Dad's Army – son’s memoir

Arnold Ridley as a young man

Poster for a production of The Ghost Train. Images courtesy of the University of Bristol Theatre Collection

10 November 2009

There was so much more to Bristol graduate Arnold Ridley than his TV role as Private Godfrey, as his son Nicolas will explain in a free public lecture on 19 November.

The son of a famous Bristol graduate will give a free public lecture about his actor/playwright father at the Wickham Theatre, Department of Drama on 19 November.

Arnold Ridley (1896-1984) – fondly remembered as Private Godfrey, the oldest member of the Dad’s Army platoon – arrived at the University in October 1913 to train as a teacher. While studying here, he discovered a talent for acting and wrote his first play, a one-act tragedy in verse.

His son, Nicolas Ridley, will read from his memoir, Godfrey’s Ghost: from father to son, in which he describes the remarkable ‘pre-Godfrey’ life of his father, who served in two World Wars and was one of Britain’s most celebrated playwrights (his hugely successful play The Ghost Train ran in the West End for 665 performances and became a feature film).

'Godfrey’s Ghost: from father to son', a free public lecture by Nicolas Ridley, is organised by the Friends of the Theatre Collection. It takes place at the Wickham Theatre, Department of Drama on 19 November at 5.30 pm. For further information, please contact the Theatre Manager, Rona Fineman.