Who do you think you are kidding, Mr Hitler?

Only the British could have invented the show that is Dad's Army. The BBC series began in the late 1960s and is still being shown around the world today. (Here in New Zealand, we've just finished a set of re-runs, and the programmes are as funny today as when they were made three decades ago).

Dad's Army featured the adventures of a Home Guard platoon on the English south coast in the fictitious town of Walmington on Sea. The Home Guard, for the uninitiated, were the 'last line' of defence against the possibility of invasion in Britain during the Second World War. Made up of men who were otherwise unable to serve in the armed forces for reason of age or infirmity, the Home Guard patrolled their own towns, cities and villages while younger men served overseas. At the time the series was set, Britain was up against the wall; food rationing was a fact of life, bombing raids by the Luftwaffe caused the deaths of hundreds of people every night, and Hitler's invasion plans seemed more and more likely to succeed as German forces swept across Europe. (You can find out more about the real-life Home Guard at the Home Guard site )

The opening titles hint at the crisis - three Union Jack arrows advance across Europe, but are swiftly repelled by Nazi swastikas, which push them back across the channel until they are left jabbing rather pathetically at the might of Germany. Today it's easy to laugh - but at the time, the horror of being absorbed by the Nazi regime must have been very real.

A Success In The Making

Dad's Army was created by BBC stalwarts Jimmy Perry and David Croft, who have been responsible for many of the Corporation's most loved and most successful comedy series - It Ain't Half Hot Mum (also set during World War 2) and Hi-de-hi (set in a fifties holiday camp). All three series feature the same formula - tight, cleverly written scripts (with successful and easily recognisable catchphrases), well-rounded characterisation and excellent ensemble acting by a largish cast of very experienced actors.

Much of the comedy revolved around the edgy relationship between Captain George Mainwaring (pronounced "mannering") and his second-in-command, Sergeant Arthur Wilson. Although Mainwaring is Wilson's boss both in the Home Guard platoon and in their 'day jobs' at the local bank, Wilson comes from a wealthy family and went to a 'posh' public school, making him socially superior to Mainwaring (which in the hothouse social atmosphere of Britain in the thirties and forties would have been quite significant).

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