Present Arms (Dad's Army radio episode)
| "Present Arms" | |
|---|---|
| Dad's Army Radio episode | |
| Episode no. |
Series Two Episode 021 |
| Story by | Harold Snoad and Michael Knowles |
| Produced by | John Dyas |
| Original air date | 24 December 1974 (recorded 18 July 1974) |
| Running time | 60 minutes |
Present Arms is the first episode of the second BBC Radio 4 series of the British comedy series Dad's Army that was originally transmitted on Thursday 24 December 1974, as a Christmas Special. 'Present Arms' was compiled for radio from two television episodes, Battle of the Giants! and Shooting Pains and ran for an unusual 60 minutes, twice the length of a normal radio episode.
As the season of goodwill approaches, Captain Mainwaring and his men use their rifles and their wits in a no-holds-barred contest with Captain Square and the Eastgate Platoon. The prize is the honour of guarding a very important person. But in the end it is the ingenuity of Private Walker which saves the day.
It's December 1941 and while Corporal Jones and the rest of the platoon hold a very noisy bayonet practice, Captain Mainwaring and Sergeant Wilson are doing paperwork and are discussing the upcoming Ceremonial church parade of all the Home Guard platoons in the area. Mainwaring receives a new officer's cap in the post and hangs it on a nail on the door. Unfortunately, while charging at the bayonet dummy, Private Pike puts his bayonet through the door, and also Mainwaring's new hat. Mainwaring is incensed and shouts at Pike, calling him "a stupid boy" while Wilson receives a telephone call from Mrs Mainwaring. He hands the phone to Mainwaring, claiming she heard him shouting. Mainwaring is forced to leave in order to return his bedding to the air-raid shelter, leaving Wilson to dismiss the parade.
Shortly afterwards, Captain Square from the Eastgate platoon arrives unexpectedly and goes into the office and confronts Wilson about a note he sent about the ceremonial parade, a battalion order which stated that all medals should be worn. Wilson finds the note hidden under some other papers, and Square surmises that the reason he hid the letter is because Mainwaring hasn't got any medals, and he didn't want to feel out of place. Square orders Wilson to read the letter to the platoon.
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