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#1 Doug Nye

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Posted 07 November 2012 - 16:27

Oh - for all UK Nostalgists - how sad. L/Cpl Jones - Clive Dunn - has finally passed to the great saloon bar in the sky...aged 92.

DCN

Edited by Doug Nye, 07 November 2012 - 22:40.


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#2 ReWind

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Posted 07 November 2012 - 16:38

... and the relevance to this forum is what?

#3 f1steveuk

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Posted 07 November 2012 - 17:09

Relevance?

http://en.wikipedia....i/The_Fast_Lady

For a start....................

#4 Vitesse2

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Posted 07 November 2012 - 17:25

Oh - for all UK Nostalgists - how sad. Private Jones - Clive Dunn - has finally passed to the great saloon bar in the sky...aged 92.

DCN

Private? Lance-corporal, if you don't mind!

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... and the relevance to this forum is what?

Reinhard, there is a certain delicious irony that a German should ask that question :lol:

#5 Sebastian Tombs

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Posted 07 November 2012 - 17:31

Private? Lance-corporal, if you don't mind!
Reinhard, there is a certain delicious irony that a German should ask that question :lol:


'They do NOT like it up 'em!'

:up: :up: V2 :rotfl: :rotfl:



#6 Sebastian Tombs

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Posted 07 November 2012 - 17:35

'Your name vill alzo go in ze book, vot is it?'

'Don't tell him Reinhard!'

:rotfl:

ST :wave:

#7 Giraffe

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Posted 07 November 2012 - 17:42

'They do NOT like it up 'em!'


IIRC that was the Fuzziwuzzi's, not the Hun. :smoking:

#8 Doug Nye

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Posted 07 November 2012 - 18:04

Private? Lance-corporal, if you don't mind!


Mein Gott! Duly corrected.

DCN

Edited by Doug Nye, 07 November 2012 - 22:40.


#9 La Sarthe

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Posted 07 November 2012 - 18:15

Mein Gott! Whadda mistaka to maka... but, as always, I meant well...

DCN


Must be the cold steel DCN......

#10 Dipster

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Posted 07 November 2012 - 18:42

... and the relevance to this forum is what?



Doug did start his post by making it clear it was aimed at UK TNFers. It really is a British thing.

#11 ReWind

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Posted 07 November 2012 - 18:57

It really is a British thing.

But it has nothing to do with motor racing.
"The Fast Lady" doesn't count.


#12 Alan Cox

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Posted 07 November 2012 - 18:58

By a sad coincidence there is an excellent feature on Mr Dunn in the latest issue of 'The Oldie'. He was only 48 when he took on the role of the aged Lance-Corporal Jones.

#13 David Birchall

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Posted 07 November 2012 - 19:18

Just so the "others" know what the fuss is about:


Edited by David Birchall, 07 November 2012 - 19:26.


#14 Giraffe

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Posted 07 November 2012 - 19:55

But it has nothing to do with motor racing.


Reinhard, I can see where you are coming from, but this thread was started by DCN, who IMHO to some extent enjoys "Diplomatic privilege". Now as long as he doesn't bring Basil Fawlty into it, I think he might just have got away with it........... :smoking:

Edited by Giraffe, 07 November 2012 - 19:56.


#15 Richard Jenkins

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Posted 07 November 2012 - 19:59

... and the relevance to this forum is what?


Right here we go... Clive Dunn worked for many years with Frank Williams,  ;)



Anyway, RIP Clive, truly, truly saddened to hear this news.. when I think of him, I think of only wonderful, happy memories. Thank you, sir.


#16 RS2000

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Posted 07 November 2012 - 20:18

Frank Williams, the actor who played the Vicar...
If you want a motorsport connection, the exterior scenes were shot mainly at "STANTA" - the Stanford Training Area of the British Army. Between Christmas 1985 and New Year 1986 (the exact day escapes me) a stage rally was run there. It was about -10C all day. The roads (that feature in "Dad's Army") were really far too fast and it was not used again. Flat in top on sheet ice, slight kink, wheel tracks leading off in the snow about a hundred yards towards the tree line... You get the picture. Stage finish braking areas got polished and the marshalls had to hide well off the road to keep safe from each car. At one finish control, the only person able to walk to the cars was a female marshall who had happened to have a pair of stiletto shoes in the car - cold but effective as ice studs...

#17 GMACKIE

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Posted 07 November 2012 - 21:02

"Permission to speak, Sir?"...........RIP Clive Dunn.

#18 Collombin

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Posted 07 November 2012 - 21:27

So the Dad's Army curse strikes again :rolleyes:

RIP

#19 Sebastian Tombs

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Posted 07 November 2012 - 21:58

So the Dad's Army curse strikes again :rolleyes:

RIP


:rolleyes: Stupid boy.

ST :wave:


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#20 ensign14

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Posted 07 November 2012 - 22:44

Private? Lance-corporal, if you don't mind!

Ah. Well done, Vitesse. I wondered who would be the first to spot that.


#21 ryan86

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Posted 07 November 2012 - 22:54

I remember my mates and I being amazed when our Geography teacher told us that Clive Dunn was still alive because most of us thought he had looked 90 years old in 1970!

#22 Doug Nye

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Posted 07 November 2012 - 23:03

One of the best characteristics of TNF is, to me, its participants' breadth of interest amd enthusiasm beyond the core subject. Nostalgia embraces so much, and TNF has always seemed to embrace good guys in all kinds of activities. I just felt that Clive Dunn and the illustriously British character he played so impeccably embodied for many of us a genuinely 'good guy' whose passing deserved mention - and tribute. If it's a waste of Haymarket's electrons I am confident this thread could be erased at a key stroke...

Oh yes, 'The Fast Lady' herself - the 3-litre chassised Bentley with 4 1/2-litre engine - is owned by a friend of mine down the road here to the west. A couple of miles to the south lies Frensham Great Pond into which the Bentley rolled while the movie was being shot there. We do, therefore, have a tenuous link...

DCN

Edited by Doug Nye, 07 November 2012 - 23:07.


#23 David Birchall

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Posted 07 November 2012 - 23:29

In 1964 I stood beside Frensham Great Pond and gave my girlfriend a hug--I heard the sound of running water-she had wet herself! THERE'S nostalgia for ya!

#24 Sebastian Tombs

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Posted 08 November 2012 - 00:00

In 1964 I stood beside Frensham Great Pond and gave my girlfriend a hug--I heard the sound of running water-she had wet herself! THERE'S nostalgia for ya!


Good grief :eek: Must have been some hug.

ST :wave:


#25 elansprint72

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Posted 08 November 2012 - 00:17

One of the best characteristics of TNF is, to me, its participants' breadth of interest amd enthusiasm beyond the core subject. Nostalgia embraces so much, and TNF has always seemed to embrace good guys in all kinds of activities. I just felt that Clive Dunn and the illustriously British character he played so impeccably embodied for many of us a genuinely 'good guy' whose passing deserved mention - and tribute. If it's a waste of Haymarket's electrons I am confident this thread could be erased at a key stroke...

Oh yes, 'The Fast Lady' herself - the 3-litre chassised Bentley with 4 1/2-litre engine - is owned by a friend of mine down the road here to the west. A couple of miles to the south lies Frensham Great Pond into which the Bentley rolled while the movie was being shot there. We do, therefore, have a tenuous link...

DCN


" I am confident this thread could be erased at a key stroke..."

Just like the much-missed "Blood Pressure" thread?

How may threads/comments have been censored here?

Censorship is illegal in the UK, which a certain forum administrator would be well-advised to note.



#26 GMACKIE

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Posted 08 November 2012 - 01:30

" I am confident this thread could be erased at a key stroke..."

Just like the much-missed "Blood Pressure" thread?


I do miss that thread, although this talk about "stroke" and "Blood Pressure" has me looking for the Sphyg. again. :rolleyes:


#27 Dipster

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Posted 08 November 2012 - 07:40

One of the best characteristics of TNF is, to me, its participants' breadth of interest amd enthusiasm beyond the core subject. Nostalgia embraces so much, and TNF has always seemed to embrace good guys in all kinds of activities. I just felt that Clive Dunn and the illustriously British character he played so impeccably embodied for many of us a genuinely 'good guy' whose passing deserved mention - and tribute. If it's a waste of Haymarket's electrons I am confident this thread could be erased at a key stroke...

Oh yes, 'The Fast Lady' herself - the 3-litre chassised Bentley with 4 1/2-litre engine - is owned by a friend of mine down the road here to the west. A couple of miles to the south lies Frensham Great Pond into which the Bentley rolled while the movie was being shot there. We do, therefore, have a tenuous link...

DCN


Doug, I think there was only the one member who questioned your thread. The majority has it, I think.

In my former professional life (I was in the British Foreign Office) I think I would have avoided this sort of questioning of relevance of a thread by a preamble such as "Does anybody know whether Clive Dunn had any connection with motor sport?" then moving on to the message.

Over the past couple of years I have found this forum fascinating and informative but lacked the time to contribute. I am not interested in everything posted in whch case I simply move on to another topic. I do hope that members will continue to post anything they think others might find informative or simply enjoy.

Edited by Dipster, 08 November 2012 - 07:43.


#28 f1steveuk

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Posted 08 November 2012 - 08:10

But it has nothing to do with motor racing.
"The Fast Lady" doesn't count.



Well with all due respect, the "Fast Lady" in question is a 1927 Bentley Four and a half litre engined Red Label Speed Model, painted in British Racing Green. I recall it is sold to Stanley Baxter as an "Ex Le Mans car". Tentative I know, but we're British!!

#29 Ted Walker

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Posted 08 November 2012 - 08:12

One edition of Dads Army did feature a Vauxhall 30/98 and and Austin 7 Chummy.

#30 f1steveuk

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Posted 08 November 2012 - 08:42

A friend of mine has just told me, and he's a member of the "Dad's Army Appreciation Society" (honestly, and the one for "Only Fools and Horses"!!), that Brooklands was mentioned in one script, so I'm sticking with it!

I read somewhere, that when Clive joined the cast, he was one of the youngest actors in it!

#31 ensign14

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Posted 08 November 2012 - 08:54

Jones' van was up for sale recently.

I seem to remember that it is one of only about four Ford Boxvans left?

#32 Giraffe

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Posted 08 November 2012 - 08:56

Let us not forget that Cpl Jones and his mates have been paid tribute to at the Goodwood Revival in recent years......

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#33 Lola5000

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Posted 08 November 2012 - 08:58

Doug did start his post by making it clear it was aimed at UK TNFers. It really is a British thing.

and a few of us Aussies,its still on prime time TV here,i watched it last night,the one where the yanks come to town. :clap:

#34 Glengavel

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Posted 08 November 2012 - 09:00

A friend of mine has just told me, and he's a member of the "Dad's Army Appreciation Society" (honestly, and the one for "Only Fools and Horses"!!), that Brooklands was mentioned in one script, so I'm sticking with it!

I read somewhere, that when Clive joined the cast, he was one of the youngest actors in it!


Of the main cast, he was third youngest (48) after Ian Lavender (22) and James Beck (38). Arthur Lowe was 53, only one year older than me! :(

Then it was John Le Mesurier (56), John Laurie (71) and Arnold Ridley (72). Laurie and Ridley were old enough to be Dunn's father.

#35 Lola5000

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Posted 08 November 2012 - 09:02

Of the main cast, he was third youngest (48) after Ian Lavender (22) and James Beck (38). Arthur Lowe was 53, only one year older than me! :(

Then it was John Le Mesurier (56), John Laurie (71) and Arnold Ridley (72). Laurie and Ridley were old enough to be Dunn's father.

some big drinkers in that group.

#36 Macca

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Posted 08 November 2012 - 09:10

And there is indeed another motor-racing connection.......just before WW2 Dunn joined the Volunteer Ambulance Service based at the Seven Stars Garage on the Goldhawk Road, close to (?) the Seven Stars pub whose back alley became a hotbed of motor-racing activity in the 1960s including home to the Scirrocco-Powell F1 team.

RIP, Jonesy.


Paul M

#37 Vitesse2

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Posted 08 November 2012 - 09:20

One edition of Dads Army did feature a Vauxhall 30/98 and and Austin 7 Chummy.

And over the years quite a few other classics, including a camouflaged Rolls Royce: http://www.imcdb.org...Dad-s-Army.html

That's by no means complete, though - IIRC there's one episode which features a Ford V8 staff car.

Then there was the film, with a rather nice "Luftwaffe" Mercedes Benz 320 cabriolet: http://www.imcdb.org...Dad-s-Army.html

#38 Pullman99

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Posted 08 November 2012 - 09:20

Of the main cast, he was third youngest (48) after Ian Lavender (22) and James Beck (38). Arthur Lowe was 53, only one year older than me!


And, if I'm not mistaken, one of Clive Dunn's earlier TV roles was as a caretaker "Old Johnson" in a comedy set in a gentleman's club "Bootsie & Snudge" with Alfie Bass and Bill Fraser. A spin-off series from the earlier "The Army Game" I believe.


#39 Tony Matthews

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Posted 08 November 2012 - 09:46

Good grief :eek: Must have been some hug.

Never squeeze a bird when she's just tucked away eight pints of scrumpy.

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#40 Geoff E

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Posted 08 November 2012 - 09:51

And, if I'm not mistaken, one of Clive Dunn's earlier TV roles was as a caretaker "Old Johnson" in a comedy set in a gentleman's club "Bootsie & Snudge" with Alfie Bass and Bill Fraser. A spin-off series from the earlier "The Army Game" I believe.


Quite right, 10 years before Dad's Army. Bill Fraser also appear in "the Fast Lady".


#41 Julian Roberts

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Posted 08 November 2012 - 10:00

Ah. Well done, Vitesse. I wondered who would be the first to spot that.


:rotfl: :wave:



#42 Arjan de Roos

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Posted 08 November 2012 - 10:18

It really is a British thing.

Well actually... When I was a young lad in the seventies, "Dad's Army" was my introduction to English humor, her Majesty's language and quite a chunk of British culture.

#43 nicanary

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Posted 08 November 2012 - 11:31

RIP Clive. I can see how non-UK TNFrs won't "get" this thread, but I'm so pleased it was started.

My memory? At the end of the feature film, just before the credits start, Mainwaring and Wilson stand alone on top of the white cliffs on the south coast.

The camera slowly pans away as they say:

Wilson - " It's a beautiful evening, sir."

Mainwaring - "It's a beautiful country, Wilson. (Superbly timed pause), They're not going to have it, you know".

Priceless to Brits of a certain age.

#44 Glengavel

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Posted 08 November 2012 - 15:12

RIP Clive. I can see how non-UK TNFrs won't "get" this thread, but I'm so pleased it was started.

My memory? At the end of the feature film, just before the credits start, Mainwaring and Wilson stand alone on top of the white cliffs on the south coast.

The camera slowly pans away as they say:

Wilson - " It's a beautiful evening, sir."

Mainwaring - "It's a beautiful country, Wilson. (Superbly timed pause), They're not going to have it, you know".

Priceless to Brits of a certain age.


I always liked that Croft and Perry would sometimes give the characters a little bit of grit in their personalities - Mainwaring facing down some German soldiers with an empty gun, Godfrey crawling through a mined beach to help a colleague, Fraser threatening an MP with a past discretion in order to save Godfrey's cottage, and so on.

#45 nicanary

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Posted 08 November 2012 - 15:29

I always liked that Croft and Perry would sometimes give the characters a little bit of grit in their personalities - Mainwaring facing down some German soldiers with an empty gun, Godfrey crawling through a mined beach to help a colleague, Fraser threatening an MP with a past discretion in order to save Godfrey's cottage, and so on.


Absolutely - there was always that unspoken suggestion that they were a little bit more competent than they seemed. Godfrey with his WW1 gong (I think he was a conscientious objector but served as a stretcher bearer, under fire in no-man's land). And Fraser was a crack shot in between his constant moaning, the result of being the local poacher, and the late lamented L.Cpl. Jones you just knew couldn't wait for some sort of action, preferably with bayonet attached.

I recall that the series "Allo Allo" was a hit with German viewers when it was screened there, presumably with sub-titles. I wonder what they would have made of "Dad's Army"?


#46 kayemod

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Posted 08 November 2012 - 15:44

I recall that the series "Allo Allo" was a hit with German viewers when it was screened there, presumably with sub-titles. I wonder what they would have made of "Dad's Army"?


Almost unbelievably, 'Allo 'Allo' was sold to the French, no idea how well it went down there. I love France and have always found the locals very friendly, but I don't think they're a nation famed for laughing at themselves. I remember many years ago being in a hotel in Heidelberg. There was a TV on in the bar, and showing was 'On the Buses' dubbed into German, complete with fake laughter, but the laughter, which all the watching Germans joined in, seemed to us to be in all the wrong places. Wife & I fell about when Reg Varney came out with a solemn "Wie gehts meine Kameradin" to a couple of clippies, whereupon the locals all looked at us strangely.


#47 frp

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Posted 08 November 2012 - 15:53

and a few of us Aussies,its still on prime time TV here,i watched it last night,the one where the yanks come to town. :clap:

It's having a long run on Saturday evenings in the UK at the moment. In marked contrast to most other 70s sit-coms, it just seems to get better with each passing year. It doesn't matter that I've heard every gag before; I just delight in the delivery.

That it had a nostalgic theme when it was created helps stop it from dating, I guess, and now there's a double-nostalgia element, as it was something I watched as a kid. But now I'm older, I relish qualities apart from the comedy, in moments such as the one nicanary quoted earlier.

Thanks for the thread, Doug. And thanks Clive.

Andy

#48 RogerFrench

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Posted 08 November 2012 - 16:43

Oh bother, another thread that's so nostalgic. Thank you everyone, and especially Clive Dunn. RIP.

#49 kayemod

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Posted 08 November 2012 - 17:06

We should all have one of these.

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#50 Eric Dunsdon

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Posted 08 November 2012 - 18:07

:up:

RIP Clive. I can see how non-UK TNFrs won't "get" this thread, but I'm so pleased it was started.

My memory? At the end of the feature film, just before the credits start, Mainwaring and Wilson stand alone on top of the white cliffs on the south coast.

The camera slowly pans away as they say:

Wilson - " It's a beautiful evening, sir."

Mainwaring - "It's a beautiful country, Wilson. (Superbly timed pause), They're not going to have it, you know".

Priceless to Brits of a certain age.

We'll show those damned Nazis Wilson!. And they, and others very like them, did!.