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Dad's Army

Dad's Army is a British sitcom about the Home Guard in World War II, written by Jimmy Perry and David Croft and broadcast on BBC television between 1968 and 1977. Popular at the time and still repeated, it was voted into fourth place in a 2004 BBC poll for Britain's Best Sitcom. Previously, in a list of the 100 Greatest British Television Programmes drawn up by the British Film Institute in 2000, voted for by industry professionals, it was placed 13th.

Based partly on Jimmy Croft's experiences in the Local Defence Volunteers - later known as the Home Guard - and partly on the work of comedians such as Will Hay, Dad's Army starred several veterans of British film, television and stage, including Arthur Lowe (1915-82), John Le Mesurier (John Elton Halliley; 1912-83), Arnold Ridley (also a veteran playwright; 1896-1984), John Laurie (1897-1980) and Clive Dunn (1920- ). Relative newcomers in the regular cast were Ian Lavender (1946- ) and James Beck (1929-73), the latter dying suddenly part way through the programme's long run despite being one of the youngest cast members.

Contents

Main characters

  • Captain George Mainwaring, pronounced "Mannering" (Lowe) - a bank manager who appoints himself leader of his town's contingent of Local Defence Volunteers.
  • Sergeant Arthur Wilson (Le Mesurier) - an upper-class bank clerk, Mainwaring's inferior both at the bank and on parade - but his social superior, which leads to a certain amount of jealousy on Mainwaring's part.
  • Lance-Corporal Jack Jones (Dunn) - an old campaigner who served under Gordon of Khartoum amongst others, now working as the town butcher (which occasionally enables him to bribe his superiors with meat). Leader of the platoon's section one.
  • Private Joe Walker (Beck) - a spiv; Mainwaring turns a blind eye to his black market activities because he can sometimes supply the platoon with useful items.
  • Private Frank Pike (Lavender) - a mother's boy, junior bank clerk and secretly Sergeant Wilson's son (implied but never confirmed in the series, although the writers have confirmed it in interviews).
  • Private James Frazer (Laurie) - a dour Scottish undertaker with wild staring eyes, known for issuing regular pronouncements of doom.
  • Private Charles Godfrey (Ridley) - amiable and a bit vague, and a martyr to his weak bladder.

Other regular characters

  • ARP Warden Bert Hodges (Bill Pertwee) - a greengrocer in daily life and Mainwaring's nemesis, calling him "Napoleon".
  • Reverend Timothy Farthing (Frank Williams ) - effete vicar, sharing the church hall with Mainwaring's platoon.
  • Maurice Yeatman (Edward Sinclair ) - the local verger, always siding with the vicar.
  • Mavis Pike (Janet Davies ) - Frank's mother and Sergeant Wilson's secret lover.
  • Private Sponge (Colin Bean ) - a farmer, leader of the platoon's section two.
  • Captain Square (Geoffrey Lumsden ) - a moustached magistrate and rival of Captain Mainwaring.
  • Mrs Fox (Pamela Cundell ) - Corporal Jones's lady friend and finally wife.
  • Elizabeth Mainwaring - Captain Mainwaring's wife, never seen or heard directly; she "hasn't left the house since Munich".

Situation

Dad's Army was set in the fictional seaside town of Walmington-on-Sea. The county was never specified, but it was near another town called Eastgate, and was also mentioned as being near Hastings on the south coast of England. The Invicta crest can be seen on Mainwaring's cap, implying that the programme was set in Kent.

Since the comedy was in many ways dependent for its effectiveness on the platoon's failure to participate actively in World War II, opposition to their activities had to come from another quarter, and this generally showed itself in the form of Warden Hodges.

The humour ranged from the subtle (especially in the relationship between Mainwaring and his sergeant, Wilson, who also happened to be his deputy at the bank) to the slapstick (the antics of the elderly Jones being a prime example). Jones had several catchphrases, including Don't panic!, They don't like it up 'em, Permission to speak, sir, and talk about the Fuzzy-Wuzzies. Mainwaring said You stupid boy, in reference to Pike, at least once an episode.

The film

As was the case with many British sitcoms of that era, Dad's Army was in 1970 made into a feature film. Backers Columbia Pictures imposed what seemed arbitrary changes (such as recasting Mavis Pike - Liz Frazer took the role - and filming outdoor scenes in Chalfont St Giles rather than Thetford), which made the cast unhappy. The director Norman Cohen , who was also responsible for the original idea to make the film, was nearly fired by the studio.

Jimmy Perry and David Croft wrote the original screenplay. This was expanded by Cohen to try to make it more "cinematic"; Columbia executives made more changes to plot and pacing. As finally realised, two-thirds of the film consists of the creation of the platoon - this was the contribution of Perry and Croft - and the final third shows the platoon in action, rescuing hostages from the church hall where they'd been held captive by three German pilots.

Neither the cast nor Perry and Croft were particularly happy with the result. Perry spent some time arguing for changes to try to reproduce the style of the television series, but with mixed results.

Filming took place between August 10 and September 25, 1970, at Shepperton Studios and various locations. After filming the movie, the cast immediately returned to working on the fourth television series.

The film's UK premiere was on March 12, 1971 at the Columbia Theatre in London. Critical reviews were mixed, but it performed well at the UK box office.


The stage show

In 1975 Dad's Army transferred to the stage as a revue, with songs, familiar scenes from the show, and individual "turns" for cast members. Most of the principal cast transferred with it, with the exception of John Laurie (he was replaced by Hamish Roughead ).

Dad's Army: A Nostalgic Music and Laughter Show of Britain's Finest Hour opened at Billingham in Cleveland on September 4, 1975 for a two-week tryout. After cuts and revisions, the show transferred to London's West End and opened at the Shaftesbury Theatre on October 2, 1975. On the opening night there was a surprise appearance by Chesney Allen , singing the old Flanagan and Allen song Hometown with Arthur Lowe.

The show ran in the West End until February 1976, disrupted twice by bomb scares, and then toured the country until September 4, 1976. Clive Dunn was replaced for half the tour by Jack Haig (David Croft's original first choice for the role of Corporal Jones on television).


The radio series

Many TV episodes were remade for BBC Radio 4 with the original cast, although other actors played Walker after James Beck's death. These radio versions were adapted by Harold Snoad and Michael Knowles and also starred John Snagge as a newsreader who would set the scene for each episode.

Snoad and Knowles planned a post-war follow up to the radio series, entitled It Sticks Out Half a Mile, which was originally intended to star Arthur Lowe and John Le Mesurier reprising their Dad's Army roles, but Lowe died shortly after recording the pilot episode, and Bill Pertwee and Ian Lavender were brought in to replace him for a 13-episode series.


TV episodes

Note that some of these have been lost because of wiping. If you have or know anyone who has a copy of the lost episodes, contact the BBC immediately.


Series 1 (black and white)

Title Recorded First broadcast Notes
The Man and the Hour 1968-04-15 1968-07-31
Museum Piece 1968-04-22 1968-08-07
Command Decision 1968-04-29 1968-08-14
The Enemy Within the Gates 1968-05-06 1968-08-28
The Showing Up of Corporal Jones 1968-05-13 1968-09-04
Shooting Pains 1968-05-20 1968-09-11

Series 2 (black and white)

Operation Kilt 1968-10-13 1969-03-01 Thought lost, found in 2001
The Battle of Godfrey's Cottage 1968-10-20 1969-03-08 Thought lost, found in 2001
The Loneliness of the Long Distance Walker 1968-10-27 1969-03-15 Lost
Sgt. Wilson's Little Secret 1968-11-15 1969-03-22
A Stripe for Frazer 1968-11-15 1969-03-29 Lost
Under Fire 1968-11-27 1969-04-05 Lost

Series 3

The Armoured Might of Lance Corporal Jones 1969-05-25 1969-09-11 First colour episode
Battle School 1969-06-01 1969-09-18
The Lion Has Phones 1969-06-08 1969-09-25
The Bullet is Not for Firing 1969-06-22 1969-10-02
Something Nasty in the Vault 1969-06-15 1969-10-09
Room at the Bottom 1969-06-29 1969-10-16 Colour version lost
Big Guns 1969-07-06 1969-10-23
The Day the Balloon Went Up 1969-10-23 1969-10-30
War Dance 1969-10-30 1969-11-06
Menace from the Deep 1969-11-07 1969-11-13 The Pier episode
Branded 1969-11-14 1969-11-20
Man Hunt 1969-11-21 1969-11-27
No Spring for Frazer 1969-11-28 1969-12-04 The Coffin episode
Sons of the Sea 1969-12-05 1969-12-11

Series 4

The Big Parade 1970-07-17 1970-09-25
Don't Forget the Diver 1970-07-24 1970-10-02
Boots Boots Boots 1970-07-31 1970-10-09
Sergeant - Save My Boy! 1970-06-27 1970-10-16
Don't Fence Me In 1970-07-10 1970-10-23
Absent Friends 1970-08-07 1970-10-30
Put That Light Out! 1970-10-30 1970-11-06 The Court episode
The Two and a Half Feathers 1970-11-06 1970-11-13
Mum's Army 1970-11-13 1970-11-20 The Brief Encounter episode
The Test 1970-11-20 1970-11-27
A. Wilson (Manager)? 1970-11-27 1970-12-04
Uninvited Guests 1970-12-04 1970-12-11
Fallen Idol 1970-12-11 1970-12-18

Christmas special

Battle of the Giants 1971-10-19 1971-12-27

Series 5

Asleep in the Deep 1972-05-26 1972-10-06
Keep Young and Beautiful 1972-06-09 1972-10-13
A Soldier's Farewell 1972-06-02 1972-10-20
Getting the Bird 1972-05-19 1972-10-27
The Desperate Drive of Lance Corporal Jones 1972-06-16 1972-11-03
If the Cap Fits... 1972-06-30 1972-11-10
The King was in his Counting House 1972-06-23 1972-11-17
All is Safely Gathered in 1972-11-03 1972-11-24
When Did You Last See Your Money? 1972-11-10 1972-12-01
Brain Versus Brawn 1972-11-17 1972-12-08
A Brush with the Law 1972-11-26 1972-12-15
Round and Round went the Great Big Wheel 1972-12-01 1972-12-22
Time on my Hands 1972-12-08 1972-12-29

Series 6

The Deadly Attachment 1973-06-22 1973-10-31
My British Buddy 1973-06-08 1973-11-07 The American episode
The Royal Train 1973-06-29 1973-11-14
We Know Our Onions 1973-06-15 1973-11-21
The Honourable Man 1973-07-08 1973-11-28
Things that Go Bump in the Night 1973-07-15 1973-12-05
The Recruit 1973-07-22 1973-12-12 First episode without James Beck

Series 7

Everybody's Trucking 1974-10-27 1974-11-15
Man of Action 1974-05-07 1974-11-22
Gorilla Warfare 1974-10-27 1974-11-29
The Godiva Affair 1974-11-03 1974-12-06
The Captain's Car 1974-11-17 1974-12-13
Turkey Dinner 1974-11-10 1974-12-23

Series 8

Ring Dem Bells 1975-07-03 1975-09-05 The Fourth Columnist episode
When You've Got to Go 1975-06-06 1975-09-12
Is There Honey Still for Tea? 1975-06-26 1975-09-19
Come in, Your Time is Up 1975-07-10 1975-09-26
High Finance 1975-05-30 1975-10-03
The Face on the Poster 1975-07-17 1975-10-10

Christmas special

My Brother and I 1975-05-23 1975-12-26

Christmas special

For the Love of Three Oranges 1976-10-10 1976-12-26

Series 9

Wake Up Walmington 1977-07-08 1977-10-02
The Making of Private Pike 1977-07-01 1977-10-09
Knights of Madness 1977-07-22 1977-10-16
The Miser's Hoard 1977-06-24 1977-10-23
Number Engaged 1977-07-15 1977-11-06
Never Too Old 1977-07-29 1977-11-13 The Jones' Marriage episode


Further reading

  • Croft, David; Perry, Jimmy; Webber, Richard (2003). Dad's Army: The Complete Scripts. Orion. ISBN 0752860240
  • Croft, David (2004). You Have Been Watching...: The Autobiography of David Croft. BBC Consumer Publishing (Books). ISBN 0563487399
  • Perry, Jimmy (2003). A Stupid Boy. Arrow. ISBN 009944142X
  • McCann, Graham (2001). Dad's Army: The story of a classic television show. Fourth Estate. ISBN 1841153087


External links



Last updated: 11-07-2004 05:21:12