Dad's Army

Victor Lewis-Smith on BBC2's early evening repeat slot Comedy Doubles

Pairing [Dad's Army] with the inferior Hi-de-Hi! merely confirmed what we already knew, namely that Croft and Perry never again achieved the sublime heights of their early work together.

Victory for junk junkies in restoring a gem to Dad's Army canon

It seems wholly appropriate that two 80-year-old men should have rescued the lost episodes of Dad's Army (BBC2), which were shown last night.

The very first episode of Dad's Army (BBC2), now more than 30 years old, was reshown, not for the first time. It bothers me that I did not spot its astounding potential at once.

By relative standards, shows like Dad's Army and Porridge are miracles of observation, and even by absolute ones they are astonishingly good: the best of each (and both are getting repeats now on BBC1, thereby providing a feast of viewing) will never look entirely like period pieces, but will always retain their capacity to surprise. Compare the floundering abstractness of 'The Grove Family' to the subtleties of social nuance in 'Dad's Army': it's a clear advance.

The great television roles not only give the actor room to contribute but seem to draw upon his essential personality. In Dad's Army, Captain Mainwaring is an extension to absurdity of the fastidiousness Arthur Lowe brings to any role. Lowe's precise movements of the hand, as exquisite as Oliver Hardy's, are translated into Mainwaring's ferociously bulled kit, his hundred different low moans as the shambling platoon fails him yet again.

Not that his [Arthur Lowe's] performance is eclectic - it is a subtle unity like everything he attempts. He is also at his peak in the current series of Dad's Army (BBC1), which shows few signs of flagging inspiration.

It is nice to see a comedy like Dad's Army, which has enough confidence in its actors to force the pace. It is a humorous recollection of the Home Guard of 1940, but it is played in such an easy-going natural fashion that one imagines even the most hard-bitten professional anti-patriots must find it amusing.

Talking of television, I'm delighted to find that I'm not alone in having a sneaking liking of the BBC's Dad's Army series... The treatment is affectionate and, no doubt, that's why the series has been such a success that it's to be brought back in the new year.

As the Walmington volunteers assembled, Messers Perry and Croft showed a real gift for satire. Two things defeated them. One was the inexcusable use of a modern studio audience: every time it reacted 1940 was lost and we were back in 1968. The other was a tendency to go for laughs at all costs, even if the punctured the atmosphere.

Well worth watching for a half-hour's respite from the day's cares.