...says actor who briefly appeared in the original

An actor who appeared in the original Dad’s Army has slammed plans to remake three lost episodes as ‘cultural vandalism’.

The Gold channel has used David Croft and Jimmy Perry’s original scripts to shoot new versions of shows that were wiped from the BBC’s archives.

But Stuart McGugan – who appeared in a single episode of the original series as the unnamed character ‘Scottish sergeant’ has told The Sun – that revamping old shows was ‘shameless’.

‘To make a new Dad’s Army and pump nothing new into it, which will be the case, is ­cultural vandalism,’ he said. ‘They could be spending that money on new drama, given that there’s not been a lot of very interesting new ­comedy on recently.’

McGugan – who is best known for playing Gunner 'Atlas' Mackintosh in It Ain’t Half Hot Mum – appears to be unaware of Fleabag, Derry Girls, Game Face, Inside No 9, The Only Way Is Up, Stath Lets Flats, Mum, This Time With Alan Partridge, The Windsors or Year Of The Rabbit, to name but ten.

However he said that recent revivals of classic shows such as Are You Being Served? and ­Porridge is a backwards step.

He added: ‘It shows a lack of talent to write and a lack of courage to make new stuff. I think it’s shameless. Absolutely shameless.’

The cast of the remake is led by Kevin R. McNally as Captain Mainwaring, with Robert Bathurst as  Sergeant Wilson, Kevin Eldon as Lance Corporal Jones, Mathew Horne as Private Walker, David Hayman as Private Frazer, Tom Rosenthal as Pike, and Timothy West as Private Godfrey.

Published: 2 Aug 2019