| Summary |
The Army Game is a British sitcom that aired on ITV from 1957 to 1961. Made in black-and-white, it is about life in National Service. It was created by Sid Colin.
Many of the stars, like Charles Hawtrey, William Hartnell, Bernard Bresslaw, Alfie Bass and Dick Emery would later become household names, many appearing in the Carry On films. It was made for the ITV network by Granada Television.
The creator Sid Colin was inspired by a 1956 film Private's Progress, that starred Ian Carmichael, Richard Attenborough, Terry-Thomas and William Hartnell, and not by The Phil Silvers Show that had started on the BBC two months earlier. Much of the cast had recently undertaken military service themselves.
Many people wrote episodes for The Army Game, including 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.
The show centres on a group of conscripts assigned to the Surplus Ordnance Department at Nether Hopping, Staffordshire. Billeted in Hut 29, these men are determined to work little and have as much fun as possible during their time in National Service. |