| Wake-Up Walmington | |
| Series 9, Episode 1 | |
 | |
| Air Date | 2nd October 1977 |
| Written by | Jimmy Perry and David Croft |
| Director | Bob Spiers |
| Producer | David Croft |
| Length | 30 minutes |
| Original Audience Figures | Unknown |
| Previous episode | The Love of Three Oranges |
| Next episode | The Making of Private Pike |
| List of episodes | |
Wake-Up Walmington, sometimes known as Wake Up Walmington, is the first episode of the ninth series of Dad's Army. It was originally transmitted on 2nd October 1977.
Synopsis[]
As the threat of invasion lessens, complacency is setting in amongst the townsfolk. To counter this Mainwaring devises "Operation Wake-Up"; the platoon to masquerade as fifth columnists and act suspiciously. Eventually, the Eastgate platoon are called in to deal with them...
Plot[]
Captain Mainwaring is concerned that the residents of Walmington-on-Sea are becoming complacent, which could be catastrophic in the case of an invasion. He devises "Operation Wake-Up"—he and his men dress up as "cutthroats and desperadoes" (Pike dresses up as a Chicago gangster, Mainwaring wears an eye-patch and Jones, taking the whole thing too far, dresses up as a nun) and begin roaming the countryside, acting menacingly. Their efforts to frighten the locals are unsuccessful at first, despite their attempts to put on foreign accents.
However, when at last they finally do manage to cause some concern with their talk of "blowing up an aerodrome", the frightened locals send out for the Home Guard. With Mainwaring's platoon being obviously absent from their post, the neighbouring Eastgate platoon (under the command of Captain Square) are called out. Tracking Mainwaring down to a disused flourmill, he and his men open fire, covering them in flour. The episode ends with Mainwaring and Square exchanging insults.
Notes[]
- This was Captain Square's last appearance in the programme.
- Pike's costume was based on American gangster films such as Scarface.
- We are given a rough idea of the location of Walmington-on-Sea in this episode when, in a country pub six miles from Walmington, one character describes Dover as being "about 20 miles away".
- Jones' decision to dress up as a nun reflects the fact that in the war there were numerous reports that German parachutists were disguising themselves as nuns—something which was actually referenced several times throughout the nine series of Dad's Army.
