The Recruit

"The Recruit" is the seventh episode of the sixth series of the British television sitcom Dad's Army. It was originally transmitted on 12 December 1973. Synopsis Captain Mainwaring is indisposed due to an ingrowing toenail, so Sergeant Wilson takes charge temporarily of the platoon. When, however, he allows the vicar and the verger to join the ranks, the rest of the men are far from happy. Plot With Captain Mainwaring absent from the platoon, Sergeant Wilson signs on two new recruits into the platoon, the vicar and the verger. When Mainwaring returns from hospital, he learns of the changes that Wilson has made and does not approve. However he can do nothing about it as the official papers for the vicar and verger have already been sent to GHQ. Mainwaring states that he will not go easy on the two of them. On their first night on watch, the vicar and the verger have a run-in with a young boy who gives them nothing but trouble. The boy mocks them by answering "Adolf" when challenged by "Halt! Who goes there?" Unable to handle the situation, they call for the rest of the section, who identify the boy as a local troublemaker. Mainwaring arrives and asserts his authority on the boy and tells him to clear off. The boy states that he is going to "tell his Uncle Willie", who turns out to be the Chief Warden, Hodges.