Dad's Army

Dad's Army (1968)

38 mistakes - chronological order

(15 votes)

Battle of the Giants! - S4-E14

Other mistake: Mainwaring hangs his new cap on a hook on the inside of his office door, the rest of the platoon are having bayonet practice in the hall. Pike is running with the bayonet but misses the dummy and his bayonet goes through the office door and Mainwaring's cap. The bayonet only goes through the cap once, but there are two tears in the cap.

eric 64

Getting the Bird - S5-E4

Audio problem: Jonesy is playing the organ. A pigeon 'flies' out the top of the organ and lands on the keys, so Jonesy picks it up and moves it, taking both his hands off the keys. Yet the music plays on.

rabid anarchist

The King Was in His Counting House - S5-E7

Factual error: Captain Mainwaring is transferring money from his bank to another branch after it has been bombed. He has the money in a basket and is transporting it on a horse and cart when some of the money starts blowing out of the basket. Pike, Wilson, Walker, and Jones are riding bicycles behind him. They stop to pick up the money and just before Jones tells Pike to ride after Mainwaring to tell him about the money, you can see a silver car parked on the left hand grass verge in the direction Mainwaring is heading. This car was obviously made long after World War Two finished.

Time on My Hands - S5-E13

Revealing mistake: When the knight moves back and forth during the clock mechanism's operation, as he swings his sword, a blue pullover sleeve is visible beneath his armour, revealing that he is an actor in costume and not an automaton.

Time on My Hands - S5-E13

Revealing mistake: The lights in the café are not working, despite the room being brightly-lit from above (i.e. the brightness cannot be attributed to sunlight entering through the window).

The Royal Train - S6-E3

Continuity mistake: At the end when they line up for The Royal Train to pass there are six platoon members amongst those present, Private Frazer is not one of them. However, after the train passes and they are shown wet in head shots, he is present. As the camera pans out, we are back to the original six.

The Honourable Man - S6-E5

Visible crew/equipment: Bank scene: As Pike is handing the mail to Mr Mainwaring, a boom microphone is visible at the top of the screen for a second, and is quickly removed from view. (00:09:10)

Gorilla Warfare - S7-E3

Revealing mistake: This actually happens throughout the entire show but is most obvious at the beginning of this episode: When they are in the churchyard it is obviously a studio stage, as there are shadows at all angles around the cast from the studio lights. Also, the lights are quite prominently reflected in Arthur Lowe's glasses.

Is There Honey Still for Tea? - S8-E3

Character mistake: When Mainwaring and the others are discussing how to break the news to Godfrey about his cottage, it is mentioned that the roof is made of thatch. However when Mainwaring, Wilson and Pike go to visit Godfrey, the roof of his cottage can be seen and it is slate, with no thatch anywhere in sight.

Is There Honey Still for Tea? - S8-E3

Revealing mistake: When Mainwaring first comes into the bank, followed by the workmen with his new door, behind them is the 'high street', actually a painted backdrop. This is normal routine for studio sitcoms, however Mainwaring and the others all cast shadows on the backdrop, revealing it as a studio set.

Mainwaring: In the words of the great E.C Cochran. "Early to bed, early to rise, no jolly good if you don't advertise."

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The Royal Train - S6-E3

Question: A set of complicated events mean that Captain Mainwaring and some other members of the platoon have to drive a railway engine. After they leave the railway station it turns out that the railway engine has no brake wheel and cannot stop. The ARP warden, the mayor of Walmington, the vicar and verger take the brake wheel, jump on a handcar and chase after the engine. Catching up with the engine, they throw the brake wheel to Captain Mainwaring. The engine then reverses, so they must pedal the handcar even faster to avoid being run over. Could four men (all obviously in late middle age, and past peak fitness) pedal a handcar to outrun a railway engine at full steam? When the engine reverses, why do they pedal the handcar to stop being run over? Why don't they jump off the handcar, then pull the handcar off the track? (Also it takes the engine less than a minute to reverse. In reality, it would take several minutes to change a moving railway locomotive from forward to reverse).

Rob Halliday

Answer: The show is a comedy, this was played for comedic effect and to show that in times of extreme fear, in this case about to be crushed by a steam train, the men had an adrenaline surge strong enough to pedal fast enough.

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