I think it's surviving popularity is due to the fact it was superbly written and acted and its aforementioned gentleness because within that gentleness is a barbed message ridiculing the British class system. When such messages are delivered so politely you can't fail to at least listen to the message whereas if you use a sledgehammer to crack a nut (Rik Mayall's The Young Ones springs instantly to mind) then after the shock value has worn off you find the humour isn't funny as 'the shock' was the humour.

Dad's Army really benefits from the fact that it came when it did for the cast ensemble or that the cast were of their age when Dad's Army came along. Most were at the end of their's careers, had experience in abundance (not just of acting but of life itself including the remembrance of the 2nd World War) and could use that experience to make their characters real, authentic, flawed and all. That and they were all just so damm funny.

The genius of humour unfolds before your eyes. How can anyone not recommend such a treasure trove of fun?

1. The Armoured Might of Lance Corporal Jones: Lance Corporal Jones allows the platoon to use his butcher's van as an armoured car and Mainwaring meets the new ARP Warden - Hodges the Grocer.

2. Battle School: The platoon goes on a weekend guerrilla-warfare exercise. If they ever manage to find it, they have to capture Captain Rodrigues' HQ.

3. The Lion Has Phones: An enemy aircraft crashes in the town's reservoir, the platoon has to capture some real life prisoners.

4. The Bullet is not for Firing: Mainwaring sets up a court inquiry after some of the platoon fire at aircraft during an air-raid.

5. Something Nasty in the Vault: When an air-raid interrupts a bank inspection, an unexploded bomb is left in the hands of Mainwaring and Wilson.

6. Room at the Bottom: Discovering that he is not entitled to hold his rank of Captain, Mainwaring is demoted to Private and takes his place in the ranks.

7. Big Guns: The platoon is given heavy artillery and, directly in the line of fire of their naval gun, the town's bandstand is at grave risk.

8. The Day the Balloon Went Up: A runaway barrage balloon has to be brought down to earth - along with Captain Mainwaring.

9. War Dance: Mainwaring is concerned that Private Pike is bringing a 'common' cleaner to the platoon dance.

10. Menace from the Deep: Marooned on the pier head, the platoon has no food or phone - then along comes Hodges and a sea-mine...

11. Branded: Private Godfrey is sent home in disgrace when he admits to being a conscientious objector during the Great War.

12. Man Hunt: Walker gets a tracker dog for the platoon and several dozen pairs of negligee for the ladies of Walmington-on-Sea.

13. No Spring for Frazer: Frazer has lost the spring of his Lewis gun... could it be somewhere in the funeral parlour?

14. Sons of the Sea: When the bank inherits a boat, the platoon is able to mount a river patrol - and ends up lost in the English Channel!

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