboo, The Paradise) as Private Frazer and Rosenthal (Friday Night Dinner, Plebs) as Pike.
Dad's Army: The Lost Episodes will air on Gold in 2019 to celebrate fifty years since the episodes were first broadcast and last seen, before they disappeared from the archives. The remakes will use the original scripts, which were written for the second series of Dad's Army by Jimmy Perry and David Croft. Dad's Army was based on an idea by Jimmy Perry.
The three episodes being recreated for Gold are from the original second series and titled The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Walker, A Stripe for Frazer and Under Fire. The UKTV Original series has been commissioned by Pete Thornton, head of scripted, and ordered by Richard Watsham, director of commissioning and Steve North, genre general manager of entertainment and comedy.
Dad's Army: The Lost Episodes joins a strong line up of new UKTV Originals on Gold, including Death on the Tyne, Morecambe and Wise in America and David Jason: Planes, Trains & Automobiles.
Notes to Editors:
Bernard Cribbins volunteered for the Parachute Regiment in 1947 after being called up for his National Service. Further details can be found here: www.paradata.org.uk/people/bernard-cribbins
For more information, please contact:
Kelly Phelps, Publicist, UKTV
About Gold
Sky 110, Virgin 124, BT and TalkTalk 310 On demand on Sky, Virgin and Now TV
Dedicated to celebrating the best of British comedy, Gold is the nation's favourite comedy channel. Much-loved comedy series such as Only Fools and Horses, The Vicar of Dibley and The Royle Family sit alongside an array of successful UKTV Originals including David Jason: My Life on Screen, The Rebel, The Story of Only Fools and Horses, and Murder on the Blackpool Express, which stars a stunning cast including Johnny Vegas and Sian Gibson. The feature length UKTV Original attracted 1.72 million viewers in its first week in 2017, making it Gold's highest ever rating show.
The perfect tonic to make you laugh whatever the time of day, Gold shows universally funny content that everyone can enjoy.
gold.uktv.co.uk | @goldchannel
About UKTV
UKTV is a commercial broadcaster reaching almost 40m viewers every month.
The award-winning independent has eleven imaginative brands - UKTV Play, Dave, W, Gold, Alibi, Yesterday, Drama, Really, Home, Eden and Good Food. These include the two most popular non-PSB channels in the UK and account for nearly 10% of the British commercial TV market.
The network delivers inspired channels to audiences through Freeview, Sky, Virgin Media, BT, TalkTalk, YouView, Freesat, Amazon Fire and UKTV Play, and distributes its highly valued original programmes to 200 territories. Now celebrating over 20 years at the forefront of digital television, UKTV - an independent commercial joint venture between BBC Studios and Discovery, Inc. - is proud to be the first British television broadcaster in The Sunday Times top 100 companies list.