"Don't panic, don't panic"

[Gob]

Actor Clive Dunn, best known for his role as Lance Corporal "Jonesy" Jones in Dad's Army, has died aged 92.



He died in Portugal on Tuesday from complications following an operation.

Dunn - whose famous catchphrases included "Don't panic, don't panic" and "They don't like it up 'em" - became a recording star in 1971 when his record, Grandad, reached number one.

Frank Williams, who played the Vicar on Dad's Army, said he was always "great fun" to be around.

"Of course he was so much younger than the part he played," he told BBC Radio Four. "It's very difficult to think of him as an old man really.

"But he was a wonderful person to work with - great sense of humour, always fun, a great joy really."

Born in London in January 1920, Dunn studied at the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts.

He made his first forays into acting in the 1930s, appearing alongside Will Hay in Boys Will Be Boys in 1935 and Good Morning Boys in 1937.

His acting career was interrupted by World War II, during which he spent four years as a German prisoner.

The actor would later say that Dad's Army, which ran from 1968 to 1977, was his revenge on his former captors.

The much-loved show featured the exploits of a Home Guard platoon formed to protect the seaside village of Walmington-on-Sea from possible German attack during World War II.

As well as Dad's Army, Dunn also appeared in such TV shows as Bootsie and Snudge, My Old Man and Grandad.

His last screen credit came playing the Shakespearean clown Verges in a 1984 TV version of Much Ado About Nothing.

He spent his last three decades in Portugal, where he occupied himself as an artist painting portraits, landscapes and seascapes until his sight failed.

Dunn, who was awarded an OBE in 1975, spent much of his acting life playing characters older than himself.

Even at 19 he played a doddery old man in a production of JM Barrie's play Mary Rose.

Dunn's agent, Peter Charlesworth, said he would be "sorely missed" and that his death was "a real loss to the acting profession".

Dunn's final interview appeared in the most recent issue of The Oldie magazine, which made him its cover star.

Writer Paul Bailey travelled to Dunn's cottage in Portugal in early September in order to speak to him.

He told BBC News the 92-year old was "almost completely blind and hard of hearing" but still loved "a good joke and a glass of wine".

"I asked him a fairly silly question: 'What is it like to be 92?'" he said. "He replied, 'The same as it was to be 91'."

Mr Bailey said Dunn was "very stoic" when talking about his time as a PoW during the war. "He joked about it in a very English, self-deprecating way."

Speaking to the actor in his artist's studio, Mr Bailey said Dunn's great sadness was that his failing eyesight meant he could not longer indulge in his passion for painting.

Broadcaster Stephen Fry has also paid tribute, saying he was "saddened to hear of the death of Clive Dunn, the immortal Corporal Jones from Dad's Army".

Referring to Dunn's hit song Grandad, Father Ted writer Graham Linehan tweeted: "I love that he recorded this, then lived another 41 years."

"I had assumed that because he looked 85 at 40 that Clive Dunn was immortal," remarked comedian David Baddiel on his Twitter feed.

Tony Pritchard of the Dad's Army Appreciation Society said Dunn had attended various conventions organised with the society and was "immensely popular" with its members.

"I met him many times over the years," he told BBC Radio Gloucestershire. "He was just a nice chap. He always had a joke to tell and was full of humour."

Dunn is survived by his wife Priscilla Morgan and their two daughters, Jessica and Polly.

[The Hen]

He didn't like it up 'im!

He saved my sanity during the Hatch's formative years.

RIP Clive, though I mustard mitt to thinking you had passed on years ago.

[Gob]

I'll confess to that too...

[Sean]

It came as a surprise to me too. Did anyone actually realise he was still alive?

[Gob]

[MajGenl.Meade]

It came as a surprise to me too. Did anyone actually realise he was still alive?

He did. For a while.

Another small piece of the past flakes away. Dad's Army remains a classic, in no small part due to the well-written and wonderfully realised characters.

Meade

[oldr_n_wsr]

Never heard of him, but he looks a little like Benny Hill
May he RIP

[Gob]

Never seen "Dad's Army" O-n-W?

[oldr_n_wsr]

No, never even heard of it. Anything like Hogans Heroes?

[MajGenl.Meade]

No. It was sensible and funny. Hogan's Heroes failed at both

[Lord Jim]

I've seen Dad's Army, it was okay, but not my favorite Britcom....(I'd put it in kind of the same category as One Foot In The Grave on my humor scale....)

I thought Hogan's Heroes kind of jumped the shark when Schultz became less of a dimwitted foil and more of a semi-accomplice....

I thought the underlying premise of Hogan's Heroes; that a man as stupid as Klink could keep his position because technically no one had ever escaped from his camp....gave the series more believability than it otherwise would have had....

[Gob]

Blaspheme!!!

Nearly four decades since its last episode aired on the BBC, Dad’s Army could come to the big screen with a shocking twist - Captain Mainwaring might be played by a woman.



Co-writer Jimmy Perry revealed to the classic sitcom’s official appreciation club that a new film version is in the early stages of development, but the surprise role change has gone down badly with fans.

Mr Perry, 89, who wrote the series with the late David Croft, is said to be in ‘disbelief’ - and as most of the original cast are now dead, fans are anxious for scriptwriters to stick to the genre of the series.

It comes after Clive Dunn, who played Lance Corporal Jack Jones and was famous for the phrase ‘Don't panic!’, died last week aged 92. Arthur Lowe, who played Captain Mainwaring, died in 1982.

The original was filmed in Thetford, Norfolk, where the fictional Walmington-on-Sea branch of the Home Guard was based - and the manager of the town’s Dad’s Army Museum is furious at the plans.

‘We’re talking about an iconic series that was written by two geniuses,’ Corinne Fulford, 47, told the Independent. ‘I can’t even imagine how he could be played by a woman.’

A Dad’s Army Appreciation Society spokesman said Mr Perry revealed plans ‘to a room of surprised DAAS members’ last month - but he won’t be writing the script so could not reveal the storyline.

The spokesman said there were ‘groans’ when Mr Perry showed his ‘disbelief’ while saying the film company ‘have hinted that they want the lead role of Mainwaring to be played by a woman’.

Dad’s Army, which followed a Home Guard platoon, ran from 1968 to 1977. Women who have been cited to play the new Captain Mainwaring include Miranda Hart, Prunella Scales and Sue Perkins.

[Lord Jim]

Well Strop, I think I've got some cred as far as Britcom's* go...

I think I'm pretty safe saying that I've probably watched more than any other American here, especially shows from the 70's 80's and 90's...I've seen multiple episodes of at least a couple of dozen series...I'm a big fan of Britcoms...)

I'm not saying Dad's Army wasn't funny, but even as far as WWII themed shows go, I preferred Goodnight Sweetheart, or even Allo Allo.....

Though I'll admit that I only saw about half a dozen episodes....

Hello...What's this?:

Dad's Army is a British sitcom about the Home Guard during the Second World War. It was written by Jimmy Perry and David Croft and broadcast on BBC television between 1968 and 1977. The sitcom ran for 9 series and 80 episodes in total, plus a radio version based on the television scripts, a feature film and a stage show. The series regularly gained audiences of 18 million viewers and is still repeated worldwide.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dad%27s_Army

Strop, I have to say that I'm amazed that you would be a fan of a show that ran 80 episodes when we all know that any truly great show should never run more than 13.....



*gratuitous apostrophe inserted just to drive the General who let Bobby Lee escape at Gettysburg nuts....

[Gob]

Twelve is the optimum Jim.

[Sean]

Well Strop, I think I've got some cred as far as Britcom's go...
<snip>
I preferred Goodnight Sweetheart, or even Allo Allo.....

Credibility shattered!

[Lord Jim]

Well Strop, I think I've got some cred as far as Britcom's go...
<snip>
I preferred Goodnight Sweetheart, or even Allo Allo.....

Credibility shattered!

I have a warm place in my heart for Goodnight Sweetheart...

There are times I wish I could just walk through a time portal into the past...

To suddenly find myself in Yankee Stadium in the late 30's watching The Bambino come to the plate...

Even London at the time of The Blitz would look good...charming in a way....

[Gob]

To suddenly find myself in Yankee Stadium in the late 30's watching The Bambino come to the plate...

Back to the days when you were still a mere teenager eh?

[Guinevere]

Twelve is the optimum Jim.

Then you will agree that two of my favorite classic Brit dramas are perfect: Danger UXB (13 episodes) and Brideshead Revisited (11 episodes).

edited to fix 5AM, posting from smartphone grammar

[Lord Jim]

To suddenly find myself in Yankee Stadium in the late 30's watching The Bambino come to the plate...

Back to the days when you were still a mere teenager eh?

Heh`heh..

That's very funny, Mr. Buzz Kill...

At least I'm not celebrating the fact that I just bought a brand new lawn mower...

[MajGenl.Meade]

Twelve is the optimum Jim.

Then you will agree that two of my favorite classic Brit dramas are perfect: Danger UXB (13 episodes) and Brideshead Revisited (11 episodes).

edited to fix 5AM, posting from smartphone grammar

I preferred Maidenhead Revisited (1 episode). Always been fond of Berks.