It Sticks Out Half a Mile is a British radiositcom that was first broadcast onBBC Radio 2 from 1983 to 1984. StarringJohn Le Mesurier,Ian Lavender,Bill Pertwee andVivienne Martin, the series served as a sequel to the televisionwartime sitcomDad's Army, for which writersHarold Snoad andMichael Knowles had previously writtenradio adaptations.

Following the end ofDad's Army, writers Snoad and Knowles wrote a pilot episode starringArthur Lowe and John Le Mesurier, reprising their roles ofCaptain Mainwaring andSergeant Wilson from that series. Recorded in 1981, the episode was left unbroadcast due to Lowe's death in April 1982; it was subsequently broadcast for the first time in 2004 onBBC 7.

In consequence, Snoad and Knowles introduced Lavender and Pertwee, reprising their roles ofPrivate Pike andWarden Hodges, andVivienne Martin as secretary Miss Perkins, to produce a thirteen-episode series. The series followed the group's attempts to renovate a near-decrepit pier in the seaside town of Frambourne-on-Sea. Ratings were strong enough for a second series to be commissioned. However, Le Mesurier's death in November 1983 resulted in the series's end.

The series spawned two television adaptations. The first,Walking the Planks, was broadcast onBBC1 in 1985. Despite achieving positive viewing figures, the pilot was not commissioned for a full series. In consequence, Snoad and Knowles took their concept toYorkshire Television, who produced a series titledHigh & Dry, which ran for seven episodes in 1987.

It Sticks Out Half a Mile serves as a sequel series to the television wartime sitcomDad's Army, which followed a platoon ofHome Guard soldiers during theSecond World War. The sequel series follows the lives of two of the members of the Home Guard platoon, the formerSergeant Arthur Wilson andPrivate Frank Pike, and their nemesis, the formerChief ARP Warden Hodges, three years after the war in 1948.^[1][2]

Bert Hodges arrives in theseaside town of Frambourne-on-Sea (which is located on the same stretch of coastline asDad's Army'sWalmington-on-Sea, on the South Coast ofEngland)^[3] with a plan to restore the town's near-decrepitpier back to its former glory. To achieve this goal, Hodges meetsFrank Pike, now twenty-two and working atWoolworths, to convince him to enter a partnership to raise the needed funds. Pike's "uncle" (actually Pike's father),^[4] Arthur Wilson, is now the bank manager of the Frambourne branch of Swallow's Bank, so Hodges convinces Pike to ask Wilson for the £5,000loan needed to purchase the pier. When Wilson refuses to invest such a sum of money in a such a venture, Pikeblackmails Wilson over anaffair that occurred when Wilson first moved to Frambourne. Wilson reluctantly agrees to give Hodges and Pike the loan, and the pier'srenovation begins, but not without its challenges.^[1][5][6] The trio are met with opposition from Fred Guthrie, the lone chief attendant in charge of supervising the pier, while Wilson must ward off the advances of Miss Perkins, the chief cashier at Swallow's Bank, who is in love with him.

• John Le Mesurier asArthur Wilson, a formerSergeant in theHome Guard, who is now the manager of the Frambourne-on-Sea branch of Swallow's Bank.^[1][7] Possessing a calm and relaxed attitude to life,^[8] Wilson reluctantly acts as Pike and Hodges's financial advisor upon their purchase of Frambourne Pier.^[5]
• Ian Lavender asFrank Pike, a former Home GuardPrivate who now works inironmongery atWoolworths.^[1] A young, naïve man, and also a dreamer,^[8] he enters a partnership with Hodges to renovate Frambourne Pier.^[7] Pike's age is incorrect in this series. WhenDad's Army began, it was set in 1940, and Pike was stated as being seventeen.^[8] However, eight years later inIt Sticks Out Half a Mile, set in 1948, Pike is stated as being twenty-two, when he should actually be twenty-five.^[5]
• Bill Pertwee asBert Hodges, a former ChiefARP Warden, who enters a partnership with Pike to renovate Frambourne Pier.^[1][7] An uncouth and brash man, he was previously Pike and Wilson's rival during the war years,^[1][8] however, Hodges decides to work together with Pike and Wilson to renovate the pier. In a 1998 interview with Dave Homewood, the founder of theNew Zealand branch of theDad's Army Appreciation Society,Bill Pertwee admitted that the character of Hodges was "very different" in this series, and agreed that he had become a "bit less rough".^[9] Hodges's first name inDad's Army is William, but inIt Sticks Out Half a Mile, his first name has changed to Bert.^[10]
• Vivienne Martin as Miss Perkins, the chief cashier at Swallow's Bank. Known for her irritating laugh, she is in love with her manager, Wilson.^[7]

• Glynn Edwards as Fred Guthrie, the chief attendant at Frambourne Pier. He complains of various ailments, including aperforated eardrum.^[10]
• Michael Knowles as Ernest Woolcot, a talkative know-all with a deep knowledge of piers.^[11]
• Hilda Braid as Mrs Briggs, a kindly widower.^[11]
• Janet Davies asMavis Pike, Pike's mother and Wilson's secret lover.^[5][8]

All episodes, including "Loyal Support", the original pilot, were recorded at theParis Studios in London.^[2][12] "Loyal Support" was produced byJonathan James-Moore, while the regular series was produced by Martin Fisher.^[12]

WhenDad's Army ended after nine series in 1977, there were discussions about either continuing the series on theITV network or for asequel series to be produced which would follow theWalmington-on-Sea platoon as members of thetown council in post-war Walmington. However,Harold Snoad andMichael Knowles instead submitted the idea forIt Sticks Out Half a Mile to theBBC's radio department.^[19] Initially, the writers had intended the series to be produced for television, but the BBC suggested that a radio series would be more appropriate.^[14] The idea was well-received, and a pilot episode was commissioned.^[19]

The pilot episode, titled "Loyal Support", starredArthur Lowe andJohn Le Mesurier, reprising their roles ofCaptain Mainwaring andSergeant Wilson respectively. The episode followed Mainwaring, who, returning fromSwitzerland with his wife, arrives in Frambourne-on-Sea and approaches Swallow's Bank for a loan to purchase the town's decrepit pier. He is shocked to discover that the bank manager is his formerHome GuardSergeant Arthur Wilson. Wilson, reluctantly, agrees to give Mainwaring his loan, and together they meet the local town council to purchase Frambourne Pier.^[19][20]

During theSecond World War, seaside piers had sections removed from them in order to preventGerman forces from using them to access the mainland. Shortly after the war, piers across the United Kingdom were dilapidated and poorly maintained; the series depicts this era in Britain's post-war history.^[21]

Lowe had struggled to record the pilot, owing to hisnarcolepsy, which caused him to slur his words and fall asleep part way through recording;^[14] however, he and Le Mesurier enjoyed working with each other on the pilot and agreed to return to their roles once further episodes had been written.^[3][22] If the ratings were strong, the possibilities of adapting the series for television were discussed.^[23] Snoad and Knowles were writing the rest of the scripts for a full series when, on 15 April 1982, Arthur Lowe died. The series was shelved, the existing pilot episode was left unbroadcast,^[19][23][24] and the tape was wiped, but co-writer Snoad retained a copy which he later returned to the BBC.^[10][14] A short excerpt of this pilot was played on a documentary entitledThe Archive Hour: Radio's Lost Property on 1 November 2003,^[25] with the complete programme being heard on aBBC 7 compilation entitledSome of Our Archives Were Missing on 29 May 2004.^[10][14][26]

It was believed that the aborted series had ended; however, Lowe's wife, actressJoan Cooper, assured Snoad and Knowles that the series should continue,^[2] since her husband had believed that it "had so much potential".^[19] Snoad and Knowles thus convinced the BBC that the idea could still be viable, so a second pilot, titled "The Business Proposition", was recorded on 11 September 1982,^[27] withIan Lavender,Bill Pertwee andVivienne Martin joining the cast. This being a success, twelve more episodes were commissioned as part of a thirteen-part series.^[19][24][28]

As part of their contracts with the BBC, Snoad and Knowles were obligated to write fifteen scripts for the series, even though two episodes were ultimately never recorded.^[29] The writing process began when Snoad and Knowles met to discuss the storylines for each episode. They would then separate, write an episode each, and meet again to discuss the episodes they had written.^[20] In consequence, the only episodes written by the two writers together were the original pilot, "Loyal Support", and the second pilot, "The Business Proposition".^[20] According to Michael Knowles, he was more adept at writing dialogue and Snoad was better at writing plots and storylines.^[12]

In a 1998 interview, Bill Pertwee, when prompted, believed that, had John Le Mesurier not died, the BBC "probably would have done another series".^[9] This was supported by Lavender, who, in 1999, revealed that there were again discussions about adapting the series for television after the first series had aired.^[9] However, it was not until 2014 that news of a second series having been commissioned was confirmed. Producer Martin Fisher, speaking in a separate interview recorded before 2014, recalled that the first series "went out and [was] quite popular" with the public. Fisher was editing the final episode when he received the news that Le Mesurier had died, which "spelt the end of a second series, which had already been commissioned".^[12]

The series was notable in that it featured some of Le Mesurier's final performances,^{[1][10][24][30]} being the final radio series he recorded before his death on 15 November 1983,^[31] two days after the first episode, "The Business Proposition", was broadcast.^[32] Pertwee later recalled, in May 2000, that the series "was like one last get-together, one last party with great friends".^[30]

The first nine episodes of the series were broadcast from 13 November 1983 to 15 January 1984 on Sunday afternoons at 1:30 pm. Each episode was repeated the following Friday at 10:00 pm, from 18 November 1983 to 20 January 1984. Later in the year, following a repeat airing of the first five episodes beginning 17 July 1984, the final four episodes of the series were broadcast from 21 August to 9 October 1984 at 10:30 pm.^[16]

Following its original airing and a repeat airing, the series was repeated for a second time onBBC Radio 2, but a mix-up between different departments of theBBC resulted in most of the broadcast tapes being wiped.^[10] Since the series was believed to be of no interest to an overseas audience, none of the episodes were preserved by theBBC Transcription Services.^[33] Off-air recordings of the series were unearthed during theBBC's Treasure Hunt campaign, which were later broadcast by the digital radio archive channelBBC 7.^[32] Up until 2000, the only episodes held in the BBC archives were "The Business Proposition", "The Bank Loan" and "Pike in Love", in addition to the original pilot, "Loyal Support", which had been returned by co-writer Harold Snoad prior to the BBC Treasure Hunt campaign.^[34][35]

The original pilot and the first three episodes of the series were released in September 2010, on acompact disc titledClassic BBC Radio Comedy: It Sticks Out Half a Mile. A second CD, containing the next four episodes and titledIt Sticks Out Half a Mile: Continued, was released in February 2012. Both were also released asaudiobooks. The whole series, including the original pilot, was subsequently released as a CD and audiobook in October 2019.^[36]

The original pilot was released on theDad's Army: The Complete Radio Series: Series 3 compact disc in May 2015. The pilot was also released on the collector's edition of series three, released in March 2004.^[37]

Reception for the series was mixed, with reviewers praising the performances of the central actors yet criticising the show's humour and its overall quality compared toDad's Army. According to Pertwee, large groups of people, many of whom wereDad's Army fans, lined up to attend the recording for the first episode of the series on 11 September 1982, a rare occurrence for radio programmes at that time.^[2] Andrew Grimes, writing in theManchester Evening News after the first episode had aired, described the series as an "unexpected sequel". He praised Le Mesurier's performance, but noted that his comedic mannerisms, perfectly suited for television, were lost due to the series being on radio. Grimes wrote that Le Mesurier was "getting laughs that the dialogue did not by itself deserve", but observed that he was "mugging for the benefit of the studio audience" rather than for the general listening public.^[1]

Conversely,The Daily Telegraph's Gillian Reynolds believed that the series "tarnishe[d] the memory" ofDad's Army. Although praising the "worthy performances" of the lead characters, she criticised the "sad smut of the script" and wrote that the series "comes nowhere near to awakening that mixture of rueful nostalgia and ironic affection thatDad's Army did so well".^[6]

In 2012,Graham McCann, in his biography onJohn Le Mesurier, wrote that, while the first episode was enjoyable, further episodes in the series would "fall rather flat". However, he went on to acknowledge that "the unforced rapport between Le Mesurier, Lavender and Pertwee kept the series sufficiently entertaining to justify it as aspin-off".^[3] In a 2021 article, Rhianna Evans from theBritish Comedy Guide wrote positively of the series, commenting that the central characters of Hodges, Pike and Wilson "all remain very recognisable" from their roles established inDad's Army. She noted that the series possessed a "character-driven, gentle-paced form of storytelling", and expressed admiration for the new characters introduced in the series, such as Miss Perkins and Guthrie, noting that "the new cast don't alter the style or tone ofIt Sticks Out Half A Mile from that laid down inDad's Army at all". She concluded by writing that the series is "a continuation of theDad's Army story that any fan would enjoy".^[10]

There were two attempts to adaptIt Sticks Out Half a Mile for television, without theDad's Army characters. The first attempt was a pilot episode forBBC1, titledWalking the Planks. Filmed on location at a real pier,^[38] it starredMichael Elphick as Ron Archer (Hodges's equivalent),Richard Wilson as Richard Talbot (Wilson's equivalent), Gary Raynsford as Trevor Archer (Pike's equivalent) andVivienne Martin as Talbot's secretary, now called Miss Baxter.^[17][39] Despite being watched by eleven million viewers,^[38] the BBC did not commission a series.^[10][33][38]

In consequence, Knowles and Snoad took the concept toYorkshire Television, who produced a seven-episode series titledHigh & Dry.^{[24][33][38][40]} In the role previously performed by Elphick,Bernard Cribbins was cast, andAngus Barnett took over the role of Trevor Archer.^[40][41] Snoad and Knowles were unhappy with this series, since, unlike the pilot for the BBC,High & Dry was filmed solely in the studio; they believed this was the reason the series lasted for only seven episodes.^[38]

• Dad's Army
• Dad's Army radio series
• Share and Share Alike
• High & Dry

• McCann, Graham (2012),Do You Think That's Wise?: The Life of John Le Mesurier,London:Aurum Press,ISBN 9781845137908
• Pertwee, Bill (2009),Dad's Army: The Making of a Television Legend,London:Conway Publishing,ISBN 9781844861057
• Webber, Richard (2000).The Complete A-Z of Dad's Army.London:Orion Media.ISBN 0-75281-838-4.

• It Sticks Out Half A Mile episode guide
• BBC Treasure Hunt entry, with sound clip
• It Sticks Out Half a Mile atBritish Comedy Guide

• Dad's Army
• BBC Radio comedy programmes
• BBC Radio 2 programmes
• 1983 radio programme debuts
• 1984 radio programme endings
• 1980s British sitcoms
• English-language radio programs

• Good articles
• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• Use British English from July 2014
• Use dmy dates from June 2023
• Short description is different from Wikidata