Round and Round Went the Great Big Wheel

Last updated

"Round and Round Went the Great Big Wheel"
Dad's Army episode
Episode no.Series 5
Episode 12
Directed byDavid Croft [1]
Story by Jimmy Perry and David Croft [1]
Produced byDavid Croft [1]
Original air dates22 December 1972 (1972-12-22) [1]
(recorded 1 December 1972) [1]
Running time30 minutes
Episode chronology
← Previous
"A Brush with the Law"		Next →
"Broadcast to the Empire"
List of episodes

"Round and Round Went the Great Big Wheel" is the twelfth episode of the fifth series of the British comedy series Dad's Army that was originally transmitted on 22 December 1972.

Contents

Synopsis

Operation Catherine Wheel has been set up in order to test the War Office's latest weapon: a large, radio-controlled, high explosive-carrying wheel. The Walmington-on-Sea platoon is chosen for fatigues.

Plot

The episode opens with a General briefing two others in the War Office building in 1941: the General briefs the others about a weapon called the High Explosive Attack Device Propelled by Ultra High Frequency (HEADPUHF) and the test called "Operation Catherine Wheel". Several local Home Guard units will be roped in to help during the test and the smarmy Captain Stewart tells them he will get the Walmington-On-Sea brigade to do the dirty work.

When Captain Stewart arrives in Walmington to recruit the platoon, Captain Mainwaring misinterprets his hesitancy in describing what exactly they are required for to mean 'special duties' – Stewart allows him to believe this to get his co-operation. Mainwaring debriefs the platoon down in the church crypt to maintain secrecy, but ARP Warden Hodges barges in. Deciding they cannot trust him to keep quiet, they take him with them to the base where the test is taking place.

However, the men are annoyed to find that their 'special duties' involve dirty work such as peeling potatoes and digging latrines, much to Hodges' amusement. Pike gets bored and sneaks out back to Jones' van with Walker. It's revealed that Pike has built a kit radio and brought it along, and they try to tune in to the comedy programme Hi Gang! . Unbeknownst to them, the signals from the radio interfere with the control signals for the secret weapon – a giant rocket-propelled wheel – and make it go berserk. It rolls out of the base during its demonstration test and the Walmington platoon find themselves having to pursue it – if they don't stop it, it will explode and the town will be destroyed.

The chase is a shambles, with the wheel repeatedly chasing the platoon's van and even appearing to ambush them (due to the signals from Pike's radio). Stewart, who has been following them, tells them that they can disable the wheel by cutting off its two antennae. The men cut off the first antennae on the wheel's side with their bayonets while driving past it, but run out of petrol soon after.

When Walker suggests they could use Pike's radio to lure the wheel, Mainwaring is infuriated about Pike's secret radio, but they follow Walker's plan, with Mainwaring, Hodges and Pike taking off on a commandeered motorcycle. While they're gone, Jones comes up with a plan on how to deal with the wheel's top antennae, and they head to a nearby railway bridge. As Pike and Mainwaring lure the wheel under the bridge, Jones is lowered down and manages to cut the antennae off with a pair of pruning shears, causing the wheel to topple over. The platoon gather around the fallen weapon as Jones reports "Mr. Mainwaring... I've killed it" and hang their heads in respect.

Cast

Notes

  1. This episode references the many different, and often bizarre, weapons tested by the War Office at the time. In contrast to some of the schemes the 'big wheel' is actually rather practical. The weapon is based on a real device called the Panjandrum although this was never radio-controlled.
  2. The HEADPUHF prop was not actually propelled by rockets. It was designed to have a human occupant in the centre, pedalling it along. When this mechanism broke down during filming the crew resorted to pushing it into shot and filming as it slowed down. [2]
  3. Pike and Walker listen to Hi Gang! , a comedy radio show during World War II. It featured Vic Oliver, Prime Minister Winston Churchill's son-in-law.
  4. The title of the episode is a covert reference to "An engineer told me before he died", an extremely bawdy Oscar Brand song of the day.
  5. This was the last appearance of Michael Knowles in Dad's Army.

Related Research Articles

"The Man and the Hour" is the first episode of the British television sitcom Dad's Army. It was written by Jimmy Perry and David Croft, and was first broadcast on 31 July 1968. It was later adapted for radio.

"The Deadly Attachment" is the first episode of the sixth series of the British television sitcom Dad's Army. It was originally transmitted on Wednesday, October 31, 1973. It is arguably one of the best-known episodes of the series due to the rare encounter between the platoon and the Germans. A scene in which a German officer demands to know Private Pike's name, and Captain Mainwaring says, "Don't tell him, Pike!" has been judged as one of the top three greatest comedy moments of British television.

"Battle of the Giants!" is the first special Christmas episode of the British comedy series Dad's Army. It was originally transmitted on 27 December 1971. The episode was recorded 19 October 1971.

"Menace from the Deep" is the tenth episode of the third series of the British comedy series Dad's Army. It was originally transmitted on Thursday 13 November 1969.

"Man Hunt" is the twelfth episode of the third series of the British comedy series Dad's Army. It was originally transmitted on Thursday 27 November 1969.

"The Big Parade" is the first episode of the fourth series of the British comedy series Dad's Army. It was originally transmitted on Friday 25 September 1970.

"Don't Forget the Diver" is the second episode of the fourth series of the British comedy series Dad's Army. It was originally transmitted on 2 October 1970.

"Sgt – Save My Boy!" is the fourth episode of the fourth series of the British comedy series Dad's Army. It was originally transmitted on Friday 16 October 1970.

"Absent Friends" is the sixth episode of the fourth series of the British comedy series Dad's Army. It was originally transmitted on 30 October 1970.

"The Test" is the tenth episode of the fourth series of the British comedy series Dad's Army. It was originally transmitted on Friday 27 November 1970.

"Getting the Bird" is the fourth episode of the fifth series of the British television situation comedy Dad's Army. It was originally transmitted on 27 October 1972.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Royal Train</span> 3rd episode of the 6th series of Dads Army

"The Royal Train" is the third episode of the sixth series of the British comedy series Dad's Army. It was originally transmitted on 14 November 1973, the day of the wedding of Princess Anne and Mark Phillips.

<i>Dads Army</i> (1971 film) 1971 British comedy film by Norman Cohen

Dad's Army is a 1971 British war comedy film and the first film adaptation of the BBC television sitcom Dad's Army (1968–1977). Directed by Norman Cohen, it was filmed between series three and four and was based upon material from the early episodes of the television series. The film tells the story of the Home Guard platoon's formation and their subsequent endeavours at a training exercise. The film version of the television series comprises the following cast members: Arthur Lowe, John Le Mesurier, Clive Dunn, John Laurie, Arnold Ridley, Ian Lavender and James Beck.

"Everybody's Trucking" is the first episode of the seventh series of the British television sitcom Dad's Army. It was originally transmitted on 15 November 1974.

"Brain Versus Brawn" is the tenth episode of the fifth series of the British comedy series Dad's Army. It was originally transmitted on 8 December 1972. It was also adapted for radio and broadcast as part of the second radio series in 1975. This was the highest-rated episode of Dad's Army, with 18.5 million viewers.

"Wake Up Walmington" is the first episode of the ninth and final series of the British comedy series Dad's Army. It was originally transmitted on 2 October 1977.

<i>Dads Army</i> British TV sitcom (1968–1977)

Dad's Army is a British television sitcom about the United Kingdom's Home Guard during the Second World War. It was written by Jimmy Perry and David Croft, and originally broadcast on BBC1 from 31 July 1968 to 13 November 1977. It ran for nine series and 80 episodes in total; a feature film released in 1971, a stage show and a radio version based on the television scripts were also produced. The series regularly gained audiences of 18 million viewers and is still shown internationally.

"Cornish Floral Dance" is the third Christmas Night with the Stars sketch from the British comedy series Dad's Army. It was originally transmitted on Christmas Day 1970, and again for the Royal Variety Performance of 1975. The latter still exists. The first version does not, although extracts and the soundtrack survive. It was recorded on 4 December 1970.

"Present Arms" is the first episode of the second BBC Radio 4 series of the British television sitcom Dad's Army. It was originally broadcast on 24 December 1974, as a Christmas Special. "Present Arms" was compiled for radio from two television episodes, "Battle of the Giants!" and "Shooting Pains", and ran for a duration of 60 minutes, twice the length of a normal radio episode.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chief ARP Warden Hodges</span> Fictional British television character

Chief ARP Warden William Hodges, commonly known as "Hodges", is a fictional greengrocer and chief air raid warden first portrayed by Bill Pertwee in the British television sitcom Dad's Army. Created by series writers Jimmy Perry and David Croft, Hodges served as Captain Mainwaring's main rival in the series, and was noted for his catchphrases "Ruddy hooligans!" and "Put that light out!".

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Croft, David; Perry, Jimmy; Webber, Richard (2000). The Complete A-Z of Dad's Army. Orion. ISBN   0-7528-4637-X.
  2. ↑ Webber, Richard (1999). Dad's Army A Celebration. Virgin Publishing.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.