Private Walker

Private Walker
Dad's Army character
First appearance	The Man and the Hour
Last appearance	Things that Go Bump in the Night
Portrayed by	TV Series: James Beck Radio Series: James Beck Graham Stark Larry Martyn Stage Shows: John Bardon Leslie Grantham 2015 Film: Daniel Mays
Information
Occupation	Black market spiv
Relatives	Unnamed Grandmother
Affiliated with	Home Guard

Private Joe Walker is a fictional black market spiv (or Wholesales Supplier, as he politely puts it) and Home Guard platoon member portrayed by actor James Beck on the BBC television sitcom Dad's Army. James Beck died suddenly in 1973, and is featured in just under three-quarters of the episodes. Despite this, the character of Walker was possibly one of the most prominent and popular in the show. Following his character's departure (Walker was last mentioned in the episode "The Recruit", although he does not appear in this episode) the series attempted to replace him with a war reporter called Private Cheeseman (played by Talfryn Thomas) who had made a previous cameo appearance in My British Buddy.

Personality

Walker was the second youngest member of the platoon, the youngest being Pike. A pleasant and amiable (if slightly shifty) personality, Joe Walker is nevertheless a constant thorn in Mainwaring's side as he doesn't share his idealism and makes cheeky and witty interruptions during his serious lectures. However, despite this he is good-natured and loyal to his commanding officer and platoon comrades, and is a valuable asset to the platoon, due to his many "business" connections and his ability to mysteriously conjure up almost anything that is rationed or no longer in the shops due to the War - and he will also have it in vast supply (for a price). He also demonstrates keen improvisational skills and cunning; as a result, owing to these attributes and his cheerful willingness to use tactics that Mainwaring might not consider to be 'cricket', he is usually responsible for getting the platoon out of many of the scrapes that they find themselves in. He is constantly on the lookout for opportunities to make a few bob, and can normally be found trying to sell such things as petrol coupons and black market foodstuffs to his platoon comrades, usually at high prices and from dubious sources. His "business" activities are not limited to just the members of the platoon, or indeed even to the residents of Walmington-on-Sea, as he has often made reference to acquiring "essential supplies" for members of the rival Eastgate platoon and various influential people, military or civilian; at one point, he offers to provide "a couple of bottles of scotch" to a high-ranking GHQ officer, when Mainwaring briefly loses his command of the platoon. Indeed, the only time Walker can't find a buyer for his "essential supplies" is when the American Army arrives at Walmington-on-Sea (with the comparatively well-off American troops already having plenty of liquor and other items normally provided by Walker).

Walker considers himself a ladies' man, and his recurring girlfriend Shirley (played by Wendy Richard) is seen in several episodes. In the platoon, he mostly associates with Jones, Pike and Frazer. Despite merely being a Private, Walker clearly has some form of influence over the platoon, not least due to his black-market dealings which have got them out of (and into) numerous scrapes. Moreover, when Frazer is temporarily promoted to Captain in If the Cap Fits..., he selects Walker as his Sergeant. Walker has friendly relationships with all the men in the platoon, jokingly referring to the Scottish Frazer as "Taffy", and occasionally calling Jones a "silly old duffer" when they have the odd disagreement.

He is supposedly allergic to corned beef, and this is given as the reason why he has not been called up for the regular army, although it is generally assumed that he has found a way to dodge the rules. This allergy was exposed in the episode The Loneliness of the Long Distance Walker, which has since been lost from the BBC's archives. He was conscripted, only to be discharged when it was found that corned beef fritters were the only rations left for the soldiers to eat. Although a superficially implausible explanation for Walker's discharge it is actually possible to have an allergy to certain types of corned beef but not beef itself as a result of various antioxidants that may be used in the curing process.

Walker's final appearance was in the episode Things That Go Bump in the Night, where the platoon spent the night in a mysterious house. In fact he is only seen in the location shots, filmed some time before the studio recording. Beck was ill for the recordings of both this episode and the next, The Recruit, in which the story suggested that Walker had "gone to the smoke" (a slang term for London) to "do a deal". After Beck's death, Walker was never mentioned in the show (though the character survived the war; the very first episode begins with a scene set in 1968, as Mainwaring, now an alderman, launches his "I'm Backing Britain" campaign - Walker is seen as one of the town worthies present at the launch).

In the radio adaptations of the series, Graham Stark stood in until Larry Martyn gave his portrayal of Walker for subsequent shows. In 1976 John Bardon played Walker in the stage production. Jimmy Perry originally intended to play the part himself but was advised against it by David Croft. Walker was based on a spiv character created and performed by British comedian and actor Arthur English (English was in the controversial episode Absent Friends and starred in Are You Being Served?).