Here's the gag: a German soldier is compiling a list of vendettas against British soldiers. He demands a young Private tells him his name so he can add it to the list. The Private's commanding officer orders him not to tell the German, but in the process of the order he accidentally addresses him by name, giving the game away. On paper, it's not that great a joke. I can't imagine David Croft and Jimmy Perry knew they had written what would become one of the most famous moments in British comedy when they wrote it. But in the performance, the genius of the bit was discovered through the impeccable comic timing of Arthur Lowe, Philip Madoc and Ian Lavender. Its brilliance emerges from the rhythms of the dialogue and the way it is performed. Certainly, when the same bit was given to a stiff American cast for the ill-fated American remake The Rear Guard, the change from "Don't tell him, Pike" to "Don't tell him, Henderson" revealed how important both the writing and performances were in making this a classic moment.
The beloved status of "Don't tell him, Pike" is aided considerably by it being part of what remains the most famous and popular episode of Dad's Army, The Deadly Attachment. This is one of those stakes-upping episodes in which the platoon end up in genuine peril, as their guarding of a captured German U-boat crew becomes a hostage situation when Hodges blunders onto the scene. The tension is realised well, with this being possibly the only episode where I've felt sorry for Hodges, but the laughs remain at the forefront. It's notable that almost the entire episode takes place in the standard Church Hall set, paring down Dad's Army to the basics before introducing a disrupting element in the shape of Philip Madoc's devious U-boat Captain. Madoc is one of the best guest stars the series ever had, playing it relatively straight in a manner that amplifies the laughs. Alongside "Don't tell him, Pike", "I vant plaice" is a line that always makes me laugh out loud. As usual, imminent danger brings out the best in Mainwaring who attempts to assume an unenviable position in which Jones is placed. When Jones refuses to let him take his place, Arthur Lowe's brilliantly subtle reaction as he tells the U-boat Captain "You can't win this war" shows the pride Mainwaring takes in his ragtag crew of old soldiers.
While it's undoubtedly a classic, The Deadly Attachment doesn't quite stick the landing. I've always felt everything after they leave the Church Hall is a bit weak, with some dull moralising from Wilson about dummy explosives being followed by an oddly flat final gag with Jones and Fraser, but it's not enough to prevent this from being one of the great overall sitcom episodes, even if there are several Dad's Army episodes I prefer over it. That just speaks to the quality of the series.
The beloved status of "Don't tell him, Pike" is aided considerably by it being part of what remains the most famous and popular episode of Dad's Army, The Deadly Attachment. This is one of those stakes-upping episodes in which the platoon end up in genuine peril, as their guarding of a captured German U-boat crew becomes a hostage situation when Hodges blunders onto the scene. The tension is realised well, with this being possibly the only episode where I've felt sorry for Hodges, but the laughs remain at the forefront. It's notable that almost the entire episode takes place in the standard Church Hall set, paring down Dad's Army to the basics before introducing a disrupting element in the shape of Philip Madoc's devious U-boat Captain. Madoc is one of the best guest stars the series ever had, playing it relatively straight in a manner that amplifies the laughs. Alongside "Don't tell him, Pike", "I vant plaice" is a line that always makes me laugh out loud. As usual, imminent danger brings out the best in Mainwaring who attempts to assume an unenviable position in which Jones is placed. When Jones refuses to let him take his place, Arthur Lowe's brilliantly subtle reaction as he tells the U-boat Captain "You can't win this war" shows the pride Mainwaring takes in his ragtag crew of old soldiers.
While it's undoubtedly a classic, The Deadly Attachment doesn't quite stick the landing. I've always felt everything after they leave the Church Hall is a bit weak, with some dull moralising from Wilson about dummy explosives being followed by an oddly flat final gag with Jones and Fraser, but it's not enough to prevent this from being one of the great overall sitcom episodes, even if there are several Dad's Army episodes I prefer over it. That just speaks to the quality of the series.