The Dad’s Army film project is just plain barmy!

“If we want to wallow in nostalgia then we already have re-runs of the original classic TV series.”

With threats of home-grown terror attacks and that potential global Ebola epidemic keeping us awake at night, I can understand why we would want a warm comfort blanket to snuggle into.

So I appreciate why canny film makers want to resurrect Dad’s Army for the big screen. But over the past couple of weeks, there has been a lot of controversy about the decision.

It’s not the first time an old favourite has been dusted down and given a reboot, but it seldom works.

Look at the disastrous remakes of Starsky and Hutch, The Avengers and Miami Vice. They were all much-loved TV series from the past, but were turned into truly terrible films.

Now Dad’s Army certainly takes me back to a time when all I had to worry about was homework, a few spots on my chin and whether I had enough pocket money to afford the latest David Bowie album.

Life was much simpler, but if we want to wallow in nostalgia then we already have re-runs of the original classic TV series. I’m not sure it’s a good idea to try and improve on perfection.

Dad’s Army is still as fresh and funny today as it was back then and even though we can recite most of the dialogue from memory, there are belly laughs galore.

I never tire of hearing the pompous Captain Mainwaring barking, “Don’t tell him Pike” when the Germans are “interrogating” his rag tag home guard platoon and demanding name rank and serial number.

It’s a classic comedy moment up there with Del Boy falling through the bar of the pub in Only Fools and Horses.

The whole Dad’s Army series is a masterpiece of writing and comic timing combined with a dream cast and is truly one of the all-time greats.

The assembled line-up for the new movie is undoubtedly very strong with Toby Jones as Manwairing and Bill Nighy as the louche Sergeant Wilson.

Both of them are cracking actors and I can easily visualise them in the roles, but how on earth do you improve on Arthur Lowe and John Le Mesurier? And why would you even want to?

Surely it would be a better use of a talented cast to do an original comedy drama or is it a case of the money men and creatives simply running out of ideas?