Santa on Patrol

Last updated

"Santa on Patrol"
Dad's Army episode
Directed by David Croft
Story by Jimmy Perry and David Croft
Original air date25 December 1968 (1968-12-25)
Running time10 mins
Episode chronology
 Previous
Next 
"Resisting the Aggressor Down the Ages"
List of episodes

"Santa on Patrol" is the first Christmas Night with the Stars sketch from the British comedy series Dad's Army . It was originally transmitted on Christmas Day (25 December) 1968. [1] Although audio recordings of the sketch exist, it is not otherwise known to have survived (See Wiping).

Contents

This short (less than 10 minutes long) episode was never given any kind of episode title. All surviving paperwork of the time confirms that it was only ever officially designated as a Dad's Army segment for the BBC's Christmas Night with the Stars strand. In recent years the title "Santa on Patrol" has become attached to the story. This happened quite by accident. When the story was being lined up for an audio CD release, a producer at BBC Audiobooks called Charles Norton, invented the title, as it saved confusion on internal paperwork. Somehow this title was later accidentally given out to online retailers and has been mistakenly taken as a real title, although it is entirely unofficial. Outside of some online listings, the title is not used in any book or on any BBC DVD, video or CD release. The title was coined in 2014 in an internal BBC email and was never intended to become public.

Plot

Although it is Christmas Day 1940, Captain Mainwaring is unable to forget his sense of duty and orders his men to parade as normal. Sergeant Wilson, being more relaxed about the festive affair, says they can wear civvies. Mainwaring does not like the sergeant's sudden burst of decision making and subsequently, the men arrive at the parade all dressed as Father Christmas, with various reasons why. Mainwaring views this as proof that you cannot be seen to let discipline drop for one moment.

GHQ have come up with an idea of using telegraph poles as a means of exercise and Mainwaring runs through the instructions with his men and as usual, forgets the age of some of them, especially when he shouts 'jump' to the aged Private Godfrey and expects him to sit cross-legged on the floor. Eventually Mainwaring has to show them how it's done, but everyone is saved by the bell as the Major phones through to the office with his seasonal greetings.

Mainwaring returns to the hall and delivers a speech which shows how confident he is regarding the outcome of the war. In return, the men show their respect and affection for him as they wish him and each other a Merry Christmas.

Cast

Notes

  1. This sketch is sometimes referred to as "Present Arms", although confusingly that is the name of a Dad's Army radio episode (number 021) which has a completely different plot.
  2. This episode no longer exists in television video archives, most likely due to the re-use of the then expensive videotape. [1] However, a domestic audio recording of this special was discovered and can be heard on the Dad's Army: The Lost Tapes CD.
  3. First appearance of The Verger who would appear in Series 2.
  4. This was recorded on the same day as the lost series 2 episode "The Loneliness of the Long Distance Walker".
  5. In 2023, an animated version of this was broadcast alongside "Cornish Floral Dance" as one of a series of animated recreations of all of the missing episodes

Related Research Articles

"Branded" is the eleventh episode of the third series of the British comedy series Dad's Army. It was originally transmitted on Thursday 20 November 1969. In the episode's plot, Private Godfrey admits that he was a conscientious objector during the Great War.

"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.

"Room at the Bottom" is the sixth episode of the third series of the British comedy series Dad's Army that was originally transmitted on Thursday 16 October 1969.

"Big Guns" is the seventh episode of the third series of the British comedy series Dad's Army. It was originally transmitted on 23 October 1969. The episode was recorded Sunday 6 July 1969.

"The Day the Balloon Went Up" is the eighth episode of the third series of the British comedy series Dad's Army that was originally transmitted on Thursday 30 October 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.

"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.

"If the Cap Fits..." is the sixth episode of the fifth series of the British television sitcom Dad's Army. It was originally transmitted on 10 November 1972.

"The Honourable Man" is the fifth episode of the sixth series of the British comedy series Dad's Army. It was originally transmitted on 28 November 1973.

"The Recruit" is the seventh episode of the sixth series of the British television sitcom Dad's Army. It was originally transmitted on 12 December 1973.

"Broadcast to the Empire" is the fourth Christmas Night with the Stars sketch of the British television comedy series Dad's Army. It was originally transmitted on Monday 25 December 1972. A full-length radio version was also made, entitled Ten Seconds From Now, which was the last radio episode to be made.

The Dad's Army missing episodes are lost episodes and sketches of the British television sitcom Dad's Army. The programme ran for nine series from 31 July 1968 to 13 November 1977. Three out of six episodes from the second series and two of the four Christmas sketches are missing because, at that time, the BBC routinely reused videotape as a cost-saving measure.

"A Brush with the Law" is the eleventh episode of the fifth series of the British comedy series Dad's Army. It was originally transmitted on 15 December 1972.

<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.

"A Stripe for Frazer" is a missing episode of the British television comedy series Dad's Army. It was originally transmitted on 29 March 1969. Of the three missing Dad's Army episodes it is the only one to have been reconstructed using animation.

"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.

References

  1. 1 2 Pertwee, Bill (7 September 2009). Dad's Army (The Making of a Television Legend). Conway. p. 181. ISBN   978-1844861057.