I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for Godfrey | Timothy West on his role in the Dad's Army remake © UKTV

I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for Godfrey

Timothy West on his role in the Dad's Army remake

Tomorrow, Gold airs the first of its remake of three lost episodes of Dad’s Army. In the run-up to that broadcast we present an Q&A with a different cast member each day. Today it’s Timothy West, who plays Private Godfrey.

What interested you in The Lost Episodes project?

I loved seeing the originals and it’s great that there’s a bit more we can add to it and get the opportunity to embody these famous characters. I have a special connection with Arnold Ridley who was the original Godfrey, as he’s the author of the play The Ghost Train and my parents, who were both actors, met in the first tour of the play, so I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for him. 

How has it been working with the cast?

It’s a wonderful cast, they’re lovely people and they’ve all got their own ideas about the characters. At first, I thought there might be a problem having to be constrained by the dialogue and the setting and everything, but it’s wonderful how everybody has recreated the characters but in their own way. I think it’s going to be excellent… well, I hope! 

How did you approach the character of Godfrey?

I think, really, just see what other people are doing and do it a bit late. That’s how Godfrey leads his like. 

How did it feel walking onto the set for the first time?

That was wonderful, to get a set that is so absolutely right and so absolutely descriptive. 

How did the first episode recording go?

It was lovely because it was a very mixed audience, I mean they were quite apart from the usual punters. There were people from the Dad’s Army Appreciation Society with different Home Guard backgrounds and everybody had a different sort of attitude, but everyone seemed to enjoy it, which was wonderful. 

• Dad’s Army: The Lost Episodes airs on Gold on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday at 8pm Tomorrow: Mathew Horne who plays Private Walker.

Published: 24 Aug 2019

Live comedy picks

We see you are using AdBlocker software. Chortle relies on advertisers to fund this website so it’s free for you, so we would ask that you disable it for this site. Our ads are non-intrusive and relevant. Help keep Chortle viable.