"The Man and the Hour" is the first ever episode of the British comedy sitcom ''

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 31 July 1968 and was later adapted for radio. It was also the first ever black and white episode. The first ever episode marked the first regular appearances 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 '' D ...

(Captain George Mainwaring),

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 Arthur 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 ' ...

(Lance Corporal Jack Jones),

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 James Frazer),

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 Charles Godfrey),

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 Frank Pike) and

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 Joe Walker).

Synopsis

On the outbreak of the Second World War, a local bank manager, George Mainwaring, takes it upon himself to form a unit of

Local Defence Volunteers The Home Guard (initially Local Defence Volunteers or LDV) was an armed citizen militia supporting the British Army during the Second World War. Operational from 1940 to 1944, the Home Guard had 1.5 million local volunteers otherwise ineligible f ...

in the Sussex town of

Walmington-on-Sea Walmington-on-Sea is a fictional seaside resort that is the setting of ''Dad's Army'', including the BBC Television sitcom (1968-1977), the BBC Radio 4 series and two feature films (1971 and 2016). Walmington-on-Sea is on the south coast of Engl ...

Plot

It starts in present-day (1968) with local Walmington-on-Sea dignitary George Mainwaring announcing that he is backing Britain. A flash back shows on a TV screen showing scenes from

the Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

and the

Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

. It then reverts to Swallows Bank (1940), Walmington-on-Sea. George Mainwaring and his clerks, Arthur Wilson and Frank Pike, are laying sandbags at the window. Mainwaring then receives a message saying that he can set up a LDV unit to protect Britain. He finds out more about this on the wireless, having been told by a clerk, Janet King, that

Anthony Eden Robert Anthony Eden, 1st Earl of Avon, (12 June 1897 – 14 January 1977) was a British Conservative Party politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1955 until his resignation in 1957. Achieving rapid promo ...

is about to make a Ministerial broadcast. Pike is told to go round to all the LDV volunteers and tell them to meet in the church hall. At the church hall, many people are waiting and Mainwaring (now the self-appointed commander) begins to enroll them. He makes Wilson his sergeant and Jones his lance-corporal. ARP warden Hodges bursts in and tells the commander to "shove off" because he needs the hall for an ARP lecture. Mainwaring is forced to let Hodges use it and instructs the platoon to meet in the hall later. Later, Captain Mainwaring and Sergeant Wilson are inspecting the platoon, Godfrey has a gun and Mainwaring believes that he should have it because he is the officer, but Godfrey refuses. The platoon are told about tanks and how to defeat then. The men play at being tanks and how to destroy them. Frank's mother, Mavis, arrives to pick up Frank because it's his bedtime. The uniform (armbands) and weapons (pepper) arrive and are handed out. It is not what the platoon expected. Mainwaring gives a speech and the platoon cheer.

Cast

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 ...

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 ...

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, ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

as Private Pike * Janet Davies as Mrs Pike *

Caroline Dowdeswell Caroline Dowdeswell (born 7 March 1945, Oldham, Lancashire) is a former English television actress. Career She attended theatre school from age 12 and joined the Bromley Rep at 17. Dowdeswell first appeared on television in 1961, and her first ...

as Janet King *

John Ringham John Henry Ringham (10 February 1928 – 20 October 2008) was a British actor who appeared on both television and stage. Among his roles was that of Norman Warrender in the 1980s sitcom '' Just Good Friends''. Early life Ringham was born in Ch ...

as Bracewell * Bill Pertwee as ARP Warden Hodges * Neville Hughes as Soldier *Jack Wright as Despatch Rider

Notes

#The episode, and thus the series, begins with a pre-opening credits scene set in the (then) modern day, with the characters, older, gathered at a meal with Mainwaring announcing that he is backing Britain (it is also subtly hinted but not confirmed, that this may be his retirement party from his role of bank manager), as a television set by the characters shows scenes from the Second World War, leading into the opening credits and the series proper. This is the only episode of the series to have a pre-opening credits scene, and the series never returned to the modern day. #This was the only ''Dad's Army'' episode to feature an audience laughter track during the opening titles. #A scene involving the fire brigade wanting to use the hall for practice was rehearsed but not filmed, as the original script turned out to be seven minutes too long #This episode was originally planned for transmission on 5 June 1968 but was put back for

UEFA Euro 1968 The 1968 UEFA European Football Championship final tournament was held in Italy. This was the third UEFA European Championship, an event held every four years and organised by UEFA. The final tournament took place between 5 and 10 June 1968. It ...

. #Due to this being a pilot episode introducing the characters and premise, an early version of this episode ran at 35 minutes long, which was too long for the standard assigned half-hour broadcast slot. The series was delayed from its originally planned debut on Wednesday 5 June to try and find a suitable thirty-five-minute slot; but eventually was edited down into standard half-hour length to begin broadcast on 31 July 1968. The deleted scenes mostly introduced the various characters more fully, and an additional altercation between Mainwaring and Hodges, which suggests the feud between the pair has been running for many years prior and with Hodges stating that, after Mainwaring "pompously" turned him down for a loan several years prior, now in a time of war that it is he that will rise to the top of the local hierarchy and that Mainwaring will soon be indebted to him. It is unknown if these extra scenes or the original 35-minute version still exist in the BBC archive. # First regular appearances of

as Captain George Mainwaring,

as Sergeant Arthur Wilson,

as Lance Corporal Jack Jones,

as Private James Frazer,

as Private Charles Godfrey,

as Private Frank Pike and

as Private Joe Walker.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Man and the Hour, The Dad's Army radio episodes Dad's Army (series 1) episodes British television series premieres 1968 British television episodes Fiction set in 1940 Fiction set in 1968 Anthony Eden