I think it's surviving popularity is due to the fact it was superbly written and acted and its aforementioned gentleness because within that gentleness is a barbed message ridiculing the British class system. When such messages are delivered so politely you can't fail to at least listen to the message whereas if you use a sledgehammer to crack a nut (Rik Mayall's The Young Ones springs instantly to mind) then after the shock value has worn off you find the humour isn't funny as 'the shock' was the humour.

Dad's Army really benefits from the fact that it came when it did for the cast ensemble or that the cast were of their age when Dad's Army came along. Most were at the end of their's careers, had experience in abundance (not just of acting but of life itself including the remembrance of the 2nd World War) and could use that experience to make their characters real, authentic, flawed and all. That and they were all just so damm funny.

The genius of humour unfolds before your eyes. How can anyone not recommend such a treasure trove of fun?

1. RING DEM BELLS

Mainwaring is delighted when the platoon is selected to appear in a training film, but not so pleased to discover they are to play Germans - with Pike and Wilson as the officers.

2. WHEN YOU'VE GOT TO GO

Private Pike's call up papers have finally arrived. Despite his mother's claims that he is too delicate, it seems that Pike is really ready for the regular army...

3. IS THERE HONEY STILL FOR TEA?

Godfrey's lovely cottage is to be demolished to make way for an aerodrome. Captain Mainwaring prepares to deliver the bad news but Frazer has other ideas!

4. COME IN, YOUR TIME IS UP

A baled-out German air crew in a rubber dinghy appear in the lake by the platoon's training camp. Can the armed might of the Home Guard, the Wardens and the Sea-Scouts bring them in?

5. HIGH FINANCE

Corporal Jones is in debt, but an examination of the books begins a trail that leads to a not-so-surprisingly unscrupulous character.

6. THE FACE ON THE POSTER

Jones thinks he will be the poster boy for a national recruiting drive, but a printer's mix-up has him as the picture on a wanted notice for a dangerous escaped German POW.

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