‘THE MAKING OF PRIVATE PIKE’ (TV)
Please feel free to comment on my review.
This is a Pike-focused episode as indicated in the episode’s title. This episode is where Pike meets a pretty young girl who tries to seduce him into taking her to the ‘pictures’. As a result, Pike inadvertently steals Mainwaring’s staff car and it breaks down on the journey back from the cinema.
I have to say, I’m not very fond of this ‘Dad’s Army’ episode much. It’s an interesting attempt to deal with Pike’s character, but I was hoping for this episode to see Pike coming of age in being more grown-up and getting more respect from Mainwaring. Sadly, this episode didn’t do any of those things here.
Pike comes across as immature and twitchy towards females, especially when he meets Jean Gilpin as Sylvia, Chief Warden Hodges’ niece. He doesn’t get appreciated for who he is by Sylvia. She pushes him into taking the car without Mainwaring’s permission and is named a ‘soppy boy’ at times.
Pike and Sylvia return the next day after going to the cinema. Everyone gets the wrong idea about Pike and Sylvia from Bill Pertwee as Hodges, Janet Davies as Mrs. Pike and Captain Mainwaring. I felt for Pike in that scene. He was misjudged by that point. Thankfully, Frazer and Jones sort-of save Pike.
I did think Mainwaring was rather grumpy and pretty unreasonable in this episode. This isn’t just in misjudging Pike with stealing the car and taking Sylvia with him. It also occurs when they’re trying out the new staff car, which was funny to watch. Mainwaring scolds Pike and even Godfrey at times.
I did like that scene between Wilson and Pike where they have their man-to-man talk in the episode. Pike doesn’t understand what Wilson’s trying to say to him and the scene ends with him not comprehending. But I did like how Wilson tries to have a man-to-man talk with him, if unsuccessfully.
The episode features guest appearances of Frank Williams as the Vicar and Edward Sinclair as the Verger. There’s also Anthony Sharp (who I’ve seen in ‘Steptoe & Son’ episodes) as the Colonel and Jeffrey Segal as the Brigadier. There’s also Pamela Cundell as Mrs. Fox dating Jonesy in this story.
So yeah, ‘The Making of Private Pike’ was a disappointment for me. It wasn’t the episode I’d hoped for in showcasing Pike’s true potential into becoming a properly grown-up character. I would’ve written the episode very differently by having it emotionally-driven instead of just played for laughs.
‘The Making of Private Pike’ (TV) rating – 5/10
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Bradley's Basement 
I know a lot of people aren’t keen on Sylvia, or her episode, and it’s not how I would have written it either, but I still think she’s important. They both went about things in the wrong way there, which is a shame because there is more that could have been done with her, had she been introduced sooner.
It’s a shame too, that we never had the chance to see Pike with a real girlfriend, as all the ones we do see are brought in all of a sudden, and then either never seen again or very rarely. In fact, Ivy is only seen again to go off with an American and be broken up with – which I always think is a sad line anyway, knowing they broke up in real life.
It’s a very sweet sort of crush on Violet, and she is one of a couple of indications that Pike really wants a girlfriend, and no doubt to find out what it’s all about – all the things no-one will tell him, which makes it a pity that when he actually had a chance with Sylvia he didn’t take it.
I can only think that the stakes with her were too high – it probably felt like he’d do the wrong thing no matter what. I like to think she thought it was just going to be a bit of fun, but got more serious for her too, and that’s why she tried hard to put on her mature woman of the world act, but was really not much more mature than him.
They just needed more time, and in my head they got it, even if not many other people see it.
(He probably fancied Janet too!)
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Hi Bella,
Thanks for sharing your thoughts and insight on ‘The Making of Private Pike’. I didn’t realise there were a lot of people who aren’t keen on this episode. I thought it was just me. 😆 I’m glad you think things could have been done differently with Sylvia’s character and that Pike’s relationship with her could have been handled differently.
Yes, it’s sad that Pike never got a proper girlfriend in the series and it would have been nice to have seen the emotional maturity of Pike’s character when he’s interacting with women. I would have liked it if the series went in the direction of Pike having a relationship with Miss Janet King at Swallow’s Bank, as she only appeared in Series 1 and was never seen again, which is a shame. I know the 2016 film did something with Pike having a relationship with Vera, but there are things about that which don’t altogether work for me.
If Sylvia was a recurring character in Series 9 of ‘Dad’s Army’ that Pike kept bumping into, maybe there could have been more leeway for Pike and Sylvia to develop on their emotional and social interaction with each other, rather than just confine it to one episode. I know the writers wanted to showcase Pike’s immaturity with women in this episode, but I think some missed opportunities were made for Pike in this episode as well as Series 9 itself.
Once again, thanks for sharing your thoughts and insight on this episode.
Best wishes,
Tim 🙂
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They are obviously attracted to each other. At the cafe, they each let the other know they’ve noticed them, and after moaning about the price of drinks, Pike immediately buys hers!
I tend to think she had a head full of what the other ATS girls said ‘boys like’, and she did the very teenage thing of throwing everything she could at him all at once, and then got hurt and disappointed when it didn’t work.
Unfortunately, they both get sulky and snappy when upset, so didn’t really deal with the situation in a good way.
I’ve written a whole fanfic on this – it works out in the end.
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Hi Bella,
I’m glad you’ve written a fanfic on how things could have been done differently with Pike and Sylvia. I’m sure it has a better ending compared to how this episode turned out.
Many thanks for your comments.
Tim 🙂
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Hi Tim – it’s interesting too, that the ‘adults’ involved when the car is brought back very much hold Pike to an adult’s standard, and clearly believe more has gone on. Wilson certainly does, and that makes their chat in the car on the exercise one of the best scenes in the show.
Wilson is basically saying that whatever happened, and whatever happens as a result, as far as he is concerned, it will be OK. He will stand by him, and I think that’s a lovely thing to see.
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Hi Bella,
Thanks for sharing some more thoughts on this ‘Dad’s Army’ episode, especially regarding when Wilson chats to Pike about what other people think he did when taking out the car with Sylvia. Had ‘Dad’s Army’ gone on for more seasons beyond Series 9, I would have liked to have seen more of that between Wilson and Pike, and hopefully it would’ve enhanced Pike’s interaction with women as well as his emotional maturity. I suppose it was kind-of done in the 2016 film, but I’m not sure if I want to rely on that due to it not featuring the original ‘Dad’s Army’ cast.
Many thanks for your comments.
Tim 🙂
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