Exclusive: Blake Harrison Talks Dad's Army And Of Course The Inbetweeners

With the Dad's Army remake hitting the screens tomorrow, we had a sit down with Blake to find out a bit more...

Gone are the days when Blake Harrison was better known as Neil, his dopey on-screen persona in E4’s BAFTA-winning comedy, The Inbetweeners. Now starring as Pike in the highly anticipated Dad’s Army remake alongside Catherine Zeta Jones and Bill Nighy, Harrison’s career is going from strength to strength.

We quizzed the actor to find out more about his new film: Dad’s Army, in cinemas this Friday…

On how he got joined Dad's Army… ‘I heard they were doing a Dad’s Army movie and they wanted to meet me for a part. Once I found out who was involved and read the script and saw it was written so brilliantly, I was on-board.’

On the first responses to the film Dad’s Army… ‘The audience responded fantastically – everyone seemed to laugh in the right places but there’s a couple of little poignant moments in there where you’re all sort of touched and really feel for these characters.’

On his character Pike… ‘I’d say he pretty much lives in his head. He loves going to the pictures and seeing these swashbuckling Errol Flynn-type movies and I think he sees the war as a chance to escape and kind of have an adventure. To seek glory and become a man. The reality is, if he did get to war, he’d be crying for his mummy!’

On what it’s like working with an A-List cast… ‘Everyone was so lovely. We had a great time on set together just chatting away and making each other laugh. It was really good fun.’

On American vs. British shows… ‘I think American comedy gives you a bit more leeway. British shows generally rely far more from the script and what’s deviated from that happens quite rarely as opposed to working on American projects.’

On the legacy of The Inbetweeners… ‘I do get stopped in the street and get asked for a photo and do some quotes from the show. We started filming it in 2007 and so the fact that people aren’t sick of us and tell us how much they enjoy it and are still watching the repeats…it’s a lovely thing.’

On the legendary ‘Neil Dance’… ‘I suggested it. The script said that Neil does some weird crab dance but I tried this robot thing and they decided to use it. It has now become a really massive thing and yet I never anticipated it would be!’

On hanging out with the Inbetweeners gang… ‘Me and James [Buckley] have both got kids at a similar age so we have play-dates here and there – probably not what you’d expect of The Inbetweeners!’

On his range of roles… ‘I have done some different things like the sci-fi show Tripped and a little independent film called Keeping Rosy. I have actually just done an episode – I’m not allowed to say what it is – but it’s an ITV Victorian London-based drama and I’m playing a slightly seedy journalist, so I feel like I get to do a variety if different things.’

On what is to come for Blake… ‘I’d love to do more theatre and drama but only if the right role comes along. It doesn’t really matter on the genre or the character as long as you’re going to enjoy doing it. That’s half the battle. I want to have fun doing this. I want to enjoy it. We’ll see what happens and hopefully I’ll make the right choices!’

Dad's Army is in cinemas today