Full Name :
David Croft
(christened David John Sharland)
Full Name :
David Croft
(christened David John Sharland)
Date Of Birth : 7th September 1922
Died : 27th September 2011
Place Of Birth : Sandbanks, Poole Bay, Dorset - Now Lives in Suffolk
Was married to Anne, with 7 children Nicholas, Penelope, Jane, Rebecca, John, Richard and Timothy.
Parents : Reginald Sharland and Annie Croft (Music Hall stars)
Education : Prep School, then Rugby School until 1938.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS AND AWARDS
The Writers Guild of Great Britain Award for Best Comedy Script 1969, 1970 and 1971 for Dad's Army.
BAFTA Award Best Light Entertainment Production and Direction for Dad's Army - 1971.
O.B.E. awarded in 1978 for services to television.
Desmond Davies award in 1982, the highest accolade in TV at the BAFTA awards, presented by Arthur Lowe.
This Is Your Life - David Croft, BBC tribute to his life and works, 20 December 1995.
The Perry And Croft Sitcoms - A BBC tribute to his work with Jimmy Perry.
TV WRITING CREDITS
Sunshine Street : first solo project, a musical comedy for Tyne Tees Television.
The Eggheads : a solo episode and 2 with Richard Waring for the BBC 1961.
Dad's Army : 80 episodes co-written with Jimmy Perry, see Series Guide.
Christmas Night With The Stars : co-written with Jimmy Perry, 4 Dad's Army sketches for the BBC, which were "Dad's Army", 25th December 1968, "Resisting The Agressor Through The Ages" 25th Dec 1969, "The Cornish Floral Dance" 25th Dec 1970 and "Broadcast To The Empire" 25th December 1972.
Are You Being Served? : 1972 - 1985 David co-wrote 68 out of the 69 episodes, 64 with Jeremy Lloyd and 4 with Michael Knowles.
Birds In The Bush : an Australian comedy, 13 episodes written by David on his own. Shown in Australia May - July 1972. Shown on BBC July -August 1972.
Blue Peter : co-written with Jimmy Perry, a sketch performed by Arthur Lowe and John Le Mesurier in their Dad's Army roles. 22nd February 1973.
Til' Death Us Do Part : 1 episode, The Royal Wedding, Producer and Director, 1974.
It Ain't Half Hot Mum : 56 episodes all co-wrote with Jimmy Perry, see Series Guide.
Royal Variety Performance : co-written with Jimmy Perry, a sketh called The Choir Practice, from the Dad's Army stage show. 16th November 1975.
The Rear Guard : ABC TV, co-written with Jimmy and Arthur Julian for a proposed American version of Dad's Army, one episode only, 10th August 1976. Not Shown in UK.
Come Back Mrs Noah : co-written with Jeremy Lloyd for the BBC. 6 episodes only. 1977.
Beane's Of Boston : made for CBS TV as an American pilot version of Are You Being Served? co-written with Jeremy Lloyd. One episode shown 5th May 1979.
Hi - De - Hi! : 58 episodes written with Jimmy Perry for BBC, see Series Guide.
Oh Happy Band! : co-written with Jeremy Lloyd for the BBC. 6 episodes shown 3rd Sept - 8th Oct 1980.
'Allo 'Allo! : 59 of 85 episodes written with Jeremy Lloyd for the BBC. Starring Gordon Kaye and Carmen Silvera. Shown between 1982 and 1992.
You Rang M'Lord? : 26 episodes written with Jimmy Perry, see Series Guide.
Grace and Favour : a sequel to Are You Being Served? written with Jeremy Lloyd. 12 episodes shown between 1992 and 1993 on the BBC.
Which Way To The War? : for ITV, written with Jeremy Lloyd as a proposed pilot. 1 episode shown on 19th August 1994.
Oh Doctor Beeching! : 13 out of the 19 episodes written with Richard Spendlove for the BBC. It starred Paul Shane, Jeffrey Holland and Su Pollard. Shown between 1995 and 1997.
AS A DIRECTOR
Dad's Army, It Ain't Half Hot Mum, Hi-De-Hi!, Allo Allo : selected episodes.
Birds In The Bush : all 13 episodes.
You Rang M'Lord? : all 26 episodes.
Hysteria : a one off 2 hour comedy for an Aids benefit concert, 1st Dec 1989.
AS A PRODUCER
The Eggheads : all 7 episodes, 1961.
Benny Hill Show : 3 episodes from Series 5, 1961.
Hugh and I : 71 out of 79 episodes, 1962-1968.
The Dick Emery Show : 7 episodes, 4 from Series 1 1963, 1 from Series 2 1964, and 2 specials from 1964.
A World of his Own : selected episodes from a series of 7, 1965.
A Slight Case of..... : all 6 episodes, 1965.
Beggar My Neighbour : 14 out of 24 episodes, 1966-1967.
Dad's Army : all 80 episodes, 1968 - 1977.
Up Pompeii! : 7 out of 14 episodes and Royal Television Command Performance, all 1970.
Royal Television Gala, Dad's Army Sketch "Buckingham Palace" : May 1970
Born Every Minute : Comedy Playhouse starring James Beck, 28th Jan 1972.
Steptoe and Son : 1 episode, "Divided We Stand" 27th March 1972.
Tales from the Lazy Acre : 2 out of 7 episodes, 1972.
Are You Being Served? : 51 out of 69 episodes 1972 - 1985, also executive producer.
It Ain't Half Hot Mum : 50 out of 56 episodes 1974 - 1981.
Further Up Pompeii! : One off special, March 1975.
Come Back Mrs Noah : all 6 episodes, Dec 1977 - Aug 1978.
Hi-De-Hi! : 45 out of 58 episodes, 1980 - 1988, also executive producer.
'Allo 'Allo : 61 out of 85 episodes, 1982 - 1992.
Oh Happy Band! : all 6 episodes, 1980.
You Rang M'Lord? : all 26 episodes, 1988 - 1993.
Which Way to the War? : one pilot episode, Aug 1992.
Oh Doctor Beeching! : all 19 episodes, 1995 - 1997.
APPEARANCES
Goodbye Mr Chips (FILM) : as the Butchers Boy (1939).
Dad's Army: Missing Episodes : an appeal to try and find the missing episodes.
STAGE PLAYS
Ann Veronica : a stage musical starring Arthur Lowe, Ian Lavender and John Inman. Running for a short time at the Cambridge Theatre, London, 1971.
Dad's
Army : a
spin off from the TV series, co-wrote with Jimmy Perry. It starred most of the
TV cast except for the following ; John Bardon as Wlaker, Hamish Roughead as
Fraser and Jack Haig as Jones when Clive Dunn left. It ran for 6 months in
London in 1975 and toured during 1976.
It Ain't Half Hot Mum : a spin off from the TV series, it was co-written with Jimmy Perry and ran in 1979 at Bournemouth and in 1982 at Scarborough, as well as touring.
Hi-De-Hi! : co-written with Jimmy Perry, another TV series spin off, starring most of the TV cast, Victoria Palace Theatre, London and toured in 1984. Michael Knowles replaced Simon Cadell during the run.
Hi-De-Hi Spirits : co-written with Jimmy Perry, it starred Paul Shane, Ruth Madoc, David Griffin and Linda Regan in their Hi-De-Hi roles, running a boarding house. It ran at Bournemouth.