Frank Thornton

Used with permission from Helen James Productions Ltd.

(2010)Tony who created a “This is Your Life” site has a section for Frank at:

http://www.bigredbook.info/frank_thornton.html

All 3 images ©Thames Television International

Thanks to Tony who runs his TIYL site at: http://www.bigredbook.info/

PBS
(1994)”A Conversation with Capt. Peacock”

John Inman

Radio Shows

Mollie Sugden

Interviews

http://www.teletronic.co.uk/molliesugden.htm

A Brief History

(Transcribed by Ellen Holbrook)

MOLLIE: The word “knickers” has such a naughty, saucy connotation,
doesn’t it? You know, it’s not a word people use very often. I was
having tea, we were all sitting around a table. Sitting next to me
was a boy, he’d be about eight years old and obviously he had been
told to behave himself and equally obvious he had no intention of
behaving himself and he kept muttering things under his breath, little
rude words and now and again just pinching me and I could see that his
mother knew what he was doing and was terribly embarrassed and so I
just turned to him and said: “and knickers to you!” Well, you’ve never
seen such an expression and he couldn’t believe his ears that a
grown-up would use such a rude word, but mind you it did the trick
because he behaved himself after that!

INTRODUCER: Embarrassment about underwear can start at a very early
age, as Mollie Sugden recalls:

MOLLIE: I cannot tell you what we wore as children, I mean I can
remember when I was about five years old, which was over seventy years
ago, so remember, but we wore the most amazing amount of clothes. I
remember having “combs” or “combinations” and they were like a vest
and knickers all in one, and then underneath that there’d be a Liberty
Bodice, I don’t know if you have ever seen a Liberty Bodice, they have
to be seen to be believed! And they have little rubber buttons all
around to which were attached suspenders with little buttonholes
made out of leather and you would fasten these buttonholes onto the
little rubber buttons on your Liberty Bodice and they held up your
black stockings and then on top of all that you had knickers and they
were – well, just the usual navy blue school knickers, you know, with
elastic around the bottom but it was terrible to show any leg, but it
was terribly difficult because the suspenders were rather long and
therefore there was usually a gap in between the knicker leg and the
the top of your stockings and one wore such short gym tunics and I was
in mortal terror in case a boy should see the top of my leg between my
knickers and my stockings and the awful thing about these wretched
suspenders was if you bent down quickly they went “ping!” the button
came off and you were left with suspenders hanging down, it was
dreadful! I don’t know how I managed to grow up at all. *laughs* I
don’t know why I didn’t die of shame!

MOLLIE: I remember my husband saying, “You would like a different pair
of knickers for every day of the year – three hundred and sixty-five
pairs of knickers!” and he’d used to go in just before Christmas and
he’d go into the ladies department with no shame at all and say: “I
want the sexiest pair of knickers you’ve got” *laughs* and the
assistant used to be quite amazed, *laugh* so it certainly didn’t
worry him but I mean in those days, remember I’ve been married for
forty years, they weren’t as sexy as they are now, they weren’t taken
back. *laughs* It was nothing like they have nowadays.”

(Article used with permission from Ellen).

Michael Attwell

“First clip of chat show pilot hosted by Bernard Braden and featuring Michael Attwell as a guest at the time he was starring as Razor Eddie in Turtle’s Progress. Michael Attwell sings My Time of Day from Guys and Dolls and tells funny stories about filming with horses.”-Jake Attwell

(Clip and text used with permission from Jake Attwell).

Trevor Bannister

Interview With Trevor Bannister At The Churchill Theatre In Bromley

This has been done word for word. ME: Could you give me a brief description on what Scissor Happy is all about?

TREVOR B: Well Scissor Happy is a very unusual play, it is also a unique play. It is a comedy thriller which is set in a hairdressing salon and involves the people cutting the hair, and the customers. There are half a dozen people in the play. Up above the hair dreesing salon which is set in London lives a lady called Isabel Czerny who was a famous retired concert pianist who actually owns the whole building and the property, suddenly she is found to be murdered and I’m in the salon pretinding to be a customer when in actual fact I am policeman and we’ve had the place under survaliance- my assistant and myself becuse we have been following a certain person who has come in for a haircut. We then however find there is a murder on our hands which we hadn’t anticipated obviously . The rest is about me as a policeman trying to unravel the murder and question everybody, the imortant thing about the play is tht it involves the audience, they are the witnesses to the murder as I didn’t see everything that happened, so it is a question and answer situation and very much a adlib situation with the entire audience, they are the play so with their questions I re-construct and if it’s not being re-constructed as the way it happened originally they have to point that out to me and tell me what went wrong and what was different. It is very funny and is a very entriging piece and a lot of fun,but the audience actually solve the crime.The decide who the killer is and that can vary from suspect to suspect each night so obvioulsy the play is never the same twice ever.

ME: So are there millions of endings or are there set ones?

TREVOR B: Well there are three set endings, there are three possible suspects in the play and it could be anyone of those people so the audience decide who they think is the villin that night and that’s the way we perform the rest of the play. iT is very funny and for the people in America of course it is a American play really although we are doing it in England. In America it has being running in Washington and Boston for 20 odd years and over there it is called “Sheer Madness”, not “Scissor Happy”.

ME: How long does the play run for?

TREVOR B: We are on tour for 20 weeks, next week when we finish here in Bromely we then go to Eastbourne for 8 weeks during the summer.

ME: Do you enjoy your role as a detective?

TREVOR B: I enjoy this role particulary as it involves talking to the audience which is a unique experience for actors as we usually work with a imaginary forth wall, we pretend there is no audience there, but this reverses that totally so we have to be very aware of the audience.

ME: I saw “Funny Money” last year and you were a detective then.

TREVOR B: Yes, it was a very different piece.

ME: Do you prefer acting on the stage or on television?

TREVOR B: Bascially I prefer the theatre, I started in the theatre and that is where my roots are. I think most actors are more at home in the theatre. I love television I always enjoy doing television, I suppose I must have done over 500/600 televisions over the years, and a number of films, which I also enjoy but I do prefer theatre.

ME: When you are in theatre you cannot cut parts out though.

TREVOR B: No, what you see happens at the time, that’s the wonderful thing about live theatre is that, that performance will never be repeated beacuse you never get the same two performances exactly the same although we aren’t changing the line or anything except in the case of the play I’m doing at the moment which is a adlib piece, but generally speaking no you obvioulsy stick to the text and things, but things then vary beacsuse we are very reliant on the reaction of the audience.

ME: People though tend to laugh more when things go wrong.

TREVOR B: Well they do laugh when things go wrong, I don’t like to see things go wrong and don’t think any of us do really, but ocassionly things do go wrong that we don’t want to happen.

ME: Have you got ny plans for Television?

TREVOR B: No, not for television, I’m going to be back in the theatre after this and Christmas doing pantomime, I was there last year and they’ve asked me to come back again so I’m looking forward to that, it should be nice.

ME: I heard you have plans to go to America, is it this year?

TREVOR B: There are plans for me to go to America, I go over to America every year or two to appear on PBS over there on the streght amnd popularity of Are You Being Served?and I help with their fundraising which they perform once or twice a year.

ME: Do you keep in touch with any of the cast?

TREVOR B: Yes, I’m in touch with them, in fact most of them. Only a couple of weeks ago I was at a awards ceremony dinner at a hotel in London with Wendy, John, Mollie and one or to others. We do see each other quite often, I see quite a lot of Frank Thornton as we are very old friends from way back before “Are You Being Served?”, and I still see a fair amount of Mollie, John and so on.

ME: I know it was your decision to leave the programme, but did you ever watch the last few series you were not in and think to yourself how it would be nice to still be in the programme?

TREVOR B: No, I was very happy with the decision I made which was to after 8 years move on. No, I never watched the programme, not when I was in it or after I had left it.

Thank you very much Trevor for answering my questions.

(By Ellen Holbrook; used with permission).

“Private Sponge Speaks!”
A chat with Colin Bean

Colin Bean was a longtime member and supporter of the New Zealand Branch of the DAAS, and he was the first member of the Dad’s Army cast to give an interview for “Platoon Attention!” Here is that interview, with an insight into the life of the man who played Private Sponge, from Issue Three, published in Issue Three, August 1995. My interview with Colin Bean, was conducted May 1995 before Tadge Muldonn’s death.

Dave: Colin, were you ever in the Home Guard during the war yourself or were you too young? If so, was it just like Dad’s Army?

Colin: No. When the war started I was already in the scouts; when a school unit was formed I was, for a time, a member of the Air Training Corps. Things mechanical and mathematical have never been of interest to me and so I handed in my uniform when I became 16 so that I could be a Fire Watcher. (Rota Duty in various large buildings , trained to look out for and deal with incendiary bombs during air raids). Despite the seriousness of our national situation in those days, there was most certainly something odd about seeing men one knew so well from everyday life parading in platoons in uniforms which, one might say, were not exactly tailored, being led by my Form Master lightly disguised as a Second Lieutenant.

Dave: Private Sponge was a man of few words, but he appears in nearly every episode, what was it like to stand behind all those great actors for all those years?

Colin: From the beginning we in the second line were always made to feel part of the platoon as a whole, after all we’d all been chosen for that job. What was it like to stand behind such famous names, and know we were a part of it? A privilege. Even prouder was I, due to circumstances with which I had nothing to do I hasten to add, when, towards the end “Pte Sponge” suddenly appeared in the front row, to make up the number – usually at what I called the ‘non-working end’. The end away from the camera and the two or three principle artistes involved in that particular little scene.

Dave: Do you remember any outstanding bloopers or foul-ups, things going wrong that were caught on film or otherwise?

Colin: Why do people always want to know about ‘cock-ups’ (Candid Camera has a hell of a lot to answer for!). Yes, there were mistakes during filming and rehearsal – we wouldn’t be normal if there weren’t, but I’m not going to embarrass friends past and present by naming names. There was an occasion when a raft (which was supposed to be secured by a rope underwater) sailed off ‘into the distance’ with three distinguished actors on it because, during the night, vandals had cut the rope. I think I heard someone near me on the shore saying “They’re ddoooooomed, they’re aw doomed!” but I won’t swear to it! Once in an exercise crossing a stream on a pole, my trousers got caught on some protrusion, and I’m no light-weight. It took four of the crew to get me free. I hope that wasn’t recorded.

Dave: Dad’s Army was, and still is loved by people all over the world, but did the ‘background’ platoon members such as yourself get stopped in the street by fans?

Colin: Yes, someone stopped me in the Market only the other day to say “I’m a Farmer too, AND I’m a Sheep Farmer!” In my Local, when I order a pint, a wit will say “Not a drop will touch my lips Capt. Mainwaring – We’ll use two straws!” (a Sponge line from “My Brother And I”).

Dave: Have you ever been to New Zealand?

Colin: No; but if anyone wanted to ‘shout’ me for an all-paid holiday, you’d be able to have your own ‘Meet Pte. Sponge’ meeting for free!

Dave: What is your most treasured memories from your days with Dad’s Army?

Colin: Oh dear, so many. Sorry, I daren’t start or I’d take up the whole of the newsletter. The ten days of Location work before each series was always looked forward to. I called it ‘ten days paid holiday’, I simply enjoyed it and many, many happy moments.

Dave: Did your small but important role in Dad’s Army affect your career much, or has it remained the same as before you joined the series?

Colin: Not so much my theatre career, for I was already fairly well established in that line, but it opened a lot of TV doors to me, hence appearances in Up Pompeii, Are You Being Served, Hi De Hi, The Goodies, The First Churchills and many others. These in turn led to radio work – which in old age is enjoyable and my main work outlet.

Dave: What do you think of the Dad’s Army Appreciation Society as a whole? Do you like to contribute to it? Do you think it has become a foundation that will see that this great series will never be allowed to fade away?

Colin: Tadge Muldoon is (was, ed) a very courageous man to take on such a task. I believe Jimmy Perry warned him “You don’t know what you’re taking on!” He must have ‘got it right’ because lo and behold – another intrepid man (Dave Homewood) and there’s the NZ Branch. (Wake Up Sydney, I think you’re living in the realms of fantasy by not having an Oz Branch!) If enough people still enjoy the show it won’t fade – look at Laurel and Hardy! My great-nephew is 11 years old, he wasn’t born when we made the series, let alone know much about the war, he thinks it’s “Triffick”, and he thought that before he knew his G. Uncle was in it. Now that WWII has turned up in the History Curriculum over here, he tells everyone he has a Historical Uncle.

Dave: What is your opinion of our little branch in New Zealand? Have you any comments or suggestions for us?

Colin: See previous answer. The only thin I can add is that, if I can support and
promote the NZ Branch in any way I will. It has, I’m sure, the best wishes of all ‘The Last Of The Few’ who are left from the cast.

Interview used with permission from Dave Homewood who runs a site at https://www.cambridgeairforce.org.nz/. The interview which is at https://www.cambridgeairforce.org.nz/Dads_Army_Interviews.html#Colin is ©Dave Homewood and shared with permission.

Pamela Cundell

“Cooeee! It’s only little me – Mrs Fox!”
Pamela Cundell

Dave: Well, we’ll start right at the beginning, whereabouts were you born?

Pam: I was born in Croydon, and I come from a theatrical family, and I started out my career in the chorus dressing up me legs! I wasn’t really good enough because I couldn’t keep in line with the others, so I thought I’d better go out and get a part. So I did, and that was the start of it all.

Dave: OK, and how old were you when you started in entertainment?

Pam: Oh, I went into the chorus at fourteen. I was very young, you could in those days. And, well, I’ve had a most interesting life really. After I did that I went into musicals and finished up by becoming a comedienne in summer shows – or a stand-up comic as they call
it today.

Dave: You mentioned you were from a theatrical family, what did your parents do?

Pam: My mother was an operatic singer, and used to sing with Heddle Nash, and all that, and used to do a lot of oratoria. And my father was a producer. He used to do Gilbert and Sullivan. I had a brother as well, who’s been dead now three years I’m afraid, but he ran his own rep in Yarmouth, and then he became a company mangaer for Triumph Productions with Duncan Wheldon.

Dave: Oh right, what was your brother’s name?

Pam: Tony Cundell.

Dave: Ah right, I remember seeing him in a photo in Bill Pertwee’s book and have always wondered if he was connected with you.

Pam: Yes, he was my brother.

Dave: So you were originally born as Pamela Cundell, and it’s not a stage name?

Pam: Yes, I have my original name, yes. There are some Cundells in Australia you know – my father’s brother, Uncle Geoffrey, he emigrated to Adelaide. And my second cousin Naomi used to be in The Singlettes, did you ever hear of The Singlettes? They became quite big in London for a while. A three-girl singing act.

Dave: No, I don’t know them.

Pam: She founded them. I think she’s given up now and had a baby and got married I think.

Dave: Now, you were married to Bill Fraser, is that right?

Pam: Yes, I was.

Dave: How did you meet him?

Pam: Well, I met him when my first husband wanted to put on a summer show, and he was in a summer show in Worthing with Bill. And we all met up there, and he and Bob, my first husband, became partners and they put on this summer show called Between Ourselves, which was highly successful. But Bill and I didn’t get married, because Bob eventually left me, so we didn’t get married till the 60’s or early 70’s. And we had a very happy time together. And he was wonderful, wonderful.

Dave: Now Bill was in The Army Game. Did you ever appear in The Army Game with him?

Pam: That’s right, he was. I was in The Army Game and I was called Fat Alice. I was supposed to be his girlfriend and I was just known as Fat Alice. I did a few episodes as Snudge’s girlfriend. And that was very good.

Dave: Yeah. And did your character carry on into Bootsie And Snudge

Pam: Yes, that carried on to Bootsie And Snudge, and Alfie and Bill left The Army Game because they’d written this series called Bootsie And Snudge. But I don’t think I was in any of those, no.

Dave: Do you have any children?

Pam: I have a daughter, Catherine, who has two chilkdren. And I’m really happy to say that both seem to be following in Grandmother’s footsteps, because Emma, a couple of years ago was Molly in Annie at the Palace Theatre, Wartford. And Daniel, my grandson, who is just eleven, has just landed the part of The Artful Dodger in Oliver, again at the Palace Theatre, Watford, next May – in a very good amateur group called the Casio Players. So I’m thrilled to bits.

Dave: Well that’s good then.

Pam: Wonderful.

Dave: So how did you get cast in Dad’s Army in the first place?

Pam: Well, I did about four episodes of a series, I think it was Ian Carmichael, I was in. And in one of them I had to be a fortune teller, and the last shot of the day was, I winked at the camera. I forecast something and then winked at the camera, and that’s it. And David Croft was appraently in the audience, because it was live then in those days, and he kept this in mind. And when they were doing this thing, Dad’s Army, they wanted somebody to ask Jones if he’d got any kidneys, and give him a wink. And the story goes, and David won’t say yea or nay, but I’ve heard since that he said “There’s only one person who couild wink well and truly, Pam Cundell.” And that’s how I got in. (She laughs) I didn’t have a name at first, and then after about two or three episodes they decided – I wore a fox fur – they decided to christen me Mrs Fox, because of the fox fur really. That’s how it came about. And it was the wink that got me into Dad’s Army!

Dave: It quickly developed into a great character, even though she was only in a few episodes per series.

Pam: Yes, Jimmy Perry was saying only the other day, we were at a dinner together, and I was saying “You know Jimmy, thank you again.” “Don’t thank me,” he siad, “If you hadn’t been any good, we wouldn’t have made the character any bigger. We would have left you as you were and we would have probably lost you.” He said “You added something to the show that was really needed.” So I felt quite proud.

Dave: It’s true though, it’s absolutely true. Those scenes where you and Jonesey were in the picture theatre snogging, and Mainwaring sees you, that was just brilliant.

Pam: (Laughing) I know. And the Daily Mail gave a survey of the msot popular seies, dramas and all, and out of the comedies, Fawlty Towers was first, and Dad’s Army was second!

Dave: Oh excellent.

Pam: Over here, I don’t know about over there, but over here we’re so big still! And of course we’ve got the museum now up in Bressingham, I should think you’ve heard about that.

Dave: Yes, we have.

Pam: It is simply stunning. They’ve created Mainwaring’s office, and the church hall. It’s really wonderful. They’ve got Jones’s van, so it’s really good. Darling, how nice of you to call me.

Dave: Well it’s my pleasure.

Pam: How is the Dad’s Army Appreciaition Society there?

Dave: It’s going well, very well.

Pam: Oh good.

Dave: I don’t think it will ever end, it keeps going strong.

Pam: Well can I just say to all of them out there, thank you for being so loyal. I look forward, and we all look forward, to the newsletter when you send it. It’s lovely.

Dave: Oh good, thank you for that.

Pam: And thank you for being so supportive.

Dave: Well, it’s our pleasure. Now, which was your favourite episode?

Pam: Well I’ve got to say I suppose, where we got married, the last one. (Never Too Old, ed.) Because it was quite moving, apart from it being finishing. But I’ll tell you a funny story, there was one where the Americans came (My British Buddy, ed.), and they were giving us nylons, and I was going to have some nylons. And old Clive, Jonesey, was very cross about this. And anyway, there was one line that I could not remember. So Clive said “What you want to do is write it on your hand.” I just couldn’t remember this line, I got it arse-upwards all the way. And so he said “All you do is make a gesture and look at the words.” So I thought what a wonderful idea. So I did this, and came to transmission, again it was live, and of course with the nerves and everything, when I looked at the writing, it had all gone blurred! But as I did it, the words came out absolutely pristine, clean and really to the point. But it wasn’t from the hand, it was the sheer panic! So I never did it again! My hand had all gone sweaty and it had all run, the words! So that taught me a lesson.

Dave: Here’s a couple of questions within the storyline of the show, did Mrs Fox ever find out that Jonesey was seeing Mrs Prosser behind her back?

Pam: Well, no, I don’t think I did. Anyway, I wouldn’t have cared because she wasn’t as pretty as me! (she laughs)

Dave: Ha, good answer. And, what were Mrs Fox and the Verger really doing, were they actually going to pick bluebells? Or was there more to it?

Pam: (Laughing loudly) I’d like to think so, but um… She was very flitatious you know, really. Probably had a little flirtation, but nothing more, not with the church!

Dave: Did you realise that Mrs Fox actually had three different Christian names throughout the series?

Pam: No!! This is asked a lot, because some of the questions for quizzes and things have been ‘What is Mrs Fox’s first name?’ I always thought it was Moira.

Dave: Oh, OK, I don’t even think that one popped up in the series.

Pam: Well what have you got?

Dave There’s Marcia, Mildred and Muriel.

Pam: Marcia! That’s right, Marcia Fox Not Moira, Marcia. And there’s also Mildred, no, and what was the other one?

Dave: Muriel.

Pam: No, it was Marcia.

Dave: Yeah, that’s the official one then.

Pam: That’s the official one.

Dave: Have you got any interesting memories from the location shootings?

Pam: Well, just great fun, a lot of laughs. It was a pleasure. I didn’t go to Thetford an awful lot, but when we did it was lovely. You know, all the gang and everything, even Arthur – because I got on very well with Arthur. When we were doing the show at the Shaftesbury, he and his wife and Frank, the vicar, and me used to go out for dinner afterwards. I was very close to Arthur, we got on very well. I think he liked working with me because my timing was good and so was his, perfect, you know? And so all I can say is that it was such a laugh really, and perhaps the only person who perhaps was a bit gritty was Arnold. He was old, bless his heart. I mean when we used to stand and have a ‘two-shot’, he used to be pushing me out of his way all the time, sticking his elbow in my ribs, trying to push me out of the shot (she laughs fondly). Otherwise, no darling, they were all lovely, really. And that’s true, that’s not just flannel. Everybody was great.

Dave: Why were you not in the radio version?

Pam: I’ve no idea! I’ve no idea, and nobody seems to know. Because was it Pearl Hackney?

Dave: No, Mollie Sugden played Mrs Fox. (Pearl Hackney played Mrs Pike on radio, ed.)

Pam: Mollie Sugden, that’s right. And you see Janet wasn’t in it, Janet Davies, Mrs Pike, wasn’t in the radio version.

Dave: No, that’s right.

Pam: I’ve no idea at all.

Dave: You would obviously have liked to have been in it?

Pam: Oooh, loved to have been. We just weren’t asked. And I mean Janet Davies, bless her heart, Mrs Pike, she was very upset. I mean, she’d been in it far longer than me, and it really upset her that she hadn’t been offered. I’ve no idea – wev’e never found out. Extraordinary that, isn’t it?

Dave: It is, it is. But do you like moillie Sugden’s version of Mrs Fox, her interpretation? Because she’s not quite the same as how you played her.

Pam: No, I think she was a bit too broad, not flirtatious enough. Not feminine enough.

Dave: Yeah, that’s probably a good description. It is interesting that they even chose her, because she was so well known then as Mrs Slocombe.

Pam: Yes!! Yes, it’s extraordinary! And I’ve never found out dear.

Dave: Now, the stage show. Did you enjoy that?

Pam: Oh yes, we had great fun in that. And of course Joan and I did an Elsie and Doris Waters number, you knoe – Joan, Arthur’s wife – she was very good. And Elsie and Doris came to see us of course. So I’be got a photograph somewhere, I don’t know where it is at the moment, of the four of us together. They were thrilled, they were really thrilled with it.

Dave: Oh brilliant, excellent.

Pam: It was great. And of course we did the Royal Command, as you know, in that show. And that was lovely. It didn’t run as long as everybody thought it was going to. That was the only only snag. I don’t know why it didn’t at all, because it was very good. I think it was perhaps not enough of storyline of Dad’s Army, it was more sort of people doing turns, because Clive did his maurice Chevalier, and we did Elsie and Doris, and there was a musical of all three of us with Janet and all the company… I don’t know why it didn’t, because we were all wanting it to be a success. But it wasn’t really. It didn’t run as long as it should have done.

Dave: Half way through the tour a few of you left, including Clive and Janet and yourself, was that in your case because of contrcatual reasons? Did you have something else to go to?

Pam: I didn’t go on the tour because I’d done with it, and I’d been offered Liza of Lambeth, which was funnily enough going into the Shaftesbury, again. So I wanted to do that. I thought I’ve done that, you know, got the t-shirt, and I didn’t want to go on tour. And Tony Cundell, my brother, was company manager actually for that. So Peggy Ashby went out on tour as Mrs Fox. And Clive and Janet, when they came out, it was for contractual reasons, but I didn’t go on tour at all.

Dave: Right. Now, I hope this doesn’t sound rude, but are you old enough to remember the real Home Guard?

Pam: Yes, yes I was only young then, but I can remember it all. Having a really lovely time, I didn’t realise in a way, because when you’re very young you don’t, do you? But we were all so patriotic, everybody was so patriotic. My father was in the Navy, so he wasn’t in the Home Guard, he went into the Navy. But in Croydon we knew about the Home Guard and all that, but didn’t take any notice, because I was too young to bother with all that.

Dave: Outside of Dad’s Army, did you do anything on TV or other work with other members of the Dad’s Army cast members?

Pam: I think I worked with John Le Mes in something, because I knew Hattie, his first wife. And Bill knew them, you see, so we used to go out together. And I have a feeling I did something with john, some sort of, again, comedy thing, with sketches.

Dave: I’ve heard that you were also in Grandad with Clive Dunn, is that correct?

Pam: Yes, I was in Grandad.

Dave: Oh right, was that a regular role?

Pam: Yes, what did I play now? His sister was it? I forget now what it was, but yes, I did about four out of the six, or whatever it was they did. Yes, oh yes, we all sort of integrated with each other. And I think Arthur would have liked me to have gone on tour with one of his plays. But Joan wanted to do the roles, so (going into a very good impersonation of Arthur) “Oh, well you know Pam, got to take Joanie, got to take Joanie.” Bless him, he was lovely. He was lovely.

Dave: What was John Laurie like to work with?

Pam: Oh, he was OK. He was fine. He was a bit crotchety. I mean, Arnold and he, they were a bit, sort of, vying against each other, because they’d both been kind of stars in their time, you know what I mean? And they would get a bit crotchety with each other. But otherwise he was great. I mean he was OK with me.

Dave: I guess being on the set must have been a bit like watching an episode, just seeing them work together, because their personalities were so much the same as in the show, weren’t they?

Pam; Well, they were. And I expect Bill pertwee has told you the story about Arthur, who never took his script home. He used to leave it in the rehearsal room, and never knew his lines. And David got a bit crotchety one day, apparently, this is what Bill Pertwee tells me, I’m relaying it to you. He said “Arthur, don’t you think it would be a good idea to take your script home and learn your words?” And Arthur said “Oooh no no no, I’m not having that rubbish in my house!” (she laughs) Well look, Bill Pertwee told me this, I don’t know whether it was true, but I suspect probably it was, but I didn’t hear it. “Oh no, I’m not having that rubbish in my house!” Oh he was lovely.

Dave: Did you get to know Jimmy Beck very well?

Pam: No I didn’t. I didn’t do too many with Jimmy. But he was nice, he was lovely, bless his heart. But we still see Kay, his widow, when we do anything to do with Dad’s Army. She’s always invited. And she’s never married again, and she’s sweet.

Dave: Yes, I have spoken with her a few times.

Pam: Yes, she’s a very nice woman. And so is Joan le Mes, she’s nice too, good fun. And what’s very nice about Bill, I think it is who does most of the arranging for things these days, Bill Pert, or the Dad’s Army Appreciation Society over here, they always include the widows.

Dave: Right. That’s really good.

Pam: It’s very nice.

Dave: Are you doing pantomime this year?

Pam: No I’m not, this year I’m not going to do it. I’ve been doing it at Watford for the last three years, but my daughter who runs a stage school, she’s got six of her children in there, so I feel I’m still there! There’s a new administrator and he wanted to put his own mark on, and so none of the cast who’ve done it for Roy for the last three years, none of us are in it. And it’s a very good pantomime as well, I’ve been to see it and it’s lovely. Excellent.

Dave: Do you think you’ll ever follow in the footsteps of other cast members and write your autobiography?

Pam: No, darling, no. I mean there’s so many – Liz Fraser’s done one, Barbara Windsor’s done one, Wendy Richard’s done one – I mean they’re all at it. I mean, no, no, it’s not me. I’ll talk and do interviews, but no, I think there are too many of them.

Dave: Well it has been very nice to talk to you, thanks very much.

Pam: Darling, it’s been lovely. Thank you so much for calling. And havea happy Christmas my dear.

Dave: Yeah, you too.

Pam: And a prosperous New Year.

Dave: And there will be a calendar in the post to you as well.

Pam: Ohhh, is it similar to last year’s one?

Dave: Fairly similar, it just has classic moments from the series in it.

Pam: Because last year’s was lovely! Oh I shall look forward to that darling, thanks very much.

Dave: No problem at all.

Pam: All right my love.

Dave: Thank you very much for speaking to us.

Pam: God bless, bye bye.

Various

The Croft Perry Podcast (Main site: https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/thecroftperrypodcast)

	Jeffrey Holland
	Gordon Peters
	Therese McMurray
	John Clegg
	John D. Collins
	Jess Conrad
	Taryn Kaye
	Steve Edwin
	Ann Sidney
	Joanne Heywood
	Fleur Bennett
	Andrew Barclay
	Charles Nicklin
	Paul Humpoletz
	Nicholas McArdle
	Rusty Goffe
	Sandra Clark
Images used with permission from The Croft Perry Podcast (Main site: https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/thecroftperrypodcast)