Cast and Production Team
Production Photos
Photographer: With This Ring Photography
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The Reviews Are In...
Our production of Dad’s Army brought plenty of laughter, familiar characters and a little bit of mayhem to the stage! We’re delighted to share some of the wonderful reviews and feedback our production received, and incredibly proud of the team who brought this much-loved comedy to life.
Birmingham Theatre District Guild
"This was a very interesting set, lots of things on the walls which enhance the experience without necessarily adding to the plot."
"It is at this point I have to highlight the marvellous train carriage that was set up for the end of “Mum’s Army”. This was something that is seen for less than a minute, yet the company had constructed a practically full sized carriage exterior, complete with working door and what’s more, the thing even moved at the end of the scene as the train pulled out! I always marvel at some of the attention to detail we get from amateur theatre companies, and this was right up there!"
"Bearing in mind that there was quite a restricted space on this set, and we had a cast of 18 occasionally on stage all at once, it was an achievement to ensure that they were well co-ordinated and the cast were all on-point here in this regard."
"The whole cast worked well together as a team."
"This team managed to take that familiar material and give us a splendid evening’s entertainment,..."
Antony Britt
"Always a pleasure to see Tinkers Farm and for me, this was the most enjoyable production yet. Now, they would not have known this beforehand, but they were inviting someone who is a bit of an expert on Dad’s Army in me, and I am glad to say, they got everything spot on. That is not to say I would not have enjoyed it otherwise, but I can only applaud how much research had gone into putting on this show."
"Of the cast, I can only give the highest compliment, and I felt that I was watching the originals. At the top of this tree was Andrew Potter who was so like Arthur Lowe it was uncanny. The moment those glasses came off and a hand wiped the troubled brow I was taken back to my childhood of watching on TV."
"Credit to production for costumes, and for the set, created by Richard Cooper. Chaddesley Corbett Village Hall is what it says on the tin, a small venue, so to have that effective set look so well was excellent. And well done to Steve Percy and his backstage crew for working in what I can only imagine would invite a new definition of the word, cramped."
"A thorough, all-round triumph. Finally, Dad’s Army was directed by Emma Harley (also in charge of sound) and I can only heap as much praise as I can. Many years ago, for a wartime concert, I wrote and directed a script based on the characters of Dad’s Army (Names were changed to protect the guilty) and that was a labour of love. I can tell from everyone involved in this Tinkers Farm production that this was a labour of love too, as it was for me writing this review."
View From the Stalls
"It is a brave theatre company that takes on the task of bringing such a much-loved show to a contemporary audience but, given their success in accurately replicating scenes from The Vicar Of Dibley last year, Tinkers Farm should be up to the task as they put on the 2-hour show at Chaddesley Corbett Village Hall."
"And, as with their Vicar Of Dibley, some of the cast members are immediately recognisable as their fictional counterparts without a word being spoken, especially (but not exclusively) Andrew Potter as Captain Mainwaring, Tom Bowes as Private Pike and Tam Weir as Private Frazer."
"There are moments of comedic genius, of course, in Jimmy Perry and David Croft’s script and it is fortunately not long before the first of these appears with the immortal phrase uttered by Mainwaring to the U-Boat Captain (Richard Cooper) - “Don’t tell him, Pike”. As expected as this was, it still got a loud cheer from the audience."
"With music from the wartime era and the theme tune playing numerous times, the only thing missing was the innovative “You have been watching” sequence – but that is included in the programme instead!"
NODA
"I am very pleased to say that Tinkers Farm Opera have very wisely come to the conclusion that they were now ideally placed to put themselves wholeheartedly behind “Dad’s Army”, much to my delight and that of an appreciative sold-out audience."
"Each episode centre around the main platoon characters all of whom in Emma Harley’s affectionate production are beautifully observed and portrayed: from the pomposity and pride of the Mainwaring lookalike, superbly played by Andrew Potter, from Stephen Homer’s affably vague and upper class Sergeant Wilson; the excitable and exasperatingly willing Corporal Jones; brought to life by Roger Goddard; Tam Weir’s doom and gloom Scotsman, Private Fraser; from the gentle man with the kind heart and the weak bladder, Private Godfrey, played by Geoff Westwood; from the street-wise spiv and dodgy dealing of Private Walker, played by Simon Wilkinson and the naïve, mummy’s boy, Tom Bowes’ Private Pike. There were several occasions where you couldn’t believe the jaw-droppingly uncanny resemblance to their TV counterparts."
"Costumes were authentic, and the props equally so. The set captured the style of the original series, complete with the Parish Noticeboard and a portrait of the King all taking us back to Walmington-on-Sea.
Well done to everyone at Tinkers Farm for a wonderfully nostalgic and thoroughly enjoyable evening."