--- title: "Dad's Army" year: 1968 kind: "series" canonical: "https://film.one/tv/dads-army" fi1m_score: 86 critics_reviews: 1 published: "2026-09-18T08:03:30.536908+00:00" updated: "2026-09-18T08:03:31.017053+00:00" region: "US" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Dad's Army (1968) Created by Jimmy Perry · 30m · Comedy, War & Politics **Fi1m score: 86** · Critics: 1 of 6 reviews so far *In a sentence:* The captain gives the orders; the sergeant supplies the pause that makes them sound ridiculous > *Dad’s Army* is a sharply acted military comedy with an unusually tender view of its soldiers. Arthur Lowe and John Le Mesurier justify the repeated routines, though some episodes rely too heavily on familiar behaviour. ## Synopsis Captain George Mainwaring (Arthur Lowe) heads a group of British soldiers at war, with Sergeant Arthur Wilson (John Le Mesurier) and Lance-Corporal Jack Jones (Clive Dunn) beneath him in the chain of command. Keeping the men in order is complicated by their different personalities. The ranks include Private James Frazer (John Laurie), Private Charles Godfrey (Arnold Ridley) and Private Frank Pike (Ian Lavender). Chief ARP Warden William Hodges (Bill Pertwee) also figures in their affairs. The comedy follows these men at close quarters, reducing the business of war to disagreements and difficulties on a human scale. ## Review *Dad’s Army* is a fine ensemble comedy whose repeated routines are usually worth forgiving. Jimmy Perry and David Croft write about military authority through men who have ordinary weaknesses and an earnest interest in their own standing. The humour depends on getting to know those weaknesses, then recognising them before their owners do. Across nine series, that familiarity can make an episode predictable, but it also gives the performances room to become unusually precise. Arthur Lowe gives Captain George Mainwaring a seriousness that never seems put on for our benefit. His insistence on being treated as the senior man is funny because he makes the need for respect so plain. As Sergeant Arthur Wilson, John Le Mesurier has the gentler manner, and his hesitations can undo the captain’s certainty without anything as vulgar as a direct challenge. The contrast in their delivery supplies much of the comedy. Clive Dunn gives Lance-Corporal Jack Jones a more physical, more insistent comic presence, which helps keep the exchanges from becoming too polite. John Laurie makes Private James Frazer’s severity useful punctuation. Arnold Ridley brings a gentleness to Private Charles Godfrey that deserves the attention paid to the louder performances. Ian Lavender’s Private Frank Pike adds another distinct note of uncertainty. These are broad characterisations, but the actors are alert to one another, and the differences in pace matter. We were unexpectedly moved by Arthur Lowe’s determination to preserve the captain’s dignity. The effort shows through the pomposity, and it becomes difficult to enjoy his discomfort without also wishing him some relief. Jimmy Perry and David Croft earn that sympathy by allowing the men to be tiresome without exhausting our interest in them. The war gives their fussing a seriousness that the comedy does not need to keep announcing. David Croft’s direction gives the actors time to listen, an underrated part of comic performance. A reply need not arrive at once, particularly when John Le Mesurier can make the delay itself an assessment of what he has just heard. The half-hour length suits this concentration on small changes of status and mood, leaving little need for a complicated plot. In the stronger episodes, the timing makes even familiar exchanges feel freshly irritating to the people having them. The weakness is that familiarity sometimes does too much of the work. Jimmy Perry and David Croft can rely on an established response when the situation needs a sharper development, and recognising the character’s habit is not always enough to produce another laugh. Some episodes settle into their expected rhythm early and stay there. The affection also softens the military satire: anyone hoping for a sustained attack on authority will find that the series is happier examining individual vanity. Within ensemble comedy, its distinction is the care given to people who might easily have been left as a rank and a mannerism. There is pleasure in watching the same performers find small variations, though several episodes in succession can make the repeated behaviour feel overworked. We would take it an episode at a time and let that familiarity accumulate slowly. Start for Arthur Lowe and John Le Mesurier; stay if the rest of the company begins to matter. *Fi1m score 86, published 18 September 2026.* ### Reviews we read (1) - **The Times**, Alan Coren (90/100, inferred): The critic praises the series' impeccable timing, fully realized characters, and mock-heroic parody of British soldiers at war. He highlights its ability to make the madness of war tolerable through miniaturization and notes an underlying poignancy beyond mere nostalgia. [Read](https://www.thetimes.com/article/review-from-the-archive-dads-army-h62csn0jc) ## Details - **Created by:** Jimmy Perry - **Creator:** Jimmy Perry - **Director:** David Croft, Harold Snoad, Bob Spiers, Robert Knights - **Writer:** Jimmy Perry, David Croft - **Producer:** David Croft - **Cast:** Arthur Lowe as Captain George Mainwaring; John Le Mesurier as Sergeant Arthur Wilson; Clive Dunn as Lance-Corporal Jack Jones; John Laurie as Private James Frazer; Arnold Ridley as Private Charles Godfrey; Ian Lavender as Private Frank Pike; James Beck as Private Joe Walker; Bill Pertwee as Chief ARP Warden William Hodges - **Runtime:** 30m - **Release (the US):** 31 July 1968 - **Genres:** Comedy, War & Politics ## Where to watch in the US Not streaming, renting or buying in the US at the last check. Also available in: AU, GB. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country. ## If you liked this - *The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp* (1943), Fi1m 91: Another fond, unsentimental account of military pride and the men carrying it. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/the-life-and-death-of-colonel-blimp.md) - *The Firemen's Ball* (1967): Small-town ceremony collapses under vanity, with harsher laughter at those in charge. - *Tampopo* (1985): A different kind of makeshift team, held together by appetite and comic patience. - *The Band's Visit* (2007): Uniformed visitors stumble through social awkwardness in a comedy attentive to loneliness. - *Detectorists* (2014), Fi1m 87: Patient ensemble comedy that gives apparently minor lives its full attention. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/tv/detectorists.md) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/tv/dads-army