When the signed up for their roles back in the 60’s, they had no idea what it would mean for the rest of their careers. As the show is now a huge part of TV history, one star in particular from the sitcom opened up on his “regrets”.
Ian Lavender willingly took on the role of guileless back in 1968, in what he may have assumed was a rather innocuous World War Two comedy about a bumbling band of Home Guardsmen.
The actor was just 22 when he took on the role and ad not long left drama school as he signed up to work alongside some comedy veterans.
What was expected to be an eight-week job turned into one lasting 10 years, and is still loved by audiences even now, more than 40 years later. Despite having other roles following Dad’s Army, it is the character of Pike that Lavendar is most remembered for.
Lavender admitted Pike had somewhat limited his wider career. “I’ve certainly been typecast, but nobody expects you to come up with that character,” .
Ian played the role of Pike on Dad’s Army (Image: Shutterstock)
“People don’t want Frank Pike, but they do expect you to be funny.” However, in another interview he added that he would “be a fool to have regrets”.
“If you asked me, ‘Would you like to be in a sitcom that was watched by 18 million people, was on screen for 10 years, and will create lots of work for you and provide not just for you but for your children for the next 40-odd years’… I’d be a fool to have regrets,” .
Despite appearing in the show for so many years, there was one thing in the storyline that Lavender admitted he was unsure of.
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Dads Army is still a British favourite more than 40 years on (Image: Getty)
He went to David Croft and asked straight out if Uncle Arthur (played by John Le Mesurier) was Pike’s father. “He looked at me and said ‘Of course he is.’ I never knew until then. I just said the lines,”
Lavender felt his finest hour came playing George in a stage version of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? in 1998, but knows that doing Dad’s Army opened many doors for him.
“But I wouldn’t have done it or lots of other things if I hadn’t done Dad’s Army,” he acknowledged.