Capt. George Mainwaring

Bank manager by day, self-appointed commander of Walmington-on-Sea's Home Guard platoon, Mainwaring meets us puffed up with rank and purpose, certain that Britain's defence rests on his shoulders and his say-so. He drills a ragtag squad of clerks and pensioners with total seriousness, bristling at any hint that his authority might be laughable, particularly from his social superior, Sergeant Wilson.

Lowe plays pomposity from the inside, so Mainwaring never seems to know he's absurd, which is precisely what makes him funny and, oddly, moveable. Beneath the bluster is real, unglamorous patriotism and a class chip he can't put down. The scripts let him be ridiculous and brave in the same breath, often the same scene.