Dad's Army

Dad's Army is an original British sitcom about the Home Guard in the Second World War, written by Jimmy Perry and David Croft and broadcast on BBC television between 1968 and 1977.

The series starred several veterans of British film, television and stage, including Arthur Lowe, John Le Mesurier , Arnold Ridley (also a veteran playwright), John Laurie and Clive Dunn.

Relative youngsters in the regular cast were Ian Lavender  and James Beck, the latter dying suddenly part way through the programme's long run despite being one of the youngest cast members.

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 thirteenth.

Originally intended to be called "The Fighting Tigers", Dad's Army was based partly on Jimmy Perry's experiences in the Local Defence Volunteers (later known as the Home Guard), the film Whisky Galore!, and on the work of comedians such as Will Hay and Robb Wilton.

Perry wrote the first script and gave it to David Croft while working as a minor actor in the Croft-produced sitcom Hugh and I, originally intending the role of the spiv, Walker, to be his own. Croft was impressed and sent the script to Michael Mills, head of comedy at the BBC. After addressing initial concerns that the programme was making fun of the efforts of the Home Guard, the series was commissioned.

The show was set in the fictional seaside town of Walmington-on-Sea, on the South Coast of England. (though it was mostly filmed in and around Thetford, Norfolk).Thus, the Home Guard were in the front line in the eventuality of an invasion by the enemy forces across the English Channel, which formed a backdrop to the series.

The first series had a loose narrative thread, with Captain Mainwaring's platoon being formed and equipped - initially with wooden guns and LDV armbands, and later on full army uniforms (the platoon were part of the The Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment).

The first episode, The Man and the Hour, began with a scene set in the "present day" of 1968, in which Mainwaring addressed his old platoon as part of the contemporary "I'm Backing Britain" campaign. The prologue opening was a condition imposed after initial concerns by Paul Fox, the controller of BBC 1, that it was belittling the efforts of the Home Guard.

After Mainwaring relates how he had backed Britain in 1940, the episode proper began; Dad's Army is thus told in flashback, although the final episode does not return to the then-present. Later episodes were largely self-contained, albeit referring to previous events and with additional character development.

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 Air Raid Precautions Warden Hodges, although sometimes the Verger or Captain Square and the Eastgate platoon.

However the group did have some encounters related to the war such as downed German planes, a U-boat crew, parachutes that may have been German, and German mines.

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 Stupid boy, in reference to Pike, in many episodes. The first series occasionally included darker humour, reflecting the fact that, especially early in the war, members of the Home Guard were woefully under-equipped and yet still prepared to have a crack at the German army.

A poignant moment to this theme occurs in 'The Battle Of Godfrey's Cottage' episode, during which the platoon believes an invasion to be taking place. Mainwaring and a few volunteers decide to stay in the village to hold off any German advance so information can be relayed back by the rest of the platoon; "Of course, that will be the end of us." says Mainwaring, "We know sir." replies Frazer, before getting on with the task in hand.

Main Characters 

• Captain George Mainwaring , pronounced "Mannering" (Arthur Lowe) - the pompous - if essentially brave and unerringly patriotic - local bank manager, Mainwaring appointed himself leader of his town's contingent of Local Defence Volunteers. Of the platoon, he and Joe Walker were the only adult members with no prior combat experience, and, therefore, had no medals - a fact which sometimes caused tension with the other members of the Home Guard.
  
  He did, however, serve in the British Army of occupation in France, "during the whole of 1919 - somebody had to clear up the mess." Although an ensemble piece, the series focused particularly upon Mainwaring, who has invested all his efforts into the platoon as a way of escaping from an unhappy marriage to Elizabeth, daughter of a Bishop, and a stalled career at the bank.
  
• Sergeant Arthur Wilson (John Le Mesurier) - a diffident, upper-class bank clerk, Wilson was nonetheless Mainwaring's inferior in the bank and on parade; his suave, understated social superiority, public school education and handsome looks led to a certain amount of jealousy on Mainwaring's part. During World War I he fought in the Royal Artillery at Mons, Gallipoli and the Somme. While in the first episode he claimed the rank of Sergeant, in the last episode he revealed that he had been a Captain.
  
• Lance-Corporal Jack Jones (Clive Dunn) - born in 1870, Jones was an old campaigner who had participated, as a boy soldier, in the campaign of Kitchener of Khartoum in the Sudan between 1896 and 1898, and also fought in World War I. By 1940 he worked as the town butcher, which occasionally enabled him to supplement his superiors' meat ration. Jones was leader of the platoon's first section. He has a story for every occasion, and will never hesitate in telling it, regardless of how long-winded or irrelevant it is.
  
  Despite being the oldest member of the platoon, Jones demonstrates an almost boyish enthusiasm for combat and is the first to volunteer for anything, no matter how ill-advised that may be.
  
• Private Joe Walker (James Beck) - a black market "spiv", Walker was the only fit, able-bodied man of military age in Walmington-on-Sea's home guard. His absence from the regular armed forces was due to a corned beef allergy, evidenced in the episode "The Loneliness Of The Long Distance Walker". Mainwaring often turned a blind eye to his profiteering as he could sometimes supply the platoon (and Mainwaring) with useful items.
  
  On more than one occasion, Walker's willingness to use underhand tactics allowed Mainwaring's platoon to triumph over rivals in the Home Guard, Army and ARP. He was disciplined several times by Captain Mainwaring for making jokes at inappropriate times.
  
• Private Frank Pike (Ian Lavender) - a cosseted mother's boy and often the target of Mainwaring's derision ("Stupid boy!"), Pike was a junior bank clerk. He called Wilson "Uncle Arthur", and although never explicitly stated, it was often implied that Wilson and Pike's mother were having a relationship. It was also occasionally suggested that Wilson was Pike's father (although the writers only acknowledged this in interviews after the programme ended).
  
  He frequently threatens to set his mother on Mainwaring or Wilson whenever he is shouted at or forced to do anything he doesn't want to do.
  
• Private James Frazer (John Laurie) - a dour Scottish coffin maker and a Chief Petty Officer in the Royal Navy who fought at the Battle of Jutland (although his main duty was cooking), Frazer was tight with money, had wild staring eyes, and was known for issuing regular pronouncements of doom. In the early episodes Frazer was the keeper of a philately shop, but by series four the writers had decided that he should become the local undertaker, in keeping with his gloomy nature.
  
  He sometimes led rebellions against Mainwaring and was the only member of the platoon to be portrayed as a villain in episodes such as A Soldier's Farewell and The Two and a Half Feathers, though for the most part he was loyal and well-intentioned.
  
• Private Charles Godfrey (Arnold Ridley) - the platoon's medical orderly, who had served in World War One as a conscientious-objecting stretcher bearer, winning the Military Medal before becoming a tailor at the Army and Navy Stores. Godfrey was an amiable, vague, lifelong bachelor who lived with his sisters Dolly and Cissy in an idyllic cottage, and was a martyr to his weak bladder, leading to many requests to be "excused".
  
  He was very loyal to Captain Mainwaring, except on one occasion when he took part in a plot to make Mainwaring's feet hurt.
  
• ARP Warden William Hodges (Bill Pertwee) - the platoon's major rival and nemesis. An uncompromising, grumpy greengrocer by day, and pompous and officious Chief Air Raid Warden by night, he relishes in teasing the platoon when they are caught in sticky situations. His nickname for Mainwaring is "Napoleon".
  
• Mrs. Mavis Pike (Janet Davies) - Pike's mother and Sergeant Wilson's lover. She was fiercely protective of Pike, to the point that she was accused of "mollycoddling" him - not without justification - by Captain Mainwaring. It is stated that Mrs. Pike met Arthur Wilson prior to Frank Pike's birth, and also lived in Weston Super-Mare at the same time as Wilson, lending credence to the theory that Wilson is Pike's Father.
  
• Reverend Timothy Farthing (Frank Williams) - the effeminate vicar of St. Aldhelm's Church, he shares his church hall and office with Mainwaring's platoon, much to his dismay because he never gets to use it when he needs it.
  
• Maurice Yeatman (Edward Sinclair) - Mr. Yeatman was the verger at St. Aldhelm's church and head of the Sea Scouts group, and was often hostile to the platoon. Labelled a "troublemaker" by Jones, he is ridiculously loyal to the vicar, and his good friend Mr. Hodges.
  
• Private Sponge (Colin Bean) - Private Sponge had the thankless job of representing those members of the platoon not in Corporal Jones' "first section". A farmer by day, the long-suffering Sponge had few lines, but was a recognizable member of the platoon for most episodes in the series.

Dads Army was not only a TV Comedy but also went on to become a film, a theatre show as well a Radio Show which has now been released as Audio Books.

Dad's Army Audio Books

Dad's Army - Volume 1
Dad's Army - Volume 2
Dad's Army - Volume 3
Dad's Army - Volume 4
Dad's Army - Volume 5
Dad's Army - Volume 6
Dad's Army - Volume 7
Dad's Army - Volume 8
Dad's Army - Volume 9
Dad's Army - Volume 10
Dad's Army - Volume 11
Dad's Army - Volume 12
Dad's Army - Volume 13
Dad's Army - Volume 14
Dad's Army - Volume 15
Dad's Army - Volume 16
Dad's Army Christmas Special - Present Arms
Dad's Army: The Very Best Episodes Vol 1
Dad's Army: The Very Best Episodes Vol 2
Dad's Army: The Very Best Episodes Vol 3

Dad's Army information supplied courtesy of wikipedia under the GNU Free Documentation License