Captain George Mainwaring

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Dad's Army character
Captain George Mainwaring
Affiliated with	Home Guard
Occupation	Bank Manager
First appearance	The Man and the Hour
Last appearance	Never Too Old
Portrayed by	Arthur Lowe

Captain George Mainwaring (pronounced 'Mannering') is a fictional bank manager and Home Guard platoon commander portrayed by Arthur Lowe on the BBC television sitcom Dad's Army, set in the fictional seaside town of Walmington-on-Sea during World War II. He has become widely accepted and regarded as a classic British comic character owing to both the popularity of Dad's Army throughout the years and Lowe's portrayal of him in this show.

[edit] Personality

Mainwaring is a pompous, blustering figure filled with a somewhat overdeveloped sense of his own importance, fuelled by both his social status in Walmington-on-Sea as the local bank manager, and his status as the Captain and commander of the local Home Guard volunteer unit. A very officious man, he believes in following rules and orders to sometimes ludicrous degrees. He is extremely class conscious and something of a snob, considering himself to be upper-middle class and displaying a tendency to look down on anyone whom he considers to be beneath him (this may be attributed to his working class background and the intense struggle he faced to lift himself beyond this). Mainwaring is also somewhat prudish and repressed, and can be extremely judgemental about people whom he believes do not share his moral outlook.

Unfortunately for Mainwaring, his pomposity and snobbery tend to work against him, as he is frequently dependent on those whom he considers beneath him, and his arrogant and pompous attitude is frequently punctured by circumstance and the people around him, such as Arthur Wilson, his genuinely upper-class sergeant and chief clerk with whom he shares a curiously antagonistic and long-suffering friendship, and Private Joe Walker, the black-marketer who more often than not interjects during Mainwaring's more pompous or moralistic lectures with either a cheeky quip or a sly revelation that Mainwaring is himself the beneficiary of some rather underhanded deals, despite his righteous outlook and declarations. He is particularly jealous of Wilson (who, as well as being notionally higher in social class than Mainwaring, is also both more relaxed and charming in nature and possesses combat experience that Mainwaring does not), and takes every opportunity to remind his sergeant exactly who is the senior of the two.

As a bank manager, he is shown to be highly efficient (if somewhat ruthless and stingy); as a military commander, however, he is frequently shown to be barely competent at the best of times (e.g. he is perennially confused by the 24-hour clock), and his plans and strategy frequently result in chaos. Mainwaring has no prior combat experience, a fact which sometimes caused tension with the other members of the Home Guard. He did, however, serve in France, "during the whole of 1919—somebody had to clear up the mess." Despite this, however, he considers himself to be an excellent military tactician and, given his height and background, is frequently demonstrated to possess a Napoleon Complex, something which is frequently referred to by his nemesis, ARP Warden Hodges. In one episode, 'A Soldier's Farewell', Mainwairing actually dreams that he is Napoleon Bonaparte, and is thwarted at Waterloo by a Duke of Wellington looking remarkably like Arthur Wilson.

Mainwaring yearns to be in control. Whenever a committee is formed he always ensures that he is appointed chairman, he founded the Home Guard and appointed himself an officer (he had to wait until Room at the Bottom before he received his commission. In addition in The Recruit he became (briefly) the De Facto military leader of Walmington on Sea after declaring a state of Martial Law.

Mainwaring is fiercely patriotic, and this can lead to xenophobia on his part (he is not too keen on the French, the Russians, the Americans and, of course, the Germans). Indeed, Mainwaring often refers to Hitler and the Germans as if he is leading his own personal war against them, insisting that "In fact I do wish he'd have a go - I'm spoiling for a fight" in the episode Menace from the Deep, regarding his desire during an air raid to get out of a bunker and face to face with the attacking Germans (who are, of course, in planes, and thus beyond his reach). Mainwaring's patriotism and eagerness to see combat can also blind him to the follies he is about to engage him or any British failings during the war; whenever Wilson points out a rational and plausible (if somewhat defeatist) outcome to any given scenario, Mainwaring's inevitable response is a dismissive "I don't want to hear any of that sort of talk, Wilson."

However, for all this, Mainwaring is not an entirely unlikeable or unsympathetic character; it is made apparent several times over the series that he devotes his energies to his Home Guard unit for a sense of comradeship and purpose that is lacking in other parts of his life, such as his career and marriage. On one notable occasion when his men spurned a parade in order to play darts against the ARP he expressed bewilderment at the men's reluctance, citing that for him coming to the platoon is "the highlight of my day." Most obviously, it is frequently implied that he is trapped in a loveless and unhappy marriage to Elizabeth, his unseen wife, who is clearly quite domineering, neurotic and withholding of affection. For example, in the 5th series episode If the Cap Fits... Mainwaring reveals he is able to play the bagpipes, a skill he learned on his honeymoon in Scotland because "there was nothing else to do".

Whilst his competence in military matters can be (and frequently is) called into question, his sheer bravery and courage cannot be denied; he is frequently willing to put himself in harm's way for the sake of his country and his platoon, and has frequently demonstrated that he is more than willing to take the same risks that he will order his men to undertake. Although his leadership is not always the most competent or efficient, the men serving under him are for the most part extremely loyal and devoted to him. There are also several scenes where Mainwaring is shown as a genuinely kind-hearted man, the most notable example being in his "brief encounter" with Mrs. Gray in the episode Mum's Army.

As Dad's Army ends with the Second World War still in progress, there is little hint provided in the series as to what Mainwaring's fortunes were after the war. However, a proposed radio sequel, It Sticks Out Half a Mile, was to have featured Mainwaring returning to England (having spent two years in Switzerland supervising the manufacture of cuckoo clocks) intending to renovate a decrepit seaside pier, only to have to negotiate a loan with the local bank manager - Arthur Wilson (Arthur Lowe was to have starred, but only recorded a pilot episode before his death). The first episode of Dad's Army also shines some light on Mainwaring's future; briefly set in the then-present day (1968), it features Mainwaring invited as guest-of-honour to the launch of Walmington-on-Sea's 'I'm Backing Britain' campaign, where he is referred to by Wilson as both an alderman and as chairman of the Rotary Club.

[edit] Catchphrases

"You stupid boy" to Pike, on average several times an episode.

"Is that you, Jones?" usually uttered when Jones has donned some outlandish disguise.

"Ah, just waiting to see who'd be the first one to spot that" whenever a member of the platoon makes a good suggestion.

"Oh, there's no time for that sort of thing"

Main Characters in Dad's Army
Captain Mainwaring • Sergeant Wilson • Lance-Corporal Jones • Private Frazer • Private Walker • Private Godfrey • Private Pike ARP Warden Hodges • Reverend Farthing  • Verger Yeatman  • Mavis Pike