Wake-Up Walmington

DVD, Dad's Army S9 (Wake-Up Walmington)

Season Nine, the final year, starts off well with a tale of Captain Mainwaring working with Hodges to try to shock the town out of its complacency by pretending to be a group of Fifth Columnists and desperadoes! As usual, the plan doesn't work out as they expected, with Hodges getting biffed and Captain Square coming after them. It refers back to the episode where they dressed as German soldiers and reintroduces some of the recurring characters, such as Square, the Colonel, the Vicar, the Verger and Mr. Bluett (in his last appearance - "I 'ate you!" he tells Hodges), probably my favourite non-regular.

In one respect it's quite a sad episode because it shows how old many of the actors have become. John LeMesurier in particular was ill and looked very gaunt, and you can see the trouble he had getting some of his lines out. Even Captain Mainwaring himself, Arthur Lowe, isn't quite as sharp as before, although Frazer still is, to his pride. Poor Godfrey is relegated to indoor scenes and looks terribly tired, which is probably why some of the younger characters that pop up on occasion were used more this season. But it still gives a few chuckles, such as when the Verger mixes up a phone message or the platoon first appear at the old Mill in their cutthroat costumes! Funny that we learn in the series' time frame only two years have passed, although in reality it had been almost a decade.

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