Dad’s Army Overview (1968 to 1977)

Introduction A ragtag group of Home Guard volunteers prepare for an imminent German invasion during World War II. Outline Dad’s Army is a BBC television sitcom about the British Home Guard during the Second World War. It was written by Jimmy Perry and David Croft, and broadcast on the BBC from 1968 to 1977. The…

Andrew Marshall
5–8 minutes
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Introduction

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

Outline

Dad’s Army is a BBC television sitcom about the British Home Guard during the Second World War. It was written by Jimmy Perry and David Croft, and broadcast on the BBC from 1968 to 1977.

The sitcom ran for nine series and 80 episodes in total; there was also a radio version based on the television scripts, a feature film and a stage show. The series regularly gained audiences of 18 million viewers, and is still repeated worldwide.

The Home Guard consisted of local volunteers otherwise ineligible for military service, either because of age (hence the title Dad’s Army) or by being in professions exempt from conscription.

Lost/Missing Episodes

The Dad’s Army missing episodes are lost episodes of the British sitcom programme Dad’s Army, plus some short sketches. Three out of six episodes from Series 2 and two of the four Christmas sketches (1968 and 1970) are missing as the BBC routinely reused videotape as a cost saving measure for many years. Two of the four Christmas sketches which aired as part of Christmas Night with the Stars from 1968 “Santa On Patrol” and 1970 “Cornish Floral Dance” (which were made in colour) remain missing, though audio recordings of both have been recovered.

In 2019 UKTV recreated three missing episodes for broadcast in August that year on its Gold channel under the title Dad’s Army: The Lost Episodes starring Kevin McNally and Robert Bathurst as Captain Mainwaring and Sergeant Wilson.

  • The Loneliness of the Long Distance Walker: Walker is called up into the army. The platoon, anxious at how they will obtain off-the-ration supplies without him, fight to keep him.
  • A Stripe for Frazer: Mainwaring has the opportunity to promote someone to corporal. Rather than promote Jones, he tests who has the greatest potential by temporarily promoting Private Frazer to lance corporal. Frazer’s increasingly dictatorial manner soon alienates the platoon.
  • Under Fire: When Frazer spots what he believes to be a German spy signalling planes, the platoon arrests a suspect who protests that he is a naturalised Englishman.

Dad’s Army Series

  • Radio Series:
    • Many of the TV episodes were remade for BBC Radio 4 with the original cast, although other actors played Walker after James Beck’s death (which took place soon after recording and before transmission of the first radio series).
  • Sketches and Short Shows:
    • Untitled Christmas Short (1968).
    • Resisting the Aggressor Down the Ages (1969).
    • Cornish Floral Dance (1970).
    • Broadcast to the Empire (1972).
  • Public Information Films:
    • In 1974 and 1977, the cast of Dad’s Army appeared in-character for public information films commissioned by the Central Office of Information to instruct viewers how to successfully use pelican crossings.
  • Books:
    • McCann, G. (2002) Dad’s Army: The Story of a Very British Comedy. London: Fourth Estate.
    • Perry, J., Croft, D. & Webber, R. (2003) Dad’s Army: The Complete Scripts. London: Orion.
    • Webber, R., Perry, J. & Croft, D. (2000) The Complete A-Z of Dad’s Army. London: Orion.

Trivia & Goofs

  • When an episode of the show was shown to members of the public to gauge audience reaction prior to broadcast of the first season, the majority thought it was very poor. The production team put the report containing the negative comments at the bottom of David Croft’s in-tray. He only saw it several months later, after the series had been broadcast to great acclaim.
  • Originally intended to be called The Fighting Tigers, Dad’s Army was based partly on co-writer and creator Jimmy Perry’s experiences in the Local Defence Volunteers (LDV, later known as the Home Guard)[7] and highlighted a somewhat forgotten aspect of defence during the Second World War.
  • Arthur Lowe (Captain Mainwaring) had a clause in his contract that stated that he was never to be seen on-camera without his trousers.
  • On 19 June 2010 a life-size bronze statue of Captain Mainwaring, seated on a bench by the Bell and Old Anchor Hotels in Thetford, Norfolk (the market town having doubled as Walmington-on-Sea throughout the series, with many of the cast and crew based at the hotels during filming) was unveiled by David Croft, with Bill Pertwee and Pamela Cundell in attendance. The statue was the work of sculptor Sean Hedges-Quinn, and funded by the local Friends of Dad’s Army Museum.
  • John Laurie and Arnold Ridley fought in World War I and both were wounded and invalided out of the Army.
  • Bill Pertwee became President of the Dad’s Army Appreciation Society and the author of the book Dad’s Army – The Making of a Television Legend.

Production & Filming Details

  • Creator: Jim Perry.
  • Directors: David Croft, Harold Snoad, and Bob Spiers
  • Writers: Jimmy Perry and David Croft.
  • Producers: David Croft.
  • Distributor: BBC Worldwide.
  • Network: BBC 1.
  • Release Date: 31 July 1968 (UK).
  • Running time: 30 minutes.
  • Country: UK.
  • Language: English.

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