Town plans Dad's Army statue

Fans will next week launch a £20,000 appeal for a bronze sculpture of the sitcom character sitting on a park bench to be put up in Thetford.

The comedy was filmed in the area between 1968 and 1977, and on Friday a museum celebrating the link is to be opened in the town’s Guildhall, marking the start of the fundraising drive.

Town councillors have voted unanimously to back the idea. One of them, Stuart Wright, who runs Dad's Army tours around the town, told the Eastern Daily Press: ‘The interest in Dad's Army is phenomenal. People come from Australia, Canada, and wherever it has been shown and we are always looking at ways of trying to promote it further.

‘It will be a good fun opportunity for people on the tour to have their photo taken sitting alongside a statue of Capt Mainwaring and hopefully it will become a bit of a magnet for tourism.’

Dad's Army co-creator David Croft, who lives near Thetford, which stood in for the fictional Walmington-on-Sea, said the statue was ‘a marvellous idea’.

The small museum will feature paraphernalia and photos from the sitcom, which this week was revealed to be one of the Queen's favourite shows, according to star Bill Pertwee, who collected his MBE from Buckingham Palace.

Published: 1 Dec 2007