Dad's Army series four

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We finished watching the third series of the classic TV series ‘Dad’s Army’ shortly before Christmas last year. On Boxing Day we started watching Series Four. Once again, we found that we didn’t recall much of this at all, although we had both seen the series as children, and some of the repeats over the years. This series was first broadcast in 1970. Each episode is around half an hour, so we usually watch two at a time. 

Episode One sees the platoon preparing for a big parade through the town. They come into conflict with the ARP warden - as ever - about who should be leading (after the town band, that is). Captain Mainwaring (Arthur Lowe) thinks it would be a good idea to have a mascot. But Private Walker (James Beck) doesn’t quite come up with what he was expecting. This is a fast-moving episode with a very amusing ending. 

The second episode, which we watched immediately afterwards, sees the platoon taking up a challenge to ‘attack’ a rather snooty and disparaging army captain, holed up in a windmill. There are many ingenious plans suggested, and eventually a possible plan is followed… lots of cleverly choreographed misunderstandings and diversions as the challenge is completed.

The next one, just called ‘Boots, boots, boots’, is less interesting (in my view), but still quite amusing. Captain Mainwaring decides that everyone needs to be fitter, and that the platoon needs to concentrate on their feet. The scenes in the bootmaker’s shop are almost reminiscent of ‘The two Ronnies’ in the clever choreography, and the ending is a nice twist. 

Then there’s a more serious episode, showing the reality of the war situation; Pike (Ian Lavender) is caught up in some barbed wire, and there are land-mines in the ground nearby. There’s some humour, too, but the situation is, at times, quite tense - even though we knew that all would, inevitably, be well at the end. 

The fifth episode sees the platoon sent to guard a prisoner-of-war camp, only to discover that this task is not as straightforward as it should have been. And the sixth involves the men playing a darts match at the local pub when they should be on parade. Captain Mainwaring is away… or should have been. Plenty of low-key humour, again. 

The seventh - and the last on the first DVD - involves the platoon going to a lighthouse, where they accidentally turn on a light that violates all the blackout rules. Then they can’t find out how to turn it off. We thought this one quite amusing, in places. 

The eighth episode is the first one on the second DVD of our set. And this is a much more serious one: Corporal Jones  is accused of cowardice, and of abandoning someone to die in the desert. There’s some humour, of course, but some quite poignant scenes too, and some excellent characterisation by Clive Dunn’s portrayal of Jones.

Episode nine, ‘Mum’s army’, has women enrolling in the home guard. This episode is full of innuendoes and sexism. It also sees Captain Mainwaring at his most vulnerable - and was another quite moving episode, with Mainwaring becoming decidedly more human.

That’s followed by a highly amusing episode featuring a cricket match between the home guard and the wardens. Captain Mainwaring thinks he’s rather better at cricket than he is, and some of the men show him up a bit. Hodges tries to cheat by including a famous bowler on his side. One has to understand at least something about cricket and its culture to appreciate this episode, but we enjoyed it.

The eleventh episode is a poignant one for Sergeant Wilson (John le Mesurier). To Mainwaring’s horror, he applies for a job as bank manager elsewhere, and is approved. He’s also promoted in the home guard. Mainwaring thinks this is due to Wilson’s upper middle class background, but is doing what he can to replace him. There’s an amusing mistake made by Pike, enforcing the idea of his being rather stupid, before a disaster puts everything back where it was.

The twelfth episode involves battles between the home guard and the wardens again, this time because they are temporarily sharing the church hall. 

The final episode in this series sees the platoon doing a training weekend, where Captain Mainwaring is expected to mix with other captains, rather than with his men. This leads to some bad feeling… and also to some amusing scenes as Mainwaring is rather out of his depth with his very upper-class colleagues. At the end, he shows himself remarkably courageous… and then the series ends with a scene that’s both poignant and amusing. 

All in all, we enjoyed this DVD set very much. It’s impressive to think how many different storylines were thought of, with a lot of situational humour. Each of the main characters has a distinct personality, sometimes exaggerated for effect. But there’s an underlying bond of affection too which pervades the entire series. Sometimes we know exactly what’s coming, and that adds to the humour. 

It’s not for everyone. Some of the conversations are full of innuendoes, and there’s some rampant sexism, even when hidden behind theoretical chivalry. Some of the scenery and effects look extremely dated, too. But these were made in the early 1970s and set during World War II - and as far as was possible for television over fifty years ago, it’s quite realistic, albeit in a caricatured way.

But for those of us who saw ‘Dad’s Army’ when it first came out, or who grew up with parents who loved it, I would recommend this series highly. 

Review copyright 2026 Sue's DVD Reviews