DEC4 Podcast Companion: Oliver Crocker - Remembering Frank Williams
A personal tribute to the widely loved actor and playwright, best remembered as Dad's Army's Vicar Timothy Farthing.
Oliver Crocker is one of Britain’s leading and most respected authors, historians, podcasters and publishers on classic British television, whose work on iconic productions like The Bill and All Creatures Great and Small is valued and appreciated as much by the creators as by the fans. He has put together something very special for us this episode, as we remember actor and playwright Frank Williams, who passed away June 26th, 2022, just short of his 91st birthday.
Frank Williams is remembered with enormous fondness by generations of fans as Timothy Farthing, the perpetually exasperated Vicar in the BBC’s Dad’s Army; on television, radio, stage, and in two feature films separated by almost half a century. Victoria Wood once described Dad’s Army as ‘the most affectionately regarded comedy programme in the history of television’, and Frank Williams made his own unique contribution to that universal love for the programme in all its forms, the characters, and the actors who brought them to life.
Frank Williams was very supportive of Oliver’s early career in television and podcasting, they collaborated on projects including a short film adaptation of Frank Williams’ own play, Murder by Appointment, and Oliver’s biography, Dad’s Army and Beyond: The Frank Williams Story, which had the honour of a BFI National Film Theatre screening and can now be seen on Oliver's YouTube channel, and is thoroughly recommended.
Oliver joins us to share some personal memories of this incredibly talented, generous and exceedingly kind gentleman, and has also gifted us some very special audio from his own personal archive, of Mr Williams himself, reminiscing about the adventures and misadventures of a working actor from his earliest theatre and film roles, to pioneering and undoubtedly terrifying live-to-air television drama and, of course, Dad’s Army. We also learn about his real life role with the General Synod of the Church of England, and his final, emotional onstage appearance in the West End in 2021, celebrating his 90th birthday.
The main companion newsletter for this episode can be found at our podcast website, including further background, images, links and suggestions for further reading, viewing and listening.
There is also more about Frank Williams and his fellow Dad’s Army cast members in our previous episode with Oliver, recorded in 2021:
And in our companion newsletter;
Oliver Crocker is the producer of The Bill Podcast, which has been played over 350 000 times (as of 2023) and is in the top 1.5 % of podcasts globally. It is currently hosted by Natalie Roles, who played DS Debbie McAllister in almost 200 episodes of the legendary ITV police drama.
Oliver is also producing the scripted podcast series, Letter from Helvetica, written by and starring Andrew Mackintosh and also starring Natalie Roles. Between them, these two hugely talented artists were in over 500 episodes of the The Bill. Episodes are available free on major podcast platforms including Amazon Music, Apple, Spotify and Soundcloud.
"...The series follows the adventures of Abigail Wesley, a talented young botanist who is spending a year on the ever-so-slightly-made-up island of Burbango in the island nation of Vanuatu in the South Pacific, and her Uncle John, an acerbic retired Lieutenant Colonel who lives in the not-quite-real village of Helvetica in Cornwall..."
If you love audio content in the tradition of some of the great BBC radio dramas and comedies, Letter from Helvetica is thoroughly recommended.
More at the official website. Listen on Soundcloud.
The Bill Podcast and Letter From Helvetica are co-sponsored by the DEC4 Podcast.
Thanks to Steve Collins for tech support, and to Gainesville for our original theme and incidental music.