Michael Sydney Knowles (born 26 April 1937)[1] is an English actor and scriptwriter who is best known for his roles in BBC sitcoms written by Jimmy Perry and David Croft.

[5] Shortly after making his first appearance in It Ain't Half Hot Mum, Knowles had a recurring role in The Rough with the Smooth in 1975 playing the Vicar.

[6] Knowles continued his double-act alongside Hewlett in the 1984 eight part BBC Radio sitcom Anything Legal as George, a laid-off city gent.

In 1988, Knowles played The Honourable Teddy Meldrum in Jimmy Perry and David Croft's last collaboration You Rang, M'Lord?

In 1989, he voiced the Head of the Air Force in the animated movie The BFG, starring David Jason and based on the novel by Roald Dahl.

In 2021, Knowles appeared on British television for the first time in five years by being interviewed for the Channel 5 documentary Dad's Army: Secret Lives & Scandal.

Knowles first met Harold Snoad in 1972 when they were introduced by a mutual friend Jimmy Perry, and in 1973 it was decided that Dad's Army would be adapted for radio.

At the time David Croft and Jimmy Perry were writing series six and unable to adapt it themselves so it was suggested that Knowles and Snoad would do the first script, the BBC liked it and asked them to do another five.

Work started on writing the script in 1980 and when the first one was shown to Arthur Lowe he was so taken with it he unsuccessfully tried to persuade the BBC to make it a television series rather than radio.

Undeterred, the two men took the idea to Yorkshire Television who agreed to making a seven part series for ITV, this time with Bernard Cribbins instead of Michael Elphick.

James has also worked on many situation comedies, with her most notable role being in The Gnomes of Dulwich which was written by Jimmy Perry, she also appeared in several episodes of Dad's Army and The Liver Birds.