TV producer wants the sitcom banned for promoting an unrealistic national image

There may be many factors behind the Brexit vote and subsequent  political fiasco - but one TV producer has blamed one unlikely source for the mess we’re in: Dad’s Army.

Daisy Goodwin, who created  the ITV drama Victoria, says the BBC’s constant repeats of the much-loved sitcom promote an unrealistic national image.

And she wants the reruns banned in the name of maintaining the Corporation’s impartiality.

Writing in the Radio Times, she said the comedy was more influential in shaping attitudes than political programmes such as Newsnight, as it attracts larger audiences.

'If you really want to nail the BBC for influencing the nation's state of mind about Brexit, you might look at how often Dad's Army has been shown on BBC Two,’ she said.

'The BBC, if it wants to maintain its claim to impartiality, needs to retire the Home Guard (or send them on leave), because in the words of Private Frazer, "We are all doomed!"

'Forget Game of Thrones, Dad's Army is the show that is embedded in this country's imagination. The world of Dad's Army is a comforting place…  and it's soothing to those of us who worry about the effects of a No Deal Brexit.

'But while David Davis may sound like Corporal Jones, Philip Hammond has Sergeant Wilson's hangdog look about him and there is more than a touch of wide-boy Walker to Boris Johnson, perhaps the Conservatives, indeed the whole nation, need to be reminded that we are not living in Walmington-on-Sea.

'Our current difficulties will not be resolved with a comic flourish and a jaunty burst of Bud Flanagan.'

Published: 25 Jun 2019