Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #5496 in DVD
• Released on: 2006-01-23
• Rating: Universal, suitable for all
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Format: PAL
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 2
• Running time: 11 minutes

Synopsis
Features the complete twelve episodes from the fifth series of the popular television comedy. This is vintage comedy, in every sense, from Jimmy Perry and David Croft. As Walmington-on-Sea trembles at the thought of a mighty Nazi invasion, the indefatigable Captain Mainwaring and his eager Home Guard are ready and waiting - regardless that some of them are so old they can hardly stand up... Starring Arthur Lowe, John Le Mesurier and Clive Dunn. Winner of 3 Writers Guild awards and a BAFTA.

Series 5 contains the episodes: 'Asleep In The Deep', 'Keep Young And Beautiful', 'A Soldier's Farewell', 'Getting The Bird', 'The Desperate Drive Of Corporal Jones', 'If The Cap Fits', 'The King Was In His Counting House', 'All Is Safely Gathered In', 'When Did You Last See Your Money?', 'Brain Versus Brawn', 'A Brush With The Law', 'Round And Round Went The Great Big Wheel' and 'Time On My Hands'.

Customer Reviews

We are the boys who will make you see again.
Jimmy Perry and David Croft were responsible for some of the best of all British TV comedy series. The passing of time seems to have elevated at least one of them - Dad's Army - to classic status.

Series 5 dates from 1972. I wouldn't argue with anyone claiming it is the best series of all. Plot lines and situations are not necessarily tied to attempts by a collection of home guards preparing to defend England from enemy attack. An especially funny episode - A Soldier's Farewell - shows Captain Mannering getting a rude awakening after dreaming that he is Napoleon. Another shows the platoon's attempt to safeguard all the money after Captain Mannering's bank receives a direct hit. The visual and the scripted comedy moments here are some of the best, but they are not directly tied to routine training exercises.

getting better all the time.
Ever since the BBC finally decided to release every series of Dad's Army in order, I have been amazed at how the show appears to come on leaps and bounds as the years go by. Series 5 continues that trend.

The acting and script are much improved from series 4; Corporal Jones' anecdotes are even more pointless and tiresome (exactly as intended), Private Godfrey's lines are somewhat less predictable (he isn't asking to "be excused" quite so often), and Private Pike is even more gormless than before. The tension between Captain Mainwaring and Sergeant Wilson has been raised a notch or three, and looks set to explode at any moment.

Once again the DVD production is let down by poor extras - a small window into the life of John Laurie (Fraser), who certainly sounds like a more interesting man than the time he's given suggests, and a photo gallery containing mostly stills from the episodes in black and white.

But that doesn't detract from the episodes themselves, and the DVD is still worth the money.

Many hours of TV's finest...
At last! The Fifth Series of Dad's Army. Having viewed the episodes, I can say with confidence that the transfer to DVD has not impaired the audio and visual quality of the material in any way.

The episodes themselves include some of the classics from the many years that Dad's Army was on our screens. 'Asleep in the Deep' will be a familiar favourite for many, while 'Keep Young and Beautiful' and 'The King was in his Counting House' are true gems.

The extras include a selection of photos from the sets and of the cast, and also the third episode in a mini-series on the cast
(this episode focuses on the troublesome Fraser, played by John Laurie). The latter extra is most interesting, following in the footsteps of the previous installments (on Arnold Ridley as Godfrey and James Beck as Walker).

As a final comment, it is sad that the two-disc set includes nothing else inside the case (that is, an episode breakdown card, into the scenes that can be selected from the DVD menus). This is, however, a minor point, and once again, it's great to watch another amusing series of one of the nation's favourite comedies.