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Dad's Army

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Television

   Dad's Army
   The characters of Dad's Army (left to right): Private Pike, Private
   Frazer, ARP Warden Hodges (front), Private Godfrey, Captain Mainwaring
   (front), Private Walker, Corporal Jones and Sergeant Wilson
   Genre Comedy
   Running time 30 minutes per episode
   Creator(s) Jimmy Perry
   Starring (listed in closing credits)
   Arthur Lowe
   John Le Mesurier
   Clive Dunn
   John Laurie
   James Beck
   Arnold Ridley
   Ian Lavender
   Bill Pertwee
   Frank Williams
   Edward Sinclair
   Country of origin United Kingdom
   Original channel BBC-1
   Original run 1968–1977
   No. of episodes 80

   Dad's Army was a 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 (1915–82), John Le Mesurier (1912–83),
   Arnold Ridley (also a veteran playwright; 1896–1984), John Laurie
   (1897–1980) and Clive Dunn (1920--). Relative youngsters in the regular
   cast were Ian Lavender (1946--) and James Beck (1929–1973), the last
   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.

Origins

   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.

Situation

   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 Patrol 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 underequipped 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.

Characters

   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.
       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 cossetted 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 Bert 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" - not without justification
       - by Captain Mainwaring.

     * 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.

Music

   The show's famous theme tune, " Who do you think you are kidding, Mr
   Hitler?", was Jimmy Perry's idea, and was intended as a gentle pastiche
   of wartime songs. It is not uncommon for people to assume that the song
   genuinely dates from the war (as the other music heard in the series
   does) but this is not the case. Perry wrote the lyrics himself, and
   composed the music with Derek Taverner. Perry persuaded one of his
   childhood idols, popular wartime entertainer Bud Flanagan, to sing the
   theme for a fee of 100 guineas. Flanagan died less than a year after
   the recording. The version played over the opening credits differs
   slightly from the full version recorded by Flanagan; an abrupt but
   inconspicuous edit removes, for timing reasons, two lines of lyrics
   with a different tune: "So watch out Mr Hitler, you have met your match
   in us, If you think you can catch us, I'm afraid you've missed the
   bus". Arthur Lowe also recorded a full version of the theme.

   The closing credits feature an instrumental march version of the song
   played by the band of the Coldstream Guards conducted by Trevor L.
   Sharpe, ending with the air-raid warning siren sounding the all-clear.
   It is accompanied by a style of credits that became a trademark of
   David Croft: the caption "You have been watching", followed by
   vignettes of the main cast.

   The series is also notable for its use of genuine wartime songs between
   scenes, usually brief quotations that have some reference to the theme
   of the episode or the scene.

TV episodes

   The television series lasted for nine series and was broadcast over a
   period of nine years, with eighty episodes made in total, including
   three Christmas specials and an hour long special. At its peak in the
   early 1970s, the programme regularly gained audiences of 18.5 million.
   There were also four short specials broadcast as part of Christmas
   Night with the Stars in 1968, 1969, 1970 and 1972.

The missing episodes

   A number of the early episodes of Dad's Army were wiped by the BBC, as
   was standard practice at the time. However, as a series thought to have
   commercial potential overseas, the first series was offered for sale to
   broadcasters by BBC Enterprises. To this end, 16 mm film recordings
   were made of the first six episodes by the BBC Engineering department
   before the master videotapes were wiped for re-use. In the event,
   series 1 sold very poorly and BBC Enterprises did not express interest
   in selling series 2 abroad - so no film recordings were made of any
   episodes for them. "Sgt. Wilson's Little Secret" was recorded onto 35
   mm film instead of videotape, either because it required additional
   editing (which was easier to perform with film before the advent of
   modern electronic editing methods) or because no videotape recording
   facilities were available on the day it was recorded. This
   inadvertently assured the episode's survival: being effectively a
   production made on film it fell within the BBC's then-current remit of
   keeping only filmed productions for posterity.

   Two other episodes from the second series were returned in 2001,
   ironically as 16 mm film recordings of the type believed not to have
   been made from the second series. It has since been established that
   the two episodes were film recorded to show to executives at Columbia
   Pictures during discussions on the structure of the Dad's Army feature
   film (see below).

   The other second series episodes are still missing and were probably
   lost forever once the original broadcast videotapes were wiped. The
   only remaining (slim) hope is that the episodes may have been recorded
   during their original UK broadcasts by a person wealthy enough to
   afford an early videotape recorder such as a Shibaden or Sony CV-2000
   machine, and also of sufficient means to be able to afford new tapes
   rather than wiping and reusing their existing recordings. The BBC is
   running a "Treasure Hunt" for the wiped episodes; they encourage anyone
   with copies to contact them at the Treasure Hunt Website. Tape wiping
   also affected the later, colour, series badly but recoveries of colour
   versions from overseas broadcasters such as in Australia and New
   Zealand have ensured there is only one casualty; "Room At The Bottom"
   from the third series. This episode exists as a 16 mm monochrome film
   recording prepared once BBC Enterprises resumed their interest in
   selling the series overseas.

The film

   As was the case with many British sitcoms of that era, in 1971 Dad's
   Army was made into a feature film. Backers Columbia Pictures imposed
   what seemed arbitrary changes, such as recasting Liz Frazer as Mavis
   Pike 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 10 August and 25 September 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 12 March 1971 at the Columbia Theatre in
   London. Critical reviews were mixed, but it performed well at the UK
   box office. Discussions were held about a possible sequel, to be called
   Dad's Army and the Secret U-Boat Base, but the project never came to
   fruition.

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.
   It was created by Roger Redfarn, who shared the same agent as the
   sitcom writers. Most of the principal cast transferred with it, with
   the exception of John Laurie (he was replaced by Hamish Roughead).
   Following James Beck's death two years earlier, Walker was played by
   John Bardon.

   Dad's Army: A Nostalgic Music and Laughter Show of Britain's Finest
   Hour opened at Billingham in Cleveland on 4 September 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 2 October
   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 4 September 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).
   Jeffrey Holland, who went on to star in several later Croft sitcoms,
   also had a number of roles in the production.

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. Different actors were used for some of the minor parts;
   Mollie Sugden played the roles of Mrs. Pike and Mrs. Fox for example.
   The pilot episode was actually based on the revised version of events
   seen in the opening of the film version rather than the TV pilot. The
   entire radio series has been released on CD.

   Knowles and Snoad also developed a radio series It Sticks Out Half a
   Mile, which told the story of what happened to some of the Dad's Army
   characters after the war. It 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

Other appearances

   Arthur Lowe, John Le Mesurier and John Laurie themselves made a cameo
   appearance as their Dad's Army characters in the 1977 Morecambe and
   Wise Christmas Special. As Elton John is following incomprehensible
   instructions to find the BBC studios, he encounters them in a steam
   room. On leaving, Mainwaring calls him a "stupid boy".. Earlier, Le
   Mesurier, Laurie, Beck, Ridley and Lavender had appeared as guests in
   the 22 April 1971 edition of The Morecambe And Wise Show on BBC2
   playing pirates to Lowe's captain in the Monty on the Bonty sketch. The
   cast also appeared in a 1970s public information film, in character but
   set in the modern day, showing how to cross the road safely at traffic
   lights.

   A pilot episode for an American remake called The Rear Guard was
   produced by ABC and broadcast on 10 August 1976, based on the episode
   The Deadly Attachment. However, it failed to make it past the pilot
   stage.

Awards

   During its original television run, Dad's Army was nominated for a
   number of British Academy Television Awards, although only won "Best
   Light Entertainment Production Team" in 1971. It was nominated as "Best
   Situation Comedy" in 1973, 1974 and 1975. Also, Arthur Lowe was
   frequently nominated for "Best Light Entertainment Performance" in
   1970, 1971, 1973, 1975 and 1978.

   In 2000, the show was voted 13th in a British Film Institute poll of
   industry professionals of the 100 Greatest British Television
   Programmes. In 2004, championed by Phill Jupitus, it came fourth in the
   BBC poll to find Britain's Best Sitcom with 174,138 votes.

Cultural impact

   The characters of Dad's Army and their catchphrases are well known in
   the UK due to the popularity of the series when originally shown and
   the frequency of repeats.

   Jimmy Perry recalls that before writing the sitcom, the Home Guard was
   a largely forgotten aspect of British defence in World War II,
   something which the series has certainly rectified. In a 1972 Radio
   Times interview, Arthur Lowe expresses surprise at the programme's
   success;

          "We expected the show to have limited appeal, to the age group
          that lived through the war and the Home Guard. We didn't expect
          what has happened - that children from the age of five upwards
          would enjoy it too".

   However, the popularity and impact of the series is as much down to the
   lovable and well crafted characters; Sergeant Wilson, for example, is a
   masterly exercise in understatement and Captain Mainwaring a clever
   portrayal of lower middle class pomposity. Each of the main characters
   are well executed by the proficient cast. Underlying the comedy is the
   portrayal of a group of ineffective but decent and civilised people who
   embody British virtues, similar to wartime propaganda of the era.

In popular culture

   Other productions have included characters resembling members of the
   Dad's Army platoon for comic effect. The 1987 movie Hope and Glory
   includes a scene in which members of the Home Guard, looking like
   characters from Dad's Army, bring an escaped barrage balloon under
   control. Similarly, characters called Mainwaring (Alec Linstead),
   Wilson ( Terence Hardiman) and a clerk similar to Pike appear in a
   scene set in a 1940s bank in an episode of the 1990s time travel sitcom
   Goodnight Sweetheart. The central character, Gary Sparrow (played by
   Nicholas Lyndhurst), who is from the 1990s, is astounded to learn that
   the three are all members of the local Home Guard platoon, and sings
   some lines of "Who do you think you are kidding Mr Hitler?" at them.
   Some of the characters have also appeared in the comic book Jack Staff
   in flashbacks to the hero's activities during the war.

   Several of Ben Elton's productions have featured characters inspired by
   Dad's Army. In the Blackadder Goes Forth episode "Corporal Punishment",
   two minor characters named Corporal Jones and Private Frazer are
   introduced and many of the characters in the Ben Elton sitcom The Thin
   Blue Line can be compared with those of Dad's Army. Fowler's
   relationship with Grim is very similar to that of Captain Mainwaring to
   Warden Hodges, in that they are both on the same side yet enemies.
   Also, Constable Goody is rather like Private Pike in being a 'stupid
   boy' that irritates Fowler. Similar comparisons can be drawn from many
   of the minor characters. In the episode Rag Week, Fowler is briefly
   seen walking out of a shop called "Mainwaring's".

   In addition, Jones's catchphrase "Don't panic!" may have inspired
   Douglas Adams to use the same phrase on the cover of the fictional
   Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy in the radio series, book, TV series,
   computer game and film of the same name.
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