Dad's Army: a box office battle?

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29 April 2014 Last updated at 01:36 By Tim Masters Entertainment and arts correspondent, BBC News Don't panic! Clive Dunn as L/Cpl Jones in Dad's Army Dad's Army looks set to invade the big screen - for the second time. How much of a challenge does the TV comedy classic face finding a modern audience?

More than 45 years since it was first seen on television, a new cinema version of Dad's Army is in the works.

The story of the Home Guard waiting for a Nazi invasion in the fictional town of Walmington-on-Sea will apparently star Toby Jones as Captain Mainwaring and Bill Nighy as Sergeant Wilson, roles made famous by Arthur Lowe and John Le Mesurier.

The latest version will be directed by Oliver Parker, who made Johnny English Reborn and the two recent St Trinian's films, from a script by Hamish McColl, who wrote Johnny English Reborn and Mr Bean's Holiday.

Producer Damian Jones has said the "universal appeal" of Dad's Army convinced him a new film could work.

That appeal is not in doubt. Having run on TV between 1968 and 1977, attracting 18 million viewers at its height, repeats of Dad's Army on BBC Two still draw an audience of about 2 million. A film spin-off version from 1971 also gets regular outings on TV.

"I don't think it's a great surprise," says Tim Glanfield, editor of RadioTimes.com. "Dad's Army is known among TV schedulers as 'ratings crack' because of its enduring appeal."

He points out that revivals and rebooted franchises are a big part of the world of TV, film and music.

David Sillito reports on a return for Dad's Army

Former BBC sitcom Birds of a Feather recently resurfaced on ITV and Del Boy and Rodney were briefly resurrected for an Only Fools and Horses Sport Relief sketch last month.

But the actors taking on such familiar Dad's Army roles will have their work cut out, according to Glanfield. "I wouldn't want to be Toby Jones or Bill Nighy at the moment.

"Captain Mainwaring and Wilson are huge comedy characters in the same league as Del Trotter or Basil Fawlty. To step into their shoes is an enormous challenge for those actors."

The new Dad's Army project would hope to emulate the recent big screen success of popular TV comedies The Inbetweeners and Alan Partridge.

The show's co-creator Jimmy Perry has given the project his blessing but won't be involved in the script.

Michael Rosser, news editor at Screen International, argues that Dad's Army has a unique take on stories about World War II.

"It's an opportunity to explore a war story in a funny way that's not really been done in the movies. I can't think of any other films about the Home Guard."

He thinks the film would appeal to the "grey pound" market - older cinemagoers who have flocked to films such as The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. He points out that remakes are also an attractive proposition in the film industry.

"Film is very risk averse. Dad's Army is already a success story. There's a fan base already. You're not just building from scratch."

Glanfield agrees that the core audience will be older, but wonders if long-term fans will turn out to see the new version.

"Even though a lot of people went to see it in the cinema some 45 years ago, would those same people get out of their armchair now or would they prefer to watch the repeats on BBC Two as they do at the moment?

"In a very competitive 21st Century cinema market, I wonder whether it will have what it takes to stand out and capture the imagination of a general audience."

Rosser doesn't see any reason to panic about Dad's Army's box office chances. "It could prove very popular in the UK," he says.

"I think it could have a job to convince people outside the UK, but the Second World War is not so local a story that it would shut out an international audience."

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BBC beats ITV in breakfast battle must visit

Louise Minchin (left) has been presenting BBC Breakfast with Bill Turnbull since Reid left last month. ITV's new breakfast show, Good Morning Britain, has lost out to BBC Breakfast, scoring half as many viewers as its rival on its opening day.

The first show, starring Susanna Reid, had an average audience of 800,000 viewers over two-and-a-half hours.

BBC Breakfast had almost double that figure, with an average of 1.5 million viewers tuning in.

Good Morning Britain's first day audience is, however, an improvement on its predecessor Daybreak.

Helen Warner, ITV's director of daytime, said she was pleased with the performance.

"The launch was a fantastic team effort, and we are focused on building a strong breakfast brand going forward."

Over the last year, Daybreak had struggled in the ratings against its BBC One rival, with an average audience of 590,000.

Several commentators said Good Morning Britain had an American feel

The five-minute peak audience on Monday for BBC Breakfast was 2.1 million, while Good Morning Britain's highest five-minute peak was 1.2 million.

Peak and average viewing figures - the usual measure of TV ratings - really only give a snapshot of the breakfast audience, given that most people often only tune in for a short period of time.

The more accurate "daily reach" figure adds up the total number of people watching at any time during the broadcast.

For BBC Breakfast, the figure is currently 6.8 million. On Daybreak, which ended last week, it was 2.3 million.

Good Morning Britain will be hoping to improve on that figure - but measurements are not yet available.

The new ITV show is hosted by four presenters, including Susanna Reid who left BBC Breakfast earlier this year for a rumoured £400,000 salary.

Her colleagues include former Sky presenters Ben Shephard, Sean Fletcher and Charlotte Hawkins.

The first edition ran fairly smoothly, although there was a slightly sticky moment when the weather presenter referred viewers to the Daybreak website during the 07:45 update.

Adrian Chiles and Christine Bleakley fronted Daybreak on its launch in 2010

Regular viewers on Twitter had mixed feelings, with one writing: "#Good Morning Britain looks like loose women crossed with Nintendo Wii's version of Sky Sports News."

But former BBC Three and BBC London television presenter, Matt Cooke tweeted: "Very slick, fresh US look for @GMB - seems to have far fewer ads than usual ITV morning shows. And @andipeters is back too - hurrah!"

Several commentators likened the look of the new programme to ABC's long-running breakfast show Good Morning America.

"Good Morning Amer... sorry, Britain! Yes, with its four-strong team of presenters - the women clad in primary colours - seated around a big glass desk, and a weather expert who gets to add her two cents to the chat, ITV's new breakfast news show owes a lot to its stateside counterpart," wrote Paul Jones in his Radio Times review.

The name Good Morning Britain was previously used by ITV from 1983 to 1992, and is chiefly associated with Anne Diamond and Nick Owen.

Louise Minchin has been presenting BBC Breakfast alongside Bill Turnbull since Reid left - an announcement about a permanent replacement is expected in the autumn.

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VIDEO: The battle to recruit the best staff

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AppId is over the quota

Across the world big businesses are worried about finding and keeping talent.

Good candidates may get more than one offer or be headhunted by a rival.

Chief executives tell leadership expert Steve Tappin about the best ways to recruit and retain staff.

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