User Reviews

After a lull in series 7 that seemed to suggest Dad's Army was past its best, a surprisingly terrific series 8 turned this around again with some exceptional scripts and the cast seeming engaged once again. Unfortunately, the first episode of the ninth and final series is indicative of a show in winddown once again. It's clear from the obviously flagging health of the cast that Dad's Army doesn't have long left. Arnold Ridley is looking very old at this stage and is being used very tentatively, but it is even more apparent that John Le Mesurier is struggling, with recent health problems having left him looking worryingly gaunt. It ends up making the experience of watching Dad's Army feel a little sad but that's not helped by the decline in quality of the scripts. Wake-Up Walmington feels like an attempt to recreate the success of series 8 opener Ring Dem Bells in which the platoon appeared as Nazis in a training film. That felt like a natural way to get them into unusual costumes but Wake-Up Walmington's plot about jolting the town out of their complacency by dressing as fifth columnists is a real stretch and feels like a poor excuse to get everyone dressed in silly clothes. It's more akin to the weak opening scene of the previous year's Christmas special The Love of Three Oranges, which had Fraser in a wedding dress and Godfrey in a clown suit. When silly costumes is the thing you're trying to crowbar in, it's clear your series is on its last legs. Wake-Up Walmington falls back on this hard, with the scene in which each cast member comes out in a daft get-up feeling like a bad Royal Variety Show sketch. The audience respond with rapturous applause but it's the sort of response that peters out into immediate dissatisfaction. Dad's Army is clearly on its way out.