Dad's Army
In the opening episode of 'Dad's Army', Britain's Home Guard (or rather, as it was called originally, the Local Defence Volunteers - or LDV) was born in broad daylight, on Tuesday 14 May 1940, inside the office of George Mainwaring, the pompous but fiercely patriotic manager of the Walmington-on-Sea branch of Swallow Bank.
He turned on his wireless just in time to catch the end of the broadcast by Anthony Eden,
the secretary of state for war, addressed to 'men of all ages who wish to do something for
the defence of their country':
'Here, then, is the opportunity for which so many of you have been waiting. Your loyal help,
added to the arrangements which already exist, will make and keep our
country safe.'
Off went the wireless and on went Mainwaring, 'Right!' he barked at Wilson, his worried-looking assistant,
'Let's go to it!'
'Your loyal help, added to the arrangements which already exist, will make and keep our country
safe.'
The historical reality, back in the summer of 1940, had not, in fact, been very different
from the fiction. The date - 14 May - had been the same, although it was not until
shortly after nine o'clock in the evening that Eden spoke to the nation via the BBC's
Home Service.
Neither he nor his government had previously shown any enthusiasm
for a policy which involved ordinary citizens, fearing imminent invasion, being allowed to take
matters into their own hands instead of relying on the orthodox forces of security and public order
(namely, the Army and the Police). However, when reports began reaching the War Office
concerning the appearance up and down the country of 'bands of civilians...arming themselves with
shotguns', it had been clear that the time for a rethink had arrived.
Without much agreement as to whether the aim was to sustain or suppress this burgeoning
grass-roots activism, Eden and his advisors proceeded to improvise some plans and,
as one observer put it, evoked 'a new army out of nothingness.'
This is a very comical series! One of the funniest Brit series ever!
74/01/28 1 The Man and the Hour 74/02/04 2 The Museum Piece 74/02/11 3 Command Decision
74/02/18 4 The Enemy Within The Gates
74/02/25 5 The Battle of Godfreys Cottage
74/03/04 6 The Armoured Might of Lance Corporal Jones
74/03/11 7Sgt Wilson's Little Secret
74/03/18 8 A Stripe For Frazer
74/03/25 9 Operation Kilt
74/04/0110 Battle School
74/04/0811 Under Fire
74/04/1512 Something Nasty In The Vault
74/04/2213 The Showing up of Corporal Jones
74/04/2914 The Loneliness of the Long Distance Walker
74/05/0615 Sorry Wrong Number
74/05/1316 This Bullet Is Not For Firing
74/05/2017 Room At The Bottom
74/05/2718 Menace From the Deep
74/06/0319 No Spring For Fraser
74/06/1020 Sons of The Sea 
74/06/1721 Present Arms (1 hour)
75/02/1122 Don't Forget The Diver
75/02/1823 If the Cap Fits
75/02/2524 Put That Light Out
75/03/0425 Boots, Boots, Boots
75/03/1126 Sergant, Save My Boy
75/03/1827 Branded
75/03/2528 Uninvited Guests
75/04/0129 A Brush With The Law
75/04/0830 A Soldiers Farewell
75/04/1531 Brains Versus Brawn
75/04/2232 War Dance
75/04/2933 Mum's Army
75/05/0634 Getting The Bird
75/05/1335 Don't Fence Me In
75/05/2036 The King Was in His Counting House
75/05/2737 When Did You Last See Your Money?
75/06/0338 Fallen Idol
75/06/1039 A Wilson Manager
75/06/1740 All Is Safely Gathered In
75/06/2441 The Day The Balloon Went Up
76/03/1642 A Man of Action 
76/03/2343 The Honourable Man
76/03/3044 The Godiva Affair
76/04/0645 Keep Young And Beautiful
76/04/1346 Absent Friends
76/04/2047 Round and Round Went the Big Wheels
76/04/2748 The Great White Hunter
76/05/0449 The Deadly Attachment
76/05/1150 Things That Go Bump in the Night
76/05/1851 My British Buddy
76/05/2552 Big Guns
76/06/0153 The Big Parade
76/06/0854 Asleep in the Deep
76/06/1555 We Know Our Onions
76/06/2256 The Royal Train
76/06/2957 A Question of Reference
76/07/0658 High Finances
76/07/1359 The Recruit
76/07/2060 A Jumbo Sized Problem
76/07/2761 The Cricket Match
76/08/0362 Time on My Hands
76/08/1063 Turkey Dinner
76/08/1764 The Captian's Car
76/08/2465 The Two and A Half Feathers
76/08/3166 Is There Honey Still For The Tea?
76/09/0767 Ten Seconds From Now
xx/xx/xx Broadcast To The Empire
xx/xx/xx Guarding Buckingham Palace
xx/xx/xx Pelican Crossing Ad #1
xx/xx/xx Pelican Crossing Ad #2
xx/xx/xx Resisting The Aggressors
xx/xx/xx The Coward Review
xx/xx/xx The Story Of Dads Army - Pt 1
xx/xx/xx The Story of Dads Army - Pt 2
xx/xx/xx The Story of Dads Army - Pt 3
xx/xx/xx The Story of Dads Army - Pt 4