First came a poster, then came more posters and now it’s the turn of Dad’s Army’s new upper-lip-stiffening trailer to arrive on the internet and salute it gamely. If carpet-bombing the internet with promotional materials was a war-winning gambit, Captain Mainwaring and co would be in Berlin by now. Click on the YouTube link below to inspect the troops.
[Embed: hhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=eLEhGWIdWag]
It’s the turn of Catherine Zeta-Jones’ glamorous journalist Rose Winters to step into the spotlight. She’s the rogue element that has Mainwaring (Toby Jones), Corporal Jones (Tom Courtenay) and co tripping over themselves to make an impression, and the Walmington-on-Sea womenfolk raising a wary collective eyebrow. More serious, though, is the presence of a Nazi agent in or near the town. With the Allied invasion of Europe in the offing, this could put the Hitler-looking cat right among the Allied pigeons.
There’s plenty of those beloved Dad’s Army nods in evidence here, including the dastardly Nazi arrows and a catchphrase or two, as well as our old bull friend from the first trailer (Betfair is currently offering 5/1 on a bull appearing in this movie).
The spirit of the great Jimmy Perry/David Croft BBC sitcom is clearly running through this reboot/reprisal. This time it’s 1944 that forms the backdrop, a pre-invasion climate of paranoia and high anxiety largely lost on Privates Godfrey (Michael Gambon), Walker (Daniel Mays), and especially the loveably gormless Pike (Blake Harrison).
Oliver Parker is directing this take on the classic sitcom, which features a wide array of big British talent that also includes Bill Nighy (as Sergeant Arthur Wilson), Bill Paterson (as Private Frazer), Sarah Lancashire, Alison Steadman and Mark Gatiss. Dad’s Army hits the cinematic beaches on February 5, 2016.