List of Dad's Army Characters - Recurring Characters

Recurring Characters

• Mrs. Yeatman (Olive Mercer) (series 5,8) - Yeatman's forbidding wife, Beryl, played by Olive Mercer, appeared from time to time, mostly in situations when she was able to express impatience: for example, as a member of an over-large committee planning a social function or in a queue in the butcher's shop of Lance Corporal Jack Jones. She led the Walmington on Sea ladies Netball team. It emerged, after Mrs Yeatman had caught her husband taking an afternoon's ride on a motor-cycle with the flirtatious Mrs Fox, that, somewhat improbably, she herself was involved in an extramarital relationship with the elderly Sidney Blewett (Harold Bennett).
• Norman Blewitt (Harold Bennett) (series 3-9) - Mr Blewitt was an elderly gentleman who recurred in a variety of roles, but always under the same name. During the series, he was seen as a photographer and the vicar's gardener, but often as a passer-by who became involved in the platoon's escapades. Norman was sometimes referred to as 'Sidney', see above and No Spring for Frazer.
• Mrs Fox (Pamela Cundell) (series 2-9) - Corporal Jones's lady friend and finally wife. Described as a "flashy woman" by Captain Mainwaring, her first name in the episode "Mum's Army" is revealed as Marcia, although this changes to "Mildred" by the final episode. Mrs Fox is an ebullient woman, whom we assume loses her husband early on during the war. By "The Big Parade" she is referred to as a widow. What followed was a long running saga in which Corporal Jones wooed Mrs Fox. Victoria Wood points out that part of Dad's Army's success came from its ability to juxtapose 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 came to pass during the last ever episode of the series.
• Mr Gordon (Eric Longworth) (series 5-9) - the efficient but pompous town clerk, described by Wilson as a "silly bald-headed old duffer". Involved in administrative issues in the town, he has a penchant for saying things are "very nice".
• The Mayor of Walmington (Fred McNaughton) - Walmington's highest public official. His appearances usually involve playing the straight man to his excitable Town Clerk. Once when watching a 'keep-fit' display, he responds to Mr Gordon's remark of "that's very nice" with a straight-laced "Yes, if you like that sort of thing". He also takes part, in full ceremonial dress, in a thrilling train-chase in the episode The Royal Train. There are allusions to a habit of making long-winded speeches.
• Shirley (Wendy Richard) (series 4-6) - Walker's recurring girlfriend appeared in 4 episodes, Shirley (although she is referred to as Edith Parish in "Mum's Army" and is credited the name of Edith Parish in her first appearance in the series 4 episode "The two and half feathers"), is a cinema usherette and was played up to be a bit of a 'tart'. In particular, she annoys Mainwaring by suggesting that he fancies her.
• Janet King (Caroline Dowdeswell) (series 1) - a young blonde female employee at Mainwaring's bank. According to the series' creator David Croft, she was introduced at a fairly late stage in the scripting because the BBC's head of comedy Michael Mills believed that the programme needed a "soupçon of sex".
• Elizabeth Mainwaring (Unseen character) - Captain Mainwaring's wife, never seen or heard directly; she "hasn't left the house since Munich". Her presence is mainly felt by her telephone calls to her husband. The nearest we get to seeing her is in one episode where we hear her footsteps, and another where we see her very large posterior hanging down above Mainwaring when they are in bunks in an air raid shelter. Through dialogue it is clear that Mrs Mainwaring is cold, reclusive, withholding of affection and that she is blatantly the dominant figure in the marriage. Mainwaring often uses the Platoon as a means of avoiding her and prefers not to introduce her to other people, lest she upset them. Sometimes Captain Mainwaring appears sporting minor physical injuries such as black eye in the episode "War Dance" for which he offers comically unconvincing explanations such as "walking into the linen cupboard door". It is strongly insinuated that these injuries are actually the result of incidents of domestic violence and they often seem to occur prior to a function or event where other women may be present to which Elizabeth is invited but cannot attend as it would involve going out. It is possible that she is an agoraphobic but she does venture out of the house (off camera) in "The Godiva Affair". We discover in When You've Got to Go that Mrs Mainwaring was the daughter of the Suffragan Bishop of Clegthorpe (a fictional see) and her parents look down on Captain Mainwaring for "marrying beneath her".
• Dolly Godfrey (Amy Dalby, later Joan Cooper) Private Godfrey's younger sister. Renowned for the quality of her upside-down cakes and cucumber sandwiches. Like Mrs Mainwaring she rarely appears, but is constantly referred to by her brother. Joan Cooper, Arthur Lowe's real-life wife, also played Dolly in the stage adaptation of Dad's Army.
• Cissy Godfrey, Private Godfrey's other sister, appeared in one episode of series 2 and 3 episodes of series 3 (1969), played by Nan Braunton. Braunton reprised the role in two episodes of the radio series, in which Cissy was Private Godfrey's only sister. The role of Cissy was later taken over by Kathleen Saintsbury in an episode of the eighth television series, and by Joan Cooper (who had previously played Dolly Godfrey in the television series) in an episode of the third radio series.
• Colonel Pritchard (Robert Raglan) (series 3-9) - The superior officer from whom Captain Mainwaring most frequently received his orders. A stern, serious man, he unexpectedly appeared to admire Mainwaring, frequently commenting on his successes and warning people not to underestimate him. Raglan also played Captain Square's sergeant in one episode, and Inspector Hardcastle in the feature film, Dad's Army.
• Captain Square (Geoffrey Lumsden) (all series) - commander of the Eastgate platoon of the Home Guard and rival of Captain Mainwaring. A stereotypical military buffoon, with a handlebar moustache, in early episodes he was "Corporal-Colonel Square", being a Corporal in the Home Guard and a former Colonel in the Army. He had a serious military record, fighting in the desert and winning several medals, including the DSO. Square was even more pompous than Mainwaring, and condescending towards his inexperienced rival, e.g. he would deliberately mispronounce Mainwaring's name phonetically. Square could be overconfident at times, and Mainwaring and the Walmington platoon did sometimes get the better of Square and the Eastgate platoon.
• Gerald (Don Estelle) - Diminutive Lancastrian ARP Warden, seen in various episodes. He usually appears as a friendly, but slightly frustrating sidekick to Hodges. He played cricket for the Wardens XI during The Test.
• Reg Adamson (Stuart Sherwin) - Easygoing warden who is sometimes overpowered by Hodges' zeal and unscrupulous methods - particularly his vendetta with Mainwaring's platoon. He gave evidence against Mainwaring during "A Brush with the Law".
• General Kitchener (unseen and dead character) - Although long dead by the time of the second world war General Kitchener and his military tactics are often referenced by Corporal Jones in almost any situation - the starting point for Jones's advice often being what General Kitchener would have done in a similar situation. As a result very many episodes contain an apocryphal General Kitchener anecdote to the point that he is, debatably, a character in his own right. When speaking as or quoting "General Kitchener" Corporal Jones will very often put his hand on his hip. This is unexplained until final episode when Private Pike asks Jones why he does this and Jones seems to insinuate that it is a reference to the rumours of homosexaulity that surrounded the General. In their interviews on the complete DVD box set David Croft and Jimmy Perry reveal that a specific stage direction was indeed given to Clive Dunn and that it is indeed a reference to Kitchener's rumoured homosexuality.