Mrs Fox

Mrs Mildred Fox is a minor character, played by the actress^[1] Pamela Cundell,^[2] in Dad's Army, a situation comedy depicting life in wartime England that ran between 1968 and 1977 on BBC TV. In the first episode in which she appears^[3] she is seen queueing for meat at Jones the Butchers'.

The amorous, larger than life Mrs Fox (Pamela Cundell) gives her matronly attentions freely to the platoon's men and she eventually marries the elderly but eligible Corporal Jones. (Lance Pettit, Museum of Broadcast Communications)

Like many of Jones's customers, on producing her ration book she receives an extra sausage, much to the chagrin of another shopper, the actress Olive Mercer (herself later to join the cast as the wife of Mr Yeatman, the verger). In return, Jones receives an enormous wink that sets the tone for much of what was to follow as the role develops. Mildred (originally Marcia) Fox is an ebullient woman, who has an off-screen husband in this first episode.^[4] By "The Big Parade", transmitted exactly a year later^[5] she is referred to as a widow, so presumably she lost her husband between these episodes. What followed was a long running saga in which Corporal Jones wooed Mrs Fox, often with hilarious consequences, with at one point Jones describing the relationship as merely teutonic (sic)^[6] Whenever he seems to be making progress a setback occurs: for example the arrival of American servicemen turns the heads of the Walmington-on-Sea women.^[7] Victoria Wood points out^[8] that part of the success of Dad's Army came from its juxtaposition of comedic situations such as the rivalry between various ladies of the town to play Lady Godiva^[9] and the exploration of far deeper, more complex emotions^[10] between older people. As the series drew to an end co- creators David Croft and Jimmy Perry debated whether to marry off Jones and his "Merry Widow".^[11] This finally came to pass in the last episode of the series, much to the delight of a massive television audience.^[12] Right at the end, she refers to herself as "Mrs. Jones".

Cundell, up until her nineties, still made appearances at fan forums^[13] and, occasionally on local TV and radio programmes.^[14] Mollie Sugden played the role in the radio series.

References