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"**The Loneliness of the Long Distance Walker**"
"The Loneliness of the Long Distance Walker"
Dad's Army episode
Episode no.	Series 2; Episode 3
Directed by	David Croft
Story by	Jimmy Perry and David Croft
Original air date	15 March 1969
Running time	30 minutes
Episode chronology
← Previous; "The Battle of Godfrey's Cottage"	Next →; "Sgt. Wilson's Little Secret"
	List of episodes

"The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Walker" is a missing episode in the British comedy series Dad's Army. It was originally transmitted on 15 March 1969. One of the three missing Dad's Army episodes, only a few short clips and screenshots survive in the archives.

Synopsis

Private Frank Pike receives a notice that he's been selected for conscription into the regular army. This causes distress for both him and his fellow Home Guard platoon members, who value Pike's presence in the unit. Mainwaring and the others quickly rally to keep him in the Home Guard, despite the fact that his mother, Mrs. Pike, is adamantly opposed to him leaving.

The platoon tries various tactics to prevent Pike from going, even attempting to secure a medical exemption by faking an illness. In the end, a surprising twist reveals that Pike doesn’t need to join the regular army after all, restoring harmony and securing his place in the platoon once more. This episode humorously explores themes of camaraderie, loyalty, and the lengths the team will go to stay together during wartime.

Plot

When Walker is called up, he applies to the Military Service Hardship Committee, which rejects him on the grounds that he does not keep books for his business. After Jones's attempts to sabotage his medical test fail, Walker is invalided out because he is allergic to corned beef.

Cast

Remake

Kevin McNally as Captain Mainwaring
Robert Bathurst as Sergeant Wilson
Kevin Eldon as Lance Corporal Jones
David Hayman as Private Frazer
Mathew Horne as Private Walker
Timothy West as Private Godfrey
Tom Rosenthal as Private Pike
Christopher Villiers as Brigadier (War Office)
Sam Phillips as Captain Cutts
Julia Deakin as the Chairwoman
Andrew Havill as the Brigadier
Jerry-Jane Pears as Judy
Gareth Benjamin as Mr Rees
Lee Barnett as the soldier

Notes

This episode was originally planned for transmission on 20 January 1969.
This is one of the three missing Dad's Army episodes, after the tape was wiped by the BBC for reuse. The other two are A Stripe for Frazer and Under Fire.
UKTV Gold commissioned recreations of all three missing episodes. The remake of this episode was first broadcast on 25 August 2019.
In the remade episode, two cast members have a link to David Croft, Julia Deakin was in Oh Doctor Beeching! and Andrew Havill was in the 2016 film of Dad's Army.
In 2023, a new animated version of this episode was broadcast as one of a series of animated recreations of all of the missing episodes. Owing to the audio of the broadcast episode also being missing, the radio series episode was used instead