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Plot

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{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2021}}
{{Infobox television episode
| series = [[Dad's Army]]
| image =
| caption =
| series_no = 3
| episode = 10
| director = [[David Croft (TV producer)|David Croft]]
| story = [[Jimmy Perry]] and David Croft
| producer = David Croft
| airdate = Thursday 13 November 1969 7.30 pm<br />(recorded Friday 7 November 1969)
| length = 30 minutes
| guests =
| prev = [[War Dance (Dad's Army)|War Dance]]
| next = [[Branded (Dad's Army)|Branded]]
}}

"'''Menace from the Deep'''" is the tenth episode of the third series of the British comedy series ''[[Dad's Army]]''. It was originally transmitted on Thursday 13 November 1969.

==Synopsis==
Marooned on the pier head, the [[platoon]] have no food or phone – then along comes Hodges and a [[Naval mine|sea-mine]].

==Plot==
Two sailors are patrolling the [[Walmington-on-Sea]] pier. They grumble that no one will be coming down to look after it for two weeks. They laugh as they realise the [[British Home Guard|Home Guard]] will have to take over each night for a week.

The platoon are discussing their latest assignment which involves a trip to the pier. They have a boat but unfortunately, it will only hold three people at a time which means they will have to make several trips. Frazer is chosen to take them over to the pier in the boat, because he has the best [[Naval]] experience. Jones will provide food for the night, Walker will bring along a bottle of whisky and Wilson's brought some [[Lysergic acid diethylamide|acid drops]] – clearly it will be a "gastronomic orgy", according to Wilson. However, when Mainwaring attempts to teach them how to get into a boat, he and Frazer have a falling out and it is determined that Mainwaring will row them over, so it takes longer than expected to get Wilson and Frazer across.

As Pike is the last man across, he will be in charge of securing the boat. Mainwaring quickly commandeers the only hammock, but Wilson persuades him that they should take it in turns, but Mainwaring will go first. Pike secures the boat, but leaves the food in it, so he goes to fetch it. However, he comes back dejected: he had tied the boat to the thinner telephone cable rather than the sturdier electricity cable (because he "didn't want to get electricity-fied"), but the boat is now gone, with all the food on it (with the exception of Wilson's acid drops), and has disconnected the telephone. The platoon are cut off.

Jones suggests using the window to signal [[Morse code]] to the shore to get help. [[Air Raid Precautions|ARP]] Warden Hodges spots it and rows out in a children's paddle boat to try to get them to switch it off. The boat sinks, and Hodges is stranded with the platoon. To calm him down, Walker gives him his bottle of whisky. Pike spots a [[claw vending machine|crane game]] where the prize is chocolate. Frazer is the only one with pennies, but they fail at each attempt, so Walker steals some chocolate from inside the machine. All but one are cardboard, to the great distaste of everybody – except Frazer, who quickly scoffs his genuine bar of chocolate.

Late in the night, the platoon are woken to Hodges' drunken singing. Mainwaring orders him to "shut up", and after a brief struggle with the angry (and half-naked) Warden, Mainwaring comments to Wilson "Well what do you expect from a tradesman?" It is decided that Hodges should have the hammock so he can get some sleep.

At about 5:45 am, Jones sees an unusual object through the floorboards, and alerts Mainwaring, who identifies it as a mine. They wake everybody up and they try to hook it. Hodges scoffs at their attempts and tries to hook it himself. However, he falls in the water again, and, since the mine turns out to be magnetic, has to remove his metal helmet to prevent it following him.

The platoon set up the [[Lewis Gun]] and fire at it with their [[rifle]]s. However, they soon run out of ammo as the mine edges closer to Walmington. A soaking Hodges joins them and, using his expert [[bowling (cricket)|bowling]] skills, manages to blow up the mine with a wooden boule. Mainwaring is impressed, and Wilson adds "He's even better with his clothes on."

==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]]
*[[Stuart Sherwin]] as 2nd ARP Warden
*[[Bill Treacher]] as 1st Sailor
*[[Larry Martyn]] as 2nd Sailor
{{div col end}}

==Notes==
#On-location footage for this episode was filmed on [[Great Yarmouth]]'s Britannia Pier.<ref>Pritchard, Tony & Carpenter, Paul (2018). Dad's Army: A Companion. Stonehouse: The Dads Army Appreciation Society. {{ISBN|978-09547702-3-5}}</ref>
#This is the first episode to feature Hodges wearing a white helmet and a chief warden's uniform, rather than a black helmet with a suit and tie (although he wears a black helmet with a suit and tie in the next episode, "[[Branded (Dad's Army)|Branded]]", but not in any more episodes after that).
#Frazer was previously shown to be an expert at shooting mines in [[Shooting Pains]], but is unable to do so here. However, this time he is not wearing his glasses, is using a [[Lewis gun]] instead of a [[M1917 Enfield|rifle]], and has forgotten to wave it up and down to simulate the motion of the [[minesweeper]] he is used to.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==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|b00vj2z5}}
*{{IMDb episode|0552297}}

{{Dad's Army}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Menace From The Deep}}
[[Category:Dad's Army radio episodes]]
[[Category:Dad's Army (series 3) episodes]]
[[Category:1969 British television episodes]]

Menace from the Deep - Revision history

Kurt at 04:47, 15 February 2023

Kurt: 1 revision imported

2A00:23C7:A703:F801:B113:49A1:ACC8:4D34: /* Plot */