''The Army Game'' is a British television

sitcom A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ...

that aired on ITV from 19 June 1957 to 20 June 1961. It was the very first ITV sitcom and was made by

Granada Granada (,, DIN: ; grc, Ἐλιβύργη, Elibýrgē; la, Illiberis or . ) is the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada mountains, at the c ...

, and created by Sid Colin. It follows the exploits of Hut 29, a dysfunctional group of soldiers and their

National Service National service is the system of voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act 1939. The ...

conscription Conscription (also called the draft in the United States) is the state-mandated enlistment of people in a national service, mainly a military service. Conscription dates back to Ancient history, antiquity and it continues in some countries to th ...

into the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurkha ...

during the post war years. The original cast consisted of

William Hartnell William Henry Hartnell (8 January 1908 – 23 April 1975) was an English actor. He is best remembered for his portrayal of the first incarnation of the Doctor in ''Doctor Who'' from 1963 to 1966. In film, Hartnell notably appeared in '' Brig ...

Michael Medwin Michael Hugh Medwin, OBE (18 July 1923 – 26 February 2020) was an English actor and film producer. Life and career Medwin was born in London. He was educated at Canford School, Dorset, and the Institute Fischer, Montreux, Switzerland. He ...

, Geoffrey Sumner,

Alfie Bass Alfie Bass (born Abraham Basalinsky, 10 April 1916 – 16 July 1987) was an English actor. He was born in Bethnal Green, London, the youngest in a Jewish family with ten children; his parents had left Russia many years before he was born. He a ...

, Charles Hawtrey,

Bernard Bresslaw Bernard Bresslaw (25 February 193411 June 1993) was a British actor. He is best known as a member of the ''Carry On'' film franchise. Bresslaw also worked on television and stage, did recordings and wrote a series of poetry. Biography Bernard B ...

and

Norman Rossington Norman Rossington (24 December 1928 – 21 May 1999) was an English actor best remembered for his roles in ''The Army Game'', the ''Carry On'' films and the Beatles' film '' A Hard Day's Night''. Early life Born in Liverpool, Lancashi ...

. The cast would change over the years with actors such as

Bill Fraser William Simpson Fraser (5 June 1908 – 9 September 1987) was a Scottish actor who appeared on stage, screen and television for many years. In 1986 he won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Comedy Performance for his stage role in the play '' ...

, Ted Lune, Frank Williams,

Harry Fowler Henry James Fowler, MBE (10 December 1926 – 4 January 2012) was an English character actor in film and television. Over a career lasting more than six decades, he made nearly 200 appearances on screen. Personal life Fowler was born in Lambe ...

and

Dick Emery Richard Gilbert Emery (19 February 19152 January 1983) was an English comedian and actor. His broadcasting career began on radio in the 1950s, and his self-titled television series ran from 1963 to 1981. Life and career Richard Gilbert Emery was ...

appearing in subsequent series. The popularity of the series inspired a film spin-off, ''

I Only Arsked! ''I Only Arsked!'' is a 1958 British comedy film directed by Montgomery Tully and starring Bernard Bresslaw, Michael Medwin and Alfie Bass. It was based on the television series ''The Army Game'' and was made by Hammer Films. Plot Slapstick ens ...

'' (1958), and a top ten hit. It also produced the successful sitcom ''

Bootsie and Snudge ''Bootsie and Snudge'' is a British sitcom that aired on ITV for three series from 1960 to 1963, with a fourth in 1974. The show is a spin-off of '' The Army Game'', a sitcom about soldiers undertaking national service, and follows two of the m ...

'' starring the popular characters played by Bass and Fraser.

Background

The creator, Sid Colin, was inspired by a 1956 film, ''

Private's Progress ''Private's Progress'' is a 1956 British comedy film based on the novel by Alan Hackney. It was directed and produced by John and Roy Boulting, from a script by John Boulting and Frank Harvey. Plot During the Second World War, young underg ...

'', that starred

Ian Carmichael Ian Gillett Carmichael, OBE (18 June 1920 – 5 February 2010) was an English actor who worked prolifically on stage, screen and radio in a career spanning 70 years. He found prominence in the films of the Boulting brothers, including '' ...

Richard Attenborough Richard Samuel Attenborough, Baron Attenborough, (; 29 August 192324 August 2014) was an English actor, filmmaker, and entrepreneur. He was the president of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) and the British Academy of Film and Televisi ...

and

Terry-Thomas Terry-Thomas (born Thomas Terry Hoar Stevens; 10 July 19118 January 1990) was an English character actor and comedian who became internationally known through his films during the 1950s and 1960s. He often portrayed disreputable members of th ...

. William Hartnell had a supporting role similar to that of Sergeant-Major Bullimore in ''The Army Game''. Writers included Sid Colin, Larry Stephens, Maurice Wiltshire, Lew Schwarz, John Jowett, John Antrobus, John Foley,

Marty Feldman Martin Alan Feldman (8 July 1934 – 2 December 1982) was a British actor, comedian and comedy writer. He was known for his prominent, misaligned eyes. He initially gained prominence as a writer with Barry Took on the ITV sitcom ''Boot ...

Barry Took Barry Took (19 June 192831 March 2002) was an English writer, television presenter and comedian. His decade-and-a-half writing partnership with Marty Feldman led to the television series ''Bootsie and Snudge'', the radio comedy ''Round the Hor ...

, David Climie, David Cumming, Derek Collyer, Brad Ashton,

John Junkin John Francis Junkin (29 January 1930 – 7 March 2006) was an English actor and scriptwriter who had a long career in radio, television and film, specialising in comedy. Early life Born in Ealing, Middlesex, the son of a policeman, he and hi ...

Talbot Rothwell Talbot Nelson Conn “Tolly” Rothwell, Order of the British Empire, OBE (12 November 1916 – 28 February 1981) was an English screenwriter. Life and career Rothwell was born in Bromley, Kent, England. He had a variety of jobs during his ...

, Sidney Nelson, Stan Mars, Bob Perkins and Alan MacKinnon. At least three episodes are uncredited.

Cast

Plot and characters

The show centres on a group of conscripts assigned to the Surplus Ordnance Department at Nether Hopping,

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation Staffs.) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, the West Midlands C ...

. Billeted in Hut 29, the men are determined to work little and have fun. Geoffrey Sumner played Major 'Piggy' Upshot-Bagley, the commanding officer, with William Hartnell as Company Sgt Major (CSM) Percy Bullimore, the bane of Hut 29's army life. Michael Medwin was the

spiv In the United Kingdom, the word spiv is slang for a type of petty criminal who deals in illicit, typically black market, goods. The word was particularly used during the Second World War and in the post-war period when many goods were rationed du ...

-like Cpl Springer in charge of Hut 29, with the original conscripts consisting of Bernard Bresslaw's IQ deficient Pte Popplewell, Alfie Bass's Pte 'Excused Boots' Bisley, Charles Hawtrey's Pte 'Professor' Hatchett and Norman Rossington's Pte 'Cupcake' Cook. Later series saw Frank Williams as Capt T. R. Pockett take over the running of the camp, with Bill Fraser's Sgt Claude Snudge replacing Bullimore; although Sumner and Hartnell would return for the final series. Other popular characters included Harry Fowler's Cpl 'Flogger' Hoskins (a replacement for Medwin's Springer) and Ted Lune's Pte Leonard Bone, a sort of northern England variation on Bresslaw's Popplewell. Arguably the break-out character of the series was Bresslaw's Popplewell who would go on to be the lead of the film version, ''I Only Arsked!'' (1958), which used his catch-phrase as its title. On the back of the series Bresslaw became a star of the late fifties and would also use the Popplewell characteristics for other roles of the period, such as the 1959 films ''

Too Many Crooks ''Too Many Crooks'' is a 1959 British comedy film directed by Mario Zampi. The plot concerns a bunch of inept crooks who kidnap the wife of a shady businessman, only for him to decide he doesn’t want her back. It stars George Cole, Sidney J ...

'' and ''

The Ugly Duckling "The Ugly Duckling" ( da, Den grimme ælling) is a Danish literary fairy tale by Danish poet and author Hans Christian Andersen (1805–1875). It was first published on 11 November 1843 in '' New Fairy Tales. First Volume. First Collection'' ...

''. After Bresslaw left, Bass and Fraser's Bootsie and Snudge would become the most popular characters, and would get their own spin-off series, ''

'', after ''The Army Game'' finished.

Episodes

Series One (1957–58)

#"The Army Game" (19 June 1957) #"The Misguided Missiles" (3 July 1957) #"The Convicts Return" (17 July 1957) #"Open Day" (31 July 1957) #Episode 5 (14 August 1957) #Episode 6 (28 August 1957) #"The Mad Bull" (11 September 1957) #"The Still" (25 September 1957) #"The Volunteers" (9 October 1957) #"The Civilian Clerk" (23 October 1957) #"Security" (6 November 1957) #"The Rise And Fall of Private Popplewell" (20 November 1957) #"The New Officer" (4 December 1957) #"The Thing From Outer Space" (20 December 1957) #"W.R.A.A.C.S." (27 December 1957) #"Getting Shot Of" (3 January 1958) #"The Quarrel" (10 January 1958) #"Any Complaints" (17 January 1958) #"To A Haggis" (24 January 1958) #"The Marshall's Baton" (31 January 1958) #"Brothers in Law" 8 (7 February 1958) #"That's The Ticket" (14 February 1958) #"The Kindest Man in Britain" (21 February 1958) #"Brother Officers" (28 February 1958) #"The Recruits" (7 March 1958) #Episode 26 (14 March 1958) #Episode 27 (21 March 1958) #"Bring on the Dancing Girls" (28 March 1958) #"Quiz Kids" (4 April 1958) #"Guinea Pigs" (11 April 1958) #"The Investigator" (18 April 1958) #Episode 32 (25 April 1958) #"Money To Burn" (2 May 1958) #"The Initiative Test" (9 May 1958) #"A Piece of Cake" (16 May 1958) #"Treasure Trove" (23 May 1958) #"Derby Day" (30 May 1958) #"Poetry Prize" (6 June 1958) #"Insurance" (13 June 1958)

Series Two (1958–59)

#"The Special Investigator" (19 September 1958) #"A Soldier's Farewell" (26 September 1958) #"The Invisible Soldier" (3 October 1958) #"The Garden Fete" (10 October 1958) #"Fit as a Fiddle" (17 October 1958) #"The Bogus Sergeant Major" (24 October 1958) #"Happy Birthday Major Duckworth" (31 October 1958) #"The Phantom Strikes Again" (7 November 1958) #"The Flying Visitors" (14 November 1958) #"Dodging the Draft" (21 November 1958) #"Amateur Talent" (28 November 1958) #"Dinner is Served" (5 December 1958) #"X Marks the Spot" (12 December 1958) #"The Happy Couple" (19 December 1958) #"Ebeneezer Scrooge" (26 December 1958) #"The Desperate Hours" (2 January 1959) #"Officer Material" (9 January 1959) #"Grand Hotel" (16 January 1959) #"Bootsie's Butler" (23 January 1959) #"The C.O.'s Aunt" (30 January 1959) #Episode 21 (6 February 1959) #"St Valentine's Day" (13 February 1959) #"That's the Ticket" (20 February 1959) #"The Folk Singers" (27 February 1959) #"The Initiative Test" (6 March 1959) #"Friday the Thirteenth" (13 March 1959) #"The Old Car" (20 March 1959) #"The Separation" (27 March 1959) #"I Was Snudge's Double" (3 April 1959) #"The Military Mission" (10 April 1959) #"All Quiet on the Western Front" (17 April 1959) #"The System" (24 April 1959) #"The Eating Contest" (1 May 1959) #"The Siege" (8 May 1959) #"The Soldier's Chorus" (15 May 1959) #"The Fiddler's Return" (22 May 1959) #"Bang You're Dead" (29 May 1959) #"The Trouble with Bootsie" (5 June 1959) #"Strength Through Day" (12 June 1959)

Series Three (1959–60)

#"Snudge and Jimmy O'Goblin" (9 October 1959) #"The Take-Over Bid" (16 October 1959) #"Enter a Dark Stranger" (23 October 1959) #"Snudge's Budgie" (30 October 1959) #"Where There's Smoke" (30 October 1959) #"The Camera Never Lies" (6 November 1959) #"When the Poppies Bloom Again" (13 November 1959) #"Miracle in Hut" 29 (20 November 1959) #"Night Train to Itchwick" (27 November 1959) #"Officers and Gentlemen" (27 November 1959) #"Tiger Bisley" (4 December 1959) #"The Bisley Court Martial" (11 December 1959) #"The Long Walk" (18 December 1959) #"Happy New Year" (1 January 1960) #"The Invisible Man" (8 January 1960) #"The Bowler Hatting of Pocket" (15 January 1960) #"The Soft Life" (22 January 1960) #"Son of Snudge" (29 January 1960) #"A Rocket Called FRED" (5 February 1960) #"Don't Send My Boy to Prison" (12 February 1960) #"A Piece of Cake" (19 February 1960) #"Never Volunteer" (26 February 1960) #"A Marriage has been Arranged" (4 March 1960) #"The Good Old Days" (11 March 1960) #"A Question in the House" (18 March 1960) #"The Claude Snudge Story" (25 March 1960) #"April Fool" (1 April 1960) #"Goodnight Ladies" (8 April 1960) #"One of the Lads" (15 April 1960) #"Holding the Baby" (22 April 1960) #"Pen Pals Anonymous" (29 April 1960) #"Are You Receiving Me" (6 May 1960) #"The Efficiency Expert" (13 May 1960) #"Bull by the Horn" (20 May 1960) #"A Touch of the Other" (27 May 1960) #"The Feud" (3 June 1960) #"Out of this World" (10 June 1960) #"Emergency Hut 29" (17 June 1960)

Series Four (1960–61)

#"The Return of the Pig" (27 September 1960) #Episode 2 (4 October 1960) #"The Do-Gooders" (11 October 1960) #"The Marshal's Baton" (18 October 1960) #"Insurance" (25 October 1960) #"It's in the Book" (1 November 1960) #"Waltzing Matilda" (8 November 1960) #"The Kindest Man in Britain" (15 November 1960) #"Say It With Flowers" (22 November 1960) #"Music Hath Charms" (29 November 1960) #"Suddenly This Write" (6 December 1960) #"Quiz Kids" (13 December 1960) #"The Artist" (20 December 1960) #"Private Cinders" (27 December 1960) #"Tunes of Glory" (3 January 1961) #"Now It Can Be Told" (10 January 1961) #"Keep It Out of the Draught" (17 January 1961) #"Outward Bound" (24 January 1961) #"All at Sea" (31 January 1961) #"Decline And Fall" (7 February 1961) #"My Funny Valentine" (14 February 1961) #"Any Complaints?" (21 February 1961) #Episode 23 (28 February 1961) #"The Beast of Nether Hopping" (7 March 1961) #"The Green Fingers" (14 March 1961) #"Cold Cure" (21 March 1961) #"The Man Who Never Was" (28 March 1961) #"Poison Pen" (4 April 1961) #"Into The Breach" (11 April 1961) #Episode 30 (18 April 1961) #"Vice Versa" (25 April 1961) #"The Body in the Bath" (2 May 1961) #Episode 33 (9 May 1961) #"Fun And Adventure" (16 May 1961) #"A Certain Thing" (23 May 1961) #"Tea And Sympathy" (30 May 1961) #"The D-Day Dodger" (6 June 1961) #The Importance of Being Eric (13 June 1961) #Episode 39 (20 June 1961)

Other media

A film based on the series, ''

'', appeared in 1958, made by

Hammer Film Productions Hammer Film Productions Ltd. is a British film production company based in London. Founded in 1934, the company is best known for a series of Gothic horror and fantasy films made from the mid-1950s until the 1970s. Many of these involve class ...

. The plot concentrated on Bernard Bresslaw's character and included Michael Medwin, Alfie Bass, Geoffrey Sumner, Charles Hawtrey and Norman Rossington playing their characters. ''"I Only Arsked"'' became Bresslaw's

catchphrase A catchphrase (alternatively spelled catch phrase) is a phrase or expression recognized by its repeated utterance. Such phrases often originate in popular culture and in the arts, and typically spread through word of mouth and a variety of mass ...

. A record was released sung by Michael Medwin, Bernard Bresslaw, Alfie Bass and Leslie Fyson. In June 1958, it reached number five in the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

. Bresslaw's song "Mad Passionate Love", sung in the style of Private Popplewell, also did well in the charts. A paperback was produced, and

brought out a board game in 1959. Alfie Bass and Bill Fraser's characters turned up in a spin-off, ''

'', between 1960 and 1963 and in 1974. Bootsie and Snudge also appeared in the 1964 sitcom ''

Foreign Affairs ''Foreign Affairs'' is an American magazine of international relations and U.S. foreign policy published by the Council on Foreign Relations, a nonprofit, nonpartisan, membership organization and think tank specializing in U.S. foreign policy a ...

''. A year after the series debuted saw the first '' Carry On'' film, the very similar '' Carry on Sergeant'' (1958), which also featured Hartnell, Hawtrey and Rossington.

Royal Variety Performance

In June 1959, Michael Medwin, Alfie Bass, Norman Rossington, Bill Fraser and Ted Lune performed a short ''The Army Game'' scene at the

Royal Variety Performance The ''Royal Variety Performance'' is a televised variety show held annually in the United Kingdom to raise money for the Royal Variety Charity (of which King Charles III is life-patron). It is attended by senior members of the British royal ...

in front of

Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon (4 August 1900 – 30 March 2002) was Queen of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 to 6 February 1952 as the wife of King George VI. She was th ...

. This was the last Royal Variety Performance not to be televised, although highlights were broadcast on BBC radio on 29 June 1959.

DVD releases

Of the 154 episodes made, 52 are thought to survive. On 6 June 2005, Network released the first 26 episodes from series 3 on DVD under the title ''The Army Game – Volume 1''. On 14 August 2006, the remaining twenty-four episodes (including three surviving episodes from the first series) were released under the title ''The Army Game – Volume 2''. An episode of ''

'' was included. ''The Army Game Collection'', containing every surviving episode, was released on 13 August 2008.

References

Bibliography

Mark Lewisohn Mark Lewisohn (born 16 June 1958) is an English historian and biographer. Since the 1980s, he has written many reference books about the Beatles and has worked for EMI, MPL Communications and Apple Corps.

, ''Radio Times Guide to TV Comedy'', BBC Worldwide Ltd, 2003

External links

''The Army Game''
at Nostalgia Central * *

at British TV Comedy {{DEFAULTSORT:Army Game, The 1957 British television series debuts 1961 British television series endings 1950s British sitcoms 1960s British sitcoms ITV sitcoms Military comedy television series English-language television shows Television shows adapted into films Television shows adapted into novels Television shows produced by Granada Television Black-and-white British television shows