Trivia / Dad's Army

• Acting for Two:
  • In addition to their regular characters, most of the main cast play secondary roles during Jones' Flashback to his Sudan days in "The Two and a Half Feathers"; Arthur Lowe plays Sergeant Ironside, John Le Mesurier plays Colonel Smythe, Ian Lavender plays Lieutenant Franklin, James Beck plays Private Green, Arnold Ridley plays the old Fakir, and John Laurie and Bill Pertwee play Dervish warriors.
  • Felix Bowness played a coach driver in "Everybody's Trucking", but also whistled the bird song heard at the beginning of the episode.
  • In the 1975 Christmas Episode "My Brother and I", Arthur Lowe starred as both Captain Mainwaring and Mainwaring's estranged brother, Barry.
• Actor-Inspired Element:
  • The writers cleverly crafted various characters to be like the actors who portrayed them, giving them their own (exaggerated) character traits. Hence Mainwaring had Arthur Lowe's pomposity and Wilson had John Le Mesurier's carefree and absent-minded personality. Clive Dunn was known as a waffler, which led to Jones' long-winded and rambling monologues. Frazer received John Laurie's sharp tongue and dour manner: when they were making the first series, he bluntly told Jimmy Perry that the show was "a lot of rubbish" and "doomed". Frazer's rivalry with Godfrey reflected the real-life enmity between Laurie and Arnold Ridley. Frazer's tendency to change his opinions to fit the prevailing winds was apparently also inspired by Laurie, as several of his colleagues noted that his views on the show's quality tended to change the more successful it became.
  • Ian Lavender was invited to choose Pike's scarf from The BBC's Costume Department. He chose his beloved Aston Villa's colours.
• Actor-Shared Background: Most of the cast were military veterans, some of both World Wars. John Laurie and Arnold Ridley were particularly affected by their experiences; Ridley suffered from blackouts and nightmares for most of his life.
  • In addition, Laurie and Ridley actually served in the Home Guard.
  • Like Mainwaring, Arthur Lowe's was largely in a non-combat role during WW2, working as a radar technician before entering the entertainment services out of boredom with his role.
• Adored by the Network: The BBC is practically married to the show. It finished in 1977, and it seems there hasn't been a week since that it hasn't been in the schedule.
• Banned Episode: "Absent Friends" wasn't repeated until 1992 due to the plot involving the platoon tracking down a suspected IRA member.
• Blooper: The actors, especially Arthur Lowe (who refused to take the scripts home with him to memorise), frequently stumble over their lines.
• California Doubling: Although it's supposed to be set in Kent (as indicated by the platoon's cap badges) Walmington-on-Sea is believed to have been modelled on Bexhill-on-Sea, over the county border in Sussex. In fact, the outdoor scenes were filmed in Thetford, Norfolk, which is not on the sea.
• Cast the Runner-Up:
  • Co-creator Jimmy Perry had hoped to play Walker himself but was talked out of the role by David Croft. Perry did appear in front of the cameras during the first series, however, as comedian Charlie Cheeseman in "Shooting Pains".
  • Jack Haig was considered for the role of Jones. He later played The Cameo role of a gardener in "The Day the Balloon Went Up", a slightly bigger role as Mr. Palethorpe, the landlord, in "Ring Dem Bells", and finally played Jones when he filled in for Clive Dunn for half of the Screen-to-Stage Adaptation.
  • Gordon Peters had played a fireman in the very first episode, "The Man and the Hour", but his scene was cut for timing reasons. To make it up to him, Croft promised to give him another role in a later episode and so Peters played the soldier making a delivery to Captain Mainwaring in "Command Decision", and would go on to play a further three guest roles later in the series.
• Character Outlives Actor: When James Beck was taken into hospital, Walker got a Written-In Absence, leaving a note in his place on patrol to explain that he has gone to conduct "business" in London. Beck later died and Walker was never heard of again - at least on television, When the show was remade for radio Graham Stark (and later Larry Martyn) continued the role after Beck's death, and when the show got a radio sequel years after the end of its run, Walker was mentioned as alive and having returned to Walmington-on-Sea. He's also seen in the scene set in 1968 featuring several of the characters that opens the very first episode.
• Creator Backlash:
  • John Laurie was quite vocal about his dislike for the series and feeling like a Classically-Trained Extra:^note He never returned the pay cheques though.
    I’ve played every part in Shakespeare, I was considered to be the finest Hamlet of the twenties and I had retired, and now I’m famous for doing this crap.
    • According to some sources such as Bill Pertwee however, he did actually like the show, or at least became a lot fonder of it the more successful it became. His flip-flopping inspired Frazer's habit of lambasting Maninwaring's latest scheme, only to say 'he never doubted him for a moment' when it succeeded.
  • Janet Davies wasn't happy about Mrs. Pike's lessening appearances in the series or with how she wasn't asked to play the role for the radio adaptation (or the 1971 movie for that matter).
  • Pamela Cundell also wasn't happy about missing out on the radio and thought that Mollie Sugden wasn't right in the role of Mrs. Fox, playing it too broad and not feminine enough.
  • Jimmy Perry wasn't fond of the episode "The Test".
• Creator Couple:
  • Arthur Lowe's wife, Joan Cooper, took over the role of Godfrey's sister Dolly towards the end of the show's run and played other guest roles during the series.
  • Ian Lavender's then-wife, Suzanne Kerchiss, appeared in "My British Buddy" as the second actress to play Pike's girlfriend, Ivy.
• Creator's Favorite Episode:
  • Jimmy Perry named "Branded" as his favourite episode, while David Croft's favourite was "Mum's Army".
  • Ian Lavender named "Ring Dem Bells" as one of his favourite episodes alongside "The Deadly Attachment".
  • Frank Williams' was "The Royal Train".
  • Some of Bill Pertwee's favourites were "The Day the Balloon Went Up", "Time on My Hands", "The Deadly Attachment", and "The Royal Train".
  • Pamela Cundell's was "Never Too Old".
  • Thérèse Mc Murray made three guest appearances in the series' early years; of these three, her favourite was "The Day the Balloon Went Up".
• Creator's Pest: David Croft wrote that Private Cheeseman was "irritating without being funny", and as an eccentric Celt, he was too similar to Private Frazer. John Laurie also disliked the character (in contrast to Croft, he was concerned that Cheeseman was getting too many laughs) and requested that he not return for the next season.
• The Danza: Bill Pertwee as Chief Warden "Uncle Willy" Hodges.
• Dawson Casting: Ian Lavender was 22 at the start of the series playing the 17- to 18-year-old Frank Pike and 31 when the series ended, while Pike had not aged. Furthermore, Clive Dunn, in his 40s at the time of filming, plays Corporal Jones who is 20-25 years older than him.
• Deleted Role: Gordon Peters was in "The Man and the Hour" as an accident-prone fireman but his role was edited out before transmission.
• Development Hell: BBC executives were not confident that the public would react well to a comedy about World War II and constantly tried to squash the project. Jimmy Perry and David Croft had to fight tooth and nail to even get a pilot approved and had trouble casting the role of Mainwaring — their early choices refused to participate because of issues like the subject matter and the low salary ^note  Arthur Lowe, for example, was furious to learn he was getting paid less than his co-stars . After the pilot was completed, the executives constantly asked for changes, with Perry and Croft having to walk a very fine line in order to make sure that the show would be transmitted in a reasonable time slot. To add to their woes, the pilot was allegedly nearly killed off by an early version's demographics testing saying that the sample audience didn't like the concept.
• Disabled Character, Disabled Actor: While Private Godfrey's infirmity was played up for comic effect, Arnold Ridley actually had been very badly wounded during the Battle of the Somme and so, like Godfrey, was rather frail and fragile.
• Edited for Syndication:
  • All of the episodes were edited in The '90s for BBC1 to fit a thirty-minute runtime that would fit the repeat schedules. When BBC2 wanted to air the repeats, BBC1 refused to let them use their edits, so BBC2 needed to have their own edited versions made.
  • Later screenings of season five's "Keep Young and Beautiful" have heavily re-edited the scene where Pike, Walker, and Godfrey try to pick a volunteer to go into the office to have a look at Captain Mainwaring's new wig, and Pike recites a version of "Eeny, meeny, miny, moe" which includes the racial slur "nigger" in the second line, with Walker getting the "moe"; Walker then continues the rhyme, "O-U-T spells out, you must go", so Pike ends up being "it" instead. In the revised version, only the rhyme's opening line is spoken by Pike before he points to Walker and says, "It's you, go on." The scene appears intact on the DVD release.
• Executive Meddling:
  • Worried that the sitcom would be criticised for ridiculing the Home Guard, the BBC insisted on adding an opening scene to the first episode. It shows a 'future' Mainwaring, in 1968, giving a speech at a formal dinner in which he explains how he and his men "backed Britain" in 1940. The scene lasts a minute-and-a-half, has no jokes whatsoever, and has no relation to the rest of the story. Had it been broadcast in an age when there were more than just three TV channels in the UK, it could well have killed the series before it even began, and co-writer Jimmy Perry suspected it was responsible for the overwhelmingly negative feedback from the test audience who got a preview screening of the first episode. Ironically, it also retroactively confirms that Walker survived the war, since he disappears from the show to go to London and doesn't come back (as his actor tragically died young) but the character appears as a rich businessman in the opening scene.
  • In a positive example, BBC Head of Comedy Michael Mills changed the title from The Fighting Tigers to Dad's Army and suggested that David Croft co-write the series with Jimmy Perry. He also cast John Le Mesurier as Sgt Wilson, changed the town's name to Walmington-on-Sea and renamed a few characters: Jim Jones became Jack Jones, James Duck became James Frazer (and also became Scottish), and Joe Fish became Joe Walker.
  • In another positive example, the opening titles were originally going to show real footage of soldiers in World War II, but BBC executives objected to this, fearing it was insensitive and could be seen as mockery of those who served in the war. So they were changed to the now iconic animation of a British flag advancing and retreating across Europe.
• Friendship on the Set: While The Vicar only just tolerated the Verger, Frank Williams became very close friends with Edward Sinclair behind the scenes, recalling:
  Edward Sinclair was the kindest of men and we became close friends - so did Bill Pertwee. Over the years, the three of us became a kind of unholy alliance on and off-screen.
• Hostility on the Set: Although the cast generally got on well with each other, there were problems between some actors:
  • John Laurie disliked Arnold Ridley, often needling him about his advanced age and frailty — although Laurie was in fact only a year younger than Ridley. Laurie was also irritated that Ridley was let off from some of the more strenuous aspects of filming, while he was not. On the other hand, Ian Lavender would recall them having deep conversations based on a Commonality Connection; how horrific they'd found the First World War.
  • Arthur Lowe and Clive Dunn didn't get on due to the two men's personal politics: Lowe was a staunch supporter of the Conservative Party whereas Dunn was an enthusiastic and committed socialist.
  • Several cast members took exception when Dunn, a friend and supporter of Prime Minister Harold Wilson, was appointed an OBE when none of the other main actors were similarly honoured.
  • Bill Pertwee said that he was looked down upon by some of the other actors because of his background in variety rather than "serious" theatre.
  • Lowe's refusal to take scripts home with him ("I'm not having that rubbish in the house") also rankled with his co-stars, as it meant he could never remember his lines. At one point, John Le Mesurier called David Croft at home and complained, "Can't you make Arthur learn his ruddy part?".
  • Laurie didn't hold much regard for David Croft and Jimmy Perry, at one point calling them "damned nearly illiterate" to their faces and threatening to phone in his performance if they wrote him a small part.
  • Jimmy Perry wanted to play Walker, but Croft talked him out of it. He was concerned it would cause resentment among the other cast members, who might accuse Perry of giving himself the best lines.
  • James Beck used to enjoy riling up Croft after a few gin and tonics by saying that he wouldn't say certain lines in the script, only stopping his joking when Croft would threaten to cancel his contract.
• I Am Not Spock: John Laurie was resentful that after such a long and varied career, Private Frazer would be his most remembered role.
• Irony as She Is Cast: Godfrey is revealed to have been a conscientious objector during the First World War. In Real Life, Arnold Ridley was a private with the Somerset Light Infantry Regiment and was heavily wounded at the Somme. He was medically discharged from the army with the rank of Lance Corporal in 1916. He was also a commissioned officer in the Second World War and, following his discharge, joined his local Home Guard.
• Missing Episode: Until 2001, "Sgt Wilson's Little Secret" was the only known surviving episode from Series 2. Two episodes ("Operation Kilt" and "The Battle of Godfrey's Cottage") were subsequently recovered and remastered, but three ("The Loneliness of the Long Distance Walker", "A Stripe for Frazer",^note  The audio for which was recovered in 2008. and "Under Fire") remain lost. One of the colour episodes, "Room at the Bottom", only survived in black and white; it has since been recolourized, though the colour version has not yet been released on DVD. The BBC have also made an animated reconstruction of "A Stripe for Frazer", using a home audio recording. The three missing episodes were re-filmed with a new cast in 2019, and animated reconstructions have been made of "The Loneliness of the Long Distance Walker" and "Under Fire" by adapting the radio versions of the episodes.
  • Two short Christmas sketches, "Santa on Patrol" from 1968 and "The Cornish Floral Dance" from 1970, are also missing, though audio recordings exist of both (which were also used for animated reconstructions), and the modified later performance of "The Cornish Floral Dance" survives.
• Money, Dear Boy: Part of Arnold Ridley's motivation for taking the role of Godfrey was because a series regular role would give him and his wife financial security after he lost his fortune financing a series of unsuccessful productions.
• On-Set Injury:
  • John Le Mesurier strained a ligament in his leg during a take where he threw himself to the ground in "Battle School".
  • Desmond Cullum-Jones (who played background platoon member Private Desmond) badly cut his foot during the barefoot beach scenes from "Boots, Boots, Boots".
  • While filming the desert scenes in "The Two and a Half Feathers", Colin Bean lay down on a pyrotechnic charge that exploded, cutting his hand, while Bill Pertwee got sand his eyes, causing conjunctivitis and three days of moderate discomfort.
  • Filming the cricket match sequence for "The Test" ended with Clive Dunn and Arthur Lowe taking nasty blows from cricket balls; Dunn was hit in the face and got a cut on the inside of his mouth, while Lowe was left with bruising on his head.
  • During the filming of "Battle of the Giants!", Pertwee lost control of the motorbike he was driving during a take, and he, Frank Williams, and Edward Sinclair all ended up in a ditch. During that same episode, Arnold Ridley hurt himself trying to get out of the way of Jones' van, which was revealed to have caused him to pull a cartilage in his leg.
  • While the location shoots for "All is Safely Gathered In" were being done, Ian Lavender cut his hand on the trigger of the Tommy gun, and platoon extra Freddie Wiles walked into a tree branch and scratched his eye.
  • Pertwee was injured yet again while filming "We Know Our Onions", bruising his thigh when he walked into the corner of a van.
• One-Take Wonder: Despite being unwell with the flu, Bud Flanagan recorded the title song in one take. He died several months later in October 1968
• The Other Darrin:
  • Several small recurring characters were recast throughout the series:
    • Both of Godfrey's sisters - Dolly was played by Amy Dalby in Series 2's "The Battle of Godfrey's Cottage" but she died shortly after the episode aired, so Dolly became The Ghost until "Is There Honey Still for Tea?" in Series 8, when Joan Cooper (Arthur Lowe's wife) took over for the rest of the series, while Cissy was played by Nan Braunton in Series 2 and 3, and in "Is There Honey Still for Tea?", Kathleen Saintsbury took over.
    • Jones' assistant in the butcher shop, Raymond, was played by Dick Haydon in Series 3's "The Armoured Might of Lance Corporal Jones", and John Ash took over the following series in "The Two and a Half Feathers".
    • Bank inspector Mr. West was played by Robert Dorning in Series 3's "Something Nasty in the Vault", and Blake Butler in the following series in "A. Wilson (Manager)?".
    • Pike's quiet girlfriend, Ivy Samways, was played by Rosemary Faith in the Series 4 episode, "Mum's Army", and Suzanne Kerchiss (Ian Lavender's then-wife) two series later in "My British Buddy".
  • In the live stage show:
    • Hamish Roughead played Frazer as John Laurie wasn't willing to participate.
    • Walker was played by John Bardon as James Beck died two years prior.
    • Jones was originally played by Clive Dunn just as he was in the series, but halfway through Jack Haig (the original choice for Jones) took over.
  • Several parts were recast for Radio due to availability and money factors, most notably Graham Stark and Larry Martyn taking over as Walker after James Beck's death, Pearl Hackney playing Mrs. Pike instead of Janet Davies, and Mollie Sugden playing Mrs. Fox instead of Pamela Cundell.
• The Original Darrin: Mr. Bluett was played by Harold Bennett during the series, but Timothy Bateson took over the role for the first two series of the radio adaptation. However, for the final radio series, Mr. Bluett was once more played by Bennett.
• Real Life Writes the Plot: Ian Lavender had to have long hair during Series 1 due to a stage show he was appearing in. To hide this, Private Pike was given his iconic scarf to hide what the regular army cap couldn't.
• Reality Subtext:
  • Captain Mainwairing often stumbles and stutters while he's speaking, which enhances the characterization that he has no idea what he's talking about when it comes to military matters. This was due to Arthur Lowe refusing to take the script home and learn his lines [which David Croft put down to Lowe previously having a photographic memory - which meant he didn't need to read the script at home - but this had declined with age he didn't change his habits], so he was stuttering because he was trying to remember what he had to say without flubbing the take.
  • As the platoon medic, Godfrey carries an aid bag rather than a heavy rifle. He also wears regular shoes instead of boots and puttees. This was all because Arnold Ridley was very frail and the production was trying to make shooting as comfortable as possible.
  • It's noticeable when watching the series that much of the physical comedy tends to be inflicted upon Corporal Jones, Private Pike, and Warden Hodges. These characters, not coincidentally, were also played by several of the younger members of the cast, who were thus able to withstand a lot more than their older colleagues would have been able to.
• Recast as a Regular:
  • John Ringham appeared in the Pilot, "The Man and the Hour", as Private Bracewell, who was Dropped After the Pilot for being too similar to Godfrey. Ringham, however, would return to the series in a further four episodes as Captain Bailey.
  • Don Estelle first appeared in Series 3 as the man from Pickfords in "Big Guns" who delivers the titular big gun. In Series 4, he came back for three episodes as Gerald, another ARP warden and a lackey for Hodges.
  • Joan Cooper was two different characters in as many episodes ("No Spring for Frazer" and "Time on My Hands"), as well as playing the second Dolly Godfrey in Series 8 and 9.
• Role Reprise: Frank Williams returned as The Vicar in the 2016 movie. The only other surviving member of the original series, Ian Lavender, played a brigadier.
• Romance on the Set: James Beck often flirted with Thérèse McMurray in her three guest roles.
• Sequel in Another Medium: The 1981 BBC Radio series It Sticks Out Half a Mile by Harold Snoad and Michael Knowles (who had adapted some of the television episodes for radio), told what happened to some of the characters after the war.
  • The original pilot episode, set in 1948, involved Mainwaring deciding to renovate a decrepit seaside pier in the fictional town of Frambourne-on-Sea, only to find when applying for a bank loan that the manager of the local branch is none other than Wilson. Following Arthur Lowe's death, it was retooled (the original pilot was aired many years later on Radio 4 Extra).
  • In the broadcast series, still set in 1948, Hodges approaches Pike, now 22 years old, with a proposal to renovate the near derelict pier, costing £5,000, at Frambourne. In order to finance this plan Pike has to approach Wilson for a loan. Wilson is blackmailed by Pike (who is no longer the young innocent of the series) over past indiscretions with a woman named Smith and Wilson suspects the only reason Hodges approached Pike was to get to the bank's money through him. Nevertheless, Pike and Wilson put aside their wartime quarrel with Hodges - more or less - and the renovation begins. Following John Le Mesurier's death, it was retooled again for TV with original characters as High & Dry, which ran for a single seven-episode series on ITV in 1987.
• Throw It In!: Clive Dunn had a habit of ad-libbing in rehearsals that David Croft found genuinely funny and encouraged him to keep in. The only issue was Dunn would hardly ever be able to remember what he had ad-libbed come the recording.
• Troubled Production: David Croft considered the filming of Series 9 to be, in his own words, "an ordeal":
  • John Le Mesurier looked thin and ill as he was suffering from liver failure brought on by excessive drinking.
  • Arthur Lowe's trouble remembering his lines was getting worse, to the point where Captain Mainwaring's office drawer was constantly full of bits of script for him to read.
  • Arnold Ridley ripped a cartilage in his leg meaning he had to be ferried by limo to and from the studio.
• Underage Casting: Corporal Jones was in his late seventies at the very least but was played by Clive Dunn who was only 48 when the series started. Meaning that, ironically, the oldest member of the platoon was played by one of the youngest members of the cast.
• Wag the Director: Captain Mainwaring was originally going to have a grenade dropped down his trousers in "The Deadly Attachment", but Arthur Lowe had a clause in his contract that he would not be filmed without his trousers on, so it went to Jones. Ironically, the finished episode never actually showed Jones without his trousers; only opened enough to get the grenade in at the start and then just enough for Frazer to fit his hand down to find it at the end. He looks fully-clothed the whole way through.
• What Could Have Been:
  • The first version of "The Man and the Hour" didn't include Anthony Eden's speech or the formation of the Home Guard.
  • Jimmy Perry initially wrote the role of Walker for himself, believing that this would be the ideal opportunity to show off his comedy skills and further his acting career. David Croft had to dissuade Perry of this notion, pointing out that having the show's creator and writer in the cast would breed resentment since the other actors would constantly be wondering if Perry was giving himself all the good lines.
  • Frazer was originally named Jim Duck, Walker was Fish, and Jones' first name was originally Jim. Furthermore, the town was originally called Brightsea-on-Sea.
  • The role of Captain Mainwaring was originally offered to Thorley Walters, but he declined as he didn't like performing in front of live audiences. Leonard Rossiter was also considered, as was Jon Pertwee, who turned it down as he was in the middle of a theatrical tour.^note  Had he taken the role, he would likely not have been cast as the Third Doctor in Doctor Who. Head of comedy Michael Mills suggested John Le Mesurier, but Jimmy Perry preferred Arthur Lowe, who was lined up for Sergeant Wilson. In the end, Lowe was cast as Captain Mainwaring and Le Mesurier was cast as Sergeant Wilson.
  • Jack Haig was offered the role of Corporal Jones, but he wasn't available. (Croft later cast him as Monsieur LeClerc in the first five series of 'Allo 'Allo!.) David Jason was also considered, as he had a knack for playing older characters, but it was decided it would have been too time-consuming to constantly age him up with makeup.
  • "Who Do You Think You Are Kidding, Mister Hitler" was originally intended for Bud Flanagan and his former performing partner, Chesney Allen, but Allen was too ill to participate in the recording, so Flanagan recorded it solo. Ironically, Flanagan died just after the first series aired in 1968, while Allen lived another fourteen years.
  • A draft for an early episode two entitled "The Sharpshooters" featured Elizabeth Mainwaring in the flesh. Rather than the large and harsh woman she was implied to be in the series, this original Elizabeth was described as a "thin, shivery lady about 40" and called Captain Mainwaring "dear".
  • Before Warden Hodges was thought of, the first choice for Captain Mainwaring's Sitcom Arch-Nemesis was a senior officer whom he was forced to obey.
  • The end credits were supposed to have the Home Guard marching over superimposed clips of marching Nazi troops, rows of tanks, German field guns, howitzers, bombers, and a stream of refugees. This wasn't liked by any of The BBC executives, and so David Croft was forced to redo the end credits, which he never got over.
  • The ending of "Man Hunt" didn't have the German parachutist at first. The cast was unhappy with the episode's ending so Robert Aldous (who had a small appearance in the Christmas short "Resisting the Aggressor Down the Ages" that was filmed on the same day) was quickly added in.
  • Croft originally intended to end the series after Series 3, having decided on 26 episodes from the start of production.
  • An American remake was piloted in 1976 for ABC called The Rear Guard, adapting "The Deadly Attachment". It never made it to series; you can see a clip here.
  • A sequel series titled It Sticks Out Half a Mile was created for radio in 1981. It was originally meant to star Arthur Lowe and depicted Mainwaring embarking on a passion project to restore an old pier that had been partly demolished during the war, with John Le Mesurier's Wilson being dragged along for the ride. However, Lowe passed away after recording the pilot so the series was retooled to have Hodges and Pike partnering together to restore the pier and blackmailing Wilson into loaning them the money necessary.
  • When the three missing episodes from Series 2 ("The Loneliness of the Long Distance Walker", "A Stripe for Frazer", "Under Fire") were re-created in 2019 with the original scripts and a new cast, the role of Private Godfrey was originally offered to Bernard Cribbins. However, Cribbins had to drop out due to a scheduling conflict, so he was replaced by Timothy West.
• Word of God: Ian Lavender waited until very late in the show's run to ask Jimmy Perry if Pike really was Wilson's son. Perry replied, "Of course he was!". David Croft also confirmed it as fact in interviews.
• Working Title:
  • The series was originally called The Fighting Tigers.
  • Several earlier episodes had their titles changed:
    • "The Battle of Godfrey's Cottage" was originally "The Battle of Mon Repos".
    • "The Armoured Might of Lance Corporal Jones" was originally "The Armoured Might of Jack Jones".
    • "The Lion Has 'Phones" was originally "Sorry, Wrong Number".
    • "Something Nasty in the Vault" was originally "Don't Let Go".
    • "No Spring for Frazer" was originally "Open the Box.
    • "Sgt — Save My Boy!" was originally "The Mine".
    • "The Test" was originally "The Cricket Match".
• Write What You Know: Jimmy Perry drew on his experiences in The Home Guard.
• Write Who You Know:
  • Jimmy Perry based Corporal Jones on an elderly Lance Corporal in the 10th Hertfordshire often referred to fighting under Kitchener against the "Fuzzy Wuzzies".
  • The unseen Elizabeth Mainwaring was based on the wife of Gwynne Davies, David Croft's singing teacher, who he almost never saw during his lessons with Davies.
• Written-In Infirmity: In her final appearance, "Knights of Madness", Mrs. Yeatman wears an eyepatch that is never commented on by the other characters; presumably, Olive Mercer needed to wear an eyepatch over the recording dates and so the writers decided just to let her wear it and not mention it.

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