Dad's Army Joe Walker

Featured epsiode: Don’t Fence Me In

Tonight BBC2 will repeat the episode Don’t Fence Me In, originally broadcast on 23rd October 1970. This episodes revolves around the platoon being taken off-duty to guard Italian prisoners at a POW camp whose guards are taking leave.

Arriving at the camp Mainwaring is horrified to find a lax regime with the prisoners all taking a siesta and nobody in sight. Things get worse that night when the entire group of prisoners, along with Walker, mysteriously disappear and are later found to be working for Walker as illegal labour.

A snap inspection by Captain Bailey (John Ringham – originally Pvt. Bracewell in series one) creates a dilemma for Mainwaring which is solved by Jones who smuggles the POWs back into the camp using the same tunnel that Walker used to sneak them out.

Convinced?  No, me neither. The improbable storyline marks this one out as one of the weaker episodes and the stereotyped portrayal of the Italian prisoners doesn’t help. Enjoyable enough, but there are better episodes.

More next week.

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