Mainwaring’s Hat

Although Dad’s Army is often said to be an ensemble comedy the truth is it is really Captain Mainwaring’s show – the whole thing pivots around the redoubtable captain and his (often difficult) relationships with the other characters.

The genius of Jimmy Perry’s casting of Arthur Lowe was that, while he’s often thought to be typecast as the pompous bank manager, Lowe was actually a brilliant and versatile comic actor. Watch this clip closely and you will see that he actually becomes red in the face when he sees what has happened to his new hat. As the series progresses, scenes like this, in which Pike’s naive stupidity and Mainwaring’s short temper clash, became more and more common.

This moment comes from the feature length Special episode the Battle of the Giants, first screened on 27 December 1971. It begins with Corporal Jones putting the platoon through bayonet practice in the hall – and we just know that disaster can’t be far away.