Catherine Zeta Jones at 42nd AFI Lifetime Achievement Award So who plays who in the new Dad's Army? Don't tell 'em Pike! Cast tasked with bringing classic comedy back to life in film remake are revealed - with one notable addition New film will be set in 1944 and follows Home Guard's attempts to out a spy Catherine Zeta-Jones stars as journalist Rose Winters, first female lead role Show ran from 1968 to 1977 with the original cast making own film in 1971 By Daniel Bates In New York Published: 21:00 GMT, 8 October 2014 | Updated: 00:46 GMT, 9 October 2014 166 shares 185 View comments They are arguably our best-loved comedy characters, so casting Captain Mainwaring and co was always going to be something of a minefield. But the stars charged with the task of bringing Dad’s Army to life have now been announced – with one notable addition. Although the original TV series featured no women in leading roles, actress Catherine Zeta-Jones has been lined up to play a glamorous journalist in the new film. +16 +16 Hunger Games star Toby Jones will take on the role of Captain Mainwaring, originally played by Arthur Lowe +16 +16 Blake Harrison, of Inbetweeners fame, will play the gormless Private Pike, a role brought to TV by Ian Lavender The remake will begin shooting this month in Yorkshire and has been picked up by Universal Pictures, which means that it will be distributed worldwide. RELATED ARTICLES Previous 1 2 Next 'I felt like I'd died!': Keira Knightley goes for vintage glamour as she admits it was like being... From the world's first camper to Eccles models used to escape WW2: Vintage images reveal a century... Magna Carta manuscript reveals its secrets: Scans uncover lost text hidden on a damaged section of... Toby Jones – who appeared in The Hunger Games – will play Captain Mainwaring, with Love Actually star Bill Nighy taking on the role of Sergeant Wilson. Starring alongside them will be Michael Gambon as the frail medic Godfrey, Tom Courtenay as Jones and Inbetweeners star Blake Harrison – who will play Private Pike. +16 +16 Michael Gambon is to step into the shoes of Authur Ridley as Godfrey in the new film of the classic TV series +16 +16 Bill Nighy will reprise the role of Wilson, which John Le Mesurier made his own in the original show +16 +16 Bill Paterson, star of Criminal Justice, has the task of bringing Frazer to life, originally played by John Laurie Catherine Zeta-Jones will play journalist Rose Winters who is sent to report on the Home Guard's efforts to out a spy +16 Catherine Zeta-Jones will play journalist Rose Winters who is sent to report on the Home Guard's efforts to out a spy The bumbling teenager was originally played by Ian Lavender, who at 68 is the only one of the original cast still left alive. Frank Williams who played the Reverend Timothy Farthing, the vicar of St Aldhelm's Church, joined the programme in the second series and is going strong at 83. The film will be directed by Oliver Parker, whose previous projects include a remake of St Trinian’s, and produced by Damian Jones, whose credits include The Iron Lady. Along with the cast list, a few details about the film’s plot were released yesterday, revealing that the remake will be set in 1944 near the end of the Second World War, when morale among the Home Guard is low. The journalist played by Catherine Zeta-Jones proceeds to set the Home Guard’s pulses racing when she is sent to Walmington-on-Sea to write about their attempts to root out a spy. A statement detailing the plot’s outline explains: ‘Their new mission to patrol the Dover army base is a great chance to revive spirits and reputation, that is until glamorous journalist Rose Winters arrives to write about their exploits, putting the local women on red alert. ‘MI5 then discover a radio signal which was sent direct to Berlin from Walmington-on-Sea. ‘There’s a spy on the loose! The outcome of the war is suddenly at stake, and it falls to our unlikely heroes to stand up and be counted.’ Dad’s Army ran from 1968 to 1977 and attracted 18million viewers at its height, with the original cast making their own film in 1971. So far fans have been sceptical about the remake, with Adam Ward writing on Twitter yesterday: ‘You can’t remake Dad’s Army. Oh please don’t ruin one of our greatest ever comedy shows.’ Catherine Zeta-Jones to join Dad's Army cast (archive)

• published: 09 Oct 2014
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