Dad's Army star Ian Lavender recalled by Woolpit friend

A villager has recalled how the Dad's Army actor always had "time for the fans".

Retired physiotherapist Judy Dean said her friend Ian Lavender never got tired of people using Dad's Army catchphrases such as "stupid boy" or "don't tell him, Pike!"

Lavender, Private Pike in the BBC Dad's Army comedy series, has died aged 77.

Mrs Dean, 79, and her husband Simon, 80, a retired GP, lived near him in Woolpit, Suffolk, for decades.

Dad's Army, which ran between 1968 and 1977, featured the exploits of the fictional Walmington-on-Sea Home Guard during the Second World War and was filmed in Thetford, Norfolk.

Lavender was the last surviving member of the main cast.

"The thing that struck me most about him was that he always had time for the fans," Mrs Dean said.

"He never pushed himself forward but he always made sure people had some of his time if they asked for autographs and so."

She said people would often use Dad's Army catchphrases when the saw Lavender.

"Oh my goodness, people would often say, 'don't tell him, Pike!'," she added.

"He couldn't walk into a room without someone saying 'stupid boy'.

"But he never minded."

Mrs Dean said Lavender, who also starred in EastEnders as Derek Harkinson, watched village cricket and supported local drama clubs.

She said he acted as a narrator in a church walkabout nativity and once played a "terrifying Herod".

"As his health deteriorated his forays into village life were less frequent," she added.

"But he liked the to keep up to date with all village news."

The IMDb website says the "Don't tell him, Pike!" line has often been voted as "one of the funniest moments" in the history of British television comedy.

In the 1973 episode, The Deadly Attachment, platoon members guard some captured Nazi U-boat crew.

The U-Boat captain says he is making a list of people who will be "brought to account".

He points at Pike and says: "Your name will also go on the list. What is it?!"

Platoon commander Capt Mainwaring, who regularly called Pike a "stupid boy", blurts out: "Don't tell him, Pike!"

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