Top comedy producer and director Harold Snoad dies at 88

Credits include Dad's Army, Ever Decreasing Circles and Keeping Up Appearances

Veteran TV comedy producer and director Harold Snoad has died at the age of 88.

He joined the BBC in 1957, with early jobs including being a ‘call boy’ for an episode of Hancock's Half Hour.

His first directing role came with Dad's Army in 1969 and he was the vice-president of the sitcom’s appreciation society until his death on Sunday.

Announcing his passing on their website, the group said: ‘Harold played an instrumental role in Dad's Army, being involved with the production and direction of many of the early episodes.

‘Harold was also responsible for finding suitable locations for the exterior scenes, which lead him to Norfolk and Thetford in particular, along with the military training area, Santa.

‘Harold was also responsible, along with Michael Knowles, for adapting the series for radio, and the spin of series It Sticks Out Half A Mile [which followed some of the characters in a post-war life running a seaside pier].

‘His inside knowledge was a great help to the society and was always given freely. We pass on our condolences to his wife Jean and their daughters Helen and Jeanette’

Outside of his work with Dad's Army, Snoad also worked on Are You Being Served?, The Dick Emery Show, Don't Wait Up, Keeping Up Appearances and the final two series of Ever Decreasing Circles.

Snoad used his experience on the Richard Briers comedy as a case study for his 1988 BBC training manual Directing Situation Comedy, while he offered a behind-the-scenes look at Keeping Up Appearances in his second book, It's Bouquet - Not Bucket!

In 2016 Snoad returned to directing television for the animated short, Dads Army: A Stripe for Frazer, which was a recreation of the original episode, using the original audio from the videos which had otherwise been wiped from the archives

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Published: 5 Jun 2024