Though it's not generally thought of as one of the great Dad's Army episodes, Boots, Boots, Boots is a lovely, smaller episode after two big, silly ones to open series 4. A simple premise, Boots, Boots, Boots is about Mainwaring's overbearing attempts to toughen up the platoon's feet by forcing them on routine 20 mile marches. This causes various members of the Home Guard to cook up a plan to sabotage their Captain, involving switching his shoes for a tighter pair that will prevent him being able to march. The farce that ensues makes good use of all the main cast and comes to a fantastically understated conclusion loaded with dramatic irony but which holds back on showing the imminent comeuppance. Like all the best Dad's Army episodes, Boots, Boots, Boots is also peppered with great little beats and ideas along the way, notably a scene in which Mainwaring summarises his impression of Wilson's character as a precursor to a private foot examination, and an unusual moment of visual invention in which Pike has a nightmare that his feet are monstrously deformed.
Review of Boots, Boots, Boots
