Kurt at 04:28, 20 February 2023

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a bit pov - Undid revision 1105263015 by 2A00:23C7:2909:5801:4DE4:D364:82D6:AC7F (talk)

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{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2022}}
{{Infobox television episode
| series = [[Dad's Army]]
| image =
| caption =
| series_no = 9
| episode = 1
| director = [[Bob Spiers]]
| story = [[Jimmy Perry]] and [[David Croft (TV producer)|David Croft]]
| producer = David Croft
| airdate = 2 October 1977
| length = 30 minutes
| guests =
| prev = [[The Love of Three Oranges (Dad's Army)|The Love of Three Oranges]]
| next = [[The Making of Private Pike]]
}}

"'''Wake up Walmington'''" is the first episode of the ninth and final series of the British comedy series ''[[Dad's Army]]''. It was originally transmitted on 2 October 1977. In this episode, longtime rivals Captain Mainwaring and ARP Warden Hodges join forces to give the townsfolk a fright.

== Plot ==
It is now a few years into the war, and after being told to "keep the noise down" during firing practice, Mainwaring and Wilson discuss how complacency is setting in amongst the townsfolk, and how people are seeing them as "Geriatric Fusiliers". As they discuss it, they are interrupted by ARP Warden Hodges, who is in tears after Mr Blewitt verbally attacked him for trying to do his job, and how people do not seem to be taking the war seriously. Remembering the national reaction after the platoon were recently mistaken for enemy agents during a training exercise (see [[Ring Dem Bells]]), Mainwaring decides to get his platoon to masquerade as fifth columnists in "very sinister clothes" to shake everyone up and become appreciated again, and to prevent a repeat of last time he informs the Colonel at GHQ of the plan, called "Operation Wake-Up". Taking pity on him, Mainwaring invites Hodges to join them, which he gratefully accepts.

He and his men (except Godfrey, who stays at the church hall to act as their contact man) meet up at their "secret base", although things get out of hand with disguises: Pike is dressed as an American gangster, Frazer is in his undertaker attire, and Jones is dressed as a nun. The platoon and Hodges begin roaming the countryside, acting menacingly. Their efforts to frighten the locals are unsuccessful at first, despite their attempts to put on foreign accents, mostly because people recognise them from their civilian jobs.

However, when at last they finally do manage to cause some concern with their talk of "blowing up an aerodrome", the frightened locals send out for the Home Guard. With Mainwaring's platoon absent from their post, the neighbouring Eastgate platoon, led by [[Captain Square]], are called out, using Jones' van – which is still at the church hall – as transport. Tracking Mainwaring down to the disused flourmill they are using as their base, he and his men open fire, covering them in flour. The episode ends with Mainwaring and Square exchanging insults.

== Cast ==
*[[Arthur Lowe]] as [[Captain Mainwaring]]
*[[John Le Mesurier]] as [[Sergeant Wilson]]
*[[Clive Dunn]] as [[Lance Corporal Jones]]
*[[John Laurie]] as [[Private Frazer]]
*[[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|The Vicar]]
*[[Edward Sinclair]] as [[Maurice Yeatman|The Verger]]
*[[Geoffrey Lumsden]] as Captain Square
*[[Sam Kydd]] as the Yokel
*[[Harold Bennett]] as Mr Bluett
*[[Robert Raglan]] as The Colonel
*Charles Hill as the Butler
*[[Jeffrey Holland (actor)|Jeffrey Holland]] as the Soldier
*Barry Linehan as the Truck Driver
*[[Colin Bean]] as Private Sponge
*[[Alister Williamson]] as Bert
*Michael Stainton as Frenchy

== Notes ==
#In this episode, Pike dresses up as a [[Chicago]] gangster, Mainwaring wears an eye-patch and Jones dresses up as a [[nun]]. In the war there were numerous reports that German parachutists were disguising themselves as nuns, something referenced several times in the series.
#At the "Six Bells" country pub, one character describes [[Dover]] as being "about twenty miles away". Later this pub is described as "five miles from Walmington", on the [[Dymchurch]] road. This implies that Walmington is in the vicinity of [[Hythe, Kent|Hythe]], [[Kent]].
#This was Captain Square's last appearance in the programme.

==Sources==
*Croft, David; Perry, Jimmy; Webber, Richard (2003). ''Dad's Army: The Complete Scripts''. Orion. {{ISBN|0-7528-6024-0}}

{{Dad's Army}}

[[Category:Dad's Army (series 9) episodes]]
[[Category:1977 British television episodes]]

Wake Up Walmington - Revision history

Kurt at 04:28, 20 February 2023

Kurt: 1 revision imported

en>PatGallacher: a bit pov - Undid revision 1105263015 by 2A00:23C7:2909:5801:4DE4:D364:82D6:AC7F (talk)