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Time on My Hands (Dad's Army)

2022-08-21T08:27:30Z

2A00:23C7:1307:9A01:38A0:1134:F69B:1BA3: /* Plot */

{{unreferenced|date=February 2019}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2022}}
{{Infobox television episode
| series = [[Dad's Army]]
| image =
| caption =
| series_no = 5
| episode = 13
| director = [[David Croft (TV producer)|David Croft]]
| story = [[Jimmy Perry]] and David Croft
| producer = David Croft
| airdate = 29 December 1972
| length = 30 minutes
| guests =
| prev = [[Broadcast to the Empire]]
| next = [[The Deadly Attachment]]
}}
"'''Time on My Hands'''" is the thirteenth and final episode of the fifth series of the British comedy series ''[[Dad's Army]]''. It was originally transmitted on 29 December 1972.

==Synopsis==
A [[German Air Force|German pilot]] has bailed out and is now tangled up on the town hall's [[Clock tower|clock tower]]. Mainwaring's men are obliged to retrieve him. Getting up is not a problem – they can climb a makeshift ladder. Getting down again proves more difficult – Jones has broken the ladder.

==Plot==
Mainwaring and Wilson are enjoying a relaxing morning coffee at the Marigold Tea Rooms. Walker comes in and asks Mainwaring to go outside and tell him if the police are about. This is because Walker has to bring some (obviously unauthorized) things in for the shop. Mainwaring refuses to be part of Walker's [[black market]] business. After Walker leaves, Pike and Jones burst in, announcing that a [[Luftwaffe]] pilot is stuck hanging from the roof of the town hall after bailing out. Gathering together the rest of the platoon, they head straight for the town hall.

When they arrive they find the [[Air Raid Precautions|ARP]] and Warden Hodges marshalling a large crowd of spectators, watching the stranded German hanging from his parachute, which is caught on the clock tower. Mainwaring brusquely pushes Hodges aside and takes over command of the situation himself. He leads his men (except Godfrey, who stays behind and watches from outside) up a ladder to the tower, to try to rescue the German. The ladder is a makeshift one made out of several ladders to replace the tower's old staircase that was destroyed by a [[Firebombing|fire bomb]] the previous year.

After a number of failed attempts to rescue the pilot, with his non-understanding of [[English language|English]] not helping matters, they eventually manage to reach him using a pole found by Jones. Unfortunately the pole had been holding up the ladders to the tower, which collapse, leaving them stranded. While Mainwaring puts the German pilot under close arrest, he and the rest of the men try to find a way to get back down. Meanwhile, on the ground level, a sneering Hodges mocks their predicament, enraged because it was he who had erected the ladders in the first place. Mainwaring and Pike drop a note in a glass bottle to the ground asking for help, but Hodges just writes in chalk "How are you going to get down?" on the pavement, prompting Pike to throw a second bottle down at him in annoyance. The Vicar and the Verger arrive, and after being told of the platoon's predicament, the Vicar has an idea, and leaves to fetch something.

The platoon suggests various ideas of getting down. Pike and Jones suggest using the German's parachute; the former says they could float down with it, while the latter says they could tear it up and "plait" it into a rope. Fraser tells a story of two [[Lighthouse|lighthouse]] [[Lighthouse keeper|keepers]] who were trapped in a lighthouse and decided to get out by dismantling it as they had gone mad from the isolation. Wilson tells a story his nanny told him: a Prince rescued a beautiful Princess trapped in a tower by firing an arrow into the tower; attached to the arrow was a piece of [[Thread (yarn)|thread]], attached to the thread was a piece of [[Twine|twine]] and attached to that was a rope which the Princess used to escape. All of this is just to much for Mainwaring. Eventually, Walker comes up with something: he suggests using a rope with a weight on the end in the tower to get down. Mainwaring claims he already noticed the rope and was just waiting to see if anybody else would.

When the men try to free the rope, they accidentally start up the clock tower. After Jones gets caught up in (and rescued from) the [[Automaton clock|clock automatons]] twice, and several of the men's finest hats are ruined to silence the large bell in order to avoid a false invasion alert, an arrow loosed by the Vicar strikes the tower – a note wrapped around it states that there is a piece of thread attached to the arrow; attached to the thread is a piece of twine and attached to the twine is a piece of rope, just like in the fairy tale Wilson's nanny told him.

==Cast==
{{div col}}
*[[Arthur Lowe]] as [[Captain Mainwaring]]
*[[John Le Mesurier]] as [[Sergeant Wilson]]
*[[Clive Dunn]] as [[Lance Corporal Jones]]
*[[John Laurie]] as [[Private Frazer]]
*[[James Beck]] as [[Private Walker]]
*[[Arnold Ridley]] as [[Private Godfrey]]
*[[Ian Lavender]] as [[Private Pike]]
*[[Bill Pertwee]] as [[Chief ARP Warden Hodges|ARP Warden Hodges]]
*[[Frank Williams (actor)|Frank Williams]] as [[Reverend Timothy Farthing|Vicar]]
*[[Edward Sinclair]] as [[Maurice Yeatman|The Verger]]
*[[Harold Bennett]] as Mr Blewitt
*[[Colin Bean]] as Private Sponge
*[[Joan Cooper]] as Miss Fortescue
*[[Eric Longworth]] as Mr Gordon the Town Clerk
*[[Christopher Sandford (actor)|Christopher Sandford]] as The German Pilot
{{div col end}}

==Notes==
#This is the only episode since the first series (apart from "[[Something Nasty in the Vault]]") in which the platoon do not wear their uniforms for the whole episode.
#Mainwaring calls his bank [[Martins Bank]] (a real-life bank, whose name is also used in the 1971 film), instead of the fictitious "Swallows Bank" usually used in the series.
#Mainwaring refers to his revolver as a "thirty-eight". Considering its appearance, this means it is probably intended to be a [[Webley Revolver#The Webley Mk IV .38/200 Service Revolver|Webley Mk IV .38/200 Service Revolver]] or an [[Enfield No. 2|Enfield No. 2 Mk I]]. However, in some episodes, such as "[[The Deadly Attachment]]", the prop is recognisably a [[Webley Revolver#Military service .455 Webley revolver marks and models|Webley Mark VI]] in .455 calibre.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Dad's Army}}

[[Category:1972 British television episodes]]
[[Category:Dad's Army (series 5) episodes]]

The Bullet is Not for Firing

2022-08-21T08:19:45Z

2A00:23C7:1307:9A01:38A0:1134:F69B:1BA3:

{{no footnotes|date=February 2019}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2022}}
{{Infobox television episode
| series = [[Dad's Army]]
| image =
| caption =
| series_no = 3
| episode = 4
| director = [[David Croft (TV producer)|David Croft]]
| story = [[Jimmy Perry]] and David Croft
| producer = David Croft
| airdate = 2 October 1969
| length = 30 minutes
| guests =
| prev = [[The Lion Has Phones]]
| next = [[Something Nasty in the Vault]]

}}
"'''The Bullet is Not for Firing'''" is the fourth episode of the third series of the British comedy series ''[[Dad's Army]]''. It was originally transmitted on Thursday 2 October 1969.

==Synopsis==
When the [[platoon]] engage a low-flying [[German Air Force|German plane]] with rapid fire, a [[Court of inquiry|Court of Inquiry]] is held.

==Plot==
As the 'all clear' air raid siren blares, Mainwaring and Wilson wake up from a snooze, but both are quick to deny it. As they go into the hall and begin to make some tea, Mainwaring remarks on a low-flying Nazi plane that passed over [[Walmington-on-Sea|Walmington]]. The platoon arrive and Mainwaring asks them to hand in their ammunition, but Jones admits they haven't got any: they wasted it all shooting at the low-flying plane. Godfrey is the only one with a full magazine, because by the time he had got it out of his [[overcoat]], the plane had flown away. Mainwaring decides to report the night's events to GHQ. As the tired platoon prepare to make a cup of tea, Mainwaring bursts their bubble by saying their [[rifle]]s have to be pulled through and boiled out.

Mainwaring decides to organise a thorough search around the area to find the missing cartridges. As they leave to supervise the rifle maintenance, Jones is having a bit of trouble removing his pull-through, and several methods are tried, including tying it to the banister and pulling it out. However, this destroys the banister, much to the [[Verger]]'s chagrin. When Mainwaring ties it to a thicker pillar, the string breaks and it becomes impossible to remove. Mrs Pike arrives to take Frank home, and solves Jones' rifle problem by pulling the string out from the other end.

Later, the empty cartridges are collected. Mainwaring explains that GHQ has decided to hold a Court of Inquiry to find out what really happened. Wilson is sceptical, but Mainwaring reminds him that honesty is the best policy. The two officers overseeing the Inquiry, Captain Cutts and Captain Pringle, are keen to get it over and done with as soon as possible, as they have made alternative arrangements.

At the church hall, the platoon are busy preparing for the Inquiry. Jones arrives in his old army uniform that he wore under [[Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener|Lord Kitchener]], and Frazer brings in a sword that he owned back in the [[Royal Navy|Navy]], as it was standard procedure for swords to be laid on the table during inquiries. Mainwaring finds this unnecessary, however. Just before Cutts and Pringle arrive, Pike enters with a box of ammunition from HQ, and Mainwaring quickly hands it out to the men. Jones lines the witnesses up outside, and they prepare to begin the Court of Inquiry. However, they are twice interrupted by members of a [[choir]] who have come for the [[Vicar]]'s practice. Through the course of the Inquiry, it is revealed that Jones gave the order to fire.

Suddenly, [[thunder]] crashes, and the platoon rush in, not wanting to be soaked. Cutts and Pringle, who are becoming quite irritated, decide that the platoon should demonstrate what happened. Jones states that as soon as he spotted the plane, he gave the order "shoot". Mainwaring corrects him by saying "fire", but the platoon follow his command and shoot the ceiling, bringing it down on top of them. Mainwaring suggests they meet same time, same place, next week.

==Cast==
{{div col}}
*[[Arthur Lowe]] as [[Captain Mainwaring]]
*[[John Le Mesurier]] as [[Sergeant Wilson]]
*[[Clive Dunn]] as [[Lance Corporal Jones]]
*[[John Laurie]] as [[Private Frazer]]
*[[James Beck]] as [[Private Walker]]
*[[Arnold Ridley]] as [[Private Godfrey]]
*[[Ian Lavender]] as [[Private Pike]]
*[[Janet Davies (actress)|Janet Davies]] as [[Mavis Pike|Mrs Pike]]
*[[Frank Williams (actor)|Frank Williams]] as [[Reverend Timothy Farthing|The Vicar]]
*[[Edward Sinclair]] as [[Maurice Yeatman|The Verger]]
*[[Harold Bennett]] as Mr Blewitt
*[[May Warden]] as Mrs Dowding
*[[Michael Knowles (actor)|Michael Knowles]] as Captain Cutts
*[[Tim Barrett (actor)|Tim Barrett]] as Captain Pringle
*[[Fred Tomlinson (singer)|Fred Tomlinson]] as Choir member
*[[Kate Forge]] as Choir member
*[[Eilidh McNab]] as Choir member
*[[Andrew Daye]] as Choir member
*[[Arthur Lewis (actor)|Arthur Lewis]] as Choir member
{{div col end}}

==Notes==
#This episode was the first to feature [[Edward Sinclair]] as the [[Verger]]. He had previously appeared in "[[The Showing Up of Corporal Jones]]", but was credited and referred to as the caretaker and had not donned his trademark black cassock and yellow duster.
#This episode features the only reference to the Axis's [[anti-semitism|anti-Judaism]] in the entire show, when Walker says of the German aircraft, "He loosed off his machine gun at [[Marks & Spencer]]s. A Jewish firm, you know."
#Mainwaring says the ammunition is "[[.30-06 Springfield|point three-oh-oh]]" calibre, indicating that the platoon's rifles are the American-made [[M1917 Enfield]] rather than the similar looking [[Pattern 1914 Enfield]], which was in [[.303 British]] calibre. However, the rifles are not painted with a red stripe as was the case for real M1917s in British service.
#In opening the Inquiry, Mainwaring says 75 rounds were lost, which would be correct if the 15 men had fired 5 rounds each. However, it should only be 70 rounds, since Godfrey did not fire and said he still had his rounds.

==Further reading==
*{{cite book|title=The Complete A-Z of Dad’s Army|author1=Croft, David |author2=Perry, Jimmy |author3=Webber, Richard |year=2000|publisher=Orion|isbn= 0-7528-4637-X}}

==External links==
*{{BBC episode|b0077scs}}
*{{IMDb episode|0552318}}

{{Dad's Army}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bullet is Not for Firing, The}}
[[Category:Dad's Army radio episodes]]
[[Category:Dad's Army (series 3) episodes]]
[[Category:1969 British television episodes]]

My British Buddy

2022-08-21T06:40:09Z

2A00:23C7:1307:9A01:38A0:1134:F69B:1BA3:

{{unreferenced|date=February 2019}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2012}}
{{Infobox television episode
| series = [[Dad's Army]]
| image =
| caption =
| series_no = 6
| episode = 2
| director = David Croft
| story = [[Jimmy Perry]] and [[David Croft (TV producer)|David Croft]]
| producer = David Croft
| airdate = Wednesday 7 November 1973 6.50pm<br />(recorded Friday 8 June 1973)
| length = 30 minutes
| guests =
| prev = [[The Deadly Attachment]]
| next = [[The Royal Train]]
}}
"'''My British Buddy'''" is the second episode of the sixth series of the British [[television]] [[sitcom]] ''[[Dad's Army]]''. It was originally transmitted on [[BBC 1]] on Wednesday 7 November 1973.

==Synopsis==
Following [[Attack on Pearl Harbor|Pearl Harbor]], the Americans have joined the fight against [[Nazism]], and the first small contingent of troops arrives in [[Walmington-on-Sea]]. Mainwaring tells them to make themselves at home, which they promptly do – with the [[Platoon|platoon]]'s girlfriends. When the British are told they do not know the right temperature to serve beer, and the Americans are told they do not know when to enter a war, a fight breaks out. A photographer from the local paper is on hand to record the [[special relationship]].

==Plot==
The Walmington-on-Sea [[British Home Guard|Home Guard]] unit has received exciting news; as Captain Mainwaring puts it, the long dark tunnel is now illuminated by a bright light shining for all to see. He is not, as Pike initially believes, referring to the [[Blackout (wartime)|blackout]], but to the arrival of the Americans in [[World War II]] (and not before time, according to certain members of the platoon). A detachment of American troops will be arriving in Walmington-on-Sea within the week, and the Home Guard intend to treat them to a traditional British welcome. It is Lance Corporal Jones who has the brilliant idea (arrived at following a characteristically long-winded anecdote about a spear-throwing contest during his military service in [[Mahdist War|the Sudan]]) of treating their visitors to a [[darts]] match in the local [[pub]], to which the platoon will bring their girlfriends.

All initially goes well with the meeting of two nations. Mainwaring is surprised by the informality of the American Colonel Schultz (who greets the British officer with a cheery "Howdy partner, put it there!"), and the colonel is somewhat nonplussed both by Frazer's unique rendition of the [[Robert Burns]] poem "[[Scots Wha Hae]]" (with strategic updating and references to [[Hitler]]) and Jones' complicated explanation of where the term '[[Alternative words for British|limeys]]' originated, but all seems to be going well, with a number of pleasing propaganda photos taken by a Welsh photographer, Mr. Cheeseman. It starts to go wrong when the American soldiers are told to make themselves feel at home – and thus immediately start flirting with the Home Guard's girlfriends, who all promptly forget about their boyfriends when faced with the attention of the handsome young Americans.

Matters are not helped by the ungracious American response to warm beer and the lack of Scotch due to war privations, and when Warden Hodges struts in and begins telling the Americans that their late entry into the First and Second World Wars is not greatly appreciated, it does not take long for a fight to break out.

Very soon, the news of the brawl between the British and the Americans is in all the newspapers. The next day, Mainwaring (having earned a [[Black eye|black eye]] as the first person to get hit in the fight) is ordered by his superiors to make a formal apology to the Americans, and thus restore Anglo-American relations and offset any potential German propaganda value out of the fight. There also needs to be a photo, which will be taken by Cheeseman, of Mainwaring and Colonel Schultz shaking hands to confirm said restoration. Resentful at being made the [[scapegoating|scapegoat]], Mainwaring intends to make a formal statement detailing how his platoon were not responsible for the violence; but when it turns out that every member of the platoon (even, surprisingly, Godfrey) was a more than willing participant in the fight, it soon becomes a moot gesture.

Mainwaring is surprised, however, by the arrival of Schultz who, having learned of the extent of British hardship during the war, and somewhat ashamed of his earlier ingratitude, has arrived to offer his apologies on behalf of his unit, and to give the men a gift of chocolate. This would seem to be repairing the friendly relations – until the Home Guard learn of a dance in the American mess to which their girlfriends are all invited.

Just as Cheeseman is about to take the apology photo, Jones unintentionally provokes the American colonel to violence once again and the photo, of Schultz giving Mainwaring yet another black eye, is taken.

==Cast==
{{div col}}
* [[Arthur Lowe]] as [[Captain Mainwaring]]
* [[John Le Mesurier]] as [[Sergeant Wilson]]
* [[Clive Dunn]] as [[Lance Corporal Jones]]
* [[John Laurie]] as [[Private Frazer]]
* [[James Beck]] as [[Private Walker]]
* [[Arnold Ridley]] as [[Private Godfrey]]
* [[Ian Lavender]] as [[Private Pike]]
* [[Bill Pertwee]] as [[Chief ARP Warden Hodges|ARP Warden Hodges]]
* [[Colin Bean]] as [[Private Sponge]]
* [[Talfryn Thomas]] as [[List of Dad's Army characters#Other platoon members|Mr Cheeseman]]
* [[Alan Tilvern]] as Colonel Schultz
* [[Edward Sinclair]] as The Verger
* [[Frank Williams (actor)|Frank Williams]] as The Vicar
* [[Janet Davies (actress)|Janet Davies]] as Mrs Pike
* [[Wendy Richard]] as Shirley
* [[Pamela Cundell]] as Mrs Fox
* [[Verne Morgan]] as Landlord
* [[Suzanne Kerchiss]] as Ivy Samways
* [[Robert Raglan]] as The Colonel
* [[Blain Fairman]] as US Sergeant
{{div col end}}

==Notes==
#The arrival of the American troops in Britain places this episode some time in 1942. In reality the first American troops were stationed in [[Northern Ireland]] in January.
#Hodges offends the American colonel by suggesting they have made an "improvement on last time", the United States having entered the [[World War I|last war]] "three years late" in 1917, whereas [[World War II|this time]] they are "only two and a half years late" (war having broken out in [[Europe]] in September 1939).
#[[Alan Tilvern]], who plays Colonel Schultz, also played Captain Rodriguez in the earlier ''Dad's Army'' episode "[[Battle School (Dad's Army episode)|Battle School]]".
#This episode was Talfryn Thomas' first appearance in ''Dad's Army''.
#Suzanne Kerchiss, who played Pike's companion Ivy Samways, was at the time married to Ian Lavender.

{{Dad's Army}}

[[Category:Dad's Army (series 6) episodes]]
[[Category:1973 British television episodes]]