In February 2016, the Home Guard platoon of Walmington-On-Sea will be returning to the big screen. If this was happening 40 or so years ago, there’d be no need to worry. But in 2016, what we’re really getting is a reboot of a classic family favourite. An all new cast (except for original Pike, Ian Lavender, returning as Brigadier Pritchard and the original Vicar, Frank Williams, reprising his role as Vicar Timothy Farthing) is going to mean either impersonations of the stars of the old series, or an attempt to reinvent the much loved heroes for a new audience. I’d personally prefer the first, but it has to be done well e.g. Karl Urban as Doctor Leonard McCoy as opposed to Chris Pine as Captain Kirk.
I really am hoping that this movie will be a great, faithful adaptation. I’d love to enjoy it and be proven wrong on the following points, but at the minute I’m remaining sceptical.
Snobbish Star
I’m not sure about Toby Jones as Mainwaring. As probably the main character of Dad’s Army, he has been the most heavily featured in the trailers for the new movie. Somehow, Jones’ performance just doesn’t seem pompous enough. He’s a bit too soft. Maybe in the context of the film the side of Mainwaring’s character where he is blind to his own incompetence will come out a bit better than it has in the trailer snippets.
Do you think that’s wise sir?
Bill Nighy as Sergeant Wilson? I don’t see it. Wilson is meant to be a bit of a ladies man, and Nighy probably has that aspect going for him, but Wilson’s laid back, gentle charm that makes him such a fantastic character is something that I can’t see Nighy managing. To me Nighy has always been someone who fits a more hard-nosed type of role.
Pike inbetween his mother and Mainwaring
Blake Harrison as Private Pike could go either way. So far I’ve only ever seen him as a crude idiot in ‘The Inbetweeners’, and an opportunistic prankster in ‘The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret’. Being an actor ideally means being able to play a variety of roles, so maybe Harrison will make a good Pike, but at the moment I’m not quite sure how right he is for the part.
Gambon as Godfrey
Godfrey is the loveliest, cuddliest, softest old boy you can imagine. He’s brave too, but being adorable is his most obvious trait.
Last time Gambon was given the role of wise, lovely, friendly, old man, he played it as angry and aggressive. If new Godfrey is anything like new Dumbledore, this will be a mess.
Mum’s Army
There was an original series episode with this premise, and it’s a fine idea to include, but at the same time it stinks of ‘it’s the 21st century and movies have to have women in them’. The original series was about a platoon in wartime, so getting women involved wasn’t always easy. Mrs Pike was probably the only semi-regular female, with Mrs Fox coming into stories from time to time too. But that’s to be expected. It’s true to the time that war was fought by the men. They are Home Guard though, so there is no reason why local women shouldn’t have a role too. It’s not like they’re on the front line miles away from home.
The biggest problem with this is that they’ve decided to cast Felicity Montagu (Lynn from Alan Partridge) as Mrs Mainwaring and have her centre stage. This alone is a move that seems to ignore the rich history of the show. Mrs Mainwaring was never seen in the entire run of the original series. The closest we got was the sight of a huge lump where she lay on a bunk bed. She wasn’t meant to be seen. She was meant to be a slightly scary, hideous, huge woman never seen but only spoken of. Like an urban legend, our imaginations were meant to do most of the work to fill in the gaps and wonder what Captain Mainwaring’s home life was like. Putting her on-screen takes away one of the series’ most enduring running gags and that air of mystery. Felicity isn’t nearly as gruesome or overweight as I imagined Mrs Mainwaring should be.
Innocent Charm
Comedy has changed in 40 years. The original Dad’s Army was family friendly with something for everyone. Nowadays, things seem to need an ‘edge’. Sure, the original had innuendo and sarcastic banter, but translating that to a modern audience which is used to things being more ‘in your face’ might be tricky.
