Captain Mainwaring - Man Of Action?

Captain Mainwaring - Man Of Action?

With the sad loss of Jimmy Beck from the cast, one of the functions of the script for 'Dad's Army : A Man Of Action' is to fill the gap with the return of Talfryn Thomas as Mr Cheeseman, first seen in 'My British Buddy' and who we assume is no relation to Charlie Cheeseman (The Cheerful Chump) from 'Shooting Pains'.

But Talf doesn't really get much to do in this one as it ends up more as a reminder that when the chips are down, Captain Mainwaring is actually a force to be reckoned with.

We open with Jones enjoying a lovely-looking pear (as this is not 'Carry On Doctor', we do not explore the saucier connotations of this), causing Pike to lament the fact that he's not got his hands on a banana for ages.

A discussion about chocolate leads to Pike recalling the time he stuck his head through the railings of the park gate in protest when his mum wouldn't buy him a bar. But his recreates this a little too well when he finds that he can't get his head out, as it's grown a bit larger than when he was twelve...

Meanwhile, Mainwaring and Wilson are discussing whether allowing Mr Cheeseamn of the Eastern Gazette to report on their activities is a good idea or not. Wilson thinks it's a big mistake as it'll make it difficult to cover up any mistakes, but Mainwaring pretends he hasn't heard that...

Mr Cheeseman enters with his camera, which surely boasts one of the biggest flash-bulbs ever seen on television, and prepares to take a photo of Mainwaring working at his desk. Wilson tries to get in on it, but only his gold fountain pen is allowed to make an appearance.

Jones is on the phone, reporting about Pike's predicament, which Mainwaring obviously doesn't want to be reported in the paper. With Cheeseman being left behind, the rescue party sets out to attend to their exposed Private.

By the time help arrives, Jones has camouflaged Pike with some branches from a handy bush and generous amounts of Vaseline are applied to Pike's head in the hope that it can be eased out.

Much tugging doesn't get them anywhere and a huge explosion interrupts their efforts. It is not Pike's head exploding, thankfully, but what later transpires to be a land mine dropping on the railway line..

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Pike plus the gate are marched back to the church hall, where the office has been taken for an emergency meeting. The Vicar and Verger are there, along with Hodges, Inspector Baker and Fire Officer Dale. The town's gas and water supplies have been cut off by the explosion as have the telephone lines. Mr Gordon the Town Clerk rushes in, panicking that they are marooned, in a sly nod at Frazer's recurring claims of being doomed.

The meeting seems to be producing little in the way of decisive action, so Captain Mainwaring assumes control. For once, Wilson is right behind him and evens manages to bark out orders to the platoon in such a manner than Mainwaring can hardly believe it.

With the power of the press backing him up, Mainwaring sends his men out into the town to relay orders. Jones is in charge of water permits, so when Mr Bluett hears that he cannot take a bath without permission, he turns up at the church hall to obey the letter of the law.

Pike is still stuck in the gate and is starting to feel increaingly uncomfortable, gaining much sympathy from Godfrey.

Mainwaring has marched on the Town Hall, but it is shut until the morning, though Mr Cheeseman did manage to take a photo of the Captain knocking on the door, which also captured the town clerk's opinion of the situation.

Wilson objects that Mainwaring is behaving like some sort of dictator, but Mainwaring denies this, saying that he is simply asking people to do as they are told.

But the boot is suddenly on the other foot when a Captain Swan arrives from GHQ to take over control. Mainwaring protests that this is undemocratic and unconstitutional, but Wilson is of the opinion that it's for his own good. Captain Mainwaring attempts to get back into his office, without success...

(By Andrew Trowbridge)