Untitled Sketch is the first Christmas Night with the Stars

Christmas Night with the Stars

Christmas Night with the Stars was a variety television show broadcast each Christmas night by the BBC from 1958 to 1972 and also in 1994. The show featured the top stars of the BBC as they appeared in short versions of their programmes, typically five to ten minutes long. The show was voted 24th...

 insert of the British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 comedy series Dad's Army

Dad's Army

Dad's Army is a British sitcom about the Home Guard during the Second World War. It was written by Jimmy Perry and David Croft and broadcast on BBC television between 1968 and 1977. The series ran for 9 series and 80 episodes in total, plus a radio series, a feature film and a stage show...

that was originally transmitted on Wednesday 25 December 1968.

Synopsis

It's Christmas and Mainwaring can't forget his sense of duty. especially when GHQ come up with an idea of exercise, using telegraph poles...

Plot

It's Christmas day and Mainwaring can't drop his sense of duty for even one day. He orders his men to parade and Wilson, being more relaxed about the whole affair, says they can wear civvies, but Mainwaring doesn't like the sergeant's sudden burst of decision making.

The men arrive all dressed as Father Christmas, with various reasons why, Mainwaring views this as proof that you cannot be seen to let discipline drop for one moment.

GHQ has come up with an idea of using telegraph poles as a means of exercise and Mainwaring runs through the instructions with his men and, as usual, forgets the age of some of them, especially when he shouts 'jump' to the aged Godfrey and expects him to sit cross-legged on the floor. Eventually Mainwaring has to show them how it's done but he's saved by the bell as the Major phones through to the office with his seasonal greetings.

Mainwaring returns to the hall and delivers a speech which show how confident he is regarding the outcome of the war. In return, the men show their respect and affection for him as they wish each other a Merry Christmas.

Cast

Cast	Characters
Arthur Lowe Arthur Lowe Arthur Lowe was a BAFTA Award winning English actor. He was best known for playing Captain George Mainwaring in the popular British sitcom Dad's Army from 1968 until 1977.-Early life:...	Captain Mainwaring
John Le Mesurier John Le Mesurier John Le Mesurier was a BAFTA Award-winning English actor. He is most famous for his role as Sergeant Arthur Wilson in the popular 1970s BBC comedy Dad's Army.-Career:...	Sergeant Wilson
Clive Dunn Clive Dunn Clive Robert Benjamin Dunn OBE is a retired English actor, comedian and author, best known for his role as Lance-Corporal Jack Jones in the BBC sitcom Dad's Army.-Early life:...	Lance Corporal Jones
John Laurie John Laurie John Paton Laurie was a British actor born in Dumfries, Scotland. Although he is now probably most recognised for his role as Private James Frazer in the sitcom Dad's Army , he appeared in hundreds of feature films, including films by Alfred Hitchcock, Michael Powell and Laurence Olivier...	Private Frazer
James Beck James Beck Stanley James Carroll Beck was a British actor best remembered for his role as Private Joe Walker, the cockney spiv in the popular BBC sitcom Dad's Army. The cast was mainly composed of older actors, but Beck was one of the younger members.-Early life:Beck was born in Islington, North London and...	Private Walker
Arnold Ridley Arnold Ridley Major William Arnold Ridley, OBE was an English playwright and actor, first notable as the author of the play The Ghost Train and later in life for portraying the elderly Private Charles Godfrey in the popular British sitcom Dad's Army .-Early life:Ridley was born in Walcot, Bath, England where...	Private Godfrey
Ian Lavender Ian Lavender Arthur Ian Lavender , better known as Ian Lavender, is an English stage, film and television actor, best known for his role as Private Frank Pike in the BBC comedy series Dad's Army.-Early life and career:...	Private Pike
Edward Sinclair Edward Sinclair Edward "Teddy" Sinclair was a British actor most famous for his role as the verger Maurice Yeatman in Dad's Army. He also made appearances in Z Cars and Danger Man.Edward's father was the son of a stage actor who died when he was 14...	The Verger