Dad's Army backdrop
Comedy•War & Politics

The Best Episodes of Dad's Army

Every episode of Dad's Army ranked from best to worst. Let's dive into the Best Episodes of Dad's Army!

Binge this in 1d 13h•Peaking at 8.0/10

Introducing the Walmington-On-Sea home guard. During WW2, in a fictional British seaside town, a ragtag group of Home Guard local defense volunteers prepare for an imminent German invasion.

Airs on
BBC One
BestEpisodes
WorstEpisodes
BestSeasons
AllEpisodes

Seasons9

All123456789

Episode Rankings

  1. #1 Fan Favorite
    Click to reveal
    Dad's Army Season 4 Episode 5 - Don't Fence Me In
    8.0/10(1 votes)

    #1 - Don't Fence Me In

    S4:E5

    The platoon is to guard a POW camp housing Italian soldiers and Mainwaring is suspicious because Walker seems rather too friendly with them. However, Walker explains that he uses them as cheap labour to mend radios and they go backwards and forwards in and out of the camp via a tunnel which they have dug beneath the stove. When an inspection is called for and only half the prisoners are available, Jones, doing the head count, makes them go round twice but the plan is rumbled when the missing half turns up.

    Director:Harold Snoad
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  2. Dad's Army Season 1 Episode 2 - Museum Piece
    6.5/10(1 votes)

    #2 - Museum Piece

    S1:E2

    With the shortage of weapons, Capt. Mainwaring goes to the local museum to see if any of the guns on display can be used by the platoon.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  3. Dad's Army Season 1 Episode 4 - The Enemy Within the Gates
    6.0/10(1 votes)

    #3 - The Enemy Within the Gates

    S1:E4

    Capt. Mainwaring is giving a lecture on recognising enemy agents when he learns that for every Nazi captured there is a reward. Later on Jones and Walker capture two Luftwaffe airmen, although a Polish officer intends to claim the reward. Back at HQ the airmen escape on Godfrey's watch.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  4. Dad's Army Season 3 Episode 14 - Sons of the Sea
    6.0/10(1 votes)

    #4 - Sons of the Sea

    S3:E14

    When a bank client's debt means his rowing boat must be auctioned, Mainwaring can't resist acquiring it for river patrols, however overstretched his men already are. Frazer supplements the nautical novice's Seascouts manual 'knowledge', and becomes the coxswain. But Mainwaring disregards all warnings, so they row through mist straight into sea. Hearing strange voices, they assume they are in Nazi-occupied France and hide, until they wake in a moving train.

    Director:David Croft
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  5. Dad's Army Season 4 Episode 6 - Absent Friends
    6.0/10(1 votes)

    #5 - Absent Friends

    S4:E6

    On return from London, Mainwaring is shocked to find that almost all of the platoon are playing in a darts tournament against Hodges and the wardens, which they refuse to leave, despite losing. Wilson is displeased as Hodges has bought Mavis a drink and seems to be getting overly familiar with her. When a call comes through that a suspected IRA terrorist is in the area, however, the men pull together – eventually – and Wilson proves to Mavis and the others that he is the hero of the hour.

    Director:David Croft
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  6. Dad's Army Season 1 Episode 1 - The Man and the Hour
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #6 - The Man and the Hour

    S1:E1

    After listening to a radio broadcast asking for men to form what has been named Local Defence Volunteers (later to be renamed the Home Guard), George Mainwaring, a local bank manager, decides to act and form the platoon of his own accord. He appoints himself as Captain and recruits his chief bank clerk Arthur Wilson as the platoon sergeant as well as enlisting the bank's office boy Frank Pike. Several of the local tradesmen - including James Frazer, a philatelist shopkeeper; retired shop worker Charles Godfrey; Jack Jones the butcher and black market businessman Joe Walker - also volunteer their service for 'King and Country.' And so, The Walmington-on-Sea LDV is born.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

    7. Trending NowTRENDING NOW

    The 20 WORST Episodes of Dad's Army

    READ
  7. Dad's Army Season 1 Episode 3 - Command Decision
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #7 - Command Decision

    S1:E3

    Capt. Mainwaring, worried about the lack of weapons, gets a visit from Col. Square, an old soldier who offers to donate some guns from his collection, providing he can take command of the platoon. Mainwaring agrees until he sees the state of the guns.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  8. Dad's Army Season 1 Episode 5 - The Showing Up of Corporal Jones
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #8 - The Showing Up of Corporal Jones

    S1:E5

    Just when the platoon finally gets its uniforms, LCpl. Jones is told that unless he can complete the assault course in 15 minutes he will have to leave, so Mainwaring and the rest of the platoon think of a plan to help him.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  9. Dad's Army Season 1 Episode 6 - Shooting Pains
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #9 - Shooting Pains

    S1:E6

    When news that the Prime Minister is to pay a visit to the area a shooting contest is held to see which of the local platoons will form the Guard of Honour. Walker gets a crack shot from the theatre touring show (Barbara Windsor) to take part as a member of the platoon but a surprise is in store for everybody.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  10. Dad's Army Season 2 Episode 1 - Operation Kilt
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #10 - Operation Kilt

    S2:E1

    When six members of the Highland Regiment attack the Warmington-on-Sea's HQ, the platoon has to come up with a scheme to capture the attackers.

    Director:David Croft
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  11. Dad's Army Season 2 Episode 2 - The Battle of Godfrey's Cottage
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #11 - The Battle of Godfrey's Cottage

    S2:E2

    When the church bells start to ring, the platoon leaps into action. Jones takes half the platoon to Godfrey's cottage to set up a machine gun post while Wilson, not knowing where Jones has gone, also heads for the cottage where they both mistake each other for the enemy and prepare to attack.

    Director:David Croft
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  12. Dad's Army Season 2 Episode 3 - The Loneliness of the Long Distance Walker
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #12 - The Loneliness of the Long Distance Walker

    S2:E3

    Walker is finally called up but Mainwaring tries to get his call-up deferred because of his value to the platoon, but he is still conscripted, only to find out that he is allergic to the army's corned beef.

    Director:David Croft
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  13. Dad's Army Season 2 Episode 4 - Sgt Wilson's Little Secret
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #13 - Sgt Wilson's Little Secret

    S2:E4

    Wilson overhears Mrs Pike telling Frank that she is expecting. Wilson assumes that she is pregnant and that he is the father, but it turns out that she's looking after an evacuee. Mainwaring advises that Wilson marry her, until she clears up the misunderstanding.

    Director:Harold Snoad
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  14. Dad's Army Season 2 Episode 5 - A Stripe for Frazer
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #14 - A Stripe for Frazer

    S2:E5

    Mainwaring promotes Frazer to Lance Corporal, thus causing friction between him and Jones. When Frazer starts getting above himself, Mainwaring rescinds the promotion.

    Director:David Croft
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  15. Dad's Army Season 2 Episode 6 - Under Fire
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #15 - Under Fire

    S2:E6

    The platoon is fire watching when the men see a man using a torch. Convinced that they have discovered a spy, they arrest him only to find that they have made a terrible mistake.

    Director:David Croft
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  16. Dad's Army Season 3 Episode 1 - The Armoured Might of Lance Corporal Jones
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #16 - The Armoured Might of Lance Corporal Jones

    S3:E1

    Mainwaring's lecture is a total mess due to gas masks. To obtain rationed petrol, Joe convinces Jones to volunteer his butcher's van as platoon car. Alas, after they worked for days to make it fit for the platoon, HQ has it converted to gas. Meanwhile, to Mainwaring's snobbish horror, vulgar grocer Hodges makes his haughty entry as ARP Chief Warden, and rival rooster in town and church hall.

    Director:David Croft
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  17. Dad's Army Season 3 Episode 2 - Battle School
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #17 - Battle School

    S3:E2

    It's Mainwaring's platoon's turn for a weekend of guerrilla warfare training at a rural facility. Thanks to train delay and the captain's disastrous sense of direction, they arrive late for dinner and sleep through breakfast. They do rather poorly at survival course, but Mainwaring's determined to redeem their honour by attempting a challenge nobody has ever pulled off: capturing the officer's HQ.

    Director:David Croft
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  18. Dad's Army Season 3 Episode 3 - The Lion Has 'Phones
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #18 - The Lion Has 'Phones

    S3:E3

    Mainwaring gives the platoon a lecture in communications but when a German plane crashes into the town's reservoir, it becomes obvious that many of the men have no idea how to use a telephone and, when Mainwaring gets through to the main exchange to notify the incident, the operator is no help.

    Director:Harold Snoad
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  19. Dad's Army Season 3 Episode 4 - The Bullet Is Not for Firing
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #19 - The Bullet Is Not for Firing

    S3:E4

    Mainwaring is extremely annoyed that the platoon – sans Godfrey, who was too slow – have used up all their ammunition firing in vain at a low-flying German aeroplane. An inquiry is ordered – along with a new case of ammunition, which duly arrives. The captain in charge, taking place in the church hall in competition with choir practice, feels it a waste of time but talks the men through what happened.

    Director:David Croft
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  20. Dad's Army Season 3 Episode 5 - Something Nasty in the Vault
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #20 - Something Nasty in the Vault

    S3:E5

    An unannounced bank inspector from head office is far from impressed by Mainwaring's bumbling while handling some minor cash deposit and black market matters with Jones and Walker. He gets really angry about the way military HG considerations seem systematically to supersede bank interests. After an air raid alarm, an unexploded Nazi bomb is 'found' in the basement strong room and nearly made to explode by Mainwaring and Arthur. Bomb squad captain Rogers takes charge, but while he gets help, the men can't resist 'helping' themselves.

    Director:David Croft
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  21. Dad's Army Season 3 Episode 6 - Room at the Bottom
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #21 - Room at the Bottom

    S3:E6

    Wilson secretly enjoys passing on HQ Captain Bailey's finding that Mainwaring's captain's commission in the original local militia days is invalid, so he'll be reduced to lieutenant, as befits a platoon commander. When HQ concludes he's actually not even an NCO, he has to join the ranks under the Guard drill instructor he ordered himself. After the platoon's embarrassing failure at an exercise, everyone wants to have him reinstated, except Frazer, who smells opportunity.

    Director:David Croft
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  22. Dad's Army Season 3 Episode 7 - Big Guns
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #22 - Big Guns

    S3:E7

    A large field gun has been delivered for demonstration but none of the platoon know how it works. After a process of trial and error using models to represent the town, the time comes for the gun to be fired but the men get tangled up in the netting enclosing it.

    Director:David Croft
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  23. Dad's Army Season 3 Episode 8 - The Day the Balloon Went Up
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #23 - The Day the Balloon Went Up

    S3:E8

    After Mainwaring complains of sloppy slauting, a runaway barrage balloon appears with the Verger clinging onto it. He's rescued and various people, including Godfrey's sister Cissie, are asked to hang on until Mainwaring takes charge. Unfortunately, it takes off in the breeze with Mainwaring on the other end of its rope, dragging him through trees and a haystack until it stops on a railway bridge. The men are about to secure it but then an officer comes by and, in order to perfect the saluting so beloved of Mainwaring, they have to let go of the balloon.

    Director:David Croft
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  24. Dad's Army Season 3 Episode 9 - War Dance
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #24 - War Dance

    S3:E9

    Pike's work is suffering due to distraction from his girlfriend Violet, whom Mainwaring regards as common as her mother used to clean for him. Furthermore, at the upcoming platoon dance, Pike is going to announce his engagement to her, which alarms Wilson as Mavis would never let her baby go.

    Director:David Croft
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  25. Dad's Army Season 3 Episode 10 - Menace from the Deep
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #25 - Menace from the Deep

    S3:E10

    The platoon are on guard duty on a derelict pier, which they have reached by boat but, thanks to Pike's clumsiness, the boat has floated away, carrying their food. Hodges rows out in a children's boat to tell them to 'put that light out' and falls into the sea. Dispensary chocolate turns out to be a cardboard display but worse is to come when a floating mine appears.

    Director:David Croft
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

Best Episodes Summary

"Don't Fence Me In" is the best rated episode of "Dad's Army". It scored 8/10 based on 1 votes. Directed by Harold Snoad and written by Unknown, it aired on 10/23/1970. This episode scored 1.5 points higher than the second highest rated, "Museum Piece".