"The Love of Three Oranges" is the third Christmas episode of the British comedy series ''

Dad's Army ''Dad's Army'' is a British television British sitcom, sitcom about the United Kingdom's Home Guard (United Kingdom), Home Guard during the World War II, Second World War. It was written by Jimmy Perry and David Croft (TV producer), David Crof ...

''. It was originally transmitted on 26 December 1976.

Synopsis

A church

bazaar A bazaar or souk is a marketplace consisting of multiple small Market stall, stalls or shops, especially in the Middle East, the Balkans, Central Asia, North Africa and South Asia. They are traditionally located in vaulted or covered streets th ...

is organised for the "Comforts for the Troops Fund". Hodges intends to

auction An auction is usually a process of Trade, buying and selling Good (economics), goods or Service (economics), services by offering them up for Bidding, bids, taking bids, and then selling the item to the highest bidder or buying the item from th ...

three oranges, and Mainwaring is determined to get hold of one for Mrs Mainwaring.

Plot

The

platoon A platoon is a Military organization, military unit typically composed of two to four squads, Section (military unit), sections, or patrols. Platoon organization varies depending on the country and the Military branch, branch, but a platoon can ...

are parading in their snow camouflage suits so they can blend in with the snow, if there was any. Jones' glasses are completely white except for two small, dark holes in the middle because he has highly coloured eyes. He also has cotton wool pushed up his nostrils, because he claims that his nostrils flare. Pike is wearing a white sheet over his head because his mother would not let him put whitewash on his face. Frazer is dressed in his mother's wedding dress, as it was all he could find, and Godfrey is wearing a

Pierrot Pierrot ( , ; ), a stock character of pantomime and commedia dell'arte, has his origins in the late 17th-century Italian troupe of players performing in Paris and known as the Comédie-Italienne. The name is a hypocorism, diminutive of ''Pierr ...

costume he wore, complete with pompoms, for the Army and Navy Stores Christmas party, where they made up a troupe called the Gay Gondoliers. The

Vicar A vicar (; Latin: '' vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English p ...

and the

Verger A verger (or virger, so called after the staff of the office, or wandsman in British English though archaic) is a person usually a layperson, who assists in the ordering of religious services, particularly in Anglican churches. Etymology ...

interrupt the

parade A parade is a procession of people, usually organized along a street, often in costume, and often accompanied by marching bands, floats, or sometimes large balloons. Parades are held for a wide range of reasons, but are usually some variety ...

and inform Mainwaring of a church bazaar they are holding for the Comforts for the Troops Fund. Mainwaring naturally takes charge and forms a small executive committee. Godfrey will provide chutney and homemade wine, Frazer will draw silhouettes, Mrs Pike will run a

jumble sale A jumble sale (UK), bring and buy sale (Australia, also UK) or rummage sale (US and Canada) is an event at which second hand goods are sold, usually by an institution such as a local Boys' Brigade, Boys' Brigade Company, Scouting, Scout group, ...

, Mrs Fox will perform fortune-telling in a gypsy tent, Mrs Mainwaring will provide lampshades, Mrs Yeatman will organise the tombola, and Jones will auction a monster brawn. Hodges shoves his oar in by declaring he will auction three oranges, much to the committee's surprise. The bazaar opens, but Mrs Mainwaring's lampshade stall is empty. The reason, as Mainwaring tells Wilson, is that Mrs Mainwaring had an unfortunate incident with the bath (he had recently enamelled it, and the

enamel paint Enamel paint is paint that air-dries to a hard, usually glossy, finish, used for coating surfaces that are outdoors or otherwise subject to hard wear or variations in temperature; it should not be confused with decorated objects in "painted enam ...

had not dried and came off in one long strip, making an enamel skirt around her as she prepared to take a bath), and she will not be coming. Mainwaring admits to Wilson that he would only be embarrassed by the lampshades anyway, but it turns out that Pike picked them up from Mainwaring's house. Frazer has started on his silhouettes, and makes a rather embarrassing one of Mainwaring, who is most annoyed. Every so often, Jones and Pike carry Jones's brawn into the yard, as it is melting in the heat, and back in again. Mainwaring tries to win a bottle of whisky from the tombola stall but loses out to the Vicar. When he notices the town clerk and some of his men drunk, he confronts Godfrey, who admits that everybody has been tasting the wine but nobody is buying it. A

despatch rider A despatch rider (or dispatch) is a military messenger, mounted on horse or motorcycle (and occasionally in Egypt during World War I, on camels). In the UK 'despatch rider' is also a term used for a motorcycle courier. Despatch riders were use ...

arrives with a message but, when he leaves, his motorbike runs over Jones' brawn, making it impossible to auction. Mainwaring also finds that Sponge is selling the lampshades as funny hats. Just as Hodges announces the auction of the oranges, Mainwaring tells Wilson that he must get one of the oranges for Mrs Mainwaring. The Verger overhears and warns Hodges, who resolves to stop Mainwaring. The first orange is sold for one shilling to Mrs Yeatman, before Mainwaring had finished

bidding Bidding is an offer (often competitive) to set a price tag by an individual or business for a product or service ''or'' a demand that something be done. Bidding is used to determine the cost or value of something. Bidding can be performed b ...

. The second orange is withdrawn from the sale for (according to Hodges) not reaching its unstated

reserve price In economics, a reservation (or reserve) price is a limit on the price of a good or a service. On the demand side, it is the highest price that a buyer is willing to pay; on the supply side, it is the lowest price a seller is willing to accept f ...

. Wilson tells Pike to buy the last orange for Mainwaring. As they end up bidding against each other (unknowingly), the orange eventually sells for an enormous ten shillings. Mainwaring brings Jones' section into the office. Mrs Mainwaring rings and tells Pike that she has gone to stay with her sister for the weekend. Pike tells her about the orange, but she promptly slams the phone down. Mainwaring therefore decides to share the orange with Wilson and Jones' section. Suddenly Hodges comes bursting in and tells Mainwaring that they will find the orange rather bitter as it is intended for use in making

marmalade Marmalade (from the Portuguese ''marmelada'') is a fruit preserves, fruit preserve made from the juice and peel of citrus fruits boiled with sugar and water. The well-known version is made from bitter orange. It also has been made from lemons ...

Cast

Arthur Lowe Arthur Lowe (22 September 1915 – 15 April 1982) was an English actor. His acting career spanned 37 years, including starring roles in numerous theatre and television productions. He played Captain Mainwaring in the British sitcom ''Dad ...

Captain Mainwaring Captain George Mainwaring () is a fictional Home Guard captain, first portrayed by Arthur Lowe in the BBC television sitcom ''Dad's Army''. In the 2016 film he is played by Toby Jones and in the 2019 remake of three missing episodes he is pla ...

John Le Mesurier John Le Mesurier (, born John Elton Le Mesurier Halliley; 5 April 191215 November 1983) was an English actor. He is probably best remembered for his comedic role as Sergeant Arthur Wilson in the BBC television situation com ...

Sergeant Wilson Sergeant Arthur Wilson is a fictional Home Guard platoon sergeant and bank chief clerk, first portrayed by John Le Mesurier in the BBC television sitcom ''Dad's Army''. Background Wilson was born in 1887, and is carefree, cheerful and well-s ...

Clive Dunn Clive Robert Bertram Dunn (born Robert Bertram Dunn; 9 January 19206 November 2012) was an English actor. Although he was only 48 and one of the youngest cast members, he was cast in a role many years his senior, as the elderly Lance Corporal ...

Lance Corporal Jones Lance Corporal Jack Jones is a fictional British Home Guard, Home Guard platoon lance corporal and veteran of the British Empire, first portrayed by Clive Dunn in the BBC television sitcom ''Dad's Army''. His catchphrases are "Don't panic!", "Pe ...

John Laurie John Paton Laurie (25 March 1897 – 23 June 1980) was a Scottish stage, film, and television actor. He appeared in scores of feature films with directors including Alfred Hitchcock, David Lean, Michael Powell and Laurence Olivier, generally p ...

Private Frazer Private James Frazer is a fictional Home Guard platoon member and undertaker, first portrayed by John Laurie in the BBC television sitcom ''Dad's Army''. He is noted for his catchphrases "We're doomed!" and "Rubbish!" Characterisation It is men ...

Arnold Ridley William Arnold Ridley (7 January 1896 – 12 March 1984) was an English playwright and actor, known early in his career for writing the 1925 play '' The Ghost Train'' and later in life for the British television sitcom ''Dad's Army'' (1968–77 ...

Private Godfrey Private Charles Godfrey MM is a fictional Home Guard soldier, first portrayed by Arnold Ridley in the British television sitcom ''Dad's Army''. He is retired and was previously a tailor for the Civil Service Stores or the Army & Navy Stores. ...

Ian Lavender Arthur Ian Lavender (16 February 1946 – 2 February 2024) was an English stage, film and television actor. He is best known for his role as Private Pike in ''Dad's Army'', a BBC sitcom set during World War II, of which he was the last survivi ...

Private Pike Private Frank Pike is a fictional Home Guard private and junior bank clerk, first portrayed by actor Ian Lavender in the BBC television sitcom ''Dad's Army''. He was appointed as the platoon's information officer by Captain Mainwaring in " The ...

Bill Pertwee William Desmond Anthony Pertwee (21 July 1926 – 27 May 2013) was an English actor and comedian. He is best remembered for playing Chief ARP Warden Hodges in ''Dad's Army'' and P.C. Wilson in '' You Rang, M'Lord?''. Early life Pertwee was bo ...

as ARP Warden Hodges * Edward Sinclair as The Verger * Frank Williams as The Vicar *

Pamela Cundell Pamela Isabel Cundell (15 January 1920 – 14 February 2015) was an English character actress. She played Mrs Fox in the long-running TV comedy ''Dad's Army''. She was a descendant of Henry Condell, one of the managers of the Lord Chamberl ...

as Mrs Fox * Janet Davies as Mrs Pike * Olive Mercer as Mrs Yeatman *

Joan Cooper Joan Cooper (23 August 1922 – 1 July 1989) was a British actress. Her second husband was the actor Arthur Lowe whom she met at the Manchester Repertory Theatre in 1946. They were married at the Register Office, Strand, London, in January 19 ...

as Dolly *

Eric Longworth Eric Groves Longworth (20 July 1918 – 20 August 2008) was a British actor, best known for his semi-regular role in the BBC comedy ''Dad's Army'' as Mr Gordon, the town clerk of Walmington-on-Sea. Life and career Longworth was born in Shaw and ...

as Claude Gordon, the Town Clerk *

Colin Bean Colin Bean (15 April 1926 – 20 June 2009) was an English actor. He was best known for his role as Private Sponge in the BBC comedy series ''Dad's Army''. Early life Born in Wigan, Lancashire, Bean's father played football for local side Wiga ...

as Private Sponge

Notes

#The episode must be set prior to 25 June 1941, as Mainwaring refers to "our Finnish allies". In the early part of the war the Soviet Union, loosely allied to Germany under the

Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact The Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, officially the Treaty of Non-Aggression between Germany and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, and also known as the Hitler–Stalin Pact and the Nazi–Soviet Pact, was a non-aggression pact between Nazi Ge ...

, attacked Finland in the

Winter War The Winter War was a war between the Soviet Union and Finland. It began with a Soviet invasion of Finland on 30 November 1939, three months after the outbreak of World War II, and ended three and a half months later with the Moscow Peac ...

of 1939-1940. As there was little fighting going on in the west that winter (the

Phoney War The Phoney War (; ; ) was an eight-month period at the outset of World War II during which there were virtually no Allied military land operations on the Western Front from roughly September 1939 to May 1940. World War II began on 3 Septembe ...

) there was great sympathy for Finland in the UK. On 25 June 1941, the UK declared war on Finland following Finland's invasion of the Soviet Union along with Germany and her allies (see

Continuation War The Continuation War, also known as the Second Soviet–Finnish War, was a conflict fought by Finland and Nazi Germany against the Soviet Union during World War II. It began with a Finnish declaration of war on 25 June 1941 and ended on 19 ...

and

Operation Barbarossa Operation Barbarossa was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and several of its European Axis allies starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during World War II. More than 3.8 million Axis troops invaded the western Soviet Union along ...

). #No new series of ''Dad's Army'' was made in 1976 as the cast were touring the stage version of the show across the UK, resulting in a Christmas Special being produced instead. This would be the first year since 1971 (when the first feature film of the series was made) that no new series of the show would be produced and transmitted.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Love of Three Oranges, The Dad's Army special episodes British Christmas television episodes 1976 British television episodes