List of Dad's Army characters


This is a list of characters in the British television comedy series Dad's Army. In addition to the seven main characters, all members of the fictional Walmington-on-Sea Home Guard platoon, the series featured a large cast of recurring characters, many of whom began to appear regularly in episodes, particularly following the death of James Beck. In addition, a number of characters appeared in significant roles in a single episode or series.

Main platoon members

Captain Mainwaring

George Mainwaring was played by Arthur Lowe. He was the pompous – if essentially brave and unerringly patriotic – local bank manager. Mainwaring appointed himself leader of his town's contingent of Local Defence Volunteers. He and Private Walker were the only adult members of the platoon with no prior combat experience, and therefore had no medals, which was a source of embarrassment for Mainwaring and sometimes caused tension with the other members. He did, however, serve in France, "during the whole of 1919—somebody had to clear up the mess". Although an ensemble piece, the series focuses particularly upon Mainwaring, who has invested all his efforts into the platoon as a way of escaping from an unhappy marriage to Elizabeth, daughter of a bishop, and a stalled career at the bank.

Sergeant Wilson

Arthur Wilson, played by John Le Mesurier, was a diffident, upper-class bank clerk and Mainwaring's inferior in the bank and on parade. Nevertheless, his suave, understated social superiority, public school education and handsome looks led to a certain amount of jealousy on Mainwaring's part, but Wilson was never particularly bothered by this. He would also subtly question Mainwaring's judgement by asking "Do you think that's wise, sir?" after Mainwaring had given an instruction. Their rivalry came to the fore in "A. Wilson ?", in which Wilson is appointed manager of another bank, and "The Honourable Man", when Wilson inherits a title. Wilson lodged with Mrs Pike and her son Frank; and it is implied, though never explicitly stated, that he is Frank's father. During the First World War Wilson had been a Captain and fought in the Royal Artillery at Mons, Gallipoli and the Somme.

Lance Corporal Jones

Jack Jones was the oldest member of the platoon, but was played by Clive Dunn, who was 48 when he took the role. Jones was an old campaigner who had joined the British Army as a boy soldier and served under Kitchener of Khartoum in the Sudan between 1896 and 1898, and also served in the Boer War and the First World War. By 1940 he was the town butcher, which enabled him to supplement his superiors' meat ration occasionally. Jones was leader of the platoon's first section. He has a story for every occasion, and will never hesitate in telling it, regardless of how long-winded or irrelevant it is. Despite his age, Jones demonstrates an almost boyish enthusiasm for combat, in particular the use of the bayonet, accompanied by his catchphrase "They don't like it up 'em!" He was easily excitable and would repeatedly yell "Don't panic!" in moments of crisis. He was also keen to volunteer for any task, no matter how ill-advised it might be. In "Battle of the Giants!" Jones suffered a malaria relapse.

Private Frazer

James Frazer was played by John Laurie. The character, who was born in 1872, was a dour Scottish coffin-maker and a retired Chief Petty Officer in the Royal Navy who fought at the Battle of Jutland. Frazer was blunt, tight with money, and had a gloomy outlook on life; he would proclaim "We're doomed!" in bleak moments faced by the platoon. In the early episodes Frazer kept a philately shop but, by series four, the writers had decided that he should become the local undertaker, in keeping with his gloomy nature. Openly eager for more power within the platoon, he sometimes led rebellions against Mainwaring; in response Mainwaring temporarily let Frazer take over as captain in "If the Cap Fits...". Frazer was the only member of the platoon to be portrayed as a villain in episodes such as "A Soldier's Farewell" and "The Two and a Half Feathers", though for the most part he was loyal and well-intentioned. Despite his age, he is one of the more competent members of the platoon.

Private Walker

Joe Walker was played by James Beck in the television series and seven episodes of the radio series, and by Graham Stark for five radio episodes, with Larry Martyn for the remainder of the radio series. A black market "spiv", Walker was the only fit, able-bodied man of military age in Walmington-on-Sea's home guard. His absence from the regular armed forces was due to a corned beef allergy, although it was implied that Walker had probably found a way to play the system. Mainwaring often turned a blind eye to his profiteering as he could supply the platoon with useful items. On more than one occasion, Walker's willingness to use underhand tactics allowed Mainwaring's platoon to triumph over rivals in the Home Guard, Army and ARP. He irritated Mainwaring with his penchant for making wisecracks at inappropriate times. Following Beck's death in 1973, Walker was written out of the series. The platoon found a note from Walker, explaining that he had gone to "The Smoke" to conduct some business, and he was not heard from again.

Private Godfrey

Played by Arnold Ridley, Charles Godfrey was the frailest member of the platoon and was the platoon's medical orderly. He had served in the First World War as a conscientious-objecting stretcher bearer in the Royal Army Medical Corps, winning the Military Medal, before becoming a gentlemen's outfitter at the Army & Navy Stores. Godfrey was a gentle, amiable but vague bachelor who lived with his spinster sisters Dolly and Cissy in an idyllic cottage, and was a martyr to his weak bladder, leading to many requests to be "excused". He was very loyal to Captain Mainwaring, except on one occasion when he took part in a plot to make Mainwaring's feet hurt.

Private Pike

The youngest platoon member – played by Ian Lavender – Frank Pike, a cosseted mother's boy and often the target of Mainwaring's derision, was a junior bank clerk. He called Wilson "Uncle Arthur" and, although never explicitly stated, it was often evident that Wilson and Pike's mother were in a relationship, which they unsuccessfully tried to hide, and Walmington is rife with gossip about the couple. Wilson is often seen having meals at Mrs Pike's house with Frank, and Pike mentions several times that Wilson spends the night. It was also occasionally suggested that Wilson was Pike's father. In an early episode, when asked by Captain Mainwaring why Frank calls him "Uncle Arthur" when he is not a blood relation, Wilson states that it was Mrs Pike who had insisted from an early age Frank call him "Uncle Arthur" and that this dates from a point in Frank's childhood when Frank had started to "accidentally" call Arthur Wilson "something else... Daddy". He frequently threatens to set his mother on Mainwaring whenever he is shouted at or forced to do anything he doesn't want to do. He has the lowest position at the Swallows Bank branch, subordinate to both Wilson and Mainwaring.

Non-platoon characters

Chief ARP Warden Hodges

William Hodges is Mainwaring's main rival in Walmington-on-Sea. Born in 1893 and a greengrocer by trade, following the outbreak of war he has been given power as Chief Air Raid Warden and that power has gone to his head. His catchphrase is "Put that light out!" He can be as pompous and officious as Mainwaring, with whom he has a fractious relationship, but is uncouth and coarse with dirty fingernails. Even the usually calm Godfrey tells Hodges he is a "rude, common and nasty fellow". He delights in antagonising the platoon, in particular Mainwaring, whom he calls "Napoleon". This rivalry increased after he was forced to share the church hall with Mainwaring after his headquarters was bombed. Unlike Mainwaring, Hodges did fight in the First World War and developed a profound dislike of "bloomin' Yanks" in the process.
Hodges tries to take charge of important situations as an "ARP matter". However, as he also displays a cowardly streak, in any danger he is quick to transfer command back to Mainwaring and withdraw. In several episodes, Hodges refers to having "funny turns", such as "Put that Light Out", which hints that he may suffer from a neurological condition. In some episodes, Hodges, and his co-conspirator, the verger, try to sabotage the platoon's efforts, sometimes at the command of Captain Square. but these efforts typically backfire – a running gag being that Hodges would be thrown into a lake or river – often with the catchphrase "ruddy hooligans!!".
In the episode "High Finance", Mrs Pike reveals that Hodges is her landlord and raised the rent on her house from £1 a month to £2 a month, which she could not afford. He told her she could owe it, only to say later that she owed him £50 in back rent, which he would forget if she was "nice" to him. He claims to have "admired Mrs Pike for years", although she is "besotted" with Sergeant Arthur Wilson.
Despite his hostility toward the platoon, Hodges has sided with the platoon in times of need; in the episode "Wake Up Walmington", as there had been no German invasion, the townspeople had grown indifferent and contemptuous toward the platoon and the wardens. To shock them out of their apathy, Captain Mainwaring and Hodges join forces and the Home Guard disguise themselves as foreign invaders to scare the town into taking the war seriously.
Hodges even occasionally has moments to indicate his character has a softer side; in "The Deadly Attachment", when one of the German sailors fakes being ill, Hodges is taken in and urges Mainwaring to do something, showing concern for the German as a fellow human by remarking "he's some mother's son". On the other hand, in the episode "My British Buddy", Hodges has no hesitation in showing his contempt for "bloomin' Yanks" and the United States' late entry into the war, sarcastically remarking to the visiting American Army colonel "it's an improvement on last time...two and a half years instead of three!"
Hodges has a Scottish nephew, Hamish, who insulted both the Home Guard and the ARP in "The Recruit", and a niece named Sylvia who briefly dates Private Pike, much to both Hodges' and Mrs Pike's chagrin, in "The Making of Private Pike".
His feelings towards both Mainwaring and his wartime responsibilities are summed up in the episode "Time On My Hands". While Mainwaring is stuck up the town hall clock tower, Hodges shouts:
In the radio sequel It Sticks Out Half a Mile, Hodges enters a business partnership with Frank Pike to renovate Frambourne Pier. In this series his first name is Bert rather than William. He is revealed to have had a past love interest with a woman called Myrtle Spivy. They went to Bognor Regis in the summer of 1929, when Hodges went to get her a drink and never came back. He is also revealed to be married in this series, to a "big beefy girl who was always bossing him about" called Beatrice.

Mrs Pike

Mavis Pike was Private Pike's mother, who appeared in many episodes. She is fiercely protective of Frank and Arthur Wilson, to the point that she is accused of "mollycoddling" by Captain Mainwaring. Frank often mention his mother will be "furious" whenever he gets wet or muddy whilst with the Home Guard. He often threatens to "tell mum" when Wilson will not let him get his own way, and tries to frighten Mainwaring by setting his mother on him. Mavis can be quite formidable when she wants to be: in the episode "The Making of Private Pike", Mainwaring threatens to arrest Frank and his mother vows to Wilson that she would make his life a misery for the rest of his days if he lets Mainwaring take Frank away. Mrs Pike's occupation is unknown, but she often volunteers her services to the Home Guard. Warden Hodges is her landlord, and he is enamoured with her, but she does not reciprocate his feelings.
It is also implied very heavily that Mrs Pike is Sergeant Wilson's lover, and there are many rumours of Frank being Wilson's son, a fact often pointed out to Wilson by Mainwaring. Both arrived from Weston-super-Mare around the same time, and Wilson unofficially lives with them. It is not clear if Mrs Pike is a widow, as her late husband is never clearly mentioned, although Wilson admits that as a child, Frank called him "daddy", implying that any husband she had must have died when Frank was a baby. Wilson claims that "She's a widow and she has my ration book and I go round to her house sometimes for meals... and that sort of thing" and she often asks him if he will be around to her house for his "usual", much to his embarrassment. Sometimes people remark on the similarity of Sgt Wilson and Private Pike.
Although she expresses frustration with Wilson at times, and has had moments in the series where she's been seen out with other men, Mrs Pike ultimately remains devoted to Wilson, and is inconsolable on the occasions where she thinks he may have left her for someone else. In the episode "Sgt. Wilson's Little Secret" Wilson agrees to marry Mrs Pike when the impending arrival of an evacuee child at the Pike household is miscommunicated to him and he thinks Mrs Pike is pregnant. When the misunderstanding is resolved, Sgt Wilson jilts her at the altar – as is explained in the opening dialogue of the next episode "A Stripe for Frazer".
In the 1971 film, Mrs Pike was played by Liz Fraser. In the 2016 movie, Mrs Pike is portrayed by former Coronation Street actor Sarah Lancashire.

The Vicar

The Reverend Timothy Farthing MA is the petulant, ineffectual, but kind and well-meaning vicar of St Aldhelm's Church, Walmington-on-Sea. Neither on the side of the Home Guard, nor of the ARP Wardens, he attempts to care for "the spiritual needs of parishioners", despite the many setbacks presented during the war, such as having to share his church hall and office with both the pompous Captain Mainwaring and the uncouth Warden Hodges. He is portrayed as a spiritual and learned man, and is shown to be a Master of Arts of the University of Oxford by his academic hood, worn in the episodes "All is Safely Gathered In" and "The Royal Train".
In many episodes he ends up embroiled in the escapades of the platoon, often by accident, and he joins the Home Guard briefly in "The Recruit". In the episode "Time on My Hands" it is revealed that his hobby is archery, when he uses his skills and equipment to rescue the platoon. This episode also includes one of many insinuations from Chief Warden Hodges that the mildly effeminate Vicar may be homosexual: "I've heard you're an expert in fairies".
Despite his unmilitary appearance, in the episode "Battle of the Giants" it is revealed that the Vicar served in the Great War. He was awarded the 1914 Star, the British War Medal and the Victory Medal, commonly known as Pip Squeak and Wilfred. The medals are lovingly polished by Mr Yeatman. In this episode Mainwaring is acutely sensitive about his own lack of medals. Typically, he dismisses the Vicar's contribution as "two verses of Rock of Ages in a French field while they brought the rations up".
The Vicar's sexuality is left open to speculation, but he is never seen to have a romantic attachment to anyone of either sex; however in the episode "The Captain's Car", the Vicar expected a kiss from a visiting French general and was annoyed when he did not receive one. Farthing is also fond of whisky and there is a recurring gag where Captain Mainwaring will offer to buy the Vicar a drink and the Vicar will respond "a double whisky please" at a time when whisky was in short supply and expensive. Just as Captain Mainwaring is resigning himself to pay for this expensive beverage the verger will usually insist that Captain Mainwaring change "his Reverence's" order to a single rather than a double as "he's a martyr to it". When Mainwaring orders a single rather than a double, the Vicar will then inform him that he has "noticed" this and imply that Captain Mainwaring is mean.
In the 2016 movie, Williams reprised his role as Timothy Farthing, being the only actor to play the same character in the TV series, and both films.

The Verger

Maurice Yeatman is the local verger and captain of the local Sea Scouts unit. Although his name is Maurice, in the episode "War Dance" Jones announces him and his battleaxe wife as "Mr and Mrs Henry Yeatman". He is often hostile to the platoon. Labelled a "troublemaker" by Jones, he is ridiculously loyal to the vicar, and to his good friend and accomplice Warden Hodges, when it comes to causing problems for the platoon. He is constantly asserting the Vicar's opinions on subjects, often only to have the Vicar tell him to "be quiet, Mr Yeatman" and override him or simply to restate what Mr Yeatman has already said in his own words. Often when the verger puts forward a morally judgemental opinion the Vicar will respond that "I've really no idea."
Apart from the menial task of cleaning the hall, he occupies a position of complete political impotence and when the need for his presence at an event is questioned he will respond "I'm here in my capacity." Often when Captain Mainwaring and the vicar or other members of the cast hand each other a physical MacGuffin important to the plot, the Verger will intervene, snatching the object – only to hand it back – to make clear his "important" but superfluous role in the administrative processes of the parish.
Mr Yeatman is also in charge of counting the church collections after services, which he often does in the Red Lion public house. Throughout the series, there are numerous insinuations from Lance-Corporal Jones and Chief Warden Hodges that Mr Yeatman is engaged in the systematic embezzlement of church funds, but the Vicar seems to be either in denial of this reality, too trusting and naive to believe it, or he simply turns a blind eye.
Like the vicar and Warden Hodges, the verger is a veteran of the First World War and is noted as having received several medals. In the episode "Big Guns", he is shown to be familiar with the components of a large naval artillery piece, suggesting that he served in the Royal Navy.

Mrs Fox

Mrs Fox was a Walmington-on-Sea housewife, who purused a relationship with Lance Corporal Jones.
The amorous, larger than life Mrs Fox gives her matronly attentions freely to the platoon's men and she eventually marries the elderly but eligible Corporal Jones.

Described by Captain Mainwaring as a "flashy woman", like many of Jones's customers, on producing her ration book she receives an extra sausage, much to the chagrin of another shopper. In return, Jones receives an enormous wink that sets the tone for much of what was to follow as the role develops. Mildred Fox is an ebullient woman, who has an off-screen husband in this first episode.
By "The Big Parade", transmitted exactly a year later she is referred to as a widow, so presumably she lost her husband between these episodes. There followed a long-running saga in which Corporal Jones wooed Mrs Fox, often with hilarious consequences; at one point Jones describes the relationship as merely "teutonic". Whenever he seems to be making progress a setback occurs: for example the arrival of American servicemen turns the heads of the Walmington-on-Sea women.
Victoria Wood said in 2000 that part of the success of Dad's Army came from its juxtaposition of comedic situations such as the rivalry between various ladies of the town to play Lady Godiva and the exploration of far deeper, more complex emotions between older people. As the series drew to an end, co-creators David Croft and Jimmy Perry debated whether to marry off Jones and his "Merry Widow". This finally happened in the last episode of the series. She asks Captain Mainwaring to give her away; her brother had also died during hostilities and she no longer has any living male relatives. Right at the end, she refers to herself as "Mrs Jones".
Although initially given as Marcia, her Christian name later changes to Mildred.
The actress Mollie Sugden played the role in the radio series.

Other platoon members

In addition to the seven featured players, 1st Platoon 'B' Company also included a "Second Section" and a "Third Section" who filled the platoon up to size while on parade or display. The men of the platoon wear the cap badges of the Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment. The back rows rarely spoke, although according to Jimmy Perry instead of "extras", they were normally retired actors, playwrights or singers. A handful of platoon members had a secondary but significant role in particular episodes:
Other members of the platoon were named as:
These were played by Leslie Noyes, Vic Taylor, Hugh Hastings and Evan Ross, Freddie White, Freddie Wiles, Hugh Cecil, Richard Jacques, Peter Whitaker, Martin Dunn and Chris Franks, Emmett Hennessey and Arthur McGuire, Roger Bourne, Frank Godfrey, Michael Moore, Ken Wade, Evan Ross, William Gossling and Vernon Drake, Graham Hamilton, David Seaforth, Richard Ketteridge and Alec Coleman, Freddie Payne, Derek Chaffer and Lindsay Hooper and Jimmy Mac, among others.

Other recurring characters