Television series
Dad's Army
Dad's Army follows a hapless platoon of the Home Guard — men too old, too young or too odd for real soldiering — as they defend a sleepy seaside town with dummy rifles and enormous self-importance. It's gentle, character-driven comedy built on catchphrases and quiet dignity rather than gags-per-minute; a warm, unhurried watch for anyone who likes their comedy kind, their heroes flawed, and their Britain slightly absurd.
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It Ain't Half Hot Mum1974
From the same writing team, Perry and Croft, this swaps the Home Guard for a concert party stationed in Burma — same fond mockery of rank, cowardice and self-importance, with a hotter climate and a louder sergeant major.
But Its jokes about race and empire have aged badly and can be genuinely uncomfortable to sit through now.
'Allo 'Allo!1982
Another wartime farce from the BBC stable, this one set in occupied France, piling on disguises, double agents and terrible accents with gleeful, silly abandon.
But It trades Dad's Army's warmth for broader, cruder farce — less character, more chaos.
Last of the Summer Wine1973
Also from the BBC's golden age of gentle comedy, this follows three elderly Yorkshiremen bumbling through retirement with the same fond, unhurried affection for daft old men refusing to grow up.
But It's slower still, with almost no plot — pure mood and character, which won't suit everyone.
The wildcard
Something you would not have found on your own.
Went the Day Well?1942
It's the same premise — a quiet English village bracing for German invasion, Home Guard and all — but filmed in 1942 when the threat was real, and played as a genuinely tense thriller rather than a comedy.
A startling companion piece: made while the war was still being fought, it imagines a Nazi occupation of an English village with real menace, showing exactly what Dad's Army's platoon feared.
But It's a proper wartime thriller with sudden, shocking violence — nothing gentle or comic about it.
More like this (7)
Fawlty Towers1975
John Cleese's furious hotelier shares Mainwaring's desperate need to be respected while everything around him falls apart — sharper, faster, and considerably angrier.
But Only twelve episodes, and the humiliation comedy is far more excruciating than Dad's Army's gentle ribbing.
Only Fools and Horses....1981
Swap the platoon for a pair of South London market traders, and you get the same warm British sitcom DNA — big dreams, small triumphs, and a cast you end up loving despite their flaws.
But It's a different world entirely — 1980s Peckham has none of the wartime stakes or setting.
Porridge1974
Another brilliantly written ensemble of misfits, this time inside a prison, finding the same rich comedy in enforced camaraderie, petty hierarchy and men making the best of a bad lot.
But The setting is bleaker, and there's less of the sunny, seaside charm.
The Vicar of Dibley1994
For the same cosy English village energy — eccentric locals, gentle mockery of parish politics, and a lead you can't help rooting for.
But It's softer still and more whimsical, without Dad's Army's wartime backbone or bite.
Are You Being Served?1972no page yet
A department store ensemble farce with the same era, the same innuendo-laden Britishness, and a cast of oddballs who'd fit right into Mainwaring's platoon.
But It's broader and camper, more interested in double entendres than character.
The Office2005
Same engine, wholly different costume: a self-important boss desperate for the respect of a workplace that quietly, fondly, tolerates him — Mainwaring reborn as a Slough paper merchant.
David Brent is Mainwaring's spiritual descendant — a pompous middle manager convinced of his own leadership, filmed mockumentary-style with a cringe far sharper than anything the Home Guard ever attempted.
But The mockumentary format and toe-curling secondhand embarrassment are a completely different comic register.
The World at War1973
It's the vast, sober history sitting behind the joke — the actual invasion fears, the actual Home Guard, the actual stakes that Mainwaring's platoon never quite grasped the size of.
Laurence Olivier narrates this landmark documentary series covering the whole of the Second World War with unmatched scope and gravity — essential viewing for understanding what the platoon was really bracing for.
But Twenty-six hour-long episodes of real archival horror is a heavy, sobering commitment with no laughs at all.
People
Cast
Writing
- Jimmy PerryCreator
Recommended by
Passport to Pimlico, Fawlty Towers, Porridge, Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em, Hancock's Half Hour, Open All Hours, Last of the Summer Wine, 'Allo 'Allo!, Ripping Yarns, Hope and Glory, Mrs. Miniver, The Russians Are Coming! The Russians Are Coming!, Private's Progress, It Ain't Half Hot Mum