Dad's Army - Situation

Situation

The show was set in the fictional seaside town of Walmington-on-Sea, on the south coast of England (the exterior scenes were mostly filmed in and around the Stanford Training Area (STANTA), near Thetford, Norfolk). Thus the local Home Guard platoon would be on the front line in the event of an enemy invasion across the English Channel. The first series had a loose narrative thread, with Captain Mainwaring's platoon being formed and equipped—initially with wooden guns and LDV armbands, and later on with full army uniforms; the platoon was part of the The Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment.

The first episode, "The Man and the Hour", began with a scene set in the "present day" of 1968, in which Mainwaring addressed his old platoon as part of the contemporary 'I'm Backing Britain' campaign. The prologue opening was a condition imposed after initial concerns of Paul Fox, the controller of BBC 1, that it was belittling the efforts of the Home Guard. After Mainwaring relates how he had backed Britain in 1940, the episode proper began; Dad’s Army is thus told in flashback, although the final episode does not return to 1968. Later episodes were largely self-contained, albeit referring to previous events and with additional character development.

As the comedy in many ways relied on the platoon's lack of active participation in the Second World War, opposition to their activities had to come from another quarter, and this was generally provided by Air Raid Precautions (ARP) Warden Hodges, and sometimes by the verger of the local church (St Aldhelm's), or by Captain Square and the neighbouring Eastgate Home Guard platoon. However the group did have some encounters related to the enemy, such as downed German planes, a U-boat crew, parachutes that may have been German, and German mines. Also an IRA suspect appeared in one episode, "Absent Friends".

The humour ranged from the subtle (especially in the class-reversed relationship between Mainwaring, who was the local bank manager, and Wilson, who was also his deputy at the bank) to the slapstick (the antics of the elderly Jones being a prime example). Jones had several catchphrases, including "Don't panic!", "They don't like it up 'em", "Permission to speak, sir", and talk about the "Fuzzy-Wuzzies". Mainwaring said "You stupid boy" to Pike in many episodes. The first series occasionally included darker humour, reflecting that, especially early in the war, the Home Guard was woefully under-equipped but was still prepared to have a crack at the Wehrmacht. For instance, in the episode "The Battle of Godfrey’s Cottage", the platoon believes an enemy invasion is under way. Mainwaring, Godfrey, Frazer and Jones (along with Godfrey's sisters, who are completely unaware of the invasion) decide to stay at the cottage to delay any German advance, to allow the regular army time to arrive with reinforcements; "Of course, that will be the end of us", says Mainwaring. "We know, sir", replies Frazer, before getting on with the task in hand.