George Mainwaring
Without any doubt, 'Dad's Army' the show about the efforts of the Home Guard during the Second World War is undoubtedly the greatest TV show ever made. It combined so much greatness- in scripts, acting, pathos, social snobbery and slapstick, it was just a dream of a show. Without going into great detail with the synopsis (that would be careless talk), 'Dad's Army' was about a Home Guard unit lead by Bank Manager Captain George Mainwaring (Arthur Lowe). His Seargent is the mysterious Wilson (John Le Mesurier) and his Corporal is Jones (Clive Dunn). These are in charge of Frazer, Walker, Godfrey and Pike (John Laurie, James Beck, Arnold Ridley and Ian Lavender). The shows humour came from the social snobbery between Mainwaring and Wilson, with Mainwaring constantly seeing Wilson as a threat to his power as Wilson went to public school, yet in reality Wilson had no wishes whatsoever to run the platoon Mainwaring so proudly was in charge of. There was also the enemy within, in this case the Chief of the ARP, Hodges. This also led to much of the humour.Yet the reason why 'Dad's Army' worked so well was the dream combination of the scripts and the actors. So many sitcoms have failed or not been as good as they could have been due to decent scripts but not so good actors or vice versa. Yet in 'Dads Army's' case, both were top class. The scripts were of fantastic value by Jimmy Perry and David Croft, Perry having been in the Home Guard during the war drew on past experiences. The scripts were full of great dialogue and wonderful characterisations.The cast was absolutely superb. Arthur Lowe and John Le Mesurier were an absolute dream team acting together, a superb partnership. Arthur Lowe's facial expressions were brilliant as was his comic timing, he was a master of comic timing. Le Mesurier's wonderful dreary laid back personality was also fantastic and this led to a great partnership with Lowe being totally unimpressed by Le Mesurier's casual manner. The rest of the cast were also great, Clive Dunn was fantastic as the old Butcher Jones. Dunn was a good few years younger than the man he was playing, but he brilliantly played old men, a speciality which Clive Dunn, still living, did in many shows. Then the privates were also great, John Laurie and Arnold Ridley the two oldest members of the cast were outstanding. John Laurie would look at the camera rolling his eyes, being extremely pessimistic. He knew how to capitulate an audience. A richly experienced actor when 'Dad's Army' first went out, John Laurie brought in great experience and gave the show so many laughs. Arnold Ridley as Private Godfrey who was older than John Laurie was also a brilliant character, so gentle and in my view the funniest bar Captain Mainwaring. He was so innocent, yet would come out with hilarious lines. For example in the episode 'Keep Young and Beautiful' Godfrey goes round to Frazer's dark morbid house, where he won't use electricity, he just has candles. Ridley brilliantly expresses 'I like candles. They're more romantic' Also the younger actors in it, James Beck as Private Walker and Ian Lavender as Private Pike also gave great value to the show, the former for his wheelin' and 'dealin' and the latter for his naivety. Also it's difficult to forget the support cast who were also great, such as Bill Pertwee's Hodges, Frank Williams Vicar, Edward Sinclair's Verger, Janet Davies's Mrs Pike and of course though we never see her, Elizabeth Mainwaring.The first series was something of a saga, going through a week by week progression from the platoon being formed in the first episode, to the increase of uniforms and weapons being delivered throughout the first series to finally them meeting Winstone Churchill. Then from Series 2 onwards, it was more traditional, with different situations each week.In 1973, just before the end of the sixth series, James Beck who played Private Walker sadly died aged a mere 43. His role as Walker as the lovable rogue emptied the show of two prize assets in my opinion. Firstly was the way quite interestingly, Mainwaring was prepared to get involved in black market activity. The other asset gone in my opinion which was the biggest loss was Walker being a constant thorn in the side of Mainwaring, interrupting his lectures with witty comments, thus leading to great comic rapport between Lowe and Beck. When he died, Welshman Taflyn Thomas was brought in as Private Cheeseman who was a journalist, having excelled in playing the role in a previous episode. In my view, Cheeseman was a decent character, but he simply wasn't strong enough to be lining up alongside Lowe, Le Mesurier, Dunn, Laurie, Ridley and Lavender. He was dropped after one series, a decision which was in my view a right one. It went on for two more series and continued to be excellent, yet not as good as say Series 4,5 and 6 where the show was quite clearly in its peak.'Dad's Army' lives on to be the only television programme which dates back to the 1960's that is still gets a prime time repeat on terrestrial television. According to the autobiography of sitcom writer Vince Powell, he had submitted an idea of a sitcom about the Home Guard to his superiors in 1968, his idea had just been beaten by Jimmy Perry. I say thank God for that. Powell's effort might have been decent, yet I doubt very much it would have been in the same league as Perry and Croft's effort and wouldn't be as strong today.'Dad's Army' will undoubtedly be remembered as a sitcom that brought laughter to many peoples lives. Long may its legacy live on.
screenman
If Britain does anything well, war-time brings it into focus.With 'Dad's Army', we have a team of British character actors, each of which have played it 'straight' at some time in their careers. Here, they play for laughs. Every individual is a perfect caricature of someone of a certain age, social status and education.There's no need to itemise them; they've been playing their roles in endless repeats for so long now that the actors themselves have become - for the most part - type-cast post mortem.They're riotously funny. No matter how often you see them, you can't help laughing out loud. From the sublimely silly wartime situations, to the subtle personal intrigues, they never fail to entertain. This series will last as long as comedy itself. In centuries to come if people retain a sense of humour and suitable means of entertainment, 'Dad's Army' will still be making them laugh.As a preference; the darker, more spartan, and slightly more surreal 'Blackadder Goes Forth' set in WW1, is my favourite, but 'Dad's Army' comes a very close second.Despite it's age it still manages to evade castigation by the political-correction brigade. That alone is a singular achievement.Thoroughly recommended family viewing.
adam-1009
When I first saw "Dad's Army" on BBC Prime I thought that this is really corny one and since it was going on and on with only few laughs I gave up. Then after few weeks when I put BBC Prime again it was "Dad's Army" again, same episodes and again it wasn't as funny as other British comedy series, so again I gave up.But lately I've seen the whole series from the beginning (since black & white episodes) and this time it all finally began to make sense. Finally I've seen the light and what kind of approach you need to like this series - usually it isn't LOL-funny, but with more subtle kind of humor. After seeing the whole series even the episodes I've seen before and didn't like make sense and I know what was funny about it.Now I can say that "Dad's Army" is really great series with wonderful ideas, great cast and leaves something within you - now when I watch some films with people in uniforms I usually expect to hear "do you think it's wise", "stupid boy", "they don't like up them" or "permission to worry you, sir".A really "must see" kind of TV history!
Ray Massart
If you can get hold of the series on DVD, do not hesitate. "Dad's Army" is a real gem that will offer you hours of intense pleasure and spark off countless outbursts of hilarious laughter.This is comedy at its best.Although the humor is essentially British with that contained form of polite sarcasm and the use of understatement, it is also so typical of human nature in general that it offers a universal appeal.The characters are all lovable in one way or the other.The pompous captain Mainwaring who's attitude is clearly based on an obvious inherent feeling of insecurity and his suave sergeant Wilson, the over-enthusiastic corporal Jones who panics at the slightest upheaval,the spooky-looking Frazer or private Godfrey who resembles Dopey in the Seven Dwarfs and the mother's-boy Pike, are but just some of the delightful individuals in this fascinating series."Dad's Army"obtained a fourth place in a recent BBC comedy poll and apparently continues to thrill both young and old.Some episodes are less entertaining than most,I admit, but on the whole the series is really worth-while. The capture of a German submarine crew for example, is hilarious!
