James Perry (20 September 1923 – 23 October 2016) was an English scriptwriter and actor. He devised and co-wrote the BBC sitcoms Dad's Army (1968–1977), It Ain't Half Hot Mum (1974–1981), Hi-de-Hi! (1980–1988) and You Rang, M'Lord? (1988–1993), all with David Croft. Perry co-wrote the theme tune of Dad's Army, "Who Do You Think You Are Kidding, Mr. Hitler?" along with Derek Taverner, for which Perry received an Ivor Novello Award from the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors in 1971.

Early life

Perry was born in Barnes, Surrey on 20 September 1923. His father, Arthur, was an antiques dealer, whose shop was in South Kensington, London. He was a founder of the British Antique Dealers' Association. His son was educated at two independent schools, Colet Court and St Paul's School, which at the time were both based in Hammersmith in West London.

The teenaged Perry partly served as the model for the mummy's boy character Private Pike in Dad's Army. In a 2013 interview with Neil Clark for The Daily Telegraph, he said his own mother "didn't go so far as making me wear a scarf, but she came pretty near".

Delaying call up at the insistence of his mother, he joined the First (Mixed) Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regiment of the Royal Artillery at Oswestry in 1943, and the camp concert party. The following year, he was sent to Bombay in India, and then Burma, being promoted in rank from gunner to bombardier in the process. He was active in the concert party at the Deolali base of the Royal Artillery, and later in Combined Services Entertainment. He spent his holiday period working as a Redcoat in Butlin's Holiday Camps. The company included Glenda Jackson,

Comedy writer

Dad's Army (1968–1977)

Inspired after seeing a television showing of the Will Hay comedy Oh, Mr Porter! (1937), he decided to use Hay's comedy device of "the pompous man in charge, old man and young boy", for his own project. Meanwhile, Perry was also gaining work in television bit parts. He was sent by his agent, Ann Callender, to be cast in an episode of a sitcom starring Reg Varney entitled Beggar My Neighbour which was being produced by Callender's husband, David Croft.

Perry showed Croft an outline for a sitcom derived from his experiences in the Home Guard, then entitled The Fighting Tigers, which resulted in the producer taking the idea to Michael Mills, then the BBC Head of Comedy. As well as the character of Private Pike, modelled on himself, an elderly man he had known in the Home Guard had served with Lord Kitchener and became the basis for Corporal Jones. Despite the doubts, the first episode was screened on 31 July 1968, with Perry making a cameo appearance as the entertainer Charlie Cheeseman in the sixth episode, "Shooting Pains". At its peak, the show had ratings of 18 million. It ran for nine years, from 1968 to 1977, and led to two film versions (released in 1971 and 2016), a stage show and a radio version.

In the 2013 Telegraph interview, Perry said: "It amazes me. I think it's because it's the thing that all British people savour: we were on our own at that time and we didn't turn away. Dad's Army reminds us of our finest hour."

It lasted for one series of six episodes, and although Perry claimed the series was quite well received, it did not warrant a second series. However, the critics largely did not approve, one saying "I found the script banal and beyond reason", with another simply saying "what a load o of rubbish". All six episodes are missing from the BBC Archives, and are presumed lost; only a few stills and audio fragments survive.

Lollipop Loves Mr Mole (later Lollipop, 1971–1972)

Lollipop Loves Mr Mole (1971–1972), shortened to Lollipop for its second series, also featured Hugh Lloyd, and was Perry's only domestic sitcom. Both were written without a collaborator.

It Ain't Half Hot Mum (1974–1981)

Perry and Croft continued their collaboration with It Ain't Half Hot Mum (1974–1981), which Perry's Times obituarist termed "humour of the broadest kind". Perry defended the series, acknowledging the language was homophobic, The character of bombardier Solomons (played by George Layton) is thought to represent Perry when he was working with ENSA during WW2.

The Rear Guard (1976)

The Rear Guard was a 1976 pilot episode based on the Dad's Army episode, "The Deadly Attachment" made for the American network ABC, but neither Jimmy Perry or David Croft were involved in the writing process. The pilot was aired on 10 August 1976, and received overwhelming poor feedback from American audiences and did not develop into a series. In an interview Perry said that he and Croft "arrived in a limousine and left in a taxi".

Turns (1982–1989)

At the end of the 1970s, Perry became involved as presenter in a BBC series called Turns, dedicated to music hall acts of the 1930s and 1940s as featured in films of the era.

Hi-de-Hi (1980–1988)

For Hi-de-Hi! (1980–1988), Perry once again collaborated with David Croft. He used his time working as a Butlin's Redcoat as an inspiration. Perry said of the series in 2009 that "of all the shows that David Croft and I did together Hi-de-Hi!, from the first time it went on air, took off like a rocket." Despite the pilot episode attracting audience ratings of only 4.4 million, by the time the series came out audience ratings had increased to 15.45 million. and has been successful in Hungary. The series featured many cast members from other series that Perry had worked on, including Michael Knowles and Donald Hewlett from It Ain't Half Hot Mum, Paul Shane, Jeffrey Holland and Su Pollard from Hi-de-Hi!, and Bill Pertwee from Dad's Army. Both Perry and Croft later cited You Rang, M'Lord? as their best work.

London Calling (1994)

In 1994, he worked on a sitcom about the early years of the BBC in the 1920s, London Calling, which was broadcast on radio for four episodes. "That's the one I was most proud, but the BBC said it was a bit old-fashioned", Perry said in 2014. younger sister of actress Diane Holland. He and his wife had one son, Jimmy, who predeceased his parents, dying at age 19 in 1977 in a motorcycle accident. In 1982 he was initiated into the Grand Order of Water Rats fraternity.

Perry died on 23 October 2016 in Hammersmith, She said that "it struck me that we could hear those catchphrases ringing around No. 10. We could hear the cry of, 'Don't panic, Don't panic!' or, as the Prime Minister slaps down her recalcitrant and wayward colleagues, we could hear her muttering, 'Stupid boy'."

In reference to the line "Don't tell 'em Pike", from the episode The Deadly Attachment, Richard Osman said that 'when St. Peter asks for Jimmy Perry's name he's got a great gag lined up.'

BBC Two repeated two episodes of Dad's Army and one episode of Hi-de-Hi in Perry's memory.

Portrayals

The 2015 BBC TV film We're Doomed: The Dad's Army Story told the story of how Dad's Army developed from the original concept to the airing of the first episode. In the film Perry was played by Paul Ritter, with Sarah Alexander playing his wife Gilda.

Acting credits

  • 1955: The Water Gipsies: Mr. Mountain/Romeo (as James Perry)
  • 1960: Les Cinq Dernières Minutes: Un agent (1 episode)
  • 1966: Hugh and I: 1 episode
  • 1967: Beggar My Neighbour: Jack Butt – 1 episode
  • 1969: Dad's Army: Charlie Cheeseman (1 episode)
  • 1969: The Gnomes of Dulwich: Gnome (1 episode)
  • 1980: It Ain't Half Hot Mum: Major Forestt (1 episode)

Writing credits

  • 1968–1977: Dad's Army (80 episodes)
  • 1969: The Gnomes of Dulwich (6 episodes)
  • 1970: A Royal Television Gala Performance
  • 1970: Wiltons' – The Handsomest Hall in Town
  • 1971: Dad's Army (film)
  • 1972: Lollipop Loves Mr Mole (12 episodes)
  • 1974: It Ain't Half Hot Mum (57 episodes)
  • 1976: The Rear Guard
  • 1978: The Old Boy Network (1 episode)
  • 1979: Room Service (7 episodes)
  • 1980–1988: Hi-de-Hi! (58 episodes)
  • 1982–1989: Turns (14 episodes)
  • 1988–1993: You Rang, M'Lord? (26 episodes)
  • 1989: High Street Blues (6 episodes)
  • 1994: London Calling (4 episodes)

Books