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Corporal Jones’ Forces Hour

Corporal Jones is well known for his love of the wireless. Cpl Jones’ Forces Hour is you opportunity to hear programmes from the Dad’s Army radio and sound archive that are not easily found elsewhere.

See what programmes Jonesy has broadcast in previous weeks at Jonesy’s Archive

You can purchase episodes from the Dad’s Army radio series on BBC audio cassettes. Click the logo for details and pricing.

This Week’s Broadcast

It Sticks Out Half a Mile

In 1977 the last episode of Dad’s Army - Never Too Old - was broadcast and the programme came to an end. However amongst some of the cast and production team there was a feeling that the characters still had potential for further development. Harold Snoad and Michael Knowles who had successfully adapted the programme for radio gained Perry and Croft’s blessing to develop a new series set after the end of the war, and incorporating some of the Dad’s Army characters.  A pilot episode was written and recorded in 1982 with Arthur Lowe and John le Mesurier from the Dad’s Army cast. Sadly before it could be broadcast Arthur Lowe died and until 2004 the recording had never been heard in public. Joan Lowe was adamant that Arthur would have wanted the programme to continue, so Knowles and Snoad rewrote the pilot, adding Bill Pertwee and Ian Lavender to the cast. The newly revamped programme was entitled It Sticks Out Half a Mile, and thirteen episodes were broadcast on BBC Radio 2 between November 1983 and October 1984. The death of John le Mesurier in 1983 spelt the end for the radio series, although it did live on with a new cast in the form of two short lived sitcoms (Walking the Planks and High and Dry) made by the BBC and Yorkshire TV respectively.

Jonesy’s Specials:

Original Pilot - 12th Sep     Original Pilot. This original pilot episode was never broadcast as part of the series and for many years was lost to the BBC archive, exitsing only in the private collection of co-writer Harold Snoad. In response to the BBC Treasurehunt appeal Mr Snoad returned this recording to the BBC and it has subsequently been broadcast on BBC7 as well as being released as part of the third CD boxset of radio episodes. The business proposition - 19th Sep     1st Full Episode - the pilot of the full series, featuring Bill Pertwee, John le Mesurier and Ian Lavender reprising their roles of Hodges, Wilson and Pike.. The bank loan - 26th Sep     The bank loan Who owned the pier - 3rd Oct     Who owned the pier Inspecting the foundations - 10th Oct     Inspecting the foundations Pike in love - 17th Oct     Pike in love The Friends of Frambourne Pier Association - 24th Oct     The Friends of Frambourne Pier Association The associates first meeting - 31st Oct     The associates’ first meeting Wilson and Miss Perkins Marooned - 7th Nov     Wilson and Miss Perkins Marooned The fancy dress night - 14th Nov     The fancy dress night The builder - 21st Nov     The builder War damage - 28th Nov     War damage Miss Perkins, pin-up girl - 5th Dec     Miss Perkins, pin-up girl Hidden treasure - 12th Dec     Hidden treasure - the final episode

Mr Eliot’s Wireless Tips

- Bandwidth is hard to come by in wartime. To save your coupons Cpl Jones transmits in Realmedia format - to download the latest version of RealOne player click the icon below

- Cpl Jones’ Forces Hour is streamed at low bitrate and should work well with dial-up connections

- If you get server connection errors and are using a dial-up connection try increasing the Realone buffer size to at least 90 seconds - click view/preferences and select the connection tab

- Each week the programme will change

Last Updated 05 Sep, 2004