The seventh series of Dad's Army draws to a close with a quaint finale that is a fairly accurate reflection of this low-key six episode run. The seventh series is often defined by many as the Cheeseman year, with Talfryn Thomas's temporary replacement for James Beck's Walker appearing in five episodes. Though Cheeseman is often blamed for the weakness of this series, he really doesn't do enough to justify that poor reputation. He is generally kept in the background, barely more visible than Private Sponge, and when he does interject, his character is not defined as anything more than prominently Welsh. As such, there was no real reason to keep him around, especially since the absence of James Beck had, by this point, made it apparent that he was irreplaceable in the ensemble.
Turkey Dinner, in which a drunken session for the platoon results in Jones accidentally shooting a turkey, is actually a nice ending to the series. I like the way that the farce leading up to the turkey's demise is all just described rather than shown, and everyone is nicely in character, with Mainwaring's moral determination to pay for the dead turkey and the platoon's decision to serve it to the local pensioners all tapping into the good-heartedness of Dad's Army that felt largely absent in earlier series 7 episodes. The plot is thin but comfortably enjoyable and the episode's climactic routine about Mainwaring getting gravy on his formalwear has a nice, familiar vaudeville feel to it that chimes with the wartime setting. If series 7 does still feel like a bit of a disappointment, its second half picks up to a sufficient extent that there's still some hope for what's left to come.
Turkey Dinner, in which a drunken session for the platoon results in Jones accidentally shooting a turkey, is actually a nice ending to the series. I like the way that the farce leading up to the turkey's demise is all just described rather than shown, and everyone is nicely in character, with Mainwaring's moral determination to pay for the dead turkey and the platoon's decision to serve it to the local pensioners all tapping into the good-heartedness of Dad's Army that felt largely absent in earlier series 7 episodes. The plot is thin but comfortably enjoyable and the episode's climactic routine about Mainwaring getting gravy on his formalwear has a nice, familiar vaudeville feel to it that chimes with the wartime setting. If series 7 does still feel like a bit of a disappointment, its second half picks up to a sufficient extent that there's still some hope for what's left to come.