Three ‘lost’ episodes of Dad’s Army are being remade by UKTV and will air on the broadcaster’s Gold channel next year to coincide with the 50th anniversary of their original broadcast.
The broadcaster has commissioned Mercury Productions, who’ve worked closely with the Estates of the original writers, Jimmy Perry and David Croft, to produce the episodes – The Loneliness of the Long Distance Walker, A Stripe for Frazer and Under Fire – which were wiped by the BBC.
Pete Thornton, head of scripted at UKTV, said: “The Lost Episodes are currently being cast, with an extensive hunt on to find the perfect candidates to take on the daunting task of bringing these much-loved comedy characters to life once more.
“We’ve been working on this project for several years and will be respecting the genius of the original series. If ever there was a time to ‘stick to the script’ then this is it.
“We are hugely excited and not a little intimidated by this opportunity but being plucky (and hopefully not too incompetent) Brits we aim to see the task through.”
Gerald Casey, Gold’s channel director, added: “As a Dad’s Army devotee, I’m utterly thrilled that we’re exclusively bringing these legendary lost masterpieces from Jimmy Perry and David Croft to life again after fifty years.”
UKTV will host a special screening for viewers who remember watching The Lost Episodes on TV when it originally aired.