1940. France has fallen and Germany is poised to invade England. In towns all across Britain volunteer Army units form from local, generally older, townsfolk. This volunteer force would be the Home Guard. We follow the adventures and misadventures of such a unit in the small south coast town of Walmington-on-Sea.
Good fun. Is initially a bit disappointing: the first few episodes show the platoon being formed and these are a bit hit-and-miss. Just as I was about to give up on the series, however, it found its feet and became very entertaining. The characters gained more depth, the plots became cleverer, the jokes become sharper and there was a better rhythm to things. There's some great absurdist Pythonesque humour too.
Not brilliant though. Some characters, especially Hodges and Pike, are very annoying. As the series goes on the writers tend to rely too much on over-repeated catchphrases and retreads of the same gags. Some plots are just silly without being funny.
Another factor later on in the series was the death of James Beck. Beck played Private Walker, an "entrepreneur" responsible for some shady business dealings. He was easily the best character in the show: his ability and enthusiasm to get and trade anything, despite there being a war on, and his sardonic put-downs were the highlight of the show.
Overall, a good series with some iconic moments.
Good fun. Is initially a bit disappointing: the first few episodes show the platoon being formed and these are a bit hit-and-miss. Just as I was about to give up on the series, however, it found its feet and became very entertaining. The characters gained more depth, the plots became cleverer, the jokes become sharper and there was a better rhythm to things. There's some great absurdist Pythonesque humour too.
Not brilliant though. Some characters, especially Hodges and Pike, are very annoying. As the series goes on the writers tend to rely too much on over-repeated catchphrases and retreads of the same gags. Some plots are just silly without being funny.
Another factor later on in the series was the death of James Beck. Beck played Private Walker, an "entrepreneur" responsible for some shady business dealings. He was easily the best character in the show: his ability and enthusiasm to get and trade anything, despite there being a war on, and his sardonic put-downs were the highlight of the show.
Overall, a good series with some iconic moments.