The Army Game


The Army Game was a British sitcom that was broadcast on ITV from 1957 to 1961. It was the very first ITV sitcom and was made by Granada, and created by Sid Colin. It follows the exploits of Hut 29, a dysfunctional group of soldiers and their National Service conscription into the British Army during the post war years.
The original cast consisted of William Hartnell, Michael Medwin, Geoffrey Sumner, Alfie Bass, Charles Hawtrey, Bernard Bresslaw and Norman Rossington. The cast would change over the years with actors such as Bill Fraser, Ted Lune, Frank Williams, Harry Fowler and Dick Emery appearing in subsequent series.
The popularity of the series inspired a film spin-off, I Only Arsked!, and a top ten hit. It also produced the successful sitcom Bootsie and Snudge starring the popular characters played by Bass and Fraser.

Background

The creator, Sid Colin, was inspired by a 1956 film, Private's Progress, that starred Ian Carmichael, Richard Attenborough and Terry-Thomas. William Hartnell had a supporting role similar to that of Sergeant-Major Bullimore in The Army Game.
Writers included Sid Colin, Larry Stephens, Maurice Wiltshire, Lew Schwarz, John Jowett, John Antrobus, John Foley, Marty Feldman, Barry Took, David Climie, David Cumming, Derek Collyer, Brad Ashton, John Junkin, Talbot Rothwell, Sidney Nelson, Stan Mars, Bob Perkins and Alan MacKinnon. At least three episodes are uncredited.

Cast

Plot and characters

The show centres on a group of conscripts assigned to the Surplus Ordnance Department at Nether Hopping, Staffordshire. Billeted in Hut 29, the men are determined to work little and have fun.
Geoffrey Sumner played Major 'Piggy' Upshot-Bagley, the commanding officer, with William Hartnell as Company Sgt Major Percy Bullimore, the bane of Hut 29's army life. Michael Medwin was the spiv-like Cpl Springer in charge of Hut 29, with the original conscripts consisting of Bernard Bresslaw's IQ deficient Pte Popplewell, Alfie Bass's Pte 'Excused Boots' Bisley, Charles Hawtrey's Pte 'Professor' Hatchett and Norman Rossington's Pte 'Cupcake' Cook.
Later series saw Frank Williams as Capt T. R. Pockett take over the running of the camp, with Bill Fraser's Sgt Claude Snudge replacing Bullimore; although Sumner and Hartnell would return for the final series. Other popular characters included Harry Fowler's Cpl 'Flogger' Hoskins and Ted Lune's Pte Leonard Bone, a sort of northern England variation on Bresslaw's Popplewell.
Arguably the break-out character of the series was Bresslaw's Popplewell who would go on to be the lead of the film version, I Only Arsked!, which used his catch-phrase as its title. On the back of the series Bresslaw became a star of the late fifties and would also use the Popplewell characteristics for other roles of the period, such as the 1959 films Too Many Crooks and The Ugly Duckling. After Bresslaw left, Bass and Fraser's Bootsie and Snudge would become the most popular characters, and would get their own spin-off series, Bootsie and Snudge, after The Army Game finished.

Episodes

Series One (1957–58)

  1. "The Army Game"
  2. "The Misguided Missiles"
  3. "The Convicts Return"
  4. "Open Day"
  5. Episode 5
  6. Episode 6
  7. "The Mad Bull"
  8. "The Still"
  9. "The Volunteers"
  10. "The Civilian Clerk"
  11. "Security"
  12. "The Rise And Fall Of Private Popplewell"
  13. "The New Officer"
  14. "The Thing From Outer Space"
  15. "W.R.A.A.C.S."
  16. "Getting Shot Of"
  17. "The Quarrel"
  18. "Any Complaints"
  19. "To A Haggis"
  20. "The Marshall's Baton"
  21. "Brothers In Law" 8
  22. "That's The Ticket"
  23. "The Kindest Man In Britain"
  24. "Brother Officers"
  25. "The Recruits"
  26. Episode 26
  27. Episode 27
  28. "Bring on the Dancing Girls"
  29. "Quiz Kids"
  30. "Guinea Pigs"
  31. "The Investigator"
  32. Episode 32
  33. "Money To Burn"
  34. "The Initiative Test"
  35. "A Piece Of Cake"
  36. "Treasure Trove"
  37. "Derby Day"
  38. "Poetry Prize"
  39. "Insurance"

    Series Two (1958–59)

  40. "The Special Investigator"
  41. "A Soldier's Farewell"
  42. "The Invisible Soldier"
  43. "The Garden Fete"
  44. "Fit as a Fiddle"
  45. "The Bogus Sergeant Major"
  46. "Happy Birthday Major Duckworth"
  47. "The Phantom Strikes Again"
  48. "The Flying Visitors"
  49. "Dodging the Draft"
  50. "Amateur Talent"
  51. "Dinner is Served"
  52. "X Marks the Spot"
  53. "The Happy Couple"
  54. "Ebeneezer Scrooge"
  55. "The Desperate Hours"
  56. "Officer Material"
  57. "Grand Hotel"
  58. "Bootsie's Butler"
  59. "The C.O.'s Aunt"
  60. Episode 21
  61. "St Valentine's Day"
  62. "That's the Ticket"
  63. "The Folk Singers"
  64. "The Initiative Test"
  65. "Friday the Thirteenth"
  66. "The Old Car"
  67. "The Separation"
  68. "I Was Snudge's Double"
  69. "The Military Mission"
  70. "All Quiet on the Western Front"
  71. "The System"
  72. "The Eating Contest"
  73. "The Siege"
  74. "The Soldier's Chorus"
  75. "The Fiddler's Return"
  76. "Bang You're Dead"
  77. "The Trouble with Bootsie"
  78. "Strength Through Day"

    Series Three (1959–60)

  79. "Snudge and Jimmy O'Goblin"
  80. "The Take-Over Bid"
  81. "Enter a Dark Stranger"
  82. "Snudge's Budgie"
  83. "Where There's Smoke"
  84. "The Camera Never Lies"
  85. "When the Poppies Bloom Again"
  86. "Miracle in Hut" 29
  87. "Night Train to Itchwick"
  88. "Officers and Gentlemen"
  89. "Tiger Bisley"
  90. "The Bisley Court Martial"
  91. "The Long Walk"
  92. "Happy New Year"
  93. "The Invisible Man"
  94. "The Bowler Hatting of Pocket"
  95. "The Soft Life"
  96. "Son of Snudge"
  97. "A Rocket Called FRED"
  98. "Don't Send My Boy to Prison"
  99. "A Piece of Cake"
  100. "Never Volunteer"
  101. "A Marriage has been Arranged"
  102. "The Good Old Days"
  103. "A Question in the House"
  104. "The Claude Snudge Story"
  105. "April Fool"
  106. "Goodnight Ladies"
  107. "One of the Lads"
  108. "Holding the Baby"
  109. "Pen Pals Anonymous"
  110. "Are You Receiving Me"
  111. "The Efficiency Expert"
  112. "Bull by the Horn"
  113. "A Touch of the Other"
  114. "The Feud"
  115. "Out of this World"
  116. "Emergency Hut 29"

    Series Four (1960–61)

  117. "The Return of the Pig"
  118. Episode 2
  119. "The Do-Gooders"
  120. "The Marshal's Baton"
  121. "Insurance"
  122. "It's in the Book"
  123. "Waltzing Matilda"
  124. "The Kindest Man in Britain"
  125. "Say It With Flowers"
  126. "Music Hath Charms"
  127. "Suddenly This Write"
  128. "Quiz Kids"
  129. "The Artist"
  130. "Private Cinders"
  131. "Tunes Of Glory"
  132. "Now It Can Be Told"
  133. "Keep It Out of the Draught"
  134. "Outward Bound"
  135. "All At Sea"
  136. "Decline And Fall"
  137. "My Funny Valentine"
  138. "Any Complaints?"
  139. Episode 23
  140. "The Beast Of Nether Hopping"
  141. "The Green Fingers"
  142. "Cold Cure"
  143. "The Man Who Never Was"
  144. "Poison Pen"
  145. "Into The Breach"
  146. Episode 30
  147. "Vice Versa"
  148. "The Body in the Bath"
  149. Episode 33
  150. "Fun And Adventure"
  151. "A Certain Thing"
  152. "Tea And Sympathy"
  153. "The D-Day Dodger"
  154. The Importance Of Being Eric
  155. Episode 39

    Other media

A film based on the series, I Only Arsked!, appeared in 1958, made by Hammer Film Productions. The plot concentrated on Bernard Bresslaw's character and included Michael Medwin, Alfie Bass, Geoffrey Sumner, Charles Hawtrey and Norman Rossington playing their characters. "I Only Arsked" became Bresslaw's catchphrase.
A record was released sung by Michael Medwin, Bernard Bresslaw, Alfie Bass and Leslie Fyson. In June 1958, it reached number five in the UK singles chart. Bresslaw's song "Mad Passionate Love", sung in the style of Private Popplewell, also did well in the charts.
A paperback was produced, and Granada brought out a board game in 1959.
Alfie Bass and Bill Fraser's characters turned up in a spin-off, Bootsie and Snudge, between 1960 and 1963 and in 1974. Bootsie and Snudge also appeared in the 1964 sitcom Foreign Affairs.
A year after the series debuted saw the first Carry On film, the very similar Carry on Sergeant, which also featured Hartnell, Hawtrey and Rossington.

Royal Variety Performance

In June 1959, Michael Medwin, Alfie Bass, Norman Rossington, Bill Fraser and Ted Lune performed a short The Army Game scene at the Royal Variety Performance in front of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother. This was the last Royal Variety Performance not to be televised, although highlights were broadcast on BBC radio on 29 June 1959.

DVD releases

Of the 154 episodes made, 52 are thought to survive. On 6 June 2005, Network released the first 26 episodes from series 3 on DVD under the title The Army Game – Volume 1. On 14 August 2006, the remaining twenty-four episodes were released under the title The Army Game – Volume 2. An episode of Bootsie and Snudge was included. The Army Game Collection, containing every surviving episode, was released on 13 August 2008.