TRYING to find men to fill roles in community-based theatre productions can sometimes be a challenge but Tweed Theatre has managed to unearth a flood of local volunteers happy to don a military uniform and some 1940's civvies to re-create two episodes from Croft and Perry's Dad's Army, one of the most iconic series ever to grace a TV screen.

 A dozen of Peeblesshire's finest fighting troops have been hard at work rehearsing since September and will be on parade at the Eastgate Theatre nightly at 7.30pm from November 19-21. Orchestrating this band of crack(pot) troops is director Tim Wilcock. 

In a break between putting the platoon through their paces he reported that "rehearsals have been a barrel of laughs, with the cast repeatedly corpsing at both the original humour and some variants introduced as a result of those occasional bloopers that happen in even the best regulated theatre companies."   And I can vouch for that – watching six men not in the first flush of youth being taught how to Morris Dance brought tears to my eyes.

 Like all good writing, it's timeless with Perry drawing heavily on his own experiences with the Local Defence Volunteers, the official title of the organisation but one which, with its preponderance of rather elderly gentlemen, soon became known to one and all as Dad's Army.   Perry's scripts manage to combine poignancy and pathos with an abundance of gentle and very perceptive observational humour and many phrases from the series have long since entered the lexicon – "you stupid boy", "do you think that's wise, sir?", "ruddy hooligans" and, of course, "don't panic" are just a few examples.

 Tweed Theatre's offering includes The Deadly Attachment, where a German U-boat crew are found adrift in a dinghy and brought ashore, leaving Mainwaring and his men with the task of feeding and guarding them, armed only with a few soggy chips and a bent old Bren gun. But the cunning U-Boat Captain turns the tables and suddenly it's our brave lads facing danger as they're frog-marched through Walmington-on-Sea to meet their fate.  Will there be a happy ending? Will Godfrey finally be excused? And why has Fraser got his hands down Jones's trousers?

 Then it's on to The Godiva Affair, where Mainwaring's men are practicing a Morris Dance for the town's parade in honour of the City of Coventry, the highlight of which is the procession through the streets of Lady Godiva, resplendent in her full-length fleshings. But which amply-bosomed Walmington goddess will be chosen by the Town Clerk and his committee? And just what is Mainwaring proposing to do with Mrs Fox?  And why is Jones in such a panic?

 Find out for yourselves by digging out that gas mask from the attic, fishing out your ration book and trooping down to the Eastgate Theatre for 7.30pm on Thursday 19th Friday 20th, or Saturday, November 21st.  Tickets are £10 (with various concessions) from the Eastgate on 01721 725777.