| Mavis Pike | |
 | |
| Born | Unknown |
| Occupation | Housewife |
| Relatives | Frank Pike (son) |
| Affiliations | Walmington-on-Sea Home Guard Arthur Wilson |
| Series information | |
| First seen | The Man and the Hour |
| Last Seen | Never Too Old |
| Portrayed by | Janet Davies (TV) Liz Fraser (1971 film) Pearl Hackney (Radio) Sarah Lancashire (2016 film) |
| List of Characters | |
Mavis Pike, often referred to simply as Mrs. Pike, was the mother of Frank Pike and a resident of Walmington-on-Sea. She was portrayed by Janet Davies, though in the 1971 film of the series the character was played by Liz Fraser.
Personality[]
Mavis was overprotective of her son Frank, and treated him like a child. She often made him wear a scarf on parade in all weathers, and interrupted parades with complaints to Captain Mainwaring about Frank's health and welfare.
It is often implied that Mavis is Sergeant Wilson's lover. He claims that "She's a widow and she has my ration book and I go round to her house sometimes for meals... and that sort of thing." The show's writers, Jimmy Perry and David Croft, said years after the end of the show that they intended Wilson to have been Frank's father. Mavis is a widow and Frank 17, which implies any affair between was long-standing. She is also occasionally linked with Hodges, the local greengrocer and Chief Warden, which caused tension between the two men.
She is very hot-tempered and is frequently threatening to 'box Pike's in' when Pike has been doing something out-of-order. She excessively cared about Pike enough to nearly have a heart attack upon finding out Pike had found a girlfriend.
Although fussy, she was kind-hearted, and at one point took in an evacuee from London (also called Arthur) in Sgt. Wilson's Little Secret, leading to a misunderstanding with Wilson that she is pregnant.
Portrayals[]
The recasting of Mrs. Pike for the feature film of the series was met with much criticism, as well as disappointment from Davies herself. Liz Fraser was chosen because director Norman Cohen wanted a less homely, more "sexy" actress for the role. Jimmy Perry later said "It was a mistake... not to cast Janet in the role because the viewing public has come to recognise her as Mrs. Pike. But that was a decision made by Columbia (the production company)."
Pearl Hackney portrayed Mrs. Pike in the radio adaptations. Janet Davies reprised her role in two episodes of the radio spin-off It Sticks Out Half a Mile.