My British Buddy
| "My British Buddy" | |
|---|---|
| Dad's Army episode | |
| Episode no. |
Series Six Episode 055 |
| Directed by | David Croft |
| Story by | Jimmy Perry and David Croft |
| Produced by | David Croft |
| Original air date | Wednesday 7/11/73 6.50pm (recorded Friday 8/6/73) |
| Running time | 30 minutes |
"My British Buddy" is the second episode of the sixth series of the British television sitcom Dad's Army that was originally transmitted on BBC 1 on Wednesday 7 November 1973.
Following Pearl Harbor, the Americans have, at last, decided to join the fight against Nazism, and the first small contingent of troops arrives in Walmington-on-Sea. Mainwairing tells them to make themselves at home, which they promptly do - with the platoon's girlfriends. When the British are told they don't know the right temperature to serve beer, and the Americans are told they don't know when to enter a war, a fight breaks out. A photographer from the local paper is on hand to record the special relationship...
The Walmington-on-Sea Home Guard unit has received exciting news; as Captain Mainwaring puts it, the long dark tunnel is now illuminated by a bright light shining for all to see. He is not, as Pike initially believes, referring to the blackout, but to the arrival of the Americans in the World War II (and not before time, according to certain members of the platoon). A detachment of American troops will be arriving in Walmington-on-Sea within the week, and the Home Guard intend to treat them to a traditional British welcome. It is Lance Corporal Jones who has the brilliant idea (arrived at following a characteristically long-winded anecdote about a spear-throwing contest during his military service in the Sudan) of treating their visitors to a darts match in the local pub, to which the platoon will bring their girlfriends along.
All initially goes well with the meeting of two nations. Mainwaring is surprised by the informality of the American Colonel Schultz (who greets the British officer with a cheery "Howdy partner, put it there!"), and the Colonel is somewhat nonplussed by both Frazer's unique rendition of the Robert Burns poem Scots Wha Hae (with strategic updating and references to Hitler) and Jones' complicated explanation of where the term 'limeys' originated, but all seems to be going well, with a number of pleasing propaganda photos taken. It starts to go wrong, of course, when the American soldiers are told to make themselves feel at home - and thus immediately start flirting with the Home Guard's girlfriends, who all promptly forget about their boyfriends when faced with the attention of the handsome young Americans. Matters are not helped by the ungracious American response to warm beer and the lack of scotch due to war privations, and when Warden Hodges struts in and begins telling the Americans that their late entry into both the First and World War II is not greatly appreciated, it doesn't take long for a fight to break out.
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