| The Battle of Godfrey's Cottage | |
| Series 2, Episode 2 | |
 | |
| Air Date | 8 March 1969 |
| Written by | Jimmy Perry & David Croft |
| Director | David Croft |
| Producer | David Croft |
| Length | 30 minutes |
| Original Audience Figures | 11.3 Million |
| Previous episode | Operation Kilt |
| Next episode | The Loneliness of the Long Distance Walker |
| List of episodes | |
Synopsis
Edit
After the church bells ring to signal an invasion from the Germans, Mainwaring, Wilson, Jones, Frazer, Pike and Walker all go to Godfrey's Cottage and start fighting the "Germans."
PlotEdit
While most of the platoon are on their way to the cinema to see a training film, the church bells ring, and Mainwaring, Jones and Frazer take up a defensive position at Godrey's cottage. Wilson, Pike, Walker and Sponge can't find the others, and, leaving Sponge behind at the command post, head to Godfrey's cottage. There they see Jones, wearing one of Godfrey's old German helmets, and fire at him. Meanwhile, Godfrey's sisters shake a tablecloth out of the window, which is interpreted by Wilson as a surrender. In the end, Sponge and the rest of the platoon who mistakes them as Germans; starts firing on Mainwaring and Wilson, Mainwaring quickly orders Wilson to wave something white.
CastEdit
- Arthur Lowe as Captain Mainwaring
- John Le Mesurier as Sergeant Wilson
- Clive Dunn as Lance Corporal Jones
- John Laurie as Private Frazer
- James Beck as Private Walker
- Arnold Ridley as Private Godfrey
- Ian Lavender as Private Pike
- Janet Davies as Mrs Pike
- Amy Dalby as Dolly
- Nan Braunton as Cissy
- Bill Pertwee as ARP Warden Hodges
- Colin Bean as Private Sponge
NotesEdit
- This episode was missing from the BBC's television archives for many years and were thought to be lost forever. However in June 2001 this episode and Operation Kilt were returned to the BBC after almost 25 years. The containers that the episodes were held in were in a poor condition and the film's quality had deteriorated. Following laborious work by a restoration team, it was restored and re-transmitted.
- However, despite the excellent restoration work undertaken, a short part of the film towards the end of the episode (during the scene where the warden bursts into Godfrey's cottage) had deteriorated beyond recovery, so is still 'missing'. No complete copy of the episode is known to exist.
- This episode was originally titled The Battle of Mon Repos.
