Dad's Army (TV Series) Turkey Dinner (1974) User Reviews

Stuff it.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 7/10 · 22 December 2019]

The Platoon go on a drunken night out, and inadvertently kill a turkey, a decision is made to donate it to the old age pensioners.

It's not vintage, but it is funny, there's a wonderful scene where Mainwaring and Wilson discuss divvying up the turkey.

Talfryn Thomas is very funny as the eccentric Private Cheeseman, great delivery, I loved that line about the welcome in The Valley. Harold Bennett also wonderful, some of his lines were terrific, Mr Blewett was so funny.

Christmas 1974, why can't we have sitcoms at Christmas anymore, that are actually funny.

A quaint, agreeable ending to a slightly disappointing seventh series

[phantom_tollbooth · 7/10 · 24 July 2023]

The seventh series of Dad's Army draws to a close with a quaint finale that is a fairly accurate reflection of this low-key six episode run. The seventh series is often defined by many as the Cheeseman year, with Talfryn Thomas's temporary replacement for James Beck's Walker appearing in five episodes. Though Cheeseman is often blamed for the weakness of this series, he really doesn't do enough to justify that poor reputation. He is generally kept in the background, barely more visible than Private Sponge, and when he does interject, his character is not defined as anything more than prominently Welsh. As such, there was no real reason to keep him around, especially since the absence of James Beck had, by this point, made it apparent that he was irreplaceable in the ensemble.

Turkey Dinner, in which a drunken session for the platoon results in Jones accidentally shooting a turkey, is actually a nice ending to the series. I like the way that the farce leading up to the turkey's demise is all just described rather than shown, and everyone is nicely in character, with Mainwaring's moral determination to pay for the dead turkey and the platoon's decision to serve it to the local pensioners all tapping into the good-heartedness of Dad's Army that felt largely absent in earlier series 7 episodes. The plot is thin but comfortably enjoyable and the episode's climactic routine about Mainwaring getting gravy on his formalwear has a nice, familiar vaudeville feel to it that chimes with the wartime setting. If series 7 does still feel like a bit of a disappointment, its second half picks up to a sufficient extent that there's still some hope for what's left to come.

Turkey Suppers and Drinkers.

[hitchcockthelegend · 6/10 · 26 December 2015]

Turkey Dinner was the Christmas episode that was shown on the 23 December 1974, it was from Season 7 and was episode 6. In spite of it being shown at Xmas time and involving Turkey, plenty of them actually, it isn't actually a Xmas episode. A lot of British situation comedies of the 70s and 80s would do this, have an episode shown over Xmas but not actually involve much, if any, actual seasonal flavours.

Dad's Army was a grandly written show that was performed with great skill and wit by the cast. This was a rare case where not a lot really happens and thus it just gets by on character affinities only. Plot basically has LCpl. Jack Jones (Clive Dunn) accidentally kill a Turkey and the group of Home Guard volunteers who he belongs to, first try to remedy the situation, and then set about making a big dinner for the pensioners of Walmington-on-Sea.

The customary vocal sparring pops in from time to time, while the rag-bag nature of the different members of the group is still mined for good viewing. Yet it's more safe than anything broad and essential. It's very much an episode for hardcore fans and not one for interested observers to sample as a starting point. 6/10