Dads Army

Lance Corporal Jones (Clive Dunn) was an old campaigner who had joined up as a drummer boy aged 14 and participated, as a boy soldier, in the campaign of the Sudan between 1896 and 1898 (Jones refers to 'when I was in the Sudan' throughout the series and in the feature film, to the weary exasperation of his colleagues in the Home Guard), and also fought in the Boer War and later inWW1. During WW1 he was discharged because of his eyesight. By 1940 he worked as the town butcher, which occasionally enabled him to supplement his superiors. Being a butcher also meant he owned a large van, which is seen frequently in the episodes as a transport for the platoon. He has a story for every occasion, and will never hesitate in telling it, regardless of how long-winded or irrelevant it is. Despite being the oldest member of the platoon, Jones demonstrates an almost boyish enthusiasm for combat and is the first to volunteer for anything. In the final episode "Never Too Old", where Jones married Mrs Fox (a lifelong love interest). 

Private James Frazer (John Laurie)— born in 1867, a dour Scottish coffin maker and undertaker he was a Chief Petty Officer on HMS Defiant in the Royal Navy who served at the Battle of Jutland (although as a cook). Frazer was tight with money, had wild staring eyes, and was known for issuing regular pronouncements of doom ("We're doooooomed...").. He sometimes led rebellions against Mainwaring. In fairness he was one of the most skilled members of the platoon. 

Private Joe Walker (James Beck)—a black market “spiv” Walker was the only fit, able-bodied man of military age in Walmington-on-Sea’s Home Guard. His absence from the regular armed forces was due to a corned beefallergy. Mainwaring often turned a blind eye to his profiteering as he could sometimes supply the platoon (and Mainwaring) with useful items. A chain-smoker of black market cigarettes, even when on parade, he was disciplined several times by Captain Mainwaring for making jokes at inappropriate times.  

Private Charles Godfrey (Arnold Ridley) age unknown, he is the platoon’s medical orderly, who had served in World War I as a conscientious-objecting medical orderly, winning the Military Medal at the Battle of the Somme where he went out into No Man’s Land and saved several lives before becoming a tailor at the Army & Navy Stores where he had worked for 25 years. Godfrey, said to be 59, was an amiable, vague, lifelong bachelor who lived with his sisters Dolly and Cissy in an idyllic cottage (Cherry Tree Cottage), and was a martyr to his weak bladder, leading to many requests to be “excused” 

Private Frank Pike (Ian Lavender)—a cosseted mother’s boy, constantly wearing a thick scarf with his uniform to prevent illness, and often the target of Mainwaring’s derision (“Stupid boy!”), Pike was a junior bank clerk. He called Wilson “Uncle Arthur”, and although never explicitly stated, it was often implied that Wilson and Pike’s mother were having a relationship. It was also occasionally suggested that Wilson was Pike’s father. He frequently threatens to set his mother on Mainwaring or Wilson whenever he is shouted at or forced to do anything he doesn’t want to do. He is an avid movie fan. 

ARP Warden William Hodges (Bill Pertwee)—the platoon’s major rival and nemesis. An uncompromising, grumpy greengrocer by day, and pompous and officious Chief Air Raid Warden by night, he relishes in teasing the platoon when they are caught in sticky situations. His nickname for Mainwaring is “Napoleon”

Maurice Yeatman (Edward Sinclair)—Mr. Yeatman was the verger at St. Aldhelm’s Church and head of the Sea Scouts group, and was often hostile to the platoon. Labelled a “troublemaker” by Jones, he is ridiculously loyal to the vicar, and his good friend Mr. Hodges.

Private Sponge (Colin Bean) had the thankless job of representing those members of the platoon not in Corporal Jones’ first section. A sheep farmer by day he was a recognisable member of the platoon for most episodes in the series.

Mavis Pike (Janet Davis)—Pike’s mother and Sergeant Wilson’s lover. She was fiercely protective of Pike, to the point that she was accused of “mollycoddling” him—not without justification—by Captain Mainwaring. It is stated that Mrs. Pike met Arthur Wilson prior to Frank Pike’s birth, and also lived in Weston-super-Mare at the same time as Wilson, lending credence to the theory that Wilson is Pike’s father.

Marcia (later on, Mildred) Fox (Pamela Cundell) is an ebullient woman, whom we assume loses her husband early on during the war. By The Big Parade, transmitted exactly a year later she is referred to as a widow. What followed was a long running saga in which Corporal Jones wooed Mrs Fox, often with hilarious consequence. She and Jones marry in the final episode.