"The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Walker" is a missing episode in the British comedy series ''

Dad's Army ''Dad's Army'' is a British television sitcom about the United Kingdom's Home Guard during the Second World War. It was written by Jimmy Perry and David Croft, and originally broadcast on BBC1 from 31 July 1968 to 13 November 1977. It ran fo ...

''. It was originally transmitted on 15 March 1969. One of the three missing ''Dad's Army'' episodes, only a few short clips and screenshots survive in the archives.

Synopsis

To his complete surprise, Walker receives his call-up papers. Mainwaring tries his best to get the authorities to reconsider.

Plot

When Walker is called up, he applies to the Military Service Hardship Committee, which rejects him on the grounds that he does not keep books for his business. After Jones's attempts to sabotage his medical test fail, Walker is invalided out because he is allergic to corned beef.

Cast

* Arthur Lowe as

Captain Mainwaring Captain George Mainwaring () is a fictional Home Guard captain, first portrayed by Arthur Lowe in the BBC television sitcom ''Dad's Army''. In the 2016 movie he is played by Toby Jones and in the 2019 remake of three missing episodes he is p ...

John Le Mesurier John Le Mesurier (, born John Elton Le Mesurier Halliley; 5 April 191215 November 1983) was an English actor. He is perhaps best remembered for his comedic role as Sergeant Arthur Wilson in the BBC television situation c ...

Sergeant Wilson Sergeant Arthur Wilson is a fictional Home Guard platoon sergeant and bank chief clerk, first portrayed by John Le Mesurier in the BBC television sitcom ''Dad's Army''. Background Wilson was born in 1887, and is carefree, cheerful and well ...

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 ' ...

Lance Corporal Jones Lance Corporal Jack Jones is a fictional Home Guard platoon lance corporal and veteran of the British Empire, first portrayed by Clive Dunn in the BBC television sitcom ''Dad's Army''. His catchphrases are "Don't panic!", "Permission to speak, ...

John Laurie John Paton Laurie (25 March 1897 – 23 June 1980) was a Scottish actor. In the course of his career, Laurie performed on the stage and in films as well as television. He is perhaps best remembered for his role in the sitcom '' Dad's Army'' (19 ...

Private Frazer Private James Frazer is a fictional Home Guard platoon member and undertaker, first portrayed by John Laurie in the BBC television sitcom ''Dad's Army''. He is noted for his catchphrases "We're doomed!" and "Rubbish!" Personality Frazer was b ...

James Beck Stanley James Carroll Beck (21 February 1929 – 6 August 1973) was an English actor who played the role of Private Walker, a cockney spiv, in the BBC sitcom ''Dad's Army'' from the show's beginning in 1968 until his sudden death in 1973. Ea ...

Private Walker Private Joe Walker is a fictional black market spiv (or Wholesales Supplier, as he politely puts it) and Home Guard platoon member, first portrayed by actor James Beck in the BBC television sitcom ''Dad's Army''. In real life, Beck died suddenly ...

Arnold Ridley William Arnold Ridley, OBE (7 January 1896 – 12 March 1984) was an English playwright and actor, earlier in his career known for writing the play '' The Ghost Train'' and later in life in the British TV sitcom ''Dad's Army'' (1968–1977) as ...

Private Godfrey Private Charles Godfrey MM is a fictional Home Guard platoon member, first portrayed by Arnold Ridley in the BBC television sitcom ''Dad's Army''. and in the 1971 ''Dad's Army'' film. He is retired and was previously a tailor for the Civil ...

Ian Lavender Arthur Ian Lavender (born 16 February 1946) is an English stage, film and television actor. He is best known for his role as Private Pike in the BBC sitcom '' Dad's Army'', and is the last surviving major cast member of the series following t ...

Private Pike Private Frank Pike is a fictional Home Guard private and junior bank clerk, first portrayed by actor Ian Lavender in the BBC television sitcom ''Dad's Army''. He was appointed as the platoon's information officer by Captain Mainwaring in The Man ...

* Anthony Sharp as Brigadier (War Office) *

Diana King Diana King (born 8 November 1970) is a Jamaican-American singer-songwriter who performs a mixture and fusion of reggae, reggae fusion and dancehall. They were born to an Indo-Jamaican mother and an Afro-Jamaican father. They are best known f ...

as Chairwoman *

Patrick Waddington Patrick William Simpson Waddington (19 August 19014 February 1987) was an English actor, educated at Gresham's School at Holt in Norfolk. He was born and died in York, England. Biography Waddington was the grandson of William Waddington, the p ...

as Brigadier * Edward Evans as Mr Rees * Michael Knowles as Captain Cutts * Gilda Perry as Blonde * Larry Martyn as Soldier * Robert Lankesheer as Medical Officer *

Colin Bean Colin Bean (15 April 1926 – 20 June 2009) was an English actor. He was best known for his role as Private Sponge in the BBC comedy series '' Dad's Army''. Early life Born in Wigan, Lancashire, Bean's father played football for local side Wig ...

as Private Sponge

Remake

Kevin McNally Kevin Robert McNally (born 27 April 1956) is an English actor and writer. He is known for portraying Joshamee Gibbs in the ''Pirates of the Caribbean'' film series. Early life Born in Bristol, McNally spent his early years in Birmingham, atte ...

as Captain Mainwaring *

Robert Bathurst Robert Guy Bathurst (born 22 February 1957) is an English actor. Bathurst was born in The Gold Coast (now Ghana) in 1957, where his father was working as a management consultant. In 1959 his family moved to Ballybrack, Dublin, Ireland and Bath ...

as Sergeant Wilson *

Kevin Eldon Kevin Eldon (born 2 October 1959) is an English actor and comedian. He featured in British comedy television shows of the 1990s including ''Fist of Fun'', '' This Morning with Richard Not Judy'', '' Knowing Me, Knowing You with Alan Partridge' ...

as Lance Corporal Jones *

David Hayman David Hayman (born 9 February 1948) is a Scottish film, television and stage actor and director, known for his role as DCS Mike Walker in ITV drama ''Trial & Retribution'', as Jonas Franks in BBC period drama '' The Paradise'' and as Brace i ...

as Private Frazer *

Mathew Horne Mathew Frazer Horne (born 6 September 1978) is an English actor, comedian, television presenter and narrator. He is best known for appearing on several BBC sketch shows and sitcoms, most notably ''Gavin & Stacey'' (as Gavin Shipman), ''The C ...

as Private Walker *

Timothy West Timothy Lancaster West, CBE (born 20 October 1934) is an English actor and presenter. He has appeared frequently on both stage and television, including stints in both ''Coronation Street'' (as Eric Babbage) and ''EastEnders'' (as Stan Carte ...

as Private Godfrey * Tom Rosenthal as Private Pike *

Christopher Villiers Christopher Francis Villiers (born 7 September 1960) is an English actor, screenwriter and producer. Biography Villiers was born in London, the son of Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve Wing commander David Hugh Villiers (1921–1962) and his s ...

as Brigadier (War Office) *

Sam Phillips Samuel Cornelius Phillips (January 5, 1923 – July 30, 2003) was an American record producer. He was the founder of Sun Records and Sun Studio in Memphis, Tennessee, where he produced recordings by Elvis Presley, Roy Orbison, Jerry Lee Lewis, ...

as Captain Cutts *

Julia Deakin Julia Margaret Deakin (born 20 May 1952)Clarke, Gemma (5 September 2016)"GRAND RE-OPENING OF GAINSBOROUGH HERITAGE CENTRE" ''Gainsborough Heritage Association''. Retrieved 10 August 2021. is an English actress. She is known for her roles in the ...

as the Chairwoman *

Andrew Havill Andrew Havill (born 1 June 1965) is an English actor. With an extensive career on screen and stage beginning in the late 1980s, Havill has appeared in more than 40 films and 50 plays. After training in Oxford and London, he began his career in r ...

as the Brigadier * Jerry-Jane Pears as Judy *Gareth Benjamin as Mr Rees *Lee Barnett as the soldier

Notes

#This episode was originally planned for transmission on 20 January 1969. #This is one of the three missing ''Dad's Army'' episodes, after the tape was

wiped Lost television broadcasts are mostly those early television programs which cannot be accounted for in studio archives (or in personal archives) usually because of deliberate destruction or neglect. Common reasons for loss A significant prop ...

by the BBC for reuse. The other two are '' A Stripe for Frazer'' and '' Under Fire''. #

UKTV Gold Gold is a British pay television channel from the UKTV network that was launched in late 1992 as UK Gold before it was rebranded UKTV Gold in 2004. In 2008, it was split into current flagship channel Gold and miscellaneous channel, W (UK TV chan ...

commissioned recreations of all three missing episodes. The remake of this episode was first broadcast on 25 August 2019. #In the remade episode, two cast members have a link to David Croft,

was in ''Oh Doctor Beeching!'' and

was in the 2016 film of Dad's Army.

External links