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).
However, when Columbia Pictures came to make the Dad's Army movie
(released in 1971) - they abandoned the normal Norfolk locations and
headed further south. Chalfont St Giles in Buckinghamshire was
transformed into Walmington-on-Sea - while other scenes were shot at
Seaford in Sussex and at Shepperton Studios. The famous scene
with the white horse on the raft heading down river was filmed at
Chobham in Surrey. 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.
