Wake Up Walmington

"Wake Up Walmington"
Dad's Army episode
Episode no.	Series 9 Episode 1
Directed by	Bob Spiers
Story by	Jimmy Perry and David Croft
Original air date	2 October 1977
Running time	30 minutes

"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 ARP Warden Hodges
• Frank Williams as The Vicar
• Edward Sinclair as 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 as the Soldier
• Barry Linehan as the Truck Driver
• Colin Bean as Private Sponge
• Alister Williamson as Bert
• Michael Stainton as Frenchy

Notes

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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