Trivia / Dad's Army (2016)

• All-Star Cast: It's got Toby Jones, Bill Nighy, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Michael Gambon, Tom Courtenay, Sarah Lancashire and Neil from The Inbetweeners.
• The Other Darrin: The film has the original characters played by a brand-new cast of actors (barring Frank Williams as The Vicar), as almost all of the originals had sadly died. These replacements are:
  • Toby Jones playing Mainwaring instead of Arthur Lowe (died 1982).
  • Bill Nighy playing Wilson instead of John Le Mesurier (died 1983).
  • Tom Courtenay playing Jones instead of Clive Dunn (died 2012).
  • Bill Paterson playing Frazer instead of John Laurie (died 1980).
  • Blake Harrison playing Pike instead of Ian Lavender (too old to play Pike but played Brigadier Pritchard, himself originally played by Robert Raglan, who died in 1985).
  • Michael Gambon playing Godfrey instead of Arnold Ridley (died 1984).
  • Daniel Mays playing Walker instead of James Beck (died 1973).
  • Martin Savage playing Hodges instead of Bill Pertwee (died 2013).
  • Sarah Lancashire playing Mrs. Pike instead of Janet Davies (died 1986).
  • Alison Steadman playing Mrs. Fox instead of Pamela Cundell (died 2015).
  • Annette Crosbie playing Cissy instead of Nan Braunton (died 1978) or Kathleen Saintsbury (died 1995).
  • Julia Foster playing Dolly instead of Amy Dalby (died 1969) or Joan Cooper (died 1989).
• Role Reprise: Two examples:
  • Frank Williams is the only member of the original cast to reprise his role, that of The Vicar.
  • We also have a non-human example in the form of Jones's van, a 1935 two-ton Ford BB Box Van which is the same one from the original series. It's now owned by the Dad's Army Museum, which is located in Thetford — where the original series was filmed.
• What Could Have Been:
  • When the film was announced in 2012, it was hinted that Mainwaring was to be played by a woman.
  • A scene was written between Mrs. Mainwaring and The Vicar that had to be cut due to issues with Frank Williams' availability (he was on a cruise in Russia). To make up for this lost scene, the scene between the Vicar and Godfrey in the church hall was written at the last second.

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