Product Details

• Format: Box set, Color, NTSC
• Language: English
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 6
• Studio: Bfs Entertainment
• VHS Release Date: November 11, 1998
• Run Time: 540 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 630426948X
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #283,497 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

JOIN CAPTAIN MAINWARING AND HIS BUMBLING GROUP BRITISH HOME GUARDS AT THEIR INCOMPETENT BEST AT WELMINGTON-ON-SEA. 18 ORIGINAL AWARD WINNING BBC EPISODES 1992 RELEASE. A MUST FOR FANS OF HILARIOUS, YET POIGNANT BRITSH HUMOR. JOLLY GOOD!

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Dad's Army--the Best of British TV Sitcoms?, June 20, 2000

By 

Donald C. Baker (Friday Harbor WA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dad's Army (Collection Set) [VHS] (VHS Tape)

This series about the British Home Guard during World War II was the most loved of all British TV comic series, lasting for an unheard-of nine years in the late 60's and early 70's. A brilliant cast headed by Arthur Lowe, John LeMesurier, and Clive Dunn held together for the entire period with only a single major loss--the early death of James Beck, who played Private Walker. The actors created their characters so well that, after a few years, they hardly needed a script, though that script was created by the best of British comedy-writing teams, David Croft and Jimmy Perry, both of whom had served in the Home Guard and as air raid wardens during the war.

The characters reflected Britain as well as it has ever been caught on celuloid--the class tensions between Lowe as middle class bank manager Captain Mainwaring (pronounced "Mannering") and John LeMesurier as the minor aristocrat bank clerk Sergeant (The Honourable) Arthur Wilson; the ethnic tensions between the fiery old Welsh butcher Jack Jones and the laconic and cynical Scot undertaker Private Frazer (played by Clive Dunn and John Laurie); the Cockney spiv played by James Beck (who reveals that not all was heroism and self-sacrifice in the Battle of Britain); the mum's boy Private Pike (Ian Lavender); the retired old artistic gentleman Private Godfrey (played by the fine old actor and playwright Arnold Ridley).

Such a series inevitably spawns its own running jokes--Captain Mainwaring's cold and bossy wife (who never actually appears in the series); Sergeant Wilson's affair with the mother of Private Pike, who never quite tumbles to the facts, though he occasionally suspects; old Private Godfrey's having to be excused frequently to go to the loo; Private Walker's slipping the odd black market bottle of whiskey to Captain Mainwaring, etc.

The series is marked by genius as comedy, and is also an important social document capturing a Britain that is now no more.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great cast, great show!, June 6, 2001

By 

Kurt A. Johnson (North-Central Illinois, USA) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Dad's Army (Collection Set) [VHS] (VHS Tape)

During the dark days of World War II, a group of brave men stepped forward to protect Walmington-On-Sea from the dreaded Nazis, the men of the Home Guard. Sadly for Walmington-On-Sea, their Home Guard platoon is filled with the crazy and the incompetent. Led by the pompous Captain George "Napoleon" Mainwaring (played by Arthur Lowe), the mild-mannered Sergeant Arthur Wilson (John Le Mesurier) and the gung-ho old Lance-Corporal Jack Jones (Clive Dunn), the platoon finds itself facing few enemies, but quite a few hilarious situations!

These six tapes contain sixteen episodes drawn (seemingly randomly) from seasons 3 through 6 (1969-73), with each episode running a half hour. These shows are highly amusing, with the cast coming together to form a wonderful ensemble. I didn't notice anything objectionable, and watch these tapes with my children, who also love the show.

Therefore, if you like British comedy, then I highly recommend that you buy these tapes!

9 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Dad's Army, June 24, 2001

By 

Patrick J. McKenna (St.Marys, GA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dad's Army (Collection Set) [VHS] (VHS Tape)

I have almost every available episode of Dad's Army. During my last overseas tour of duty, which was in Scotland, I became an avid, if not rabid fan of the adventures of the Walmington-on-Sea platoon of the the Home Guard and managed to buy every episode that was available on video. Just about every episode is classic British humor (or "humour") at it's best. I don't know which episodes are included in the Dad's Army (Collection Set), but if "My British Buddy" is included, then I would be underrating this entire collection by giving it 5 stars! Forget rubbish such as the sophomoric "Monty Python's Flying Circus." As far as comedy goes, Dad's Army shall go down in history as Britain's finest half-hour.