Dad's Army 

A ragtag group of Home Guard volunteers prepare for an imminent German invasion during World War II.

Creator:

Jimmy Perry

Stars:

Arthur Lowe, John Le Mesurier, Clive Dunn

1 win & 9 nominations.

Cast

Series cast summary:
Arthur Lowe	...	Capt. George Mainwaring / ... 80 episodes, 1968-1977
John Le Mesurier	...	Sgt. Arthur Wilson 80 episodes, 1968-1977
Clive Dunn	...	LCpl. Jack Jones 80 episodes, 1968-1977
John Laurie	...	Pte. James Frazer 80 episodes, 1968-1977
Arnold Ridley	...	Pte. Charles Godfrey 80 episodes, 1968-1977
Ian Lavender	...	Pte. Frank Pike 80 episodes, 1968-1977
James Beck	...	Pte. Joe Walker 60 episodes, 1968-1973
Bill Pertwee	...	Chief Warden Hodges 60 episodes, 1968-1977
Edward Sinclair	...	Verger Maurice Yeatman 49 episodes, 1968-1977
Colin Bean	...	Private Sponge 46 episodes, 1968-1977
Frank Williams	...	Reverend Timothy Farthing 40 episodes, 1969-1977

Storyline

A ragtag group of Home Guard volunteers prepare for an imminent German invasion during World War II.

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Plot Keywords:

world war two in britain | british humor | british comedy | catchphrase | running gag | 

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Genres:

Comedy | War

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Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

31 July 1968 (UK)

Also Known As:

Daar komen de schutters

Filming Locations:

All Saints' Church, Honington, Suffolk, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

30 min (80 episodes)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Although supposed to be set in Kent (as indicated by the platoon's cap badges) Walmington-on-Sea is believed to have been modeled on Bexhill-on-Sea, over the county border in Sussex. In fact the outdoor scenes were filmed in Thetford, Norfolk which is not on the sea.

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Goofs

Throughout the series LCPL Jones is the only member of the platoon to wear medal ribbons on his uniform. Frazer, Wilson, and Godfrey (and possibly others) all saw service in WWI and would have medals and ribbons, and would most likely have worn them proudly as well.

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Quotes

[repeated line]
Jones: Don't panic! Don't panic!

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Connections

Featured in Jonathan Ross Salutes 'Dad's Army' (2008)

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Soundtracks

Calling All Workers
Written by Eric Coates

User Reviews

....keeps marching on and on!

Dad's Army has been repeated on the BBC many many times over the last 30 odd years, and its easy to understand why.

The scripts were rich, simple, entertaining, inoffensive, gentle & above all, very very funny. Veteran writers, David Croft & Jimmy Perry, excelled themselves with this show, that lasted nearly 10 years from 1968 to 1977.

Of course, having a good script is all very well, but you need quality actors to make those scripts come to life. Step forward, then, a host of relative unknowns, thespians and bit-part actors.

Arthur Lowe (blunderbus,Captain Mainwaring), probably takes most plaudits and was certainly a very good versatile actor. It was felt back in the early days of Dad's Army (DA), that the sitcom was perhaps a little below his considerable acting talents. But like all good actors, he stuck with it through the first hesitant series and was rewarded with major audience ratings which would invariably lead to more and more episodes coupled with an appreciative following and critical acclaim that would bring its own rich rewards.

John Le Mesurier (the softly spoken Sgt Wilson), another experienced film and theatre actor with almost 100 films in his CV prior to taking on the part of kindly Sgt Wilson - very much everyone's favourite "uncle" figure.

Clive Dunn (Corporal Jones), surprised us all by looking considerably older for his part as local butcher, veteran WW1 soldier, Jones. He was only in his late 50s when he took on the part of a soldier who looked well into his 70s. But for all that he was perhaps the funniest and most endearing character of them off, especially when he went off on one his "Don't Panic" attacks, telling everyone to calm down, when in actual fact there was nothing at all to worry about!

John Laurie (the Scottish undertaker, Fraizer), had a very distinguished theatre career coupled with some major films parts during the early part of his career in the 30s and 40s. Again, like Lowe, it was felt Laurie had too much quality to be seeing doing something as apparently "lowly" as a sitcom. It was even rumoured that during the first couple of series he criticised the scripts and some of the actors around him for being "amateur". Although by Series 3, and a consistant 16 million TV fanbase, coupled with a better salary, Laurie soon changed his mind and genuinely began to immerse himself in the part.

Ian Lavender ("Stupid Boy", Private Pike). It was a very shrewd idea by Croft & Perry, to include a very young soldier into the mostly elderly Home Guard. Pike was very much the "Mother's Boy", a soldier equiped with a rifle, a bannet and a wooly scarf knitted by his mom and wrapped tightly round his neck to keep out the cold. Lavender, was perfect for the part. It wouldn't be far from the truth if the majority of the female TV audience of DA were mothers, grannies and aunts simply begging to look after this young, innocent young man fighting to protect his home and country alongside a bunch of pensioners. Of course his Captain, Manwaring, wasn't quite so sympathetic, and would often call him a "Stupid Boy" for behaving like a reckless teenager weened on too many comics.

Then of course there are the support actors such as the Cockney spiv, Private Walker (James Beck), the soppy vicar (Frank Williams) and the antagonistic ARP Warden (Bill Pertwee), who clashed with Manwaring and his rabble of pensioners throughout the lifetime of DA, often resorting to calling the Captain, Napoleon for his arrogant and amateurish behaviour.

There were many excellent episodes throughout the history of DA and many many more "very good" ones. Only rarely was there a poor episode, and these seemed to crop up during the last couple of years of the show, when one or two of the actors such as James Beck had died, leaving huge gaps that were never really successfully filled.

By today's standard the sfx and stunts, such as they were, were often very poor & obvious, but this was downside never really handicapped the show. Today's audience is far more sophisticated in its viewing habits than those of 20 or 30 years ago. But what is consistent through the decades is the quality of the stories and its endearing appeal that can only mean Dad's Army will be continually repeated throughout the decades as a piece of warm & friendly humour during the dark months and years of WW2.

****/*****