Kurt at 01:26, 10 January 2023

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{{more citations needed|date=February 2019}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2021}}
{{Infobox television episode
| series = [[Dad's Army]]
| image =
| caption =
| series_no =
| episode =
| director = [[David Croft (TV producer)|David Croft]]
| story = [[Jimmy Perry]] and David Croft
| producer = David Croft
| airdate = Thursday 25 December 1969<br />(Recorded Friday 21 November 1969)
| length = 10 mins
| guests =
| prev = [[Sons of the Sea (Dad's Army)|Sons of the Sea]]
| next = [[The Big Parade (Dad's Army)|The Big Parade]]
}}

"'''Resisting the Aggressor Down the Ages'''" is the second [[Christmas Night with the Stars]] [[Sketch comedy|sketch]] from the British comedy series ''[[Dad's Army]]''. It was originally transmitted on Christmas Day (Thursday, 25 December) 1969.

==Synopsis==
The [[platoon]] are busy [[rehearsing]] their performance for the town pageant, a propaganda show to inspire the locals and raise funds for "War Weapons Week".

==Plot==
The platoon's pageant item tells of England's defeat of many oppressors down the ages, including [[Julius Caesar]] (played by Godfrey), [[William the Conqueror]] (Frazer), [[Philip II of Spain|Philip of Spain]] (Pike) and [[Napoleon]] (Wilson). [[Captain Mainwaring]], in the guise of [[John Bull]], is, as usual, struggling to motivate his platoon to give convincing performances.

The conceit of the item is that [[England]] has always defeated its aggressors (generally ignoring historical fact), with each aggressor in turn saying "England shall be crushed, never to rise again" and each segment ending with the proclamation "The aggressor shall not pass, the aggressor did not pass" jointly said by the spirits of [[Agriculture]] and [[Commerce]] (Jones & Walker respectively).

However, the rehearsal is rudely interrupted by an [[Strategic bombing|air raid]] and [[Warden Hodges|Chief ARP Warden Hodges]] brings a [[bailed out]] [[Luftwaffe]] pilot to see the [[Home Guard (United Kingdom)|Home Guard]]. When presented to Captain Mainwaring, the airman proclaims "England shall be crushed, never to rise again – Heil Hitler!", at which point [[Corporal Jones]] pokes the pilot from behind with a [[pitchfork]] (to the pilot's obvious discomfort) and proclaims: "They don't like it up 'em, Captain Mainwaring".

==Cast==
*[[Arthur Lowe]] as [[Captain Mainwaring]] / [[John Bull]]
*[[John Le Mesurier]] as [[Sergeant Wilson]] / [[Napoleon]]
*[[Clive Dunn]] as [[Lance Corporal Jones]] / [[Agriculture|Spirit of Agriculture]]
*[[John Laurie]] as [[Private Frazer]] / [[William the Conqueror]]
*[[James Beck]] as [[Private Walker]] / [[Commerce|Spirit of Commerce]]
*[[Arnold Ridley]] as [[Private Godfrey]] / [[Julius Caesar]]
*[[Ian Lavender]] as [[Private Pike]] / [[Philip II of Spain]]
*[[Bill Pertwee]] as [[Chief ARP Warden Hodges|ARP Warden]]
*[[Robert Aldous]] as German Pilot

==Notes==
#An extract from this sketch was shown as part of "Fry & Laurie Host a Christmas Night of the Stars" [[BBC]] 2 special (broadcast 27 December 1994) as part of a 20-minute ''Dad's Army'' item.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Pertwee|first1=Bill|title=Dad's Army (The Making of a Television Legend)|date=7 September 2009|publisher=Conway|isbn=978-1844861057|pages=181}}</ref>
#[[Robert Aldous]] also appeared as another German pilot in the Series 3 episode "[[Man Hunt (Dad's Army)|Man Hunt]]", which was recorded on the same day.
#Mainwaring asks Wilson (who is dressed as Napoleon) if he has seen [[Charles Boyer]] in [[Conquest (1937 film)|a film]] with [[Greta Garbo]], to which Wilson says that he hasn't. This film becomes an important plot point of the Series 5 episode "[[A Soldier's Farewell]]", where the platoon watch the film at a cinema (for which a reenactment clip is shown) which leads to Mainwaring dreaming that he is Napoleon.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Dad's Army}}

[[Category:Dad's Army special episodes]]
[[Category:1969 British television episodes]]

Resisting the Aggressor Down the Ages - Revision history

Kurt at 01:26, 10 January 2023

Kurt: 1 revision imported

en>Dawnseeker2000: date format audit, minor formatting, typo(s) fixed: hasn’t → hasn't