User Reviews

The Desperate Drive of Corporal Jones is the sort of episode you love more as a kid than you do as an adult. That's not to say it's a bad episode. There's a lot to enjoy in this tale of Jones's frantic attempts to rescue the platoon after they are accidentally sent to the co-ordinates of the target for a live ammunition exercise. I like the premise and the high level of peril, I like the pairing of Jones and Godfrey as a double act, and I love the scenes of the oblivious platoon saying things that can be taken in two different ways by anyone in possession of all the information. But there's some very broad stuff here too, from a Keystone Cops style slapstick moment with a car winding itself around a tree by its tow rope, a predictable plot involving Mainwaring's new overcoat, and a painfully unfunny running gag in which Jones repeatedly gets the name of HQ/Headquarters confused ("H Headquarters Q" and HQ Quarters Head" are just two side-splitting examples!). Jones is a beloved character for a reason but there's occasionally a tendency to overplay his eccentricities and things become just that little bit too silly. That's the case here, so you end up with an episode that gets a bit wearing in places. Still, overall it's a fun little caper.