| "Menace from the Deep" | |||
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| Dad's Army episode | |||
| Episode no. | Series Three Episode 022 |
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| Directed by | David Croft | ||
| Story by | Jimmy Perry and David Croft | ||
| Produced by | David Croft | ||
| Original air date | Thursday 13/11/1969 7.30 pm (recorded Monday 7/11/69) |
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| Running time | 30 minutes | ||
| Episode chronology | |||
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"Menace from the Deep" is the tenth episode of the third series of the British comedy series Dad's Army that was originally transmitted on Thursday 13 November 1969.
Contents |
Marooned on the pier head, the platoon have no food or phone - then along comes Hodges and a sea-mine.
Two sailors are patrolling the Walmington-on-Sea pier. They grumble that no one will be coming down to look after it for two weeks. They laugh as they realise the Home Guard will have to take over each night for a week.
The platoon are discussing their latest assignment. Frazer will carry them over to the pier in boat, because he has the best Naval experience. Jones will provide food for the night, Walker will bring along a bottle of whisky and Wilson's brought some acid drops - clearly it will be a "gastronomic orgy", according to Wilson. However, when Mainwaring attempts to teach them how to get into a boat, he and Frazer have a falling out and it is determined that Mainwaring will row them over, so it takes longer than expected to get Wilson and Frazer across.
As Pike is the last man across, he will be in charge of securing the boat. Mainwaring quickly commandeers the only hammock, but Wilson persuades him that they should take it in turns, but Mainwaring will go first. Pike secures the boat, but leaves the food in it, so he goes to fetch it. However, he comes back dejected: he had tied the boat to the telephone cable, and now the boat's gone, with all the food on it. The platoon are cut off.
Jones suggests using the window to signal Morse code to the shore to get help. Unfortunately, ARP Warden Hodges spots it and rows out in a children's paddle boat to try to get them to switch it off. Unfortunately, the boat sinks, and Hodges is stranded with the platoon. To calm him down, Walker gives him his bottle of whisky. Pike spots a crane game where the prize is chocolate. Frazer is the only one with pennies, but they fail at each attempt, so Walker steals some chocolate from inside the machine. Unfortunately, they are almost all cardboard, to the great distaste of everybody - except Frazer, who has somehow managed to obtain the only real chocolate bar and is not willing to share it.
Late in the night, the platoon are woken to Hodges' drunken singing. It is decided that Hodges should have the hammock so he can get some sleep. At about 5:45 am, Jones sees an unusual object through the floorboards, and alerts Mainwaring, who identifies it as a mine. They wake everybody up and they try to hook it. Hodges scoffs at their attempts and tries to hook it himself. However, he falls in the water again, and, since the mine turns out to be magnetic, has to remove his tin helmet to prevent it following him.
The platoon set up the Lewis Gun and fire at it with their rifles. However, the mine edges closer to Walmington. A soaking Hodges joins them and, using his expert bowling skills, manages to blow up the mine with a wooden boule.
On-location footage for this episode was filmed on Great Yarmouth's Wellington Pier.
| Cast | Characters |
|---|---|
| Arthur Lowe | Captain Mainwaring |
| John Le Mesurier | Sergeant Wilson |
| Clive Dunn | Lance Corporal Jones |
| John Laurie | Private Frazer |
| James Beck | Private Walker |
| Arnold Ridley | Private Godfrey |
| Ian Lavender | Private Pike |
| Bill Pertwee | ARP Warden Hodges |
| Stuart Sherwin | 2nd ARP Warden |
| Bill Treacher | 1st Soldier |
| Larry Martyn | 2nd Soldier |
| "Menace from the Deep" | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Dad's Army episode | |||
| Episode no. | Series One Episode 018 |
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| Story by | Harold Snoad and Michael Knowles | ||
| Produced by | John Dyas | ||
| Original air date | Monday 27/5/74, 6.15 pm (recorded Tuesday 24/7/73) |
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| Running time | 30 minutes | ||
| Episode chronology | |||
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