Don't Fence Me In

"Don’t Fence Me In" is the fifth episode of the fourth series of the British comedy series Dad's Army. It was originally transmitted on 23 October 1970. Synopsis When the platoon is detailed to replace regular troops guarding the local POW camp, Private Walker spies a source for cheap labour. Plot Captain Mainwaring is on the phone to GHQ, and it is clear he is not happy. He does not think his men will appreciate being taken off active duty for the next two weekends to relieve the troops at an Italian POW camp, and he is quite right. As they march towards the camp, Mainwaring reminds them to set a good example by looking nice and smart. However, when they arrive, they find no one there. They interrogate a POW, but they have no luck until he opens the front gate. Mainwaring and Sergeant Wilson arrive at the main hut, and confront the Italian general Monteverdi lounging in a wooden chair. He tells them that the regular troops have already left on "end week" leave, and he has placed himself in charge. Mainwaring is appalled by this. He is also confused as to why the Italians, as POWs, are not enemies to the British. Monteverdi tells him that they have allied themselves to the British and admits that he himself surrendered to them back in the African desert (possibly referring to the Abyssinian campaign).