“We just want to give the audience as authentic and accurate a performance as we can.”
Dad’s Army will march again with three new audio adaptations due to be released on Tuesday 16th January.
Ever since David Benson and Jack Lane began touring their Dad’s Army Radio Show, the popularity for the comedy classic has continued to grow.
In the tour, the pair perform live versions of the series’ radio scripts on stage, and following its success Penny Croft, daughter of David Croft (co-creator of the TV series), invited them to make their own versions of three Dad’s Army scripts, which had never before been adapted
The three scripts were taken from the 13 episodes that were never adapted for the original radio series, which aired between 1974 and 1976.
As the show toured at The Capitol Theatre in Horsham, Big Finish captured the response of a modern audience to Dad’s Army, and now the audio recording is due to be released on 16th January.
Dad’s Army: The Radio Show is available to pre-order as a collector’s edition double CD and download for £15.99, or digital download only for £12.99, at bigfinish.com.
All editions include 30 minutes of behind-the-scenes interviews and extras, in addition to the three never-before-heard adaptations of classic Dad’s Army episodes.
The episodes that have been adapted are: When You’ve Got to Go, My Brother and I, and Never Too Old.
Big Finish chairman Jason Haigh-Ellery said: “Dad’s Army is one of Britain’s most-loved comedies, and we are absolutely delighted to bring these adaptations of television episodes to life on audio at Big Finish, with the superb David Benson and Jack Lane perfectly capturing each of the characters we all know and love.”
Benson added: “Both Jack and I love Dad’s Army every bit as much as the audiences who come to see us. We are not trying to send it up, to modernise it or to muck about with it in any way.
“We just want to give the audience as authentic and accurate a performance as we can – to be as true to the character and tone of the original as possible. For us, the greatest compliment of all was when Penny Croft and the Croft family gave us their firm approval after coming to see the show on tour.
“We revere the work of their father so greatly, so when she said, ‘Dad would have loved what you are doing with his and Jimmy’s writing,’ we were deeply moved and honoured.”
Read more:
- Not Going Out’s Lee Mack and Sally Bretton reflect on 100 episodes
- Green Wing writers pen police training academy comedy Piglets for ITVX
Check out more of our Comedy coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what’s on.
Try Radio Times magazine today and get 10 issues for only £10 – subscribe now. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.