‘ROOM AT THE BOTTOM’ (TV)
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At the time of the original DVD release of Series 3 of ‘Dad’s Army’, ‘Room at the Bottom’ was only available in black-and-white. Now it can be seen in colour! 🙂 It was shown on TV via repeats of ‘Dad’s Army’ on BBC Two and it could be viewed via BBC iPlayer. Now it can be seen on ITVX and on ‘The Missing Episodes’ DVD.
I’ve seen the colour version of ‘Room of the Bottom’ and enjoyed it greatly. On ‘The Missing Episodes’ DVD, there’s a special introduction provided by Ian Lavender before the colour version of ‘Room of the Bottom’ was shown. It was very nice to see this introduction provided by Ian Lavender for the episode.
The colour version of ‘Room of the Bottom’ was first broadcast in December 2008 via BBC2. That version is on the DVD. When I saw the colour version of ‘Room of the Bottom’ on DVD in January 2024, Ian Lavender sadly passed away shortly afterwards. I’m pleased I saw his introduction for ‘Room at the Bottom’ then.
‘Room at the Bottom’ is a very poignant episode in the ‘Dad’s Army’ TV series. After discovering he doesn’t hold a commission as Captain in the Home Guard, Mainwaring is gradually demoted in the ranks. This upsets him greatly, but Mainwaring takes on a brave stance, as he becomes a private among the platoon.
I like how this episode touches upon Mainwaring’s character and how it connects to how he formed the ‘Dad’s Army’ team in ‘The Man and the Hour’ by making himself a captain. He’s demoted in the ranks, yet the platoon members soon come to realise that they need Mainwaring very much to be their leader.
The episode’s guest cast includes John Ringham as Captain Bailey. Bailey is the one who keeps missing Mainwaring and tells Sergeant Wilson that he’s being demoted. There’s Anthony Sagar as Drill Sergeant Gregory. I found the scenes where the Drill Sergeant was barking orders at the platoon very funny.
I loved that moment where Mainwaring read the letter to say that he’s been demoted to private and he’s in a state of shock. A shot is fired, and Wilson assumed Mainwaring shot himself. But when he enters, it turns out Godfrey fired the shot by mistake. Jonesy reassures everyone that nobody was hurt. 😀
Edward Sinclair returns as Mr. Yeatman, the Verger, in the episode. He runs in to inform Mainwaring and the platoon that the Bismarck sank. This saves Mainwaring ‘his bacon’, just as he was about to inform the ‘Dad’s Army’ team that he was initially demoted from a captain to a lieutenant in the episode.
I liked it when Wilson led the ‘Dad’s Army’ team on the weekend training exercise and Jonesy volunteered to go and make sure everything was clear. He then has ants crawling on his leg, which causes him to take his trousers off. Everyone thinks it’s the signal to head out before bombs are thrown at them.
‘Room at the Bottom’ ends on a happy and touching note where all the members of the platoon, including Jones, Pike, Godfrey and Walker (not Frazer) write to GHQ to ask for Mainwaring to be their captain again. This is a very poignant episode for Mainwaring, and I’m very pleased it’s in colour today.
‘Room at the Bottom’ (TV) rating – 8/10
‘ROOM AT THE BOTTOM’ (AUDIO)
Please feel free to comment on my review.
‘Room at the Bottom’ was the seventeenth episode transmitted in Series 1 of the ‘Dad’s Army’ radio series. I enjoyed this radio version of the TV episode, although there were characters absent from the TV version in the radio version. This meant certain key moments from the TV episode are lost on audio.
As well as Arthur Lowe, John Le Mesurier and Clive Dunn in the episode, there’s John Laurie as Private Frazer and Private Godfrey. Walker and Pike don’t make an appearance in the episode, although Walker does get referred to, since he came up with the tyre idea in ‘Sgt. Wilson’s Little Secret’.
A lot of the dialogue that was given to Walker and Pike in the TV version are given to Jones, Frazer and Godfrey in the radio episode. For example, Pike’s relaying information about Mainwaring at the bank when he’s demoted to private is now given to Frazer instead, which was intriguing to listen to on audio.
Godfrey also comes up with the idea to write letters to GHQ to ask for Captain Mainwaring back instead of Pike, as in the TV episode. It does make me wonder why Graham Stark couldn’t reprise his role as Walker in the radio series by this point. In fact, Graham Stark doesn’t return in the rest of Series 1.
John Ringham reprises his role from the TV version in the radio version of the episode, although he’s renamed as Captain Turner, not Captain Bailey. Jack Watson plays Drill Sergeant Gregory in the radio episode, not Anthony Sagar, as in the TV episode. I find the Drill Sergeant Gregory scene in the TV version superior and funnier than in the radio version.
Edward Sinclair as the Verger doesn’t appear in the radio version of this episode, as he did in the TV version. Instead, it’s Private Frazer who runs in to tell Captain Mainwaring that the Bismarck has sunk. In the radio version, Jonesy says the Frazer and Walker lines in questioning Mainwaring when he hides his rank.
Mainwaring’s reaction to the news that he’s no longer a captain is different in the radio version compared to the TV version. We hear his reaction to the news before the shot is fired and Wilson runs in to ask if he’s alright. Mainwaring replies, “I’m wounded, Wilson… inside!” That was very effective to listen to.
The training exercise sequence from the TV episode is omitted in the radio episode, as is Wilson purchasing a new officer-styled hat. This is replaced with Wilson being untidy in his dress sense and is criticised by Mainwaring and Drill Sergeant Gregory. Jones, Godfrey and Frazer also write letters to GHQ in their homes.
‘Room at the Bottom’ (Audio) rating – 7/10
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