The late actor F Frank Williams claimed that he knew the series of Dad's Army was coming to an end when he arrived at the rehearsal and felt the atmosphere had changed. The actor, who was best known for his role as the vicar Timothy Farthing in the military comedy series, sadly passed away two years ago at the remarkable age of 90. His admission was made in his book Vicar to Dad's Army: The Frank Williams Story.
The BBC sitcom was based on the experiences in the Local Defence Volunteers, also known as the Home Guard, during the Second World War. Speaking of the realisation that series nine would be the last for the comedy sitcom, he penned: "Although no official statement was made, when I arrived in the rehearsal room there was a feeling that season nine would be our last." He added: "I realised that had I been working in the West End, not only would I have been unable to do the location filming, but also I would probably not have been able to do the final season at all.
" Frank continued: "While drawing the programme to a satisfactory conclusion, the writers did not want to make this series of Dad's Army too final." But at the time, it was certainly touch and go if Frank would have been able to be part of the final series as he had auditioned for a theatre role titled Donkey's Years - but didn't make it past the audition stage. The actor went on to claim that although the writers had set in mind that the series would be the last at that time, they had, however, left it open f.