Character: Lance-Corporal Jack Jones, butcher and stalwart of Walmington-on-Sea's WW2 Home Guard, protecting England from Nazi invaders. Veteran of WW1, the Sudan (fighting the "fuzzy wuzzies") and, if his long-winded stories are to be believed, probably the Napoleonic Wars too. Played by Clive Dunn.
Sitcom: Dad's Army (1968 - 1977)
Standout moment: In an early episode entitled The Enemy Within The Gates, Jones captures two German airmen, only for dithering Private Godfrey to let them escape when he makes one of his regular trips to the toilet.
Memorable catchphrase: Take your pick from "Permission to speak, sir", "Don't panic!" and "They don't like it up 'em".
Lowest ebb: Rumours that he lost his bottle in battle and left a colleague to die in the desert, spread about by his rival Private Frazer and a Sudan veteran who briefly joins the platoon. It turns out that Jones was a hero and actually saved his fellow soldier’s life.
Big screen potential: Michael Douglas is just about the right age now if they decided to make a Hollywood version. They once tried to make an American TV version, called The Rear Guard, but given that America was hardly in danger of being invaded in WW2 it should have been no surprise that it flopped.
Why are they a hero? Critics and party bores drone on about Captain Mainwaring being the spiritual granddad of Basil Fawlty and David Brent, but Corporal Jones – and coincidentally Clive Dunn actually had a hit record called Grandad – was the real hero of this classic, timeless sitcom. A fearless fighter, protector of precious meat and not afraid to deliver a corny, slightly politically incorrect joke either.
Little known factoid: David Jason was reportedly cast in the part, but was dropped on the same day when it was decided he was not well- known enough.
