You Have Been Watching - Perry & Croft Quiz

Answer: The Fighting Tigers

Jimmy Perry wrote the original script based on his experiences as a Home Guard during the early years of the Second World War. He approached BBC producer David Croft with his script, who read it and liked it enough to forward to the BBC Head of Comedy, Michael Mills. Mills also saw enough in it to warrant commissioning the concept as a series.

However, he disliked the original title, "The Fighting Tigers", and suggested "Dad's Army" as an alternative. It was also Mills who suggested that Perry collaborate with Croft on the writing side, and henceforth the legendary writing duo was formed.

Answer: Burma

During the war, Jimmy Perry served in a Royal Artillery concert party, while David Croft was an entertainments officer serving in the Essex Regiment, both seeing service in India. It was these experiences that led to them creating "It Ain't Half Hot Mum".

The first four series were set in a Royal Artillery base at Deolali in India. However, from Series 5 onwards, the setting was changed to the fictional village of Tin Min in Burma, where the concert party are sent to entertain troops still fighting.

Answer: Maplin's

"Hi-de-Hi!" began in 1980, and ran for nine series, coming to an end in 1988. Set in the fictional town of Crimpton-on-Sea, the holiday camp is owned by the tyrannical (and unseen) Joe Maplin. At the start of the series, Maplin hires Jeffrey Fairbrother, a former archaeology professor from Cambridge, as Entertainments Manager, with the central conceit being that Jeffrey is singularly ill-suited for such a role.

However, the most memorable character is arguably Peggy Ollerenshaw, the chalet maid, which made a household name of actress Su Pollard.

Answer: Barbara New

"You Rang, M'Lord?" started out as a one-off pilot broadcast in December 1988, before subsequently being commissioned as a series that ran from 1990 to 1993. Unlike other sitcoms, each episode ran for 50 minutes rather than 30, which David Croft felt allowed more opportunity to develop plot and character.

This is the only series by Perry & Croft in which plots run from episode to episode.

Answer: Whatever Happened To The Likely Lads?

Up to the end of the 1980s, the BBC produced almost all of its output in-house, and directly employed a large number of staff producers and directors, who would be assigned to projects as required. David Croft was a staff producer and, up to the mid 1970s, was similarly employed on whichever project the management assigned him to. From the mid 1970s onwards, Croft often had two of his own sitcoms overlapping in production, and worked almost exclusively on shows that he had co-written.

Answer: Watford

In 1956, six years after graduating from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, Jimmy Perry got the job as actor-manager of Watford Palace Theatre. In this, he had responsibility for staging weekly shows in a variety of genres, as well as acting in them. He remained in this role until 1965, when the theatre was taken over by Watford Council, after which he joined Joan Littlewood's Theatre Workshop at Stratford in London.

It was during his time at Stratford that Perry came up with the idea of "Dad's Army".

Answer: Lord Meldrum

Played by Donald Hewlett, Lord Meldrum is known as a respectable gentleman with Victorian values, but his reputation is somewhat dubious due to his less than scrupulous business practices and his affair with a married woman. His butler, Stokes, is frequently called upon to help cover up his master's wrongdoings.

The role of Lord Meldrum was specially written for Donald Hewlett, who had previously appeared as Colonel Reynolds in "It Ain't Half Hot Mum", as well as appearing in "Come Back, Mrs Noah", a sitcom written by David Croft and Jeremy Lloyd.

In all three, Hewlett played alongside actor Michael Knowles.

Answer: Kenneth Connor

Kenneth Connor was already an established comedy star when he was cast as "Uncle" Sammy in "Hi-de-Hi!", having appeared in 17 "Carry On" films, including the first, as well as playing the regular character of Monsieur Alphonse in "'Allo 'Allo!", another of David Croft's long-running sitcoms, written with Jeremy Lloyd. Connor appeared in a total of twelve episodes of "Hi-de-Hi!", being introduced halfway through Series Seven, before becoming a regular in the second episode of Series Eight.

Answer: Royal Artillery

The soldiers in the concert party are all part of the Royal Artillery, as indicated by their ranks - all of the soldiers hold the rank of Gunner, while their non-commissioned officer (first 'Solly' Solomons, followed by 'Gloria' Beaumont) holds the rank of Bombardier, and in overall charge is Battery Sergeant-Major Williams.

The ranks of Gunner and Bombardier are equivalent to Private and Corporal in other branches of the army, while a Battery is the artillery equivalent of a Company consisting of 100-200 men and six to eight guns.

Answer: CP1

Formation insignia were introduced into the British Army during the First World War as a means of improving security. Initially intended for use on vehicles, camp flags and notice boards, this gradually extended to them being worn as patches on uniforms.

After the start of the Second World War, this was regularised, with the formation patch worn on the upper arm underneath the regimental shoulder title. In "Dad's Army", from the beginning of Series 4, the Walmington-on-Sea platoon wore 'Home Guard' shoulder titles, with the CP1 patch underneath.

The CP1 patch was fictional, with 'CP' simply standing for 'Croft/Perry'.