UKTV confirms recreation of lost 'Dad's Army' episodes: Hugh Laurie and Danny Dyer tipped

Three episodes of the beloved BBC sitcom Dad’s Army – believed to be permanently lost – are about to get a new lease of life.

Lost as a result of BBC’s former videotape swiping policy, only an audio recording of one of the lost episodes has ever been recovered. This was animated in 2016, and once available to buy on the now defunct BBC Store.

And now all three episodes will be remade and recast by the BBC and broadcast on UKTV’s Gold channel in 2019.

Following the report from comedy website British Comedy Guide that BBC Studios are preparing to recreate the lost episodes now, UKTV has confirmed the project to Radio Times. 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.”

The second series of the hit show first aired in 1969, and three out of the six episodes were wiped as part of a BBC cost-saving policy to reuse what were then extremely expensive recording tapes.

The three missing and soon to be recreated episodes are as follows: Loneliness of the Long Distance Walker, A Stripe for Frazer and Under Fire.

The cast for the new episodes remains unconfirmed. However, according to a Daily Mail report, UKTV are keen to cast Hugh Laurie as Sergeant Arthur Wilson, Danny Dyer as Private Joe Walker and Sir David Jason as Captain George Mainwaring.

Producers are reportedly also keen to recast original cast member – 72-year-old Ian Lavender – as Private Frank Pike.

2018 marks the 50th anniversary of Dad’s Army and UKTV’s Gold is celebrating by playing repeats of episodes and launching the upcoming Dad’s Army documentary Saluting Dad’s Army presented by Alexander Armstrong.

Read more
Gold commissions Dad’s Army retrospective series
Dad’s Army celebrates 50th Anniversary with new stamps
Quiz: Which Dad’s Army character are you?