It Sticks Out Half a Mile

It Sticks Out Half a Mile is a British radio sitcom that was first broadcast on BBC Radio 2 from 1983 to 1984. Starring John Le Mesurier, Ian Lavender, Bill Pertwee and Vivienne Martin, the series served as a sequel to the television wartime sitcom Dad's Army, for which writers Harold Snoad and Michael Knowles had previously written radio adaptations.

Following the end of Dad's Army, writers Snoad and Knowles wrote a pilot episode starring Arthur Lowe and John Le Mesurier, reprising their roles of Captain Mainwaring and Sergeant Wilson from that series. Recorded in 1981, the episode was left unbroadcast due to Lowe's death in April 1982; it was subsequently broadcast for the first time in 2004 on BBC 7.

In consequence, Snoad and Knowles introduced Lavender and Pertwee, reprising their roles of Private Pike and Warden Hodges, and Vivienne Martin as secretary Miss Perkins, to produce a thirteen-episode series. The series followed the group's attempts to renovate a near-decrepit pier in the seaside town of Frambourne-on-Sea. Ratings were strong enough for a second series to be commissioned. However, Le Mesurier's death in November 1983 resulted in the series's end.

The series spawned two television adaptations. The first, Walking the Planks, was broadcast on BBC1 in 1985. Despite achieving positive viewing figures, the pilot was not commissioned for a full series. In consequence, Snoad and Knowles took their concept to Yorkshire Television, who produced a seven-episode series titled High & Dry, which ran for seven episodes in 1987.