I think it fair to say that as a teenager in the early to mid seventies, I had absolutely no appreciation of just how good Dad's Army was. I loved it of course, along with millions of others. And that was maybe a little unusual for a young lad because in truth DA was perhaps more pertinent to my parents generation, who had lived and fought through WW2. But I would not have appreciated it. The marvellous characterisation would have been lost on me, and the fantastic qualities of the actors. And it certainly took until adulthood for me to understand and acknowledge the talents of Arthur Lowe. The finer points of his character, Captain Mainwaring, have taken many years to evolve in my analytical mind. And if you want to see both Mainwaring and Lowe at their very best, catch the 40 minute Boxing Day special from 1975, entitled My Brother And I.
The episode is definitely not the funniest in the series, not absurd nor slapstick. But it is famous for the fact that Arthur Lowe played two roles : Captain George Mainwaring as usual, and also his brother Barry. It is a masterpiece of character acting. Was it Lowe's finest moment on the small screen ? Not for me to say. But if ever he put in a better 40 minutes, I should love to see it. Barry was a total opposite to Mainwaring, and so good was the acting, there were times when you could quite easily forget that it was Lowe playing him. And remember it was made over thirty years ago. Only one short scene contained Lowe in both parts - presumably film technology at the time did not allow anything like the wizardry we take for granted these days. For the rest of the episode he is on camera either as George or as Barry. And as I have said, the two were chalk and cheese.
My Brother And I was marvellously written by Jimmy Perry and David Croft. Mainwaring is his usual pompous pretentious self (though we see a caring side to him before the end of the episode). At the start of the show he has an issue with drinking by the platoon members. Pike leaves a written piece of work in his latest Hotspur comic. He says that the Home Guard would only discover German parachutists if they landed in a Public House - and that his section had recently made sure there was no enemy present in eleven pubs in two hours !! Mainwaring is disgusted and disturbed and seeks assurances from his men that there will be no drinking. Two things then happen : firstly he announces that a sherry party is to be held in the village hall for local dignitaries and he is to host it (with Jones, Pike and Godfrey helping and Wilson providing musical entertainment on the piano), and secondly he tells Wilson that he came from a family that knew (as far as alcohol was concerned) when to stop. This second statement will soon rebound on Captain Mainwaring ! We also see his snobbish and condescending sides - he tells Wilson that his father had been a Master Tailor - then he praises his men as 'indispensable', simply because they were prepared to help at the party. He is particularly impressed that Godfrey's sister is to provide cucumber sandwiches.
These opening scenes set up the story beautifully. The 'joke' is that a few truths about George Mainwaring are about to be revealed. And it is Frazer who discovers them !! He enters a railway carriage on his way back to Walmington On Sea from Eastbourne (where he has been measuring up a customer for a coffin). In the carriage is a rotund red nosed man, clearly the worse for wear and drinking Scotch. He speaks with a Northern accent and is a traveller in jokes and novelties. He is, due to the drink, somewhat loutish and vulgar. And he is , as Frazer soon discovers, Barry Mainwaring, brother of Captain George ! And the Scottish Private is delighted to learn that old Mr Mainwaring was not a Master Tailor - but a lowly draper, that they were a family of drinkers, and that Barry is going after his brother 'Po-Face' in order to retrieve a watch that George had 'stolen' on his fathers death bed. So, we have this delicious situation where suddenly the platoon know a few skeletons from Captain Mainwaring's past. They revel in this knowledge..............especially Frazer.
George and Barry have not seen each other for fifteen years. The Captain reluctantly agrees to meet in his bedroom at The Red Lion. It is here that the viewers are treated to the scene where Arthur Lowe is on camera as both characters. It lasts only a few minutes or so and is brilliantly acted. Uncouth womaniser Barry, lying on his bed, drunk and demanding. Authoritative lofty George standing over him and refusing to hand over the watch. Until Barry threatens to attend the sherry party that is. Captain Mainwaring's image would be destroyed. So, on the understanding that Barry is out of town on the next train, the watch is passed over.
The final part of the episode, the party, is more like the Dad's Army we know and provides most of the laughs. Jonesey 'announces' the guests as they arrive, though as you would expect, not very well. The best bit of the show is the arrival of the Vicar and Air Raid Warden Hodges. Godfrey holds out a plate and offers them one of his sister Dolly's cucumber sandwiches. Hodges takes one and scoffs it, then another, then another, then the Vicar takes a couple, then Hodges finishes them off !! And all before the dignitaries arrive. And indeed, before Barry, now very drunk makes an entrance. Despite winning the watch he came to Walmington for, he can't resist making trouble for his brother. And the writers can't resist putting him immediately with Hodges, perhaps the one man on earth who hates Mainwaring more than Barry does !! And don't you just know they will swap their nicknames for him..............Hodges loves the 'Po-Face' name just as much as Barry enjoys the 'Napoleon' reference.
Eventually Captain Mainwaring arrives with his guests. It is an important night for him. But disaster looms with the presence of inebriated Barry. Pike, surprisingly, comes to the rescue. He locks Barry in the office out of sight and then gives him a bottle of sherry to keep him quiet. When Mainwaring finds out he tells him he has been stupid (as usual he has little toleration of his Private though in truth Pike has for once shown a little initiative).Worried that there will be an awful show, Mainwaring tells Jones, Frazer and Pike to get Barry out of the Village Hall. They try to push his fat frame through the window and fail. Eventually he departs hidden inside a cupboard - coffin style.
The final twist at the end of the episode comes when Wilson reveals that he has saved the watch from Barry's clutches. In a very matter of fact way, Mainwaring tells him to catch the others up and let Barry have the watch before they put him on the train. A rare sign of humility from the Captain.
I always have thought that accurately playing the part of a drunk is the hardest thing an actor will ever be asked to do. The performance of Arthur Lowe as a drunk in My Brother And I is without equal.
