No Spring for Frazer
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"No Spring for Frazer" is the thirteenth episode of the third series of the British comedy series '' Dad's Army''. It was originally transmitted on Thursday 4 December 1969.


Plot

Mainwaring is preparing to march the platoon over to the recreation ground for a lecture on
fieldcraft Fieldcraft is the techniques involved in living, traveling, or making military or scientific observations in the field and the methods used to do so. The term "fieldcraft" is used in a broad range of industries including military, oil and gas, wi ...
. Wilson enters the office, informing him that Pike and Jones are ready for him to inspect their
rifle A rifle is a long-barreled firearm designed for accurate shooting, with a barrel that has a helical pattern of grooves ( rifling) cut into the bore wall. In keeping with their focus on accuracy, rifles are typically designed to be held with ...
s, and Frazer is ready with the Lewis gun. Mainwaring inspects Jones' rifle and reminds him not to leave sausage skins in the
magazine A magazine is a periodical publication, generally published on a regular schedule (often weekly or monthly), containing a variety of content. They are generally financed by advertising, purchase price, prepaid subscriptions, or by a combinatio ...
again. He also reminds Pike not to let his mother clean his rifle with a bath brick. Frazer is relieved to not have to clean the Lewis Gun again for three weeks, but Mainwaring notices that the butterfly spring is missing, and Frazer surmises that it is in his workshop. Mainwaring marches the platoon to Frazer's workshop and Frazer searches for the box where he keeps his tools, believing the spring is there, but it has gone. Mainwaring asks him what the box was like, and is shocked to learn that it is shaped like a
coffin A coffin is a funerary box used for viewing or keeping a corpse, either for burial or cremation. Sometimes referred to as a casket, any box in which the dead are buried is a coffin, and while a casket was originally regarded as a box for jewel ...
. Frazer tells him that when he was young, he learnt how to make coffins and perform dentistry on the Isle of Mingulay. He remembers that Mr Drury, an undertaker, would probably have taken it, so the platoon heads there. Mr Drury is in a hurry and does not stop to speak with Frazer and Jones. They instead speak with his secretary, Miss Baker, who confirms the use of the coffin. Frazer asks if it is still there, but Miss Baker reveals it is now occupied by a Mr Horace Bluett. Jones and Frazer are shocked, and are even more shocked to learn that his brother Sidney wanted him to repose on his dining room table. Jones and Frazer worm their way into Mr Bluett's house, and Jones distracts Mr Bluett while Frazer searches the coffin. Mr Bluett tells Jones that his brother came home after buying best end of neck from Jones, looked at it, and cried: "Look at that! All bloody bone!" before collapsing and dying from the shock. Jones takes offence at the comment and claims Mr Bluett is accusing him of "doing in" his brother, and drags Frazer out of the house in indignation before he has had a chance to fully inspect the coffin. Mainwaring rings GHQ to enquire about spare springs, but none is in stock. Walker has a friend who is a
metal worker Metalworking is the process of shaping and reshaping metals to create useful objects, parts, assemblies, and large scale structures. As a term it covers a wide and diverse range of processes, skills, and tools for producing objects on every scale ...
, but he cannot help them because he is currently in prison. So, Mainwaring decides that they should return to Mr Bluett's house that night and break in after Mr Bluett has gone to bed. However, when Jones and Frazer climb into the dining room via the kitchen window, they are shocked to find that the coffin lid is screwed down. They attempt to unscrew it with Pike's scout knife, but they are interrupted by Mr Bluett coming down the stairs and quickly make their exit. The next morning, while Frazer is officiating Horace's funeral, the platoon arrives at the churchyard, just as the procession arrive at the grave. They stick a "Danger! Unexploded Bomb" sign in the ground and warn the vicar and the mourners that there is an unexploded bomb in the churchyard. However, it is just a ruse to clear the churchyard. Later, Jones' section arrives at the grave to retrieve the spring. Jones reluctantly climbs inside to check, but they are interrupted by the verger, who has come to fill in the grave. However, they are unable to remove Jones from the grave, so the verger is understandably surprised when the earth he digs into the grave is flung back at him. The verger confronts the platoon, who manage to cover up the event until he leaves. Mainwaring admits he must report Frazer to GHQ for
court-martial A court-martial or court martial (plural ''courts-martial'' or ''courts martial'', as "martial" is a postpositive adjective) is a military court or a trial conducted in such a court. A court-martial is empowered to determine the guilt of memb ...
but, just in the nick of time, Frazer discovers the butterfly spring in his trouser pocket.


Cast

*
Arthur Lowe Arthur Lowe (22 September 1915 – 15 April 1982) was an English actor. His acting career spanned 36 years, including starring roles in numerous theatre and television productions. He played Captain Mainwaring in the British sitcom ''Dad' ...
as Captain Mainwaring * John Le Mesurier as Sergeant Wilson *
Clive Dunn Clive Robert Benjamin Dunn (9 January 19206 November 2012) was an English actor. Although he was only 48 and one of the youngest cast members, he was cast in a role many years his senior, as the elderly Lance Corporal Jones in the BBC sitcom ' ...
as Lance Corporal Jones * John Laurie as Private Frazer * James Beck as Private Walker * Arnold Ridley as Private Godfrey * Ian Lavender as Private Pike * Edward Sinclair as The Verger * Frank Williams as The Vicar * Harold Bennett as Mr Bluett * Joan Cooper as Miss Baker * Ronnie Brandon as Mr Drury


Notes

# This is the first episode to show Frazer as a coffin maker, who later in the series is revealed to be a Funeral Director. # In this episode Frazer claims to come from the island of Mingulay, evacuated in 1912, although he later claims to come from the neighbouring
Isle of Barra Barra (; gd, Barraigh or ; sco, Barra) is an island in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland, and the second southernmost inhabited island there, after the adjacent island of Vatersay to which it is connected by a short causeway. The island is na ...
. # This was the first appearance in ''Dad's Army'' of
Arthur Lowe Arthur Lowe (22 September 1915 – 15 April 1982) was an English actor. His acting career spanned 36 years, including starring roles in numerous theatre and television productions. He played Captain Mainwaring in the British sitcom ''Dad' ...
's wife, Joan Cooper, who played Godfrey's sister Dolly in later episodes.


Radio episode

In the TV series, Frazer's profession had previously been given as keeping a philatelist's shop, and only later is it shown that he is or has become an undertaker. Thus, Mainwaring and Wilson are surprised that he has coffins in his possession, with Wilson saying they are "an extraordinary thing to collect." This dialogue is retained in the radio edition, but is followed by an additional observation from Wilson that "we all knew you were an undertaker". Frazer goes on to explain that he makes coffins for his own use as well as supplying Mr Drury.


Further reading

*


External links

* * {{Dad's Army Dad's Army radio episodes Dad's Army series 3 episodes 1969 British television episodes