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Post by Katie on May 17, 2010 22:21:15 GMT 12
Series 2 Episode 4: Sgt. Wilson's Little Secret
Broadcast on 22/03/69
Overhearing Mrs Pike talking to Frank, Wilson gets the wrong end of the stick. After receiving a letter from the WVS asking her to take in an evacuee, she tells Pike it will be nice to be a Mother again. Wilson hears and assumes Mavis is pregnant!
Confusion reigns and when Wilson eventually confides in Mainwaring, his superior sees no alternative but for Wilson to wed. The Platoon's to provide the guard of honour at the wedding but as Wilson practices the ceremonial march for Mrs Pike, Mavis brings little Arthur into the church hall and introduces him to Wilson. Confusion cleared, Wilson breathes a sigh of relief.
Also appearing: Janet Davies (Mrs Pike), Graham Harboard (Little Arthur).
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Post by Molly on May 23, 2010 17:36:59 GMT 12
A very funny episode. Such a clever plot and I think we see Wilson at his bemused best. And this episode has one of my favourite Mainwaring double-takes. The look on his face as he finally puts two and two together and comes out with the classic line "I thought you said you only went round there for meals."
The only thing that goes unanswered though is how Wilson got out of marrying Mrs Pike.
Also, just a minor point (and probably I am being far too pedantic) but right at the end when the confusion is cleared after Mrs Pike brings little Arthur to the church hall, Mainwaring is seen laughing at the way things turn out. I'm not too sure about that as he didn't find the situation remotely funny before then.
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Post by Katie on May 24, 2010 5:52:38 GMT 12
The only thing that goes unanswered though is how Wilson got out of marrying Mrs Pike. He left her stranded at the altar! There's a little scene in A Stripe For Frazer (the following episode) were Wilson tries to get Pike the vacant stripe to help smooth things over with Mrs Pike as neither son or mother are speaking to him! ;D |
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Post by Molly on May 24, 2010 21:12:15 GMT 12
Oh right, thanks Katie. That sounds very funny. I felt a bit sorry for Mrs Pike after that because she certainly seemed keen to marry Wilson didn't she? A very funny couple (I think) I love the way they are somehow mismatched.
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Post by Dave Homewood on May 24, 2010 22:44:19 GMT 12
This is the first episode I consciously saw in 1984. My mates at school were telling me this series was back on TV called Dad's Army. It rang a bell as I knew my parents used to watch it but I didn't know what it was about so I watched it. Mum watched with me on this episode and she explained why Walker shouted 'Put That Light Out', a new term to me then.
I was hooked and soon began recording the episodes as they screened, first on Friday evenings and then they switche to weekday afternoons when I was at school. We waited till evening to watch so Dad could see it too.
It was only much later I found out that this episode was 'lost'. It wasn't actually lost properly like others, the reel film copy was in the archive but mislaid or something. The original video copy had been wiped though, and what I'd seen would have been screened from that reel, which eventually turned up again and they released it on VHS. Phew.
As for the episode I think it's very good, seeing into the private lives and the home of Mavis Pike and Arthur Wilson, and young Frank, was neat. The dialogue is clever and sets up for a great misunderstanding in the best British comedy fashion.
I like the fact that the set of Mavis's dining room is pretty much the same all those years later in When You've Got To Go. I like the special home made weapon competiton they hold, and the fact that the sholder protectors are not only a very good idea but Mainwaring actually uses one later in Room At The Bottom. I wonder if these were a real innovation in wartime? I recall reading that more than 1000 people in britain were killed by shrapnel from their own flak guns falling from the sky and these would have done a good job in preventing injury when worn with the helmet. One of those who was killed that way sadly was the great singer Al Bowly, who incidentally sang the theme tunes to the comedies Goodnight Sweetheart and First of the Summer Wine.
I must watch this episode again sometime before I comment further as it's been a long time. Great show though, and yes Mainwaring's reactions were priceless.
By the way, I used to think that Wilson owned his own home somewhere in Walmington. It is intimated by Pike who talks about Wilson going home etc. However whenever Wilson is kicked out by Mavis he never seems to have anywhere to go, sleeping in the coal shed in one episode, and in the hall in another for example. Do you think Wilson owns his own home or has he just convinced Pike that he lives elsewhere, when he actually doesn't?
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Post by Katie on May 25, 2010 5:53:08 GMT 12
Do you think Wilson owns his own home or has he just convinced Pike that he lives elsewhere, when he actually doesn't? I always assumed Wilson had his own home too and only stayed odd nights at Mrs Pike's!  |
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Post by Katie on May 27, 2010 2:55:45 GMT 12
Oh.. and what were chitterlings?? Jones said they were the secret part of a pig....  |
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Post by Dave Homewood on May 27, 2010 10:35:25 GMT 12
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Post by Molly on May 27, 2010 21:27:36 GMT 12
Could have been a WHOLE lot worse! I wondered what that meant too and have to say, I'm pleasantly surprised at the answer 
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Post by Katie on May 27, 2010 22:19:10 GMT 12
I'm pleasantly surprised at the answer LOL!! ;D ;D ;D ;D Did you have a look at Dave's chitterlings link though, Molly?? (Your lamb's fry are mentioned!!) The picture defies description! And I love the way the article says chitterlings are often served at special events! Blimey, I hope not.. |
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Post by Molly on May 27, 2010 22:32:05 GMT 12
Hi Katie, I did click on the link even though I somehow knew I'd end up regretting it :-) Saw something vaguely yellow and squishy out of the corner of the one eye I had open then got out of there asap!
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Post by jonboy on May 27, 2010 23:34:39 GMT 12
I can't stand the look of food like that either - oysters, jellied ells, winkles - not for me.
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Post by Dave Homewood on May 29, 2010 18:34:41 GMT 12
[rolling me eyes] Ochh, dinnay be so pillywallie ye young sarsanarchs!!
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Post by Bracewell on Feb 24, 2012 5:15:59 GMT 12
The episode in which it is first fully apparent that the characters have developed lives of their own. Only let down by taking the Wilson/Mrs Pike relationship to a point that is rather uncomfortable to step back from. The writers carried on as if things were exactly as they had been before this episode.
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Post by mattvinyl on Mar 8, 2012 7:17:41 GMT 12
I like this episode too, but for some reason the acting between Mrs. Pike and Wilson sees ever so slightly wooden - especially at the dinner table. Can'tt quite put a finger on why it feels a touch awkward, it just does a tad...
A little non-sequiter I enjoy though, is when Frank goes to procure too much butter for his bread and Mavis says it's his ration for the week. Then, when she's clearing the table, she squishes the remaining butter under another dirty plate. ;0)
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Post by Dave Homewood on Mar 8, 2012 11:18:35 GMT 12
Haha, I had not noticed that with the butter.
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Post by mattvinyl on Mar 14, 2012 7:26:41 GMT 12
I love it when you notice little things like that - even after watching the episodes countless times. |
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Post by stephen68 on Apr 21, 2012 3:36:25 GMT 12
[rolling me eyes] Ochh, dinnay be so pillywallie ye young sarsanarchs!
Sassenachs haha if your going to insult us English, then as Frazer would say lets do it right
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Post by james on May 14, 2012 12:10:32 GMT 12
By the way, I used to think that Wilson owned his own home somewhere in Walmington. It is intimated by Pike who talks about Wilson going home etc. However whenever Wilson is kicked out by Mavis he never seems to have anywhere to go, sleeping in the coal shed in one episode, and in the hall in another for example. Do you think Wilson owns his own home or has he just convinced Pike that he lives elsewhere, when he actually doesn't? I think he does own his own home (even if he just mainly used it for a physical address for post ect) but doesn't carry the keys around with him so when he and Mavis argue and she throws/locks him out the keys are still inside her house and of course she is not going to give them to him. |
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Post by Alan Hayes on Aug 2, 2019 1:27:43 GMT 12
Watched this one today. Longtime favourite, though I always end up feeling that the ending is a bit heartless. In the light of Mrs. Pike’s excitement at the prospect of getting married, it's not particularly nice to see Mainwaring and Wilson sharing a little joke between them about Arthur being off the hook, and you have to feel for poor Mavis.
Also, unless my ears deceive me (again!), isn't that James Beck off-camera as a warden crying "Oi! Put that light out!" when Mrs. Pike bursts out of her front door to hug Arthur?
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