Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you:
No adverts like this in the forums anymore.
Times and dates in your local timezone.
Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance.
Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely.
Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net.
If you are already a member then feel free to login now.
Bill Nighy, Sir Michael Gambon, Toby Jones and Sir Tom Courtenay are among the stars who will appear in a big-screen remake of classic sitcom Dad's Army.
Jones will star as Captain Mainwaring, Nighy will appear as Sergeant Wilson and Courtenay will play Corporal Jones.
Gambon will fill the role of Private Godfrey and there will also be roles for Catherine Zeta Jones, Sarah Lancashire and Mark Gatiss.
The original sitcom followed a hapless World War II Home Guard platoon.
It ran for nine series from 1968 to 1977 and is regarded as one of Britain's greatest TV comedies.
The story will see Zeta Jones play a glamorous journalist sent to report on the Walmington-on-Sea Home Guard before MI5 discovers that there is a German spy in the fictional British town.
The film will be directed by Oliver Parker, who made Johnny English Reborn, St Trinian's and Othello starring Sir Kenneth Branagh.
The script will be written by Hamish McColl, who wrote Johnny English Reborn and Mr Bean's Holiday.
The film, which will begin shooting this month in Yorkshire, has been supported by Screen Yorkshire's Yorkshire Content Fund.
Bill Nighy + Dad's Army ... wow, this is going to be awesome!
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2014/10/08 17:24:25
It's a great cast to be sure, but the whole idea is just WRONG to me. Dad's Army is comedic hallowed ground, probably the best written sitcom of all time, and any remake is fated to either not live up to the original or just do the same jokes again but worse.
I'm sure it will be a decent film looking at the cast and writer, but it won't be Dad's Army.
I have mixed feelings about this. On the one hand, Dad's Army was funny, in a pre-Loyd & Croft kind of way. On the other hand, British humor has moved far beyond those old shows and any modern movie wouldn't be true to the humor and tone of the series. If they remade Gomer Pyle USMC for today's market, all the jokes would be about sex. Not that it wouldn't necessarily be funny, but somebody going to see that movie expecting Jim Neighbor's "aw-shucks" humor would probably get offended or upset.
British humor (on TV anyways) has gotten a lot more edgy and mean-spirited (as far as I can tell over here in the US watching BBC America) and a Dad's Army movie would probably be a bitter parade of vitriol and bile smeared onto a razor blade of sharp wit. I'd laugh like hell, but it wouldn't be Dad's Army.
Also, the writer and director's past contributions to comedy do not fill me with happy fluffy bunny feelings.
Emperor's Eagles (undergoing Chapter reorganization)
Caledonian 95th (undergoing regimental reorganization)
Thousands Sons (undergoing Warband re--- wait, are any of my 40K armies playable?)
Paradigm wrote: probably the best written sitcom of all time
I really love Dad's Army but that is pretty out there.
Well, I'd say its only competition would be Blackadder if we ignore the first series, or Only Fools. There are other greats out there, but no others of that calibre.
Out of interest, if not Dad's Army, what would you rank as the best?
Paradigm wrote: probably the best written sitcom of all time
I really love Dad's Army but that is pretty out there.
Well, I'd say its only competition would be Blackadder if we ignore the first series, or Only Fools. There are other greats out there, but no others of that calibre.
Out of interest, if not Dad's Army, what would you rank as the best?
My personal favourite is Blackadder, but Fawlty Towers is also up there.
Mandorallen turned back toward the insolently sneering baron. 'My Lord,' The great knight said distantly, 'I find thy face apelike and thy form misshapen. Thy beard, moreover, is an offence against decency, resembling more closely the scabrous fur which doth decorate the hinder portion of a mongrel dog than a proper adornment for a human face. Is it possibly that thy mother, seized by some wild lechery, did dally at some time past with a randy goat?' - Mimbrate Knight Protector Mandorallen.
Excerpt from "Seeress of Kell", Book Five of The Malloreon series by David Eddings.
"You need not fear us, unless you are a dark heart, a vile one who preys on the innocent; I promise, you can’t hide forever in the empty darkness, for we will hunt you down like the animals you are, and pull you into the very bowels of hell." Iron - Within Temptation
There's very little wiggle room between those two scenarios, IMO. Even the first Dad's Army movie, with the original cast and writers, was a bit crap and made for the same reason that I'd guess this new one is being made: because they can't come up with new ideas and and they're looking to flog an old one like a piñata to see if any more pound coins fall out. What hope has this new one got, apart from shoehorning recognisable names in? (Heck, I'm still smarting from the bastardisation of the Postman Pat movie, even!)
I wonder how subtle and natural it'll be when they ram "don't tell them, Pike!" in there. They will. You know they will. It'll be the best material they have...
Paradigm wrote: probably the best written sitcom of all time
I really love Dad's Army but that is pretty out there.
Well, I'd say its only competition would be Blackadder if we ignore the first series, or Only Fools. There are other greats out there, but no others of that calibre.
Out of interest, if not Dad's Army, what would you rank as the best?
Dads Army every time. My great granda was a ww1 vet and was in the home guard, I remember him as an old man and the show always brings back fond memories of him.
I love the original but the problem is any remake will be compared to the original and Dad's army is one that should just be left alone to stand on it's own merits
Oliver Parker your name is going on ze list
Currently debating whether to study for my exams or paint some Deathwing
Paradigm wrote: probably the best written sitcom of all time
I really love Dad's Army but that is pretty out there.
Well, I'd say its only competition would be Blackadder if we ignore the first series, or Only Fools. There are other greats out there, but no others of that calibre.
Out of interest, if not Dad's Army, what would you rank as the best?
Dads Army every time. My great granda was a ww1 vet and was in the home guard, I remember him as an old man and the show always brings back fond memories of him.
Next would be porridge, super stuff.
Stupid boy!
Open All Hours is also good one I don't hear enough about.
Mandorallen turned back toward the insolently sneering baron. 'My Lord,' The great knight said distantly, 'I find thy face apelike and thy form misshapen. Thy beard, moreover, is an offence against decency, resembling more closely the scabrous fur which doth decorate the hinder portion of a mongrel dog than a proper adornment for a human face. Is it possibly that thy mother, seized by some wild lechery, did dally at some time past with a randy goat?' - Mimbrate Knight Protector Mandorallen.
Excerpt from "Seeress of Kell", Book Five of The Malloreon series by David Eddings.
"You need not fear us, unless you are a dark heart, a vile one who preys on the innocent; I promise, you can’t hide forever in the empty darkness, for we will hunt you down like the animals you are, and pull you into the very bowels of hell." Iron - Within Temptation
Emperor's Eagles (undergoing Chapter reorganization)
Caledonian 95th (undergoing regimental reorganization)
Thousands Sons (undergoing Warband re--- wait, are any of my 40K armies playable?) 
And if you're drinkin' well, you know that you're my friend and I say "I think I'll have myself a beer" 
