Top 15 Dad's Army Episodes

Earlier this week, on the 27^th of September 2011, a tragedy hit us. David Croft, a much loved British comedy writer, died at the age of 87. He worked on some of the best British comedies around, including ‘Dad’s Army’, ‘Hi-De-Hi’, ‘It Ain’t Half Hot Mum’, ‘‘Allo ‘Allo’, ‘Are You Being Served?’, and ‘Oh, Doctor Beeching’.

Whilst I have watched all the mentioned shows, ‘Dad’s Army’ was my favourite, having watched it since Iwas a kid. It follows a group of male residents of Walmington-on-Sea who join the Local Defence Volunteers, later re-named the Home Guard. It consists of pompous bank manager/Captain George Mainwaring (Arthur Lowe), carefree bank clerk/Sergeant Arthur Wilson (John le Mesurier), mother’s boy junior bank clerk/Private Frank Pike (Ian Lavender), the extremely loyal butcher/lance corporal Jack Jones (Clive Dunn), grumpy Scotsman undertaker/Private James Frazier (John Laurie), mild mannered retired/Private Charles Godfrey (Arnold Ridley) and the suave spiv/Private Joe Walker (James Beck). Whilst preparing to tackle a Nazi German invasion, they also have to deal with the greengrocer/ARP Warden William Hodges (Bill Pertwee), as well as Reverend Timothy Farthing (Frank Williams), the verger Mr. Yeatman (Edward Sinclair) and Mrs. Pike (Janet Davies).

This show is absolutely fantastic, it is pure perfection. Everyone is brilliant in their roles, the effects were great for the time, the stories were always fantastic, Hell, the make-up was awesome too! Why? Well Clive Dunn was 33 when he was cast as Corporal Jones, who is 70. All this time I thought he was the same age, I had always thought he was at least sixty. It was only a couple of years back that I realised that Dunn was actually one of the youngest actors there!

So I feel the best way that I can make tribute to one of Britain’s greatest writers, is to do a ‘Top 15 Episodes of Dad’s Army’. Heck, if I could I would do a top 77 episodes (the total number of episodes, minus the three missing episodes), but it would take too long.

So, ladies and gentlemen, here are my tip 15 episodes of my favourite television series, ‘Dad’s Army’.

15. Knights of Madness

To celebrate St. George’s Day, the Home Guard and the Wardens are at loggerheads as to who should perform the finale. It is decided that they will both share it, with the Home Guard performing first, then followed by the Wardens. The Wardens decide to show up the Home Guard by performing the fight between St. George and the dragon, but are mortified when the Home Guard do the exact same thing.

With Mainwaring and Hodges playing the two St. Georges and the Home Guard and Warden dragons headed by Jones and the Vicar respectively, no-one expected that the two St. Georges would then fight each other! Not only that, but the two dragons also come to blows. That is the main aspect of this episode, the twist on the St. George and the dragon legend. It was very well done the whole fair scene was performed brilliantly by all members of cast, main or supporting.

Then, of course there’s the scenes where Mainwaring is trying desperately to move in a suit of armour, which was brilliant since he couldn’t move at all or stay on the horse without the help of the entire platoon.

Of course the clash of the two groups overshadows the whole episode, that and Pike trying to hide his embarrassment in his costume. But that’s what makes this episode great, definitely worth a watch.

14. Ring Dem Bells

Now this was a classic. The Home Guard are pleased when they learn that they have been selected to star in an army training film, however they’re less than pleased when they find that they’re to play the Nazis! They’re forced to continue, though Mainwaring cannot be in it as his feet are too small for the Nazi’s boots. Mainwaring drives Jones’ van whilst the rest of the platoon hide in the back, since they’re dressed in Nazi uniforms, unfortunately the shooting of the film is delayed.

This episode is great simply because of the platoon dressed in Nazi uniforms, especially when the public see them, thinking that they have been invaded! And the platoon doesn’t help when they sneak into a pub and freak out the owner! Then there’s the point when Pike pretends to threaten people with the submachine gun whilst shouting in German. The initial feelings the platoon had when they first put on the uniform was just faultless.

The reactions from pretty much everyone is fantastic; the pub owner’s when he goes to serve customers only to see the entire pub filled with Nazis, the Vicar’s, Yeatman’s and Hodges’ reactions to seeing Nazis standing attention in the courtyard to a British Captain, they’re all priceless.

Then of course there’s the jokes, especially at the end when the Vicar, Yeatman and Hodges are ringing the church bells to signal an invasion, and the only way the platoon can get in is to blow the lock off, which Mainwaring does. However upon entering the room, they see that the three men literally jumped, and were now hanging on for dear life near the top of the tower.

But what truly made this episode was Ian Lavender’s performance. His role as Pike truly grew to great heights in this episode, showing the viewers how flexible and talented he can be. This episode is definitely one of the best.

13. Put That Light Out!

Fearing the Nazis will send spies across the channel, Mainwaring sends Jones, Godfrey, Pike and Frazer to man a lighthouse. Simple right? Of course not! They accidently turn the lighthouse on! They attempt to stop it and...they stop it. They didn’t turn it off though! And now all of Walmington has been lit up like a Christmas tree. How can it get any worse? A German air raid of course!

The episode is extremely tense; the Home Guard and the Wardens have to figure out how to turn off the lighthouse before the Luftwaffe arrive. It’s a great little race-against-time, especially as they are hindered at every turn. It even shows how far Mainwaring will go before resorting to firing the Lewis gun at the lighthouse, something he had wanted to avoid as he may hit his own men. And then after all that, just as Mainwaring is about to pull the trigger, the light goes out, saving the town. It was a close call that made Mainwaring make the hardest decision he probably had to decide.

It also shows how different, and yet how similar Mainwaring and Hodges are. Hodges demands that they shoot the lighthouse straight away whilst Mainwaring leaves it as a last resort, and both of them are doing what they feel is right for the good of Walmington-on-Sea.

But this episode also has one of Frazer’s ghost stories, one of the best running gags in the show, consisting of a lighthouse keeper who was stalked by a being not of this world. The lighting, the mood and the way Frazer tells the story gets you hooked on the story, you get drawn in, and it’s all worth it when Godfrey knocks on the door, scaring the Hell out of everyone. An episode that truly gets you hooked.

12. Sons of the Sea

After inheriting a boat from a deceased client at the bank, Mainwaring decides to use it in the Home Guard in order to have a river patrol unit. However in a test run they get lost and end up crossing the English Channel and drift into occupied France!

Mainwaring’s personality is exemplified in this episode, showing his ingenuity in order to escape the Nazi’s clutches, and how he can adapt to the situation. His loyalty to his crew is shown greatly, and we can feel that he would die in order to protect them, which is why we love him. Mainwaring may be pompous and be bumbling, but he knows when to get serious and to look out for his platoon, especially when he says he’ll pretend he didn’t hear Wilson suggest surrendering.

The problem? They’re not actually in occupied France! The French singing they heard was from French Canadian pilots, but they’re still in England. But the platoon thinking they’re in enemy territory was a brilliant idea, and seeing how they react was great.

The jokes are fantastic, including Wilson struggling to read his magazine in the fog and dying light, the revelation that the platoon is in the Channel and the revelation that they’re actually in England. And that’s why this is one of the best episodes of ‘Dad’s Army’.

11. Things That Go Bump in the Night

After getting lost, Jones’ butcher van runs out of fuel and the platoon is forced to take shelter in what appears to be an abandoned house. It then goes into a spoof of ‘The Hound of the Baskervilles’, as the platoon is haunted by some dogs howling.

What makes this episode so unique, is that most of it takes place in such an astounding setting, rather than the church hall that we’ve become so used to, before taking us across fields.

You’ve got to give it to Ian Lavender, he put up with a lot in this show. In this episode alone he was forced to strip and change clothes three times. But despite that, it never got old.

Now the horror spoof setting was brilliantly laid out, it was extremely effective, and it’s this where we get most of our laughs, especially with Pike setting up most of them, particularly when he was forced to wear a bear skin.

Eventually Captain Cadbury, the owner of the house, returns and explains that the house is a school, training dogs for the war effort. He allows Pike to wear a German uniform before directing them to the nearest settlement so that the platoon can get some fuel. Unfortunately the German uniform is used for training the dogs, and is covered in aniseed which is attracting the dogs, who will tear Pike and anyone else who came into contact with him apart. So the platoon and Cadbury run up a tree before using a shed as cover, which was hilarious ton watch.

Now, there is a hint of sadness in this episode. Walker, played by James Beck, was not in the studio scenes, but he was in the outdoor scenes. This is because Beck filmed the outdoor scenes before falling gravely ill and suddenly dying at the age of 44. This came as a shock to cast, crew and fans alike, especially since Beck was one of the youngest members of the group. He was given an exit in ‘The Recruit’, explained as being on a shady deal, and was subsequently never mentioned again. But James Beck continues to be an extremely great actor who was taken from us far too early. Bless you James Beck, for portraying one of the greatest characters created, rest in peace.

10. Asleep in the Deep

A bomb drops on the location where Walker and Godfrey are, and the platoon with Hodges rush of to help them. The rescue attempt fails when the platoon, albeit Jones, also get trapped when the roof caves in. Things get even worse when a dripping pipe bursts and the platoon and Hodges are now at risk of drowning.

Like the ‘Put That Light Out’ episode, this is a tense race-against-the-clock situation as the water continues to rise, once again leaving Pike soaked, though Hodges, another character who occasionally gets soaked, would join him.

And, like ‘Sons of the Sea’, we see how important Mainwaring’s men are to him. Since there’s rubble blocking the door to where Walker and Godfrey are, they decide to form a chain in order to clear it, though there is a danger since the roof is very likely to collapse (which, as stated, it does). So the first two at the head of the chain are in grave danger. In order to determine the two people, Mainwaring puts a cross on two pieces of paper and they take turns taking the bits of paper out of Mainwaring’s hat. Hodges gets the first cross, much to his horror and to Frazer’s relief (since he was going to take that piece of paper). Mainwaring then walks away from the others and takes a piece, which is blank. However he says he got it, putting his life at risk instead of the rest of the platoon. Hell, he even puts his life on the line ahead of Hodges, as he goes in front of him. Mainwaring is a true hero.

9. Is There Still Honey for Tea?

A Godfrey centric episode, the Colonel tells Mainwaring that a new aerodrome is to be built, but Godfrey’s cottage is built right in the middle of it and has to come down. The Colonel then leaves Mainwaring with the responsibility of telling Godfrey.

This was a highly emotional episode because, well, Godfrey is so lovable. No-one wants to tell Godfrey what’s going to happen because he’s just so happy. Frazer even says that the shock would probably kill him. When Jones finally tells him, it’s revealed that Godfrey already knew. Learning that Godfrey has nowhere to go, Jones offers that Godfrey stays with him. Not only does this scene show how kind Jones is, but it shows how selfless Godfrey is, as he didn’t want to tell Mainwaring in case HE was upset.

Come eviction day, even Hodges, the hard hearted individual, helps out. Granted he was offered payment, but that’s beside the point. But then the day is saved, by Frazer of all people! He manages to “persuade” the minister in charge of the aerodrome construction and persuaded him to move just a little to the left. And Frazer is the unsung hero, Godfrey assumes Mainwaring did it. Then the celebratory tea party is interrupted by a plane flying over, blowing everything away.

This was a very complex episode that delves into one of the shows most warmest, kindest, most whole hearted characters. We see how this frail individual has affected almost every single other character on the show, and how much he means to them.

8. We Know Our Onions

The platoon are sent on a Home Guard proficiency test for the weekend. However Hodges and the Verger tag along as Walker filled up Jones’ van with their order of onions. The platoon fail miserably the first two tests, though they are given half a star for persistence on the second test, having kept Captain Ramsay (the man in charge of the tests) up half the night. Their final test is to fire dummy rounds at ‘the enemy’, but the dummy rounds are behind a fence which defeated them the day before. To get round this they buy some onions off Hodges and fire those instead. This impresses Ramsay so much he awards them the maximum twelve stars outright.

Whilst the platoon are defeated horribly by the electrified fence; the aim was to spend fifteen minutes to discuss then half an hour to get over the fence – the platoon spend all day and are eventually stopped by Ramsay at midnight – they do show that, when the chips are down, they can get out of the toughest situations and show some great intuition.

But it’s Captain Ramsay, played by Fulton Mackay who steals the spotlight in this, setting up most of the jokes and dominating most, if not all, the scenes he’s involved in. Well it’s hard not to dominate the scene when he’s constantly on top of the platoon, interrogating them and making them feel hot under the collar. And, of course, being played by the legend that is Fulton Mackay is fantastic, a great casting choice.

As said Ramsay sets up most of the jokes, including pretending to set Wilson’s fingers on fire as an interrogation, only to have him respond that it didn’t entirely bother him, and that Wilson’s suggestion that when a balloon is losing height and Mainwaring has to lose a man, is to wait until the balloon hits the ground and have the man simply step out. Then there’s that bit where they heard another platoon failed because the tea lady had a fake bomb, so they attack the genuine tea lady and Pike throws the tea out the window, hitting Hodges and the Verger!

Great story, great acting, great jokes, what’s not to like?

7. Branded

Another Godfrey centric episode which co-writer Jimmy Perry has stated is his favourite episode, and I don’t blame him.

Godfrey has shockingly handed in his resignation to the Home Guard. Not wanting to lose the tea maker, Mainwaring asks why. Godfrey says he was unable to kill a mouse, so how could he kill a enemy soldier, and Mainwaring is furious when he finds that Godfrey was a conscientious objector in the previous war.

Some, including Pike, Wilson and Walker don’t mind this fact, Frazer is highly vocal in his anger, whilst many are unsure what to make of it. Even Jones, who is probably Godfrey’s closest friend, doesn’t know what to do.

Like ‘Is There Still Honey for Tea?’ this is an emotional episode, I mean almost everyone turns their backs on Godfrey, Godfrey of all people! How is that possible? Well, it’s because conscientious objectors were viewed with disgust back during the world wars, they were viewed as cowards who didn’t care about their country.

However, during a fire training exercise, Godfrey goes back into the smoke filled hut in order to find Mainwaring, who has collapsed from smoke inhalation. Saving Mainwaring causes Godfrey to be taken ill, and causes the entire platoon to visit him, overcoming their distrust of him after he risked his life to save the Captain. It is here that the platoon learn that, whilst he was a conscientious objector, he still served during the war as a stretcher bearer, earning the Military Medal for rescuing numerous wounded soldiers across No-Man’s Land under heavy fire, something he downplays. Mainwaring immediately declares Godfrey the platoon’s medical orderly.

The episode was absolutely fantastic, it shows how the platoon overcomes their views on conscientious objectors, and, as Godfrey shows, heroes come in all forms of life.

6. Battle of the Giants!

Captain Square visits the Walmington-on-Sea platoon, and finds that Mainwaring hasn’t passed on his message about wearing medals at the church parade. Since Mainwaring isn’t there and had left Wilson in charge, Square has Wilson give the command. This infuriates Mainwaring, since it’s as Square thought; Mainwaring hasn’t got any medals. So at the church parade he is humiliated as being the only person there without medals. Whilst Mainwaring’s platoon think it’s funny that he tried to get out of it, only for Pike to have picked up his uniform, they stand up for him when Square proceeds to insult him. This leads to a contest between Mainwaring’s Walmington platoon and Square’s Eastgate platoon.

The first Christmas special did not disappoint. It provided everything you’d expect from this show. Action, laughs, Hodges getting soaked multiple times, it has it all!

We’ve seen Captain Square on multiple occasions, and he provides a good character for Mainwaring to interact with. Despite the fact that they hate each other, they’re very similar. They give the same orders to their men, they have the same reactions, they have the same ideas, and they’re both brash men.

It’s the interaction between all the different characters that makes this episode really good, the similarities and differences between the two, especially when two of Mainwaring’s men pass two of Squares men, who are letting Jones’ van’s tyres down, to do the same thing to Square’s truck, and they greet each other whilst doing so!

The ending was cleverly done too, with Walker ensuring that the Walmington-on-Sea platoon would win, especially since winning it fairly cruelly slipped from their grasp with Jones fell with a bout of malaria. It certainly showed why the Walmington-on-Sea platoon is, not only our favourite, but the best.

5. The Royal Train

This episode combined two of the favourite past times as a kid; Dad’s Army and trains. When Mainwaring is told that the King is passing through, he’s very excited about it and keeps it top secret from his platoon until they reach the station. Whilst the platoon are extremely pleased with the news, it is ruined when Hodges, Reverend Farthing, Mr.Yeatman, the Mayor and the station master all show they also know! Things take a turn for the worse when another train stops at the station, with the operators getting off to make a phone call about a broken brake. Unfortunately they mistake sleeping pills that Mainwaring bought for his wife for a substitute for sugar, and fall asleep! Mainwaring takes charge and gets Pike to move the train (as he knows how from films), without realising that the train cannot stop!

What follows is Hodges, Farthing, Yeatman and the Mayor trying to catch up with a runaway train whilst Maiwnaring and Jones make their way across the top of the carriages, so that Hodges can throw them the brake. Then, when Mainwaring and Jones are making that way back, Wilson suggests activating the reverse lever to try and slow the train down. This works...for a few seconds, before Hodges and the others on their manual train car have to hurry backwards as the train reverses towards them!

So you can tell this episode is hilarious already.

And I love the old fashioned steam trains, ever since I saw ‘The Titfield Thunderbolt’. The designs, the sizes, the power, the engineering, I am absolutely fascinated by them. Nowadays you get those boring electric trains that look like boxes on wheels.

Anyway, and like some episodes previously mentioned, it’s tense as, not only does Mainwaring and Jones have to go across the top of a train going at high speed once, an act that is extremely dangerous, but twice!

Tense, hilarious, awesome.

4. Never Too Old

Jones is getting married! Oh yes! He finally proposed to Mrs Fox (played by Pamela Cundell) and the episode focuses on the preparations of the wedding. But the wedding is cut short when the Colonel reveals that there’s an invasion alert.

Now this is another highly emotional episode, in part to the wedding, in part to the invasion alert, but also because this is the final ‘Dad’s Army’ episode. Yeah. This was the final episode ever created. After nine seasons, we’re never going to see them again (repeats do not count).

This was done to great effect with the transition from the wedding to the invasion alert. From the happiness and joy of Jones and Mrs Fox tying the knot, to the feeling of anxiety, of fear. Of course having seen this decades after the end of the Second World War we know that the Nazi’s never invaded Britain, but the people didn’t know that at the time. That’s was what was brilliant with this episode, portraying the knowledge that, at any given time, Britain could be invaded. And that the Home Guard was our only defence.

The newly married couple have a chat later, about what would happen after the war is over, and whilst it wasn't as touching as the ‘return to normality’ conversation between Pike and Jones in the episode ‘A Man of Action’, it is still them talking of hope for the future (even if it does reignite Jones’ feelings that Mrs Fox is only with him for his meat).

The rest of the main cast then join Pike and Jones to toast his health and marriage, only for Hodges to turn up and tell them the invasion alert was a false alarm. He would then go on to say that the Nazis would march through them. Whilst this does gives us the harsh reality that Hodges was very likely to be correct in that aspect, it also gives us the means to respect the real Home Guard. They were prepared to lay down their lives to protect every inch of England and, as Frazer and Mainwaring put it, the whole of Britain. And for that I salute and honour them. I will always join the cast to deliver a toast to the men of Britain’s Home Guard, some of the greatest men to have ever lived.

3. Mum’s Army

Mainwaring decides that women are to join the Home Guard, and after the response you get from the ladies which Jones, Walker and Pike bring along, Mainwaring can’t think it can get any worse. And it doesn’t. Enter Fiona Gray, a woman who Mainwaring becomes entirely smitten by, even repeating the chat-up lines that he told Wilson off for, without realising until he said it. Mainwaring and Gray spend a lot of time together, which causes gossip amongst the platoon since Mainwaring is married to a character who is never seen or heard, but is easily the most dominant character in the entire creation. Even Wilson tries to confront Mainwaring over it. But after learning that Gray is leaving for London, he rushes off to the train station to try and get her to change her mind. She, regretfully, leaves.

Like the Godfrey-centric episodes mentioned earlier, this is a highly emotional episode, so emotional it’s the only episode which doesn’t have the audience clapping at the end of it. Arthur Lowe and Carmen Silvera (as Mainwaring and Gray respectively) have great chemistry on screen, and we get to see a whole new side to Mainwaring, which is great as we get to delve deeper into his character. Mainwaring loves Gray so much he was prepared to give everything up for her; his wife, the bank, the platoon, everything which he has stated in numerous episodes that he had worked so hard for.

It’s a moment where the platoon, even though they were berating him for the scandal it would cause, would feel sad for him. Hell, I’d have liked a follow up episode, which focuses on Mainwaring’s recovery from having his heart broken.

And the jokes are still really good, especially Walker comments during the ladies first parade, including saying Godfrey is “woman mad”, which eventually gets him sent home.

But it’s the relationship between Mainwaring and Gray which really gets to me. And that’s why this episode is my third favourite.

2. The Deadly Attachment

Oh how much do I love this episode? Mainwaring is happy when he and his men get to finally meet the enemy when they’re tasked to guard a captured enemy crew, which goes bad the second Hodges tries to get involved. The crew take him hostage and force Mainwaring to take them to the dock so they could get a boat to cross the channel.

This episode was brilliant, mainly due to the interactions between the Home Guard and the German U-Boar crew, from Walker getting their orders for the fish and chips shop, to Mainwaring and the U-Boat Captain having a go at each other.

But what makes this episode is my favourite joke within the whole concept of ‘Dad’s Army’, which goes like this:

Pike – Whistle while you work! Hitler is a twerp! He’s so barmy, so his army! Whistle while you work!

U-Boat Captain – You’re name will go on the list (the list of people which will be brought to account when the Nazis win the war)! What is it?
Mainwaring – Don’t tell him Pike!

U-Boat Captain – Pike! Thank you!

This joke is awesome! So simple, yet brilliant!

Then there’s the ending where the U-Boat Captain had put a grenade down Jones’ trousers, but the Colonel notices and pulls the string, which makes everyone except the Colonel, Pike, Wilson, Frazer, Mainwaring and Jones jump to the ground; Frazer and Mainwaring try to get the grenade out of Jones’ trousers, Jones tries to get away, the Colonel looks on in confusion and Pike and Wilson simply get the U-Boat crew against the wall. Why? Because earlier in the episode Wilson and Pike put dummy rounds in the grenades.

This episode is so awesome they attempted to Americanise it into the pilot episode of ‘The Rear Guard’; the American version of ‘Dad’s Army’. And subsequently it bombed. Mainly because, well, the Nazis were never really a threat. A Nazi invasion of America was never going to happen whilst Britain stood in the way, it’s why the game ‘Turning Point: Fall of Liberty’ was so intriguing. But the bottom line is, it was extremely unlikely a Nazi invasion of America would take place, and that’s why the Americans never took ‘The Rear Guard’ seriously, especially since the only episode was a very close shot by shot remake of ‘A Deadly Attachment’.

But the British episode, extremely hilarious, very well scripted, awesome interactions, definitely a masterpiece of British comedy.

1. The Two and a Half Feathers

And my personal favourite episode is the one where Jones is accused of being a coward. Wait, what?! Jones? A coward? No, that can’t be right.

The platoon gains a new recruit in the form of George Clarke, who reveals he knew Jones back in the Sudan, then further reveals that Jones left him to die in the desert. Jones does not deny or confirm the accusations, which causes a rift between him and the rest of the platoon. Eventually Jones receives three letters, two of which contain two white feathers, the third only having half a white feather, the letter saying “a coward like you doesn’t even deserve a whole white feather, so I’m sending you half of one,”. In the British military, a white feather was a traditional symbol of cowardice, a great insult. Jones, horrified at receiving these feathers, disappears for a few days, before returning to explain his side of the story. He and Clarke were sent to get reinforcements as their platoon came under heavy attack from the “fuzzy wuzzies”, only to get captured. Clarke begged for mercy, but the Dervishes are angered by this; they tie him up and leave him to die. Jones manages to escape and returns, but discovers that Clark is having an affair with the Colonel’s wife. Jones gets him to safety, but refrains from telling anyone about the affair until the Colonel and his wife had passed on; which they have. Clarke, whilst Jones was telling this story, quietly leaves the room and gets on the first train out of  town.

Questioning Jones’ loyalty? Never a good thing. The one consistent thing that Jones shows day in and day out is loyalty. In fact, this episode shows Jones has too much loyalty; he’s loyal to the Colonel so that he waits until he’s dead so that scandal can’t touch him, even risking his own reputation, and loyalty to his friend Clarke, not wanting to tell on him because he’s, well a friend.

But then there’s the main attraction, during Jones’ story we’re shown it via flashback, with the Walmington-on-Sea platoon portraying his squad! With Wilson playing the Colonel, Pike playing a more grown up posh version of a mummy’s boy (yes, it is actually possible) Lieutenant Colonel, Frazer and Hodges playing the Dervishes, Godfrey playing a Fakir, Walker playing a joke-telling Private, and Mainwaring playing a foul-mouthed Sergeant, who is hilariously bleeped out by...people blowing their tongues. The flashback scenes are absolutely brilliant, specifically because of the cast being shown whimsically in a historical setting (one of two episodes, the other being ‘A Soldier’s Farewell’). To see how versatile and flexible the actors are.

As usual, everything is perfect. The acting has surpassed the usual level of greatness we normally have, thanks to the flashback scene, the story is awesome and, of course, it is hilarious. And this is why this episode is my favourite episode.

And these were my top fifteen episodes of one of the greatest television shows ever made. No matter how many times I watch these episodes, no matter how old the show is, it still makes me laugh. You know a show is a masterpiece when it does that after being on air for over fifty years.

David Croft helped co-write not only this television show, but many other awesome shows. David Croft was a master of writing comedies, and the acting world has lost one of the industry’s greatest.

 

1922 - 2011

Rest in peace David Croft, your works will live on to be enjoyed over and over again.