An episode of allegedly had to be rewritten after one of the main actors refused to do what was asked of him. Arthur Lowe, who took on the iconic role of , apparently wasn’t afraid to put his foot down where needed.
One instance of him telling show bosses “no” was when filming 1973 episode, The Deadly Attatchment. It is arguably one of the best-known episodes of the series because of the comic aspects of a rare encounter between the platoon and the .
The episode included a scene where a grenade ends up down Mainwaring’s trousers – but the actor refused and wouldn’t allow this to happen. “He said he’d have it inside his tunic,” recalled co-writer David Croft in 2000, “but not down his trousers.”
As a result, Clive Dunn was chosen instead: “It was much better that way, of course, and I think Arthur was a little jealous.”
Writer Jimmy Perry expanded on the moment, as he told the Daily Mirror: “‘I’m not having this, James. Tell your partner I don’t have bombs down my trousers and I’m certainly not having John Laurie’s arm down my trousers.’”
Arthur Lowe wasn’t afraid to say no to bosses (Image: Getty)
“There was no persuading him. We had to rewrite the scene and stick the bomb down Corporal Jones’s trousers.”
Reflecting on the comedy’s success, TV channel Gold revealed: “10 Things You Didn’t Know About Dad’s Army.”
One little known fact read: “When approached for the role of Captain Mainwaring, Arthur Lowe was a little wary of being involved in comedy that was too lowbrow.
“He insisted on a clause in his contract specifying that he would never have to appear on the show without his trousers.”
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Cast members and writers recalled Lowe refusing to learn his lines (Image: Getty)
In the documentary We Love , it was revealed that Arthur had a cheeky approach to perfecting the character of Mainwaring.
Arthur’s son Stephen Lowe reflected on his dad’s iconic role, as he told the audience: “The thing about Arthur is he did a great deal of other work as well and he would really focus on Dad’s Army on the day he was in the studio for Dad’s Army. He did become quite well known for not knowing his lines.”
He added: “He was actually a very quick study I mean the reason he didn’t know his lines would be because he hadn’t looked at them.”