Everybody's Trucking
Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
| "Everybody's Trucking" | |
|---|---|
| Dad's Army episode | |
| Episode no. | Series Seven Episode 061 |
| Directed by | David Croft |
| Story by | Jimmy Perry and David Croft |
| Produced by | David Croft |
| Original air date | Friday 15/11/74 7.45pm (recorded Sunday 27/10/74) |
| Running time | 30 minutes |
"Everybody's Trucking" is the first episode of the seventh series of the British television sitcom Dad's Army that was originally transmitted on Friday 15 November 1974.
Contents
Synopsis
Mainwaring's platoon have to signpost the route for a military convoy passing through the area. An abandoned steam roller and fairground organ trailer is blocking the route, which threatens to plunge the convoy into chaos.
Plot
The episode begins in the church hall yard, where Jones is showing off his newly restored butchers' van to the platoon. Mainwaring enters with some very important news: three battalions of regular troops are to move into the Walmington and Eastgate areas as part of the divisional scheme, and as the signposts have been removed, the platoon have been asked to signpost the route to allow the convoys to pass through safely.
En route, they find the road blocked by an abandoned steam roller and fairground organ trailer, and a note from its driver reveals that he's gone to get some coal. Rather than wait for him to return, Mainwaring decides to drive around the vehicles. Whilst doing so, Jones's van gets stuck in the mud and before long it is joined by Hodges' van, his motor-bike and side-car and a coach carrying pensioners on a day trip (who take the opportunity to dance to the organ when Frazer who is trying to move the steam roller accidentally starts it up). With time running out, it falls to Godfrey's Auntie Elsie to save the day and divert the convoy.
Notes
This episode was mainly shot on location in the Stanford Battle Area in Norfolk, with the exception of the first scene in the church hall yard, which was shot in the studio. This was fairly unusual in an age where most sitcoms took place entirely on set.
According to "Dad's Army: The Story of a Television Legend", the bird song heard in the episode is in fact the whistling of guest star Felix Bowness, who played the coach driver.
The fairground organ which plays the Can-Can in this episode was (ironically) built by the German firm of Wellershaus in the 1920s, and can be seen and heard at the Thursford Collection in Norfolk.
Cast
- Arthur Lowe as Captain Mainwaring
- John Le Mesurier as Sergeant Wilson
- Clive Dunn as Lance Corporal Jones
- John Laurie as Private Frazer
- Arnold Ridley as Private Godfrey
- Ian Lavender as Private Pike
- Bill Pertwee as ARP Warden Hodges
- Edward Sinclair as The Verger
- Frank Williams as The Vicar
- Pamela Cundell as Mrs Fox
- Harold Bennett as Mr Blewett
- Olive Mercer as Mrs Yeatman
- Felix Bowness as The Driver
- Colin Bean as Private Sponge
Radio episode
| "A Jumbo-Sized Problem" | |
|---|---|
| Dad's Army episode | |
| Episode no. | Series Three Episode 060 |
| Story by | Harold Snoad & Michael Knowles |
| Produced by | John Dyas |
| Original air date | Tuesday 20/7/76 12.27pm (recorded Wednesday 18/6/75) |
| Running time | 30 minutes |
When this episode was adapted for radio, Harold Snoad and Michael Knowles made big changes to the script. The most significant change was that rather than being held up by a steam roller, the platoon is held up by a circus truck, containing one elephant.
