Secrets of Dad’s Armyrevealed

As part of his talk, which will be led by Chris Gidney, Frank will discuss how the originators of the series, David Croft and Jimmy Perry, chose him to create the role of the eccentric vicar who was always slightly irritable about the elderly platoon’s invasion of his beloved church hall.

He and Ian Lavender, who played Private Frank Pike, are the only two members of the original core cast still alive today, having been the youngest members of the cast during filming.

Dad’s Army is only a small part of Frank’s career and as part of his theatrical journey down memory lane, he will recount some of the highlights of his film, stage and television career which has spanned 50 years.

The audience will be invited to help shape the afternoon by adding questions for Frank to a hat, from which he will pull a selection to answer as part of the show.

Frank has worked with TV legends including Tommy Cooper, Harry Worth and Dick Emery as well as Morecambe and Wise.

He has appeared in more than 30 feature films including three with Norman Wisdom, and many of the television series with which he was involved have become classic television including The Army Game, All Gas and Gaiters, Monty Python’s Flying Circus and You Rang M`Lord.

In recent years Frank has filmed a TV pilot for George and Bernard Shaw with Robert Lindsay, he takes part in the next Cruise and Maritime Voyages TV Comedy Legends voyage in October and it is planned that Frank will take part in the new Dad`s Army film starring Bill Nighy and Toby Jones.

Frank said: “I’m looking forward to talking about the strange and remarkable things that the audience never see; like the time we were filming an episode of Dad’s Army and nearly got flattened by a runaway steam train, or when I watched myself on live TV being operated on in Emergency Ward 10 in the comfort of my own home.

“We also plan to show my personal home movie of the Dad’s Army cast on tour. It’s a fascinating trip into TV nostalgia and salutes this year’s war commemorations.”

More Tea Vicar? Is in the Connaught Studio on Sunday, August 31 at 4pm. Box office: 01903 206206 or online at www.worthingtheatres.co.uk.