The Deadly Attachment
| "The Deadly Attachment" | |
|---|---|
| Dad's Army episode | |
| Episode no. |
Series Six Episode 054 |
| Directed by | David Croft |
| Story by | Jimmy Perry and David Croft |
| Produced by | David Croft |
| Original air date | Wednesday 31/10/73 6.50pm (recorded Friday 22/6/73) |
| Running time | 30 minutes |
"The Deadly Attachment" is the first episode of the sixth series of the British television sitcom Dad's Army which was originally transmitted on Wednesday 31 October 1973. It has become one of the best known episodes of the series due to the rare encounter between the platoon and the Germans and the much-remembered "Don't tell him, Pike!" exchange which has been placed in the top three greatest comedy moments of British television.
Mainwaring's men have been detailed to guard a captured German U-boat crew until a military escort arrives. When the escort is delayed, the platoon must house them in the church hall overnight. Pike rather stupidly starts singing a song where Hitler is called a twerp and the U-boat captain puts his name on a list for people who are to be captured when the Germans 'win ' the war.
Captain Mainwaring is giving a lecture on parachutists and the need to determine the respective identities of British and German parachutists. This eventually ends up becoming a discussion on the possibility of refugee nuns parachuting into Britain. Mainwaring's lecture is interrupted by a telephone call from GHQ; the survivors of a sunken German U-Boat have been picked up by a fishing boat and taken to Walmington-on-Sea. The Home Guard unit is to be responsible for providing security until the proper military escort can arrive. Mainwaring, excited at finally getting to grips with the enemy, sets off with most of the platoon to collect the prisoners, but not before ordering Sergeant Wilson and Private Pike to prime the platoon's allocation of hand grenades.
Pike is naturally excited at throwing around a lot of (unprimed) hand grenades and pretending to be a gangster; Wilson is a lot more cautious, and on discovering a collection of dummy detonators along with the real charges, opts to prime the grenades with dummies, reasoning that in the event of an invasion a switch could be made quickly, as allowing certain members of the platoon to be in charge of live grenades is very dangerous.
The prisoners, including their smug and surly captain, are held in the church hall until the escort arrives. However, the escort has been delayed, meaning the Home Guard will be responsible for the prisoners overnight, including the feeding of them. Corporal Jones' suggestion of cutting the prisoners' trouser buttons off is dismissed by the U-Boat Captain as being a violation of the Geneva Convention, thus earning Mainwaring's ire; and Mainwaring proceeds to refer to Adolf Hitler as a tinpot dictator resembling Charlie Chaplin, thus annoying the captain. Mainwaring's name gets put on the U-Boat Captain's ominous "List" - a collection of names of those who have upset him, who will be brought to account once the war ends, prompting a childish exchange of "Oh no, you're not!" "Oh yes we are!" between Mainwaring and the U-Boat Captain as to which side is actually going to win the war. Pike, who foolishly opts to sing a song in which Hitler is called a "twerp" at that very moment ("Whistle while you work, Hitler is a twerp, he's half barmy, so's his army..."), finds his name also put on the U-Boat Captain's List once Mainwaring inadvertently gives it to him ("Don't tell him, Pike!"). Talking in German, the U-Boat Captain tells his men he is going to feign illness in order to gain the upper hand.
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