Episode Guide

Series 1 (1968)

  1. The Man and the Hour
    First Broadcast: (31/07/1968)
    Mainwaring, manager of Swallow's Bank, takes it upon himself to form the Walmington-on-Sea Home Guard platoon, after hearing of the formation of the Local Defence Volunteers. He declares himself Captain, and makes Wilson, his chief clerk, Sergeant. In the absence of weapons and uniforms, the platoon is forced to make do with pepper and armbands.
  2. Museum Piece
    First Broadcast: (07/08/1968)
    Mainwaring, worried that the Nazis could attack at any time, decides to requisition much needed weapons from the local "Peabody Museum of Historic Army Questions". There is one problem, they must outwit the curator - Lance Corporal Jones' father.
  3. Command Decision
    First Broadcast: (14/08/1968)
    Mainwaring, still short of weapons, receives an offer from Colonel Square. He will give them weapons, but command must be handed over to him. Mainwaring agrees, until he discovers that the weapons in question are muskets, and that he wants the platoon to fight on horseback. The platoon finally receives their proper weapons at the end of the episode.
  4. The Enemy Within the Gates
    First Broadcast: (28/08/1968)
    A lecture by Mainwaring is interrupted when a Polish officer from GHQ announces that a reward of £10 will be available for any Nazis captured. On patrol later that night, Jones and Walker capture two Luftwaffe airmen, but they escape. The Polish GHQ officer recaptures them and brings them back to the church hall. The platoon receives a £30 reward after the Polish Officer is also mistaken for a German.
  5. The Showing Up of Corporal Jones
    First Broadcast: (04/09/1968)
    After Major Regan from Area HQ decides that Corporal Jones is too old to be in the Home Guard, he announces that unless he can get round the assault course in 15 minutes, he will be removed from the platoon. The rest of the platoon comes up with a plan to save him.
  6. Shooting Pains
    First Broadcast: (11/09/1968)
    The platoon is chosen to provide the guard of honour for the Prime Minister on his visit to Walmington, but after some awful shooting practice at the range, Major Regan decides that a competition between the Eastgate platoon and the Walmington-on-Sea platoon will decide who will provide the guard.

Series 2 (1969)

  1. Operation Kilt
    First Broadcast: (01/03/1969)
    This episode was previously lost, but found again in 2001. A Captain Ogilvie from the Highland regiment arrives at parade and informs Mainwaring that there will be an exercise involving ten of his troops and all of Mainwaring's. The platoon creates a devious plan to ensure that they will win.
  2. The Battle of Godfrey's Cottage
    First Broadcast: (08/03/1969)
    This episode was previously lost, and found again in 2001. In the event of an invasion, Mainwaring says, the platoon will split into two sections, one commanded by Wilson and the other by Mainwaring. When the church bells begin to chime (the signal that an invasion is in progress) Mainwaring's men scramble to their assigned positions, but fail to realise where the other section is, leading to one section attacking the other.
  3. The Loneliness of the Long Distance Walker
    First Broadcast: (15/03/1969) (Lost Episode)
    Private Walker is called up to the regular Army. The platoon, anxious at how they will get hold of “off the ration” supplies, fight to keep him. In the end, only one thing can save him - his allergy to corned beef.
  4. Sgt. Wilson's Little Secret
    First Broadcast: (22/03/1969)
    When Mrs Pike tells Pike there is a “little Arthur” on the way, having taken in an evacuee, (Arthur) Wilson gets worried and assumes that it is his child, and begins to plan a wedding.
  5. A Stripe for Frazer
    First Broadcast: (29/03/1969) (Lost Episode, though sound track found in 2008)
    Mainwaring has the opportunity to promote one of his men to Corporal, and rather than give it to Jones, decides to test who has the greatest potential. He appoints Frazer Lance Corporal, but his increasingly dictatorial manner alienates the platoon.
  6. Under Fire
    First Broadcast: (05/04/1969) (Lost Episode)
    After Frazer spots what he believes to be a German spy signalling planes, the platoon arrest a suspect, but he protests he is a naturalised Englishman. The Warden embarrasses them by confirming that not only is the suspect a loyal British subject but that he is married to his Auntie Ethel.

Series 3 (1969)

  1. The Armoured Might of Lance Corporal Jones
    First Broadcast: (11/09/1969)
    After the platoon is encouraged by GHQ to work more closely with the ARP, Jones donates his butcher's wagon to the platoon as a troop transport. Walker plans to use this for his black market activities, but Hodges decides it will be used for air-raid practice exercises.
  2. Battle School
    First Broadcast: (18/09/1969)
    The platoon is selected to attend a weekend camp. After arriving 'nearby' by train, they get lost and arrive late and hungry, oversleep and miss breakfast, and are then instructed to capture an 'enemy base'. The discovery of a secret tunnel makes this somewhat easier.
  3. The Lion Has Phones
    First Broadcast: (25/09/1969)
    After a German plane crashes into the town's reservoir, Walker and Frazer frantically try to call GHQ. Walker solves the situation by flooding the reservoir with water and forcing the crew to surrender.
  4. The Bullet is Not for Firing
    First Broadcast: (02/10/1969)
    After the firing of the entire platoon's ammunition at a low-flying German plane, Mainwaring sets up a court of inquiry to determine who should be held responsible, but the inquiry becomes farcical as the platoon attempt to re-enact the event.
  5. Something Nasty in the Vault
    First Broadcast: (09/10/1969)
    Swallow's Bank takes a direct hit during an air-raid, but the bomb fails to explode, leaving Mainwaring and Wilson stuck in the vault with it. After the Bomb Disposal squad retreat to collect the right tools, the platoon take matters into their own hands.
  6. Room at the Bottom
    First Broadcast: (16/10/1969)
    It is determined by GHQ that Captain Mainwaring has never held a commission, and he is therefore demoted to Private. Sergeant Wilson takes temporary command as Mainwaring attempts to regain his stature.
    (Although made in colour, this episode survived only as a 16 mm black & white film recording). A new technology developed by the BBC allowed the hidden colour code that exists in the black and white film version to be used to return this episode to the colour version; it was first broadcast on BBC TWO on Saturday 13 December 2008).
  7. Big Guns
    First Broadcast: (23/10/1969)
    The platoon is given a heavy naval artillery piece, but the town's bandstand, a rare example of Victorian ironwork must be preserved. Mainwaring’s demonstration of the gun’s capabilities wins over any doubters.
  8. The Day the Balloon Went Up
    First Broadcast: (30/10/1969)
    A runaway barrage balloon has to be brought back to earth and the platoon is called to action. One mistake leads to another and Captain Mainwaring finds himself on a tour of the English countryside.
  9. War Dance
    First Broadcast: (06/11/1969)
    Mainwaring announces that a dance will be held to raise morale, but he is less than pleased when Pike announces his date for the evening will be the daughter of a woman who used to clean for the Mainwarings. The Captain is concerned about Pike’s infatuation with this 'common' young woman.
  10. Menace from the Deep
    First Broadcast: (13/11/1969)
    The platoon is placed on guard duty, manning a machine gun post at the end of the pier. After Pike loses the food and the boat, morale begins to fall and the spotting of a drifting sea mine fails to improve it
  11. Branded
    First Broadcast: (20/11/1969)
    Private Godfrey admits to being a conscientious objector during the Great War and is sent home in disgrace, ostracised by the rest of the platoon. When, however, he later rescues Captain Mainwaring and reveals that he holds the Military Medal, he is reinstated as medical orderly.
  12. Man Hunt
    First Broadcast: (27/11/1969)
    Mainwaring decides to use Walker's newly found tracking dog to discover the source of a discarded parachute. A man is finally cornered, but only after the platoon has examined a lot of ladies' undies.
  13. No Spring for Frazer
    First Broadcast: (04/12/1969)
    Frazer, a coffin maker, loses the spring of the Lewis gun. Frazer believes it has been lost in a recently made coffin, shortly to be buried. The platoon declares a bomb scare and evacuates the graveyard, but fail to find the spring. Frazer finds it in his pocket.
  14. Sons of the Sea
    First Broadcast: (11/12/1969)
    Mainwaring believes that the platoon could play havoc with the Nazis in a recently requisitioned boat, and the platoon set off to guard the local River. After getting lost in what they believe to be the English Channel, the platoon thinks they are behind enemy lines. They stow away on a train, destroy all their weapons and then discover they are in Eastbourne!

Series 4 (1970)

  1. The Big Parade
    First Broadcast: (25/09/1970)
    The platoon join in 'Spitfire Week' parade, but have to compete with the Sea Scouts and the ARP for pole position. Mainwaring thinks a mascot will help, but when Pike falls in a bog as they try to catch a ram, their plans go awry.
  2. Don't Forget the Diver
    First Broadcast: (02/10/1970)
    The platoon takes part in an exercise to capture a windmill (containing Captain Square's men) and plant a dummy bomb in it. They decide to put Jones in a fake tree trunk and push him up the river, but only he can get the bomb inside.
  3. Boots, Boots, Boots
    First Broadcast: (09/10/1970)
    Captain Mainwaring is concerned with the three Fs - fast feet, fit feet and functional feet. He embarks on a foot toughening regime, including 20 mile (32 km) route marches and playing football in bare feet.
  4. Sgt - Save My Boy!
    First Broadcast: (16/10/1970)
    Pike gets caught in barbed wire on the beach, in the middle of a mine field. But the Army engineers are slow to arrive, and it is up to the platoon to save him, with Godfrey's help.
  5. Don't Fence Me In
    First Broadcast: (23/10/1970)
    The platoon have been sent to guard a camp full of Italian POWs, but Walker's attitude to them makes Mainwaring wonder whether he is a fifth columnist.
  6. Absent Friends
    First Broadcast: (30/10/1970)
    In Mainwaring's absence, the platoon foregoes the parade to compete in a darts match against the ARP wardens. But when Mainwaring arrives back he is appalled and orders Wilson to bring them back, with two pints for the winners. The platoon end up staying where they are.
  7. Put That Light Out!
    First Broadcast: (06/11/1970)
    The platoon man a local lighthouse as defence against a seaborne assault, but when the light is switched on and the town is illuminated during an air-raid. Jones' section must come up with an ingenious plan to turn it off.
  8. The Two and a Half Feathers
    First Broadcast: (13/11/1970)
    Jones has extensive battle experience, but when one of his comrades from the Sudan, Clarke, turns up and accuses him of cowardice, Jones puts the record straight and Clarke is sent out of the town in disgrace.
  9. Mum's Army
    First Broadcast: (20/11/1970)
    Mainwaring allows female members into his platoon, but with Mrs. Mainwaring still at home, the Captain takes a shine to a younger woman. Rumours begin to circulate that there is more to their relationship than meets the eye.
  10. The Test
    First Broadcast: (27/11/1970)
    The ARP challenges the Home Guard to a game of cricket, but while Mainwaring is happy to play fair, Hodges has a secret weapon - Ernie Egan, a professional cricketer.
  11. A. Wilson (Manager)?
    First Broadcast: (04/12/1970)
    Mainwaring is shocked to discover that Wilson has been commissioned, and even more shocked when he finds out that Wilson has been made manager of the Eastgate branch, which will leave Pike as his Chief Clerk and Jones as his Sergeant.
  12. Uninvited Guests
    First Broadcast: (11/12/1970)
    After the ARP HQ is bombed out, the platoon is forced to share the church hall with the ARP wardens. Mainwaring protests to anyone who will listen, and the ARP are ordered to leave, but not for another week.
  13. Fallen Idol
    First Broadcast: (18/12/1970)
    Captain Square gets Mainwaring drunk in the Officers Mess, ending up thoroughly inebriated. Only a truly heroic action can repair his damaged reputation in the eyes of his men.
  14. Battle of the Giants (Christmas Special)
    First Broadcast: (27/12/1971)
    The platoon is challenged by the Eastgate platoon to a test, but Hodges, the vicar and the verger are judges. To begin with, they seem likely to win - but when Jones gets a bad attack of malaria, defeat seems close.

Series 5 (1972)

  1. Asleep in the Deep
    First Broadcast: (06/10/1972)
    A bomb falls on the local pumping station as Godfrey and Walker are patrolling there, trapping them inside. When the platoon tries to free them, they get stuck in there too Due to a burst pipe, the room begins to fill with water.
  2. Keep Young and Beautiful
    First Broadcast: (13/10/1972)
    The older members of the platoon try to make themselves look younger so they can avoid transfer to the ARP. The Captain dons a toupee, some of them dye their hair and the Sergeant puts on a corset.
  3. A Soldier's Farewell
    First Broadcast: (20/10/1972)
    Mainwaring, depressed as his men are not living up to his expectations, and believing his leadership to be unappreciated, dreams he is Napoleon after eating too much toasted cheese.
  4. Getting the Bird
    First Broadcast: (27/10/1972)
    Wilson goes AWOL and is seen with his arm round a younger woman, who turns out to be his daughter. Walker acquires 250 pigeons for Jones to sell as "off the ration" meat, but when Jones hears of a shortage of pigeons in Trafalgar Square, he changes his mind.
  5. The Desperate Drive of Lance Corporal Jones
    First Broadcast: (03/11/1972)
    A mis-read map lands the platoon in a barn marked as a target for artillery practice. Jones and Godfrey try to phone to stop the firing, but Godfrey cuts the wire. It is down to Jones to reach the barn before it is blown up.
  6. If the Cap Fits...
    First Broadcast: (10/11/1972)
    After Frazer moans about Mainwaring wasting his time with irrelevant lectures, he allows Frazer to become Captain for a couple of days, but the power goes to his head. When Mainwaring re-assumes command he is shocked to find out he must play the bagpipes the following day.
  7. The King was in his Counting House
    First Broadcast: (17/11/1972)
    To boost morale, Mainwaring holds a party in his home. However a bomb hits the Walmington-on-Sea branch of Swallows Bank, and there are thousands of pounds to be counted and guarded by his party guests and then it has to be taken to the Eastgate branch on a horse and cart.
  8. All is Safely Gathered In
    First Broadcast: (24/11/1972)
    The platoon volunteers to gather the harvest at a 100-acre farm belonging to one of Godfrey's friends. The harvest is collected in well until the widower’s home-made potato wine is served.
  9. When Did You Last See Your Money?
    First Broadcast: (01/12/1972)
    When Jones arrives at the bank to deposit £500 from local shopkeepers for the servicemen's canteen, he realises the packet he has contains a pound of sausages instead.
  10. Brain Versus Brawn
    First Broadcast: (08/12/1972)
    The platoon is challenged to plant a dummy bomb in the OC's office; they decide to disguise themselves as firemen travelling in an old fire engine. There is only one problem Hodges has spotted a real fire.
  11. A Brush with the Law
    First Broadcast: (15/12/1972)
    Mainwaring is charged with showing a light and taken to court by a gleeful Warden. When the Verger tries to correct him he is blackmailed into remaining silent and takes to the stand.
  12. Round and Round Went the Great Big Wheel
    First Broadcast: (22/12/1972)
    Operation Catherine Wheel has been set up in order to test the War Office's latest weapon: a large, radio-controlled, high explosive-carrying wheel. The Walmington-on-Sea platoon is chosen for fatigues. When Pike and Walker sneak off to listen to the wireless, they cause interference for the wheel, which promptly rolls out of control.
  13. Time on My Hands
    First Broadcast: (29/12/1972)
    An enemy pilot has bailed out and is trapped on the town hall clock. The platoon climb up the precarious ladder to reach him, but getting down is harder than they think as Jones has broken the ladder.

Series 6 (1973)

  1. The Deadly Attachment
    First Broadcast: (31/10/1973)
    Mainwaring's men have been detailed to guard a captured U-boat crew until a military escort arrives. When the escort is delayed, the platoon must house them overnight. It turns out to be a trying time; the Germans expect to be fed the finest and freshest fish and chips, but they have a defiant leader who lets it be known that he is noting down enemy names.
  2. My British Buddy
    First Broadcast: (07/11/1973)
    The Americans have decided to get involved in the war, and they make themselves at home in Walmington-on-Sea with the platoon's girlfriends. A fight breaks out and the local press is on hand to record it.
  3. The Royal Train
    First Broadcast: (14/11/1973)
    King George VI is set to pass through Walmington and the platoon are selected to provide a guard of honour, but a mix-up between sleeping pills and saccharine knocks out the drivers of a preceding train. The platoon must move the train to clear the line.
  4. We Know Our Onions
    First Broadcast: (21/11/1973)
    The platoon takes part in an efficiency test but fail the first sections miserably. Then a combination of Hodges' onions and their Smith gun gives them a distinct advantage.
  5. The Honourable Man
    First Broadcast: (28/11/1973)
    Mainwaring is enraged when Sergeant Wilson inherits a title, and consequently receives an invitation to the golf club Mainwaring has been trying to join for years, as well as ending up welcoming a visiting Soviet VIP.
  6. Things that Go Bump in the Night
    First Broadcast: (05/12/1973)
    The platoon runs out of petrol outside a deserted house. Tired and miserable, they decide to spend the night in the house, but it's not entirely deserted.
  7. The Recruit
    First Broadcast: (12/12/1973)
    Captain Mainwaring is indisposed due to an ingrowing toenail, so Sergeant Wilson takes charge allowing the vicar and the verger to join the platoon, making the rest of the men angry. While on patrol, they prove useless at keeping order, and end up resigning.

Series 7 (1974)

  1. Everybody's Trucking
    First Broadcast: (15/11/1974)
    The platoon is given the job of signposting the area for an Army exercise, however a steam engine is blocking the route and its driver has gone. When Jones tries to drive his van through, he gets stuck, along with Hodges and his bus load of pensioners.
  2. Man of Action
    First Broadcast: (22/11/1974)
    A landmine has destroyed 100 yards of railway track, along with water, gas supplies, and telephone wires. Compounding the problem, Pike gets his head stuck between the bars of a gate. Mainwaring declares martial law.
  3. Gorilla Warfare
    First Broadcast: (29/11/1974)
    During an exercise, Mainwaring casts himself as a highly important secret agent whom his platoon must escort to a clandestine destination. GHQ has put out counter-agents to catch him, so the platoon decides to trust no-one - not the two stranded nuns, nor the woman with a pram, and definitely not the doctor who appears with some story about an escaped gorilla in the woods.
  4. The Godiva Affair
    First Broadcast: (06/12/1974)
    The platoon dress up as Morris dancers as part of a carnival to raise money for the town's Spitfire fund, which is still £2,000 short. A Lady Godiva figure will lead the parade, but there is confusion over who this will be.
  5. The Captain's Car
    First Broadcast: (13/12/1974)
    Lady Maltby has donated her Rolls-Royce to the war effort and Mainwaring decides this would make an excellent staff car, and gives it to Wilson and Pike to camouflage. They are also providing the guard of honour for a visiting French general. They end up painting the Mayor's Rolls-Royce and not Mainwarings.
  6. Turkey Dinner
    First Broadcast: (23/12/1974)
    After Jones' section shoots down a turkey, the platoon decides to hold a turkey dinner for the local OAPs. Meanwhile, Mainwaring is preparing for a Rotary Club dinner.

Series 8 (1975)

  1. Ring Dem Bells
    First Broadcast: (05/09/1975)
    The platoon are going to be featured in a film to help the war effort, but are annoyed to find they are playing the Nazis. Chaos ensues when they are mistaken for real German soldiers, triggering an invasion alert.
  2. When You've Got to Go
    First Broadcast: (12/09/1975)
    Despite his bad chest, blocked sinuses and weak ankles, Pike is passed as A1 on his medical and is set to join the Army. Before this happens, Mainwaring must compete with Hodges in a blood donor drive - and it is discovered that since Pike has a rare blood type, he is no longer suitable for call up.
  3. Is There Honey Still for Tea?
    First Broadcast: (19/09/1975)
    Private Godfrey's Cherry Tree Cottage is set to be flattened to make way for a new aerodrome. Frazer, however, champions his cause. He knows the minister responsible for the plan, and he knows his father, and he knows about an incident in the draper's shop...
  4. Come in, Your Time is Up
    First Broadcast: (26/09/1975)
    Mainwaring's platoon discovers a German aircrew in an inflatable dinghy on a lake. Pike suggests they shoot through the dinghy and sink them, but his Captain reminds him about 'being a sporting nation and playing with a straight bat.' Wilson comes up with a more civilised strategy, but Pike remains poised with his gun, just in case.
  5. High Finance
    First Broadcast: (03/10/1975)
    Jones is overdrawn at the bank, and after a long investigation Mainwaring discovers that this has been caused by The Warden exorbitantly raising Mrs Pike's rent.
  6. The Face on the Poster
    First Broadcast: (10/10/1975)
    Mainwaring prepares a poster for a recruitment drive, eager to increase his platoon to a company and gain promotion to Major - but a print shop mix-up lands the platoon in trouble, and lands Jones, the face of the recruitment drive, in a POW camp.
  7. My Brother and I – (Christmas Special)
    First Broadcast: (26/12/1975)
    The platoon starts a recruiting campaign and Jones is chosen as the face for the poster. Unfortunately, due to a mix-up at the printers, his face gets printed on the wrong poster for an escaped prisoner of war!
  1. The Love of Three Oranges – (Christmas Special)
    First Broadcast: (26/12/1976)
    A church bazaar is organized for the "Comforts for the Troops Fund". Hodges intends to auction three oranges, and Mainwaring is determined to get hold of one for Mrs Mainwaring.

Series 9 (1977)

  1. Wake Up Walmington
    First Broadcast: (02/10/1977)
    Complacency is setting in amongst the townsfolk, so Mainwaring devises "Operation Wake-Up". He gets his platoon to masquerade as fifth columnists in "very sinister clothes" to shake everyone up. At first, the plan seems to be working, but then it starts working too well...
  2. The Making of Private Pike
    First Broadcast: (09/10/1977)
    Finally, Mainwaring has his own staff car. Pike, still heady from his raspberryade binge, borrows it to drive his new girlfriend to the cinema in Eastgate. Pike's naive and immature nature ruins the date. On the way back, however, and nine miles from Walmington, it runs out of petrol. It takes Pike all night to push it back. It's time for Wilson to have a serious word with the boy.
  3. Knights of Madness
    First Broadcast: (16/10/1977)
    To support the "Wings for Victory" week, the platoon restages the Battle of Saint George and the Dragon. This does not go down too well with Hodges and his ARP wardens, however, as they have been planning the same thing.
  4. The Miser's Hoard
    First Broadcast: (23/10/1977)
    Frazer keeps his savings in the form of gold sovereigns. Mainwaring thinks the money would be better kept in a bank - his bank. Rumours spread over Frazer's hoard, and Frazer is spotted setting off to the graveyard with a box. The platoon prepares to investigate
  5. Number Engaged
    First Broadcast: (06/11/1977)
    A 'highly secret invasion warning device,' otherwise known as telephone wires, has been set up along the coast, and the platoon is to guard it. When the vicar arrives to give an open-air service, Mainwaring raises his face to heaven and notices an unexploded bomb caught in the wires. Wilson, however, has a bright idea.
  6. Never Too Old
    First Broadcast: (13/11/1977)
    Corporal Jones is married to Mrs Fox, but the service is interrupted as an invasion warning is sounded. The platoon breaks the fourth wall and raise their glasses to toast Britain's real Home Guard.
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