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Thief snatches star prop from Dad's Army
Evening Standard 21 Feb 2008During their long and steadfast defence of Walmington-on-Sea, the men of Dad's Army faced all manner of adversaries but never, until now, a seagull snatcher.
The theft occurred during a stage production in Hackney of the old TV sitcom, when a member of the audience stole the stuffed bird in front of everyone's eyes.
The middle-aged man crept forward during the curtain call and swiped Sid the Seagull from some barbed wire at the edge of the stage.
The play's producer chased the thief and confronted him outside the Hackney Empire. But the man had already passed his haul on.
Producer Ed O'Driscoll said: "When we confronted him all he had was a programme. I thought I made a mistake but a lady in the audience told us later she saw him hand something to an accomplice."
The play, Dad's Army - The Lost Episodes, recreates the two episodes of the series which were lost when the BBC wiped the original tapes in 1969.
