Dad's Army star slates writers

Dad's Army star Bill Pertwee has slammed modern TV comedy for being ‘too aggressive’ and sweary.

The 80-year-old actor complained that today’s writers haven’t learned their craft, and pay too little attention to characters and situations.

But he did not cite any specific examples and said: ‘I only watch something I really want to watch.’

Speaking at the relaunch of his autobiography A Funny Way To Make A Living, first published a decade ago, Pertwee said: ‘I had the best of it in the early years. Now they try to make their point by being too aggressive. If they can't fit a joke in a line they put a four-letter word there.’

‘We [actors] can make the lines come off the page, but the lines have got to be there in the first place. I don't think the writers have learnt the trade like they used to. Dad's Army used to take five months to get together, now they do shows in three weeks.

‘I just wonder why they don't concentrate more on characters and situations. Steptoe and Son, Dad's Army, and Till Death Do Us Part had marvellous situations - the jokes got there themselves.’

Published: 19 Oct 2006