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A nice little retrospective about one of the BBC's most successful programmes.

https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2018/jul/24/dads-army-50-bbc-tv-comedy-home-guard-secret-history

I don't know how many countries outside the UK have ever seen this series or what you might make of it.

I still love it, it has aged rather nicely in my eyes and it still has some very memorable moments and oh so many damned quotes.

Favourite scene still is when the normally relaxed and polite sergeant Wilson slaps Hodges for trying something with Pikes mum.

"What is your name?"
"Don't tell him, Pike!"

That's funny.
I've had cause to watch some "It ain't half hot mum!" clips recently and I find myself wondering something. Is it that Dad's Army is funnier than the other shows that gives it its repeatability, or is it that the humour falls within our modern acceptance of what's acceptable?

Specifically I'm thinking of gay jokes. 'Allo 'Allo! had the effete Lieutanant Gruber, Are you being served? had the nancy Mr Humphries, It ain't half hot mum! couldn't pass a sentence without poofs being mentioned.

Dad's Army, from what I recall, avoided this. Pike was certainly laughed at for not being very butch, but it seems far removed from the blatant mincing of other series' characters. Only fools and horses also never made gay jokes a central theme. Do we find them funny now because they do stand above their peers in humour, or do we only find those ones funny because they are the ones that are acceptable to us today?

I think it's definitely a matter of quality more than content, Dad's Army (along with Only Fools) was a perfect storm of writers and cast, bringing together some of the most talented people in comedy history together to produce something that was consistently hilarious and entertaining. I think it's a disservice to say we only find it funny because we 'should'.

I'd also argue that with the same talent, DA could get away with jokes that haven't necessarily aged well (and let's be honest, did... see any of the jibes at the Germans, French, Sudan ect).

Look at any number of Fry And Laurie, Python, even Mitchell and Webb or Armstrong and Miller sketches; even in the more recent examples there. you can find jokes that you wouldn't necessarily see now, and they're as funny as they were when they were first broadcast, because the writers/actors/comedians behind them are talented people. Jokes work on timing, wordplay, delivery, physical comedy as much as content, and talent in those areas is fairly timeless.

So yeah, I think DA stands among the best simply because it is, rather than because it might be less controversial than its contemporaries. Likewise, Fawlty Towers remains side-splittingly funny even when it's blatantly 'unacceptable' to modern sensibilities because it has one of the finest comedy casts ever assembled.

It's one hell of a clever show

At first glance it's just a bunch of daft old gimmers being silly

but underneath nearly every character has these strange and very English turmoils to explain their apparent ridiculousness, I think its, for the most part, aged well as the characters rather than the setting are the key

It's also a very good homage to the Home Guard itself.

Classic, better than most crap that’s out these day. Now I really should dig out the boxed set.

I think part of the attraction/reason it can get away with stuff is the historical setting; even when it was made, it wasn’t trying to be contemporary, so it’s aged well.

I think it also helps that we've a lot of very casual understanding of the era itself. WWII features heavily in many schools and basic education and the whole concept of a class system is, whilst not accurate today, at least roughly known about as being a very British thing.

And I agree that the series didn't really hinge its puns on social groups or people types; the jokes were on the characters themselves. Indeed its very similar to Last of the Summer Wine in that both establish characters and then play the jokes off those characters, at least on the surface - if you know a bit more you can see some of the more subtle jokes or the links that tie them together.

I'd say Allo Allo is somewhat similar, if a little more risky due to how its involves more varied groups; however in general I'd say a lot of comedy from that whole era is very powerful and has a strong sense of being able to last through the ages. Even if something like "It ain't half hot mum" might require one to put aside some modern world viewpoints (which isn't a bad thing entirely esp if you get into the spirit of the age it was set in).

Certainly a lot of comedy back then was "smarter"; the scripts were better written and there was FAR less focus on shock value. Indeed a lot of comic productions today seem to hinge heavily on being more shock than humour


That said not everyone gets it, the newer remake film that they did got it wrong on SO many counts. Not least of which ignoring the class difference between Wilson and Mannering and trying to change it into just a private VS state school difference (then again that film got a lot wrong - Mrs Mannering appeared as a bold brazen leader; Godfrey was shown as totally daft and lacked any of the sense of dignity and character he had; Walker was shown as more cowardly ,,*gets dragged away ranting and raving*)

I love this show. I didn't watch it until about four years ago - whereas I grew up with 'Allo 'Allo. I like Dad's Army much better. I did not see the recent film. Worth seeing?


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Ah just saw Overread's comments above, seems fine to give the film a miss then.

the film isn't bad bad but it makes the error of trying to go big when the TV show was much more about the minutiae of everyday village life in strange circumstances, although the inflated tanks did raise a giiggle as that's one of my favourite WW2 strange but true tales

I think the characters work well because they are well-rounded and humanised stereotypes with whom we can sympathise and empathise.

Mainwaring, the slighty chippy grammar school boy made good and become pompous with it.

Wilson, the languid, under-achieving ex-public school boy.

Pike, the "mummy's boy" over-grown teenager.

And so on.

It also has a strong element of very typical British self-deprecation.

Just to note there are TWO Dad's Army films; the earlier one and the - ahem - newer one. The Earlier one is well worth watching and has some fantastic jokes in it. It was also made with all the original cast (including Joe Walker - James Beck)

For me, it’s becasue the daftness is rooted in truth.

Drilling with broom handles? Historically accurate.

Vans converted into makeshift IFVs? Historically accurate.

There’s so much pluck behind it, that it’s easy to make a gentle comedy out of.

Though for my money, ‘Allo ‘Allo is a better show, because it’s based on farce, and (Brexit aside) I love farce, me!

Dad's Army probably stands up as the better of the WW2 and it's aftermath comedies for being one of the first. Fresh ideas, strong talent pool, strong connection to the lives of the writers. I felt the strength of the shows that followed dropped with each new comdedy, although 'Allo 'Allo seemed like a return to form when it started.

Personally I do consider Dad's Army to be uniquely funny, putting it above other comedy shows (earlier I was just pointing out something I had noticed and wanted to get some sort of discussion going).

The characters are key, with the trio of Manwarring, Pike and Wilson being the lynchpin. Jones completes the core, but even the supporting characters have strong personalities, even if they do rely upon catchphrases. The warden was probably the weakest with Pertwee playing him too much as a try hard.


There have been modern family comedy series that I think have been as funny, but I don't think will endure. The first couple of seasons of "My Family" (before Nick left), and the early seasons of Outnumbered (before the kids grew up) are a couple.

The warden, vicar and verger did seem weaker characters. Caricatures that pulled the Home Guard into focus. The warden's obsession into ruining Mainwaring's platoon's day did seem more 'comedy villain'. I don't recall an episode sympathetic to him, giving the audience a chance to see his side.

And Jones... while his role as an experienced soldier highlighted the fact that the Captain with no military background had war heroes in his charge, increasing his insecurity, the physical slapstick of Clive Dunn seemed a lot like padding. The character stuff was a lot better.

The Warden is more than just a joke, he's the 3rd part of the social structure.

Wilson is the upper class - Mannering is the Middle - the Warden is the lower class. Most of the platoon appear to be generally in the middle class from those who appear regularly.

However the three, Vicar, Verger and Warden are still core characters (it annoyed me greatly that the "new" film managed to totally leave them out!) and form part of many of the jokes and running gags.


Warden does get at least one or two good episodes - the one where they have to take in the harvest he has a change of heart (after a near miss with a bomb the night before); though by the end a bit of drunken fun has him back to his old self (and its quite appropriate too since many farms did used to pay the workers in drink for their labour*)


*an action stopped once threshing machines started becoming normal and machine accidents rose.

The warden got his due from Wilson though with a well deserved slap / punch (can't quite remember which) that really came out of nowhere from such a laidback and calm person.

Well that was when the Warden had tried to take advantage of Mavis. Shameful stuff really. "Would you mind awfully standing up?"

"Hit him again uncle Arthur!"

Speaking of comedies that are intelligently written and which manage to beat the ages here's another - Yes Minister!

Personally I couldn't stand it, I much prefer its spiritual successor the Thick of It.