"Under Fire" is a missing episode in the British
sitcom
A sitcom (short for situation comedy or situational comedy) is a genre of comedy produced for radio and television, that centers on a recurring cast of character (arts), characters as they navigate humorous situations within a consistent settin ...
edy 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 Saturday 5 April 1969. One of the three
missing ''Dad's Army'' episodes, the videotape was
wiped
Lost television broadcasts are television programs that were not preserved after their original airing, rendering them permanently unavailable for both public and private screening. Because of this, they are considered a form of lost media, par ...
for reuse. The last episode of
series 2 Series 2 could refer to:
* Apple Watch Series 2, a smart watch by Apple
* Aston Martin Lagonda Series 2, the automobile model
* Aston Martin V8 Series 2, the automobile model
* BMW 2 Series, the automobile model line
* GeForce 2 series, line of nVi ...
, it was the final ''Dad's Army'' episode to be recorded in black and white.
Plot
The platoon arrest a suspect agent, who insists on being a British citizen, despite his accent, and the fact that he has a dog called Fritz. He attempts to help them put out a fire in the church hall, and is then found to be Warden Hodges' uncle. He comments that he doesn't know how Britain will win the war, and Wilson agrees.
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 ...
as
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 ...
as
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 ...
as
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 ...
as
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 ...
*
James Beck
Stanley James Carroll Beck (21 February 1929 – 6 August 1973) was an English television actor. He appeared in a number of programmes, but is best known for the role of Private Walker, a cockney spiv, in the BBC sitcom ''Dad's Army'' from th ...
as
Private Walker
Private Joe Walker is a fictional black market spiv (or "wholesales supplier", as he describes it) and Home Guard platoon member, first portrayed by James Beck in the British television sitcom ''Dad's Army''. Appearing in the first six series, ...
*
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 ...
as
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 ...
as
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 ...
*
Geoffrey Lumsden
Geoffrey Forbes Lumsden (26 December 1914 – 4 March 1984) was a British character actor who had a lengthy career on television. He often played pompous upper-class characters, army officers and the like.
Biography
Lumsden was born in ...
as
Corporal-Colonel Square
*
Janet Davies as
Mavis Pike
''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 ...
*
John Ringham
John Henry Ringham (10 February 1928 – 20 October 2008) was an English actor who appeared on both television and stage. Among his roles was that of Norman Warrender in the 1980s sitcom '' Just Good Friends''.
Early life
Ringham was born in C ...
as Captain Bailey
*
Queenie Watts
Queenie Watts (born Mary Spenton; 21 July 1923 – 25 January 1980) was an English actress of film and television, as well as an occasional singer. as Mrs Keen
*
Gladys Dawson
Gladys Dawson, later Gladys Woodruff, (1909-1993) was a British artist known as a painter and illustrator of children's books.
Biography
Dawson was born in Castleton in Rochdale and, after a private school education, she attended Heatherley's ...
as Mrs Witt
*
Ernst Ulman as Sigmund Murphy
*
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
*
June Peterson as the woman
Remake
*
Kevin McNally
Kevin Robert McNally (born 27 April 1956) is an English actor and writer. He began his acting career in the BBC TV adaptation of ''I, Claudius'' (1976), but is best known for portraying Joshamee Gibbs in the ''Pirates of the Caribbean'' fran ...
as Captain Mainwaring
*
Robert Bathurst
Robert Guy Bathurst (born 22 February 1957) is a British actor. Bathurst was born in The Gold Coast (British colony), The Gold Coast (now Ghana) in 1957, where his father was working as a management consultant. In 1959, his family moved to Ball ...
as Sergeant Wilson
*
Kevin Eldon
Kevin Eldon (born 2 October 1959) is an English actor and comedian. He featured in British comedy television shows of the 1990s including ''Fist of Fun'', ''This Morning with Richard Not Judy'', ''Knowing Me Knowing You with Alan Partridge (TV ...
as Lance Corporal Jones
*
David Hayman
David Hayman (born 9 February 1948) is a Scottish film, television and stage actor and director from Glasgow. His acting credits include '' Sid and Nancy'' (1986), '' Hope and Glory'' (1987), '' Rob Roy'' (1995), '' The Jackal'' (1997), '' Tri ...
as Private Frazer
*
Mathew Horne
Mathew Frazer Horne (born 6 September 1978) is an English actor, comedian, singer, television presenter, and narrator. He is best known for appearing on several BBC Sketch comedy, sketch shows and sitcoms, most notably ''Gavin & Stacey'' (as L ...
as Private Walker
*
Timothy West
Timothy Lancaster West (20 October 1934 – 12 November 2024) was an English actor with a long and varied career across theatre, film, and television. He began acting in repertory theatres in the 1950s before making his London stage debut in 19 ...
as Private Godfrey
*
Tom Rosenthal as Private Pike
*
David Horovitch
David Horovitch (born 11 August 1945) is an English actor, perhaps best known for playing the character of Inspector Slack in ''Miss Marple''. He appeared in the ''Game of Thrones'' prequel series ''House of the Dragon'' as Grand Maester Mello ...
as Corporal-Colonel Square
*
Tracy-Ann Oberman
Tracy-Ann Oberman (born Tracy Anne Oberman; 25 August 1966) is an English actress, playwright and narrator. She is known for roles including Chrissie Watts in the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'' (2004–2005, 2024) and Valerie Lewis or "Auntie Va ...
as Mavis Pike
*
William Andrews as Captain Bailey
*Tamzin Griffin as Mrs Keen
*Thelma Ruby as Mrs Witt
*
Philip Pope
Philip R. J. Pope is a British composer and actor.
Education
He was educated at Downside School and New College, Oxford.
Performer
Pope appeared in the Oxford Revue in Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 1978 and 1979, both with Angus Deayton. He ...
as Sigmund Murphy
*
Simon Ludders as ARP Warden Hodges
*Joann Condon as the woman
Notes
#Known as one of the three
missing ''Dad's Army'' episodes, after the tape was
wiped
Lost television broadcasts are television programs that were not preserved after their original airing, rendering them permanently unavailable for both public and private screening. Because of this, they are considered a form of lost media, par ...
by the BBC for reuse. The other two are ''
The Loneliness of the Long Distance Walker'' and ''
A Stripe for Frazer''.
#Before being wiped, the episode was repeated on 29 August 1969.
#
Gold
Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...
commissioned recreations of all three missing episodes. The remake of this episode was first broadcast on 27 August 2019.
# In 2023, a new animated version of this episode was broadcast as one of a series of animated recreations of all of the
missing episodes. Owing to the audio of the broadcast episode also being missing, the radio series episode was used instead
Radio Episode
The radio episode still exists. It was Episode 11 of the 1st radio series.
Further reading
*
External links
*
*
Dad's Army radio episodes
Dad's Army missing episodes
Dad's Army series 2 episodes
1969 British television episodes
{{DadsArmy-tv-stub