Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #131 in DVD
• Released on: 2007-10-29
• Rating: Parental Guidance
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Format: PAL
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 14

DVD Description
Dad's Army was created and written by Jimmy Perry and David Croft, the duo who were also responsible for 'Allo 'Allo, Hi-De-Hi! and It Ain't Half Hot, Mum . Perry came up with the idea when it struck him that people had forgotten the role that the Home Guard played in the Second World War.

The sitcom followed the farcical exploits of the Walmington-on-Sea platoon, led by Captain Mainwaring (Arthur Lowe) and it ran on TV from 1968 to 1977. The story begins in May 1940 with Sir Anthony Eden's plea to men to come forward as Local Defence Volunteers. In the fictional town of Walmington, the pompous bank manager George Mainwaring declares himself commanding officer ("Times of peril always bring great men to the fore,") and gathers together a loyal but incompetent platoon of local men to defend the town against invasion.

Although reviewers initially criticised the series for mocking the Home Guard, the plotline was surprisingly realistic. The real Home Guard lacked uniforms and weapons at first, and the huge influx of volunteers meant that the organisation was quite shambolic. The age limit for recruits was supposed to be 65, but this was not enforced to begin with, allowing First World War veterans in their seventies and eighties to creep in.

Dad's Army had its own elderly, incontinent Private Godfrey, played by Arnold Ridley, who had fought in WW1 himself. The actor was seriously injured at the Somme, rendering his left arm almost useless, and leaving him susceptible to blackouts.

Among the rest of the cast were Clive Dunn (who simultaneously drew in a different audience as the chart-topping pop star 'Grandad'), Hattie Jacques' former husband, John le Mesurier and a baby-faced Ian Lavender, who has since resurfaced as Derek in EastEnders.

This box set features the entire collection of surviving episodes of the programme. Includes all nine surviving episodes from Series 1 and 2 and the complete series 3-9.

Synopsis
This all-encompassing collection features every series and each of the specials from the hilarious, yet timeless sitcom, DAD'S ARMY.

Customer Reviews

Don't Panic! Don't Panic!
I've been very pleasantly surprised by this box set. Having read other reviews, which suggested the set was short on extras, I took the plunge as I did not previously have any Dad's Army DVDs and had probably not seen all the shows. Whilst it is true that there are not extras on every disc, there is more than enough to justify the release.

So far I've found 7 individual short features on the main stars, entitled 'We Are The Boys'. They are spread across the first 13 discs, as are several picture galleries. These shorts feature interviews with surviving cast members as well as Jimmy Croft and David Perry.

The real magic is to be found on the final disc, which is only advertised as 'The Christmas Specials', but which contains around ten shorts, including long forgotten Blue Peter appearances, Road Safety films, sketches, a Noel Coward Review and more. There's also another photo gallery and an article from the Radio Times.

I have no idea if all this content was previously available on the individual releases and best of compilations, but it provides a very welcome bonus to round off one of the finest situation comedies ever.

Ok so there's no commentaries, but does anyone really need to have the minutiae of this great show explained to them? Buy the box set, take a week off work and enjoy! Finally I'd like to say I never doubted the content of this box set, I knew it would be great right from the off and I said so.

All inclusive!
To answer a previous reviewers question, this box set contains all the episodes available previously and the program 'Missing Believed Wiped' as well as audio versions of the remainder of series 2.

A fantastic collection
This is the ultimate collection of the 'Dad's Army' TV series and it is all you could ask for.Featuring every single available episode and also several extras I really don't know how it could be improved upon.

Of course some episodes are better than others but when you realise just how many episodes were written the quality and consistancy of the writing is amazing.This box set also includes the three Christmas specials.Quite simply this is classic comedy at it's best and it just has to be awarded maximum marks.Fabulous and well worth spending your cash on.