The Man and the Hour


"The Man and the Hour" is the pilot episode of the British comedy sitcom Dad's Army. It was originally transmitted on 31 July 1968 and was later adapted for radio.

Synopsis

On the outbreak of the Second World War, a local bank manager, George Mainwaring, takes it upon himself to form a unit of Local Defence Volunteers in the Sussex town of Walmington-on-Sea.

Plot

It starts in present-day with local Walmington-on-Sea dignitary George Mainwaring announcing that he is backing Britain. A flash back shows on a TV screen showing scenes from the Second World War and the Army.
It then reverts to Swallows Bank, Walmington-on-Sea. George Mainwaring and his clerks, Arthur Wilson and Frank Pike, are laying sandbags at the window. Mainwaring then receives a message saying that he can set up a LDV unit to protect Britain. He finds out more about this on the wireless, having been told by a clerk, Janet King, that Anthony Eden is about to make a Ministerial broadcast. Pike is told to go round to all the LDV volunteers and tell them to meet in the church hall.
At the church hall, many people are waiting and Mainwaring begins to enroll them. He makes Wilson his sergeant and Jones his lance-corporal. ARP warden Hodges bursts in and tells the commander to "shove off" because he needs the hall for an ARP lecture. Mainwaring is forced to let Hodges use it and instructs the platoon to meet in the hall later.
Later, Captain Mainwaring and Sergeant Wilson are inspecting the platoon, Godfrey has a gun and Mainwaring believes that he should have it because he is the officer, but Godfrey refuses. The platoon are told about tanks and how to defeat then. The men play at being tanks and how to destroy them. Frank's mother, Mavis, arrives to pick up Frank because it's his bedtime. The uniform and weapons arrive and are handed out. It is not what the platoon expected. Mainwaring gives a speech and the platoon cheer.

Cast