I'm still working through the complete series of Dad's Army. The 4th series started airing September 25 1970 and there were 13 episodes. The series continues to follow the misadventures of the men in the Home Guard of the fictional seaside town of Walmington-on-Sea. It's on the south coast of England but the outdoor locations were mostly filmed at the Stanford Training Area which is near Thetford in Norfolk.
Left to right above we have Arthur Lowe, John Le Mesurier, Clive Dunn, John Laurie, Arnold Ridley, Ian Lavender and James Beck. They're the main men in the cast. Bill Pertwee plays the ARP Warden and he's always got an argument going with Arthur, over pretty much anything at all.
Arthur is a bank manager and a bit pompous. He took his rank of Captain when the HG was formed. John and Ian work for him at the bank. John is the Sergeant and Ian isn't old enough to enlist. He'd be too neurotic for the army anyway. Clive is the local butcher and John is the local undertaker. The show rarely enters their shops, most of the action is centered around the church hall where the men meet and prepare for the Nazi invasion. Arnold is a retired clerk who lives with his two sisters and James is a bit of a black market spiv who got discharged by the regular army because he's allergic to corned beef.
The episodes have plenty of silly things going on and lot's of slapstick. In the first the Home Guard has to compete with the Sea Scouts and the ARP for first place in the "Spitfire Week" Parade. Next week they have to capture a windmill in a training exercise. With the men being rather old they have a lot of issues getting around. In the 3rd episode Arthur has a concern for the men's feet and he takes them on a 20 mile barefoot hike to toughen them up. That doesn't go so well, as you can imagine. Ian gets caught in barbed wire in the middle of a mine field. The boy is an idiot at best. When the HG has to guard some Italian prisoners James uses his spiv powers to make a bit of profit out of the situation.
The men skip parade to have a darts match with the ARP men and Arthur gets a bit pissed off. The HG defend a lighthouse and Clive gets a visit from an old army pal. When Arthur lets women join the platoon things don't go well for him. That's followed by some more battling with the ARP, this time they have a cricket match. John gets promoted at the bank and moves to another town. His manager job is short lived when the bank is bombed out of existence. He returns to the platoon, sadder. The bank isn't the only thing to get bombed out, the ARP HQ is damaged and the men are forced the share the church with the HG. Arthur gets drunk in the officer's mess playing Cardinal Puff and ruins his reputation with his men. He gets it back when he saves them from a grenade.
I'm still having a laugh or two out of the series. Some of the slapstick and misinterpretation gags are a bit repetitive but that's part of the package. There are still enough jokes to go around. It usually turns out to be an enjoyable half hour.
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