The Armoured Might of Lance Corporal Jones

"The Armoured Might of Lance-Corporal Jones"
Dad's Army episode
Episode no.	Series Three Episode 013
Directed by	David Croft
Story by	Jimmy Perry and David Croft
Produced by	David Croft
Original air date	Thursday 11/9/69 7.30pm (recorded Sunday 25/5/69)
Running time	30 minutes
Episode chronology
← Previous "Under Fire" Next → "Battle School"

The Armoured Might of Lance-Corporal Jones is the first episode of the third series of the British comedy series Dad's Army that was originally transmitted on Thursday 11 September 1969.

Contents 1 TV episodes 1.1 Synopsis 1.2 Plot 1.3 Notes 1.4 Cast 2 Radio episode 2.1 Synopsis 2.2 Plot 2.3 Notes 2.4 Cast 3 References 4 External links

TV episodes

Synopsis

Lance Corporal Jones allows the platoon to use his butcher's van as an armoured car and Mainwaring meets the new Chief ARP Warden, William Hodges the greengrocer.

Plot

Following a lecture on the gases the enemy will use, Captain Mainwaring reads a communiqué sent by GHQ, which says that there isn't enough communication between the ARP and the Home Guard, so the new Chief Warden is coming to discuss co-operation. Mainwaring is disgusted to learn from Wilson that the new Chief Warden is that 'common fellow' Mr Hodges. Mainwaring believes that Hodges' occupation (a greengrocer) doesn't entitle him to be Chief Warden. Wilson agrees by saying that he has dirty finger nails. When Hodges arrives, he and Mainwaring have a brief argument about who should get the church hall on which day.

Some time afterwards, Walker talks to Jones about his delivery van. He reckons that he should lend it to Mainwaring as platoon transport. Jones is suspicious, so Walker admits that it will help his black market activities, but offers Jones petrol coupons in return. Jones reluctantly agrees.

The next day, Mainwaring congratulates Jones and Walker on their efforts with the van. Jones tells Mainwaring that it not only serves as a troop carrier and armoured car, but it also serves as an ambulance. Wilson demonstrates with some of the platoon to Mainwaring, their new embarking and disembarking strategy, which interrupts Hodges' ARP lecture. He demands to know the reason why, and is intrigued to learn that the van doubles up as an ambulance. He asks the men to come down to Saturday's air raid practice and act as stretcher-bearers for the ambulance. Mainwaring concludes the lecture by telling Jones and Walker that the van is being converted to gas.

Jones and Walker reluctantly travel to the church hall with a giant gas-bag on the roof. Jones' bayonet accidentally punctures the gas supply pipe and Jones and Walker succumb to the gas. When they recover, they learn that the gas bag is nearly empty. They reach the church hall to find it empty except for Frazer, who tells them that everyone's already at the practice. Frazer decides to use the Vicar's gas fire to refill the gas bag. The Vicar interrupts, but Frazer passes it off as filling the Vicar's gas fire.

The trio arrive at the practice, and they prepare to load an old man onto the back of the van, but Jones has left the keys at the hall. They attempt to put the old man through the window of the van, while Jones 'borrows' an irate man's bike to fetch the keys. When he arrives, they prepare to load the old man into the van, but it drives off before they can fully load him on. After two unsuccessful attempts, the old man gets up off the stretcher, declaring he'll walk to the "flippin'" hospital.

Notes

1. This was the first episode to be made in colour. However it was initially transmitted in black and white as BBC One's colour service did not begin transmitting until 15 November 1969 and it was not until it was repeated that it was seen in colour. Tests were made with Dad's Army at this time on a temporary service from September to November 1969 (http://www.tvhistory.btinternet.co.uk/html/bbc1_colour.html) (The first episode to be transmitted in colour on the regular service was "Branded".)
2. The character of the "angry man" was the first television appearance of Nigel Hawthorne.
3. This episode was the first to feature Reverend Timothy Farthing in person
4. The old man on the stretcher is Mr Blewitt, as established in later episodes in a semi-regular role
5. ARP Warden William Hodges wants the church hall every Wednesday evening in this episode

Cast

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
Janet Davies	Mrs. Pike
Bill Pertwee	ARP Warden Hodges
Frank Williams	Vicar
Queenie Watts	Mrs Peters
Pamela Cundell	Mrs Fox
Jean St. Clair	Miss Meadows
Olive Mercer	Mrs Casson
Nigel Hawthorne	Angry Man
Harold Bennett	Old Man
Dick Haydon	Raymond

Radio episode

"The Armoured Might of Lance Corporal Jones"
Dad's Army episode
Episode no.	Series One Episode 006
Story by	Harold Snoad and Michael Knowles
Produced by	John Dyas
Original air date	Monday 4/3/74, 6.15pm (recorded Friday 6/7/73)
Running time	30 minutes
Episode chronology
← Previous "The Battle of Godfrey's Cottage" Next → "Sgt. Wilson's Little Secret"

Synopsis

Plot

Notes

Cast

References

• Croft, David; Perry, Jimmy; Webber, Richard (2000). The Complete A-Z of Dad’s Army. Orion. ISBN 0-75284-637-X. 

External links

• "The Armoured Might of Lance Corporal Jones" at BBC Programmes
• "The Armoured Might of Lance Corporal Jones" at the Internet Movie Database
• "The Armoured Might of Lance Corporal Jones" at TV.com

Dad's Army series 3 episodes "The Armoured Might of Lance Corporal Jones" "Battle School" "The Lion Has Phones" "The Bullet is Not for Firing" "Something Nasty in the Vault" "Room at the Bottom" "Big Guns" "The Day the Balloon Went Up" "War Dance" "Menace from the Deep" "Branded" "Man Hunt" "No Spring for Frazer" "Sons of the Sea"