Branded is widely regarded as one of the finest episodes of Dad's Army, combining comedy with a thoughtful exploration of courage, duty, and prejudice.
When Captain Mainwaring discovers that the gentle Private Godfrey was a conscientious objector during the First World War, the platoon quickly brands him a coward. But the truth is far more complicated.
In this episode, Angus, Jessica and Chris discuss how accurately Branded portrays conscientious objection, what it reveals about attitudes to the First World War, and why this remarkable episode remains one of Dad's Army's most powerful, while never losing the humour that makes it such a classic.
References Perry, J. and Croft, D. (1969) Branded. Dad's Army. Series 3, Episode 11. Directed by Harold Snoad. BBC1, 20 November. Curtis, R. and Elton, B. (1983–1989) Blackadder. Television series. BBC. McKibbin, R. (1998) Classes and Cultures: England 1918–1951. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Philpott, W. (2009) Bloody Victory: The Sacrifice on the Somme and the Making of the Twentieth Century. London: Little, Brown. Hammett, J. (2022) Creating the People's War: Civil Defence Communities in Second World War Britain. Manchester: Manchester University Press.
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