Don't Panic! Dad's Army 'Ghost Billboard' appears in London

Dad's Army Mural

45ft mural installed in Clerkenwell, East London took four artists from street art collective Global Street Art Agency 50 hours to create

19 August 2019

  • Giant 1940s recruitment style mural for Dad's Army: The Lost Episodes appears in London
  • 'Ghost billboard' designed to appear as if it has re-emerged after being lost to the ages
  • Dad's Army: The Lost Episodes starts on Sunday 25th August at 8pm on Gold

To celebrate the release of Dad's Army: The Lost Episodes on Gold, UKTV has unveiled a huge 1940s army-recruitment style mural which has been specially designed to look as if it has been in place for decades.

The specially created, time-weathered 'ghost billboard' harks back to WW2 propaganda advertising and has been designed to appear as if it has re-emerged after being lost to the ages.

Working with Hearts & Science and Talon Outdoor, the 45ft tall mural installed in Clerkenwell, East London took four artists from street art collective Global Street Art Agency 50 hours to painstakingly create using a combination of emulsion and over 250 cans of spray-paint. The mural was sandblasted to make it looked aged and is the first of its kind to be created by Global Street Art Agency. The artwork, designed by UKTV Creative head of design Peter Allinson, features the new cast from the re-made episodes of the much loved British comedy classic.

Dad's Army: The Lost Episodes | Time Lapse Mural

Scott Russell, creative director at UKTV, said:

Ghost adverts, original hand painted murals that date back to the 1920s, 30s and 40s can still be seen on the sides of thousands of buildings up and down the country. The idea, a ghost billboard 'found' after years of being lost, fitted perfectly with Gold's lost episodes of Dad's Army, along with the creative execution of a 1940s style poster. We hope it's a fitting tribute to this much-loved show that will delight fans of Dad's Army.

Crowds gathered as the artists meticulously worked to create the design, which calls on fans to 'Join Dad's Army' and complete the story together. The artwork will be in place until 2 September for fans to see.

The highly anticipated Dad's Army: The Lost Episodes re-creates three episodes from the second series of the beloved wartime comedy, The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Walker, A Stripe for Frazer and Under Fire are set to air from Sunday 25th August, celebrating fifty years since the episodes were first broadcast and last seen on TV.

The BBC routinely reused tapes after broadcast from 1967 - 1978 and subsequently the original recordings of the three episodes were all seemingly destroyed or reused as they have never been found.

The remakes, produced by Mercury Productions, use the original scripts written by comedy legends Jimmy Perry and David Croft and feature an all-star British cast including Kevin McNally as Captain Mainwaring, Robert Bathurst as Sergeant Wilson, Kevin Eldon as Lance Corporal Jones, David Hayman as Private Frazer, Mathew Horne as Private Walker, Tom Rosenthal as Private Pike and Timothy West as Private Godfrey.

Gold channel director, Gerald Casey added:

I'm thrilled that we are now ready to re-share these previously lost masterpieces with the public. As a huge fan of the show myself, it has been an honour to help complete the Dad's Army story.

Dad's Army: The Lost Episodes starts 25 August 8pm on Gold

@goldtvchannel | @uktv | #DadsArmy

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Gold

For more information please contact:

Ali Laurie, Network Comms Executive, UKTV

Notes to Editors

All images available to download HERE

The ghost billboard is part of an above-the-line campaign featuring innovative print formats in national media including a Daily Mirror masthead takeover with the iconic Dad's Army arrow, an innovative ad format with The Sun, radio spots on Global and digital media formats. Extensive PR support has seen an experiential screening in an army recruitment centre, talent junkets and photoshoots including recreating original publicity shots and a Radio Times cover from the 1970s. While social on Gold's Twitter and Facebook pages sees the cast explore what it was like to create the episodes and will include an exclusive short film on outtakes and bloopers after the series airs.

About Gold

Sky 110/810, 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 Only Fools and Horses and The Royle Family sit comfortably alongside a whole host of heart-warming UKTV Originals from retrospective series Saluting Dad's Army, dinnerladies diaries and How The Young Ones Changed Comedy, to the feature length comedy capers Murder on the Blackpool Express and Death on the Tyne. Plus, all-new three part scripted series The Cockfields airing later this year.

Gold is exclusively remaking three lost episodes of the comedy classic Dad's Army, with 2019 marking fifty years since the episodes were first broadcast and last seen. Using the original scripts, which were written for the second series by Jimmy Perry and David Croft, Dad's Army: The Lost Episodes stars a stunning cast including Kevin R McNally as Captain Mainwaring, Robert Bathurst as Sergeant Wilson and Timothy West as mild-mannered Private Godfrey.

The perfect tonic to make you laugh whatever the time of day, Gold tickles with universally funny shows that everyone can enjoy.

Gold.uktv.co.uk / @goldtvchannel

About UKTV

UKTV has been at the forefront of branded television for over 25 years, entertaining the nation with programmes they love. Its leading brands - Dave, Gold, W, Drama, Alibi, Eden and Yesterday - span comedy, entertainment, natural history, factual and drama, and are delivered to audiences through UKTV Play, Freeview, Sky, Virgin Media, BT, TalkTalk, YouView, Freesat and Amazon Fire. The broadcaster is a significant investor in British creativity and is committed to working with new and established writers, directors and programme-makers.

UKTV is part of BBC Studios, the UK's most-awarded production company, a world-class distributor with international branded services, and a commercial subsidiary of the world's leading public service broadcaster, the BBC.

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