Happy 85th Birthday to Jimmy Perry- the King of Comedy

A very happy 85th birthday to Jimmy Perry, Britain's King of TV Comedy, creator and co-writer (along with David Croft), of Dad's Army, It Ain't Half Hot Mum, Hi De Hi and You Rang M'Lord.

Jimmy Perry not only created Dad's Army, but also wrote the series' wonderful signature tune 'Who Do You Think You are Kidding Mr Hitler?', performed so memorably by Bud Flanagan. Not bad for someone who left school with no qualifications, and whose Dad, when hearing of his son's ambition to become either a world famous actor or a world famous comedian replied 'You Stupid Boy'!

Regular readers will know I'm no supporter of the honours system, but if we are to have one, why do we give knighthoods to self-obsessed bores like Salman Rushdie, writer of pretentious and unreadable books, but ignore those like Jimmy Perry (and David Croft), who have brought laughter and happiness to millions of Britons? Oops sorry, I forgot, Rushdie, unlike Jimmy Perry, is a neo-con pin-up boy.

To remind us once again of Perry's genius- above is a clip of a special BBC1 tribute programme to Dad's Army. Enjoy!