Following the national radio broadcast by Anthony Eden asking
for recruits for the Local Defence Volunteers, the town's men form the
Walmington-On-Sea platoon. George Mainwaring, manager of Martin's
Bank, decides that he should lead the platoon, especially in view of his Army
experience in France in 1919 - a year after the Great War ended!
Also recruited are Arthur Wilson - Martins Bank's Chief
Clerk, Jack Jones - Butcher, James Frazer - Undertaker, Joe Walker - Spiv, Frank
Pike - Martins Bank's Junior Clerk, Charles Godfrey (Retired). Follow
our heroes through their training, their disastrous weekend camp and their
heroic action at the end of the film when they capture a Nazi aircrew.
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.
MONTAGE
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.
