The Army Game was Granada Television's hit sitcom of the 50s which ran from 1957 till 1961. The cast changed over the years with the first Sergeant-Major played by William Hartnell as SM Bullimore who was replaced later by Bill Fraser as SM Claude Snudge before Hartnell returned for the last series when Boostie & Snudge left for thier own spin-off series. The motley crew originally included Charles Hawtrey as Private 'Professor' Hatchett, Bernard Bresslaw as Private 'Popeye' Popplewell, Norman Rossington as Private 'Cupcake' Cook, and Corporal Springer played by Michael Medwin. Hawtrey left after the second series and was replaced by Alfie Bass as Private 'Montague 'Bootsie' Bisley, his nickname coming from him being 'Excused Boots' due to his poor feet. Bresslaw and Rossington also left to replaced by Ted Lune as Private Leonard Bone and Mario Fabrizi as Lance-Corporal 'Moosh' Merriweather. Medwin's Corporal Springer was also replaced by Harry Fowler as Corporal 'Flogger' Hoskins. Dick Emery replaced Alfie Bass when Bootsie & Snudge left for their own series.
The huge popularity of the series led to a spin-off film in 1958 called 'I Only Arsked' which was the catchprase of Bernard Bresslaw's character 'Popeye' Popplewell, the slow-witted private. There was also a boardgame of The Army Game and anotehr called I Only Arsked based around Bresslaw's character again, which was one of the most popular of the early years before Bootsie & Snudge.
This record features Michael Medwin (Corporal Springer), Bernard Bresslaw (Popplewell) and Alfie Bass (Bootsie) from the series. Neither Hartnell nor Fraser play the Sergeant-Major though, who is instead played as an unidentified character by Leslie Fyson, who didn't feature in the TV series.
The A Side was the theme tune to the series, although the television show had no lyrics which have been added for this record. The B Side is just an army-themed marching song.
Bresslaw got the most of a recording career out of it, releasing three singles and an EP in 1858 and 1959 (all available on my channel). Alfie Bass released one other record and Ted Lune did one, although he didn't participate in this one (both available on my channel).
