50 Moments That Made Dad’s Army: #12 Knickers

 

Today’s moment is a classic but also provided me with a difficulty. In the 1969 episode Manhunt, Mainwaring, Wilson and Walker go on the hunt for some ladies underwear that Walker has made from a discarded parachute.

Their attempts to examine the pants of the women of Warmington gives rise to the sort of comedy moments you’d expect. But it also contains a scene which demonstrates how much attitudes have changed since Dad’s Army was made almost 50 years ago.

A misunderstanding with one householder leads to a moment of (heard but not seen) domestic violence – and it gets the laugh from the audience. I almost excluded this moment, not because of the scene but because of the laugh. On reflection I’ve decided to keep it in, as it demonstrates how, by and large, Dad’s Army has stood the test of time incredibly well and that jarring moments like this are incredibly rare in the series as a whole.

The knicker-hunt itself, of course, is a classic!

 

 

50 Moments that made Dad’s Army is a series of blog posts each focusing on one moment that helped define the popular comedy series. There will be one post for each of the 50 days leading-up to the 50th anniversary of the first broadcast of the first episode of the series on 31st July 1968. 50 Moments that Made Dad’s Army is brought to you by walmington-on-line.co.uk and copyright of all video clips belongs to the BBC.

 

 

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