Dad's Army (2016 film)

Dad's Army
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Oliver Parker
Produced by	Damian Jones
Screenplay by	Hamish McColl
Based on	Dad's Army by David Croft and Jimmy Perry
Starring	Bill Nighy Catherine Zeta-Jones Toby Jones Tom Courtenay Michael Gambon Blake Harrison Daniel Mays Bill Paterson
Music by	Charlie Mole
Cinematography	Christopher Ross
Edited by	Guy Bensley
Production company	DJ Films
Distributed by	Universal Pictures
Release dates	5 February 2016 (2016-02-05) (United Kingdom)
Running time	100 minutes
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English
Box office	$12.8 million

Dad's Army is a 2016 British war comedy film, based on the BBC television sitcom Dad's Army. Directed by Oliver Parker, set in 1944, after the events depicted in the television series. The story sees Catherine Zeta-Jones play a glamorous journalist, who is sent to report on the Walmington-on-Sea Home Guard platoon. This is all before MI5 discovers that there is a German spy, hiding in the fictional British town.

The production design was by Simon Bowles, and the cinematography by Christopher Ross. The film was released on 5 February 2016 in the United Kingdom by Universal Pictures.

Plot

The film is set during 1944, near the end of the Second World War in sight. In Walmington-on-Sea, Captain Mainwaring's Home Guard suffers from sense of confidence and usefulness and from low motivation. This is until a glamorous journalist, Rose Winters arrives to cover a report on the platoon's exploits and activities. All the men are riled up with her presence, especially Captain Mainwaring and Sergeant Wilson. Meanwhile, MI5 have discovered a radio signal transmitted from Walmington towards Berlin, apparently the work of a spy. This gives Home Guard a chance to make a real presence in the war. The troop tries to catch the spy, Rose informs the troop that Sergeant Wilson is the spy and Mainwaring believes her and arrests him. Meanwhile towns two old bats speculate from their investigative evidence that Rose is the foreign agent among them. Winters record the information that the base set at Walmington is a dummy one for German satellites. The troop and their army wives rally to stop Winters and they engage in a cross fire with a German U-boat and a bunch of wehrmacht soldiers helping Winters to escape. The u-boat flees without boarding Winters. Captain Mainwaring arrests Winters and hands them over to MI5. The town celebrates the troops achievement.

Cast

• Bill Nighy as Sergeant Wilson
• Catherine Zeta-Jones as Rose Winters
• Toby Jones as Captain Mainwaring
• Tom Courtenay as Lance Corporal Jones
• Michael Gambon as Private Godfrey
• Blake Harrison as Private Pike
• Daniel Mays as Private Walker
• Bill Paterson as Private Frazer
• Sarah Lancashire as Mrs Pike
• Mark Gatiss as Colonel Theakes
• Emily Atack as Daphne
• Alison Steadman as Mrs Fox
• Holli Dempsey as Vera
• Annette Crosbie as Cissy Godfrey
• Ian Lavender as Brigadier Pritchard
• Frank Williams as The Reverend Timothy Farthing (Credited only as 'The Vicar')
• Felicity Montagu as Mrs Mainwaring
• Martin Savage as Warden Hodges
• Oliver Tobias as Admiral Canaris
• Julia Foster as Dolly Godfrey
• Jacqueline Tong as Mrs Todd

Ian Lavender makes a cameo as Brigadier Pritchard, providing a link with the original series, Frank Williams reprises his role as the Vicar. The regular series character of the Verger Maurice Yeatman was not recreated for the film. Mrs. Mainwaring, who was a completely unseen character for the whole of the original series, now has a prominently visible role in the film, where she is portrayed as a Chief Volaunteer of the local Auxiliary Territorial Service, and is even more pompous, domineering and vociferous than her husband.

Production

Filming began in Yorkshire in October 2014. Principal photography took place at North Landing, Flamborough Head and Bridlington. The East Riding Theatre in Beverley was used for Church Hall/Parade room and Captain Mainwaring's office. Sections of the film were also captured in Leeds and Pickering.

Location filming for the film, at North Landing, Flamborough Head, Yorkshire. The scene involved German soldiers shooting with rifles and machine gun from behind their landing craft, at some of Captain Mainwaring's platoon. These are taking shelter behind 'concrete' anti-tank emplacements.

Michael Gambon as Private Godfrey, on the set of Dad's Army in October 2014. Filming took place on the beach at North Landing, Flamborough Head, Yorkshire, and at nearby Bridlington.

Reception

Dad's Army has received negative reviews from critics. The film currently has a 33% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 28 reviews, with an average rating of 4.9 On Metacritic, it has a score of 38 out of 100, based on 7 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".

Sean O'Grady, of The Independent, gave the film a five star review, remarking that rather than threatening the series' legacy, it "surpasses the original", calling it a "well-crafted reproduction" containing all the elements that made the original so clever, durable and loveable.

Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian was less convinced, giving it just two stars, arguing that "it’s hard to escape the sinking feeling that this is a waste of talent – and that this is a good-natured, well-meaning but pointless kind of Brit-comedy ancestor worship, paying elaborate homage to a TV show that got it right the first time."

External links

• Dad's Army at IMDb
• Dad's Army at British Comedy Guide