The Deadly Attachment

"The Deadly Attachment" is the first episode of the sixth series of the British television sitcom Dad's Army. It was originally transmitted on Wednesday 31 October 1973. It has become one of the best known episodes of the series due to the rare encounter between the platoon and the Germans. A scene in which a German officer demands to know Private Pike's name, and Captain Mainwaring says "Don't tell him, Pike!", has been judged as one of the top three greatest comedy moments of British television.[1]

"The Deadly Attachment"
Dad's Army episode
The U-Boat Captain demands Pike's name
Episode no.Series Six
Episode 054
Directed byDavid Croft
Story byJimmy Perry and David Croft
Produced byDavid Croft
Original air dateWednesday 31 October 1973 6.50pm
(recorded Friday 22 June 1973)
Running time30 minutes

Plot

Eight survivors of a sunken German U-Boat, including their surly captain, have been picked up by a fishing boat and taken to Walmington-on-Sea. The Home Guard unit is to be responsible for providing security until the proper military escort can arrive. Captain Mainwaring refers to Adolf Hitler as a tinpot dictator resembling Charlie Chaplin, annoying the captain, who starts to make a list of names of who he will seek out for retribution once the war ends. Pike sings a song in which Hitler is called a "twerp"; the captain says that his name will also go on the list, and asks what it is. Mainwaring says "Don't tell him, Pike!".

The platoon settle down to guard the prisoners overnight. The Verger and Warden Hodges enter the hall after a night out drinking to find the prisoners there waiting for them. Taking advantage of the distraction, the U-Boat Captain feigns illness and manages to steal Mainwaring's revolver, seizing Hodges as a hostage and threatening to kill him if Mainwaring does not release them. Mainwaring eventually agrees, confident that someone in the town will see them escaping. However, the Captain has anticipated this – the platoon will be forced to march the prisoners through town to the harbour so as to offset suspicion, and will then accompany the prisoners back to Germany to ensure that the Royal Navy do not intervene. Once they are back in Germany, his list will be closely examined. Cooperation will be further enforced by a grenade in Corporal Jones' waistband, which the Captain will activate at any hint of trouble. Wilson had earlier primed the platoon's grenades with dummy detonators, not trusting Private Pike to handle live ammunition.

The U-Boat captain's plan is inadvertently ruined by Mainwaring's senior officer, the Colonel, who chances upon the marching platoon en route to meeting the escort and, seeing the string in Jones' waistband, immediately pulls it. In the resulting chaos, Wilson calmly asks the Colonel for a pistol, and uses it to recapture the German Captain, forcing him and his men up against the wall. Once everything has calmed down, and Mainwaring has realised that in disobeying his orders, Wilson has saved Jones' life, Jones requests if someone could ask Private Frazer to remove his hand from his trousers.

Cast

Notes
Mill Lane in Thetford was used for part of this episode's location filming.
  1. Actor Philip Madoc's portrayal of the scheming U-Boat captain is regularly recalled.[2] When Madoc died, BBC News broadcast a clip from this episode as part of their obituary.
  2. Half of the length of string used during filming was in the collection of Jimmy Perry, while the other half is in the Blitz and Pieces museum, having been donated by David Croft.
  3. A song played in this episode was "All over the Place" by Jay Wilbur and his band and the Greene Sisters.

Adaptations

The episode was adapted for radio and a recreation of this episode formed the fourth instalment of the 2007 Dad's Army Stage Show. In 1976, the episode script was selected as the basis of an unsuccessful pilot episode for an American Broadcasting Company adaptation called The Rear Guard. The script also forms part of the combination of four shortened episodes published for amateur production.

The episode has been adapted on a number of occasions. Some changes were made when this episode was adapted for radio. In particular, it was The Vicar, not Hodges, who became the hostage. (Initially the grenade was set to be inserted into Mainwaring's trousers, but Arthur Lowe refused and so Jones was chosen instead.)

References
  1. "BBC News – ENTERTAINMENT – Television's crowning moments". bbc.co.uk.
  2. Webber, Richard (1999). Dad's Army: A Celebration. London: Virgin Publishing Ltd. p. 125. ISBN 0-7535-0307-7.
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