‘Stupid boy’ – Ian Lavender’s best moments as Private Pike in Dad’s Army
From getting stuck in a gate to upsetting the Germans, Private Frank Pike often got himself into predicaments.
Ian Lavender had many stand-out moments as the Private Frank Pike in classic sitcom Dad’s Army.
The actor, who was the last remaining main cast member from the wartime-set BBC show, died at the age of 77 on Friday morning.
His antics as Pike, the youngest member of the Home Guard platoon, would often get him in trouble with its commander, Captain George Mainwaring (Arthur Lowe), who frequently referred to him as a “stupid boy”.
Here is a round-up of his catchphrase and funniest scenes:
– ‘Hitler Is A Twerp!’
In the episode The Deadly Attachment, Captain Mainwaring is competing with a German U-boat captain over who will win the Second World War.
Pike chimes in with a reworked version of Whistle While You Work, rhyming about the Nazi leader: “Whistle while you work, Hitler is a twerp, he’s half-barmy, so’s his army, whistle while you work.”
When the German, played by Philip Madoc, then demands his name to add to a list of those who “will be brought to account” if Hitler is victorious, Captain Mainwaring says: “Don’t tell him, Pike.”
– ‘Stupid boy’
During the episode Turkey Dinner, Pike ends up staining Captain Mainwaring’s dinner jacket with gravy.
Reacting angrily, Captain Mainwaring deploys his catchphrase: “Stupid boy.”
– Pike signs up for the RAF
In the episode titled When You’ve Got To Go, after passing some tests, Pike tells his over-protective mother Mavis (Janet Davies) and her lover Sergeant Arthur Wilson (John Le Mesurier) that he will be joining the Royal Air Force.
Captain Mainwaring organises a farewell during which Pike says “he likes fish and chips” and tells the platoon he has a “funny story”.
He tells them he cannot join the RAF due to having a rare blood type but that he delayed saying anything because of the dinner.
– Pike gets his head stuck in a gate
In the episode A Man of Action, during a routine patrol Pike gets his head stuck in a gate and, due to difficulties getting him out of the predicament, the platoon take him to the church hall where they are stationed.
Captain Mainwaring asks Pike to pass his helmet through the bars “sideways”, to which he replies: “How can I see which is sideways? I don’t have eyes in the back of my head, you know.”
Captain Mainwaring replies: “Don’t you use that tone of voice to me, Pike.”
– ‘We’ve forgotten the pole’
Often seen as the idiotic character in the series, occasionally Pike would land on what had gone wrong for the platoon.
When they had to set up a tarpaulin during an exercise, Pike realises they have “forgotten the pole” and are unable to set it up.
