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* GoshDangItToHeck: Matthew refuses to use even mild profanity, as Marsh discovers when he tries to browbeat him into saying "blimey" in the Series 1 episode "Boots" (though this refusal is on religious grounds, as "blimey" is a corruption of "God blind me", which the devoutly Christian Matthew regards as blasphemous), mostly restricting himself to such euphemisms as "blink", "blooming", and "flip". He drops the equivalent of a ClusterFBomb when the regiment at RAF Skelton appear in the undergrowth near the end of "Field Exercise" in Series 1... in this case, a Cluster "Flip" Bomb.
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* GoshDangItToHeck: Matthew refuses to use even mild profanity, as Marsh discovers when he tries to browbeat him into saying "blimey" in the Series 1 episode "Boots" (though this refusal is on religious grounds, as "blimey" is a corruption of "God blind me", which the devoutly Christian Matthew regards as blasphemous), mostly restricting himself to such euphemisms as "blink", "blooming", and "flip". He drops the equivalent of a ClusterFBomb when the regiment at RAF Skelton appear in the undergrowth near the end of "Field Exercise" in Series 1...2... in this case, a Cluster "Flip" Bomb.
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... it\'s tempting to invoke the correct name here as an edit reason. Oh well, should be correct now.
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* GoshDarnItToHeck: Matthew refuses to use even mild profanity, as Marsh discovers when he tries to browbeat him into saying "blimey" in the Series 1 episode "Boots" (though this refusal is on religious grounds, as "blimey" is a corruption of "God blind me", which the devoutly Christian Matthew regards as blasphemous), mostly restricting himself to such euphemisms as "blink", "blooming", and "flip". He drops the equivalent of a ClusterFBomb when the regiment at RAF Skelton appear in the undergrowth near the end of "Field Exercise" in Series 1... in this case, a Cluster "Flip" Bomb.
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* GoshDarnItToHeck: GoshDangItToHeck: Matthew refuses to use even mild profanity, as Marsh discovers when he tries to browbeat him into saying "blimey" in the Series 1 episode "Boots" (though this refusal is on religious grounds, as "blimey" is a corruption of "God blind me", which the devoutly Christian Matthew regards as blasphemous), mostly restricting himself to such euphemisms as "blink", "blooming", and "flip". He drops the equivalent of a ClusterFBomb when the regiment at RAF Skelton appear in the undergrowth near the end of "Field Exercise" in Series 1... in this case, a Cluster "Flip" Bomb.
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* FirstNameBasis: After Marsh is demoted to Aircraftman First Class in "Exam Results" from Series 4, his fellow [=AC1=] Jakey addresses him as "Percy" at every available opportunity, almost using the name as a comma at times.
* GoshDarnItToHeck: Matthew refuses to use even mild profanity, as Marsh discovers when he tries to browbeat him into saying "blimey" in the Series 1 episode "Boots" (though this refusal is on religious grounds, as "blimey" is a corruption of "God blind me", which the devoutly Christian Matthew regards as blasphemous), mostly restricting himself to such euphemisms as "blink", "blooming", and "flip". He drops the equivalent of a ClusterFBomb when the regiment at RAF Skelton appear in the undergrowth near the end of "Field Exercise" in Series 1... in this case, a Cluster "Flip" Bomb.
* GoshDarnItToHeck: Matthew refuses to use even mild profanity, as Marsh discovers when he tries to browbeat him into saying "blimey" in the Series 1 episode "Boots" (though this refusal is on religious grounds, as "blimey" is a corruption of "God blind me", which the devoutly Christian Matthew regards as blasphemous), mostly restricting himself to such euphemisms as "blink", "blooming", and "flip". He drops the equivalent of a ClusterFBomb when the regiment at RAF Skelton appear in the undergrowth near the end of "Field Exercise" in Series 1... in this case, a Cluster "Flip" Bomb.
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* ReassignedToAntarctica: After getting demoted to Aircraftman First Class and trading away his posting to RAF Luqa in the Series 4 finale "Exam Results", Marsh is posted to an RAF base in Labrador in eastern Canada, where it snows non-stop and he and Alice are assigned to live in a poorly-heated tin hut.
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* ReassignedToAntarctica: After getting demoted to Aircraftman First Class [=AC1=] and trading away his posting to RAF Luqa in the Series 4 finale "Exam Results", Marsh is posted to an RAF base in Labrador in eastern Canada, where it snows non-stop and he and Alice are assigned to live in a poorly-heated tin hut.
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* WorldsSmallestViolin: When Marsh almost drowns Bruce during a swimming lesson in the Series 3 episode "Swimming" and then visits him in the barracks to offer a very insincere apology, Ken drapes the cloth he has been using to clean their room over his shoulder and mimes playing a violin, making appropriate sound effects until Marsh bellows at him to shut up.
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* BritishBrevity: ''Get Some In!'' lasted for five series with six to eight episodes each for a total of 34 episodes.
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* AwfulWeddedLife: Marsh and his wife Alice are constantly arguing, and Alice finally has enough and leaves Percy in the Series 3 episode "Marsh's Wife", but returns to him in the finale of Series 4.
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* AwfulWeddedLife: Marsh and his wife Alice are constantly arguing, and Alice finally has enough and leaves Percy in the Series 3 episode "Marsh's Wife", 4 opener, "Cards", when he bets her wedding ring in a card game, but returns to him in the finale of Series 4.4 finale, "Exam Results".
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* DartboardOfHate: During the end of basic training tests in "Erks" from Series 3, Ken imagines Marsh's face superimposed on the target on the rifle range, and is motivated to hit the bull's eye of the target four times in a row.
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* NakedPeopleAreFunny: In the final scene of "Field Exercise" from Series 2, in a hitherto unseen display of courage, Matthew charges at the RAF regiment members standing between him, Jakey, Ken, and Bruce and the finish line of their field exercise to return to camp. The regiment promptly engulfs him and strips him of everything except his beret, which he uses to [[HandOrObjectUnderwear preserve his remaining modesty.]] Fortunately, the distraction has allowed the other three to become the first National Service recruits in RAF Skelton history to successfully complete the field exercise, and Matthew proudly puts his beret on and salutes a flabbergasted Corporal Marsh - then remembers what he was using his beret to cover and immediately "replaces" it.
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* NakedPeopleAreFunny: In the final scene of "Field Exercise" from Series 2, in a hitherto unseen display of courage, Matthew charges at the RAF regiment members standing between him, Jakey, Ken, and Bruce and the finish line of their field exercise to return to camp. The regiment promptly engulfs him and strips him of everything except his beret, which he uses to [[HandOrObjectUnderwear preserve his remaining modesty.]] modesty]] as Marsh and the regiment members laugh uproariously. Fortunately, the distraction has allowed the other three to become the first National Service recruits in RAF Skelton history to successfully complete the field exercise, and Matthew proudly puts his beret on and salutes a flabbergasted Corporal Marsh - then remembers what he was using his beret to cover and immediately "replaces" it.
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* InsultBackfire:
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* InsultBackfire:
* NakedPeopleAreFunny: In the final scene of "Field Exercise" from Series 2, in a hitherto unseen display of courage, Matthew charges at the RAF regiment members standing between him, Jakey, Ken, and Bruce and the finish line of their field exercise to return to camp. The regiment promptly engulfs him and strips him of everything except his beret, which he uses to [[HandOrObjectUnderwear preserve his remaining modesty.]] Fortunately, the distraction has allowed the other three to become the first National Service recruits in RAF Skelton history to successfully complete the field exercise, and Matthew proudly puts his beret on and salutes a flabbergasted Corporal Marsh - then remembers what he was using his beret to cover and immediately "replaces" it.
* NiceJobFixingItVillain: In the Series 2 episode "Field Exercise", the four main aircraftmen are the only ones left "alive" on the field exercise when they encounter Marsh at a pub. Marsh laughs that when he joined the RAF, he and his fellow recruits ran rings around the regiment members playing the "enemy" by using their initiative. As he says this, a bus bound for Skelton pulls up behind him. The four aircraftmen run for the bus, claiming to be using their initiative, and ride it back to the camp's perimeter fence as Marsh rides after them on his bicycle screaming in anger.
* NiceJobFixingItVillain: In the Series 2 episode "Field Exercise", the four main aircraftmen are the only ones left "alive" on the field exercise when they encounter Marsh at a pub. Marsh laughs that when he joined the RAF, he and his fellow recruits ran rings around the regiment members playing the "enemy" by using their initiative. As he says this, a bus bound for Skelton pulls up behind him. The four aircraftmen run for the bus, claiming to be using their initiative, and ride it back to the camp's perimeter fence as Marsh rides after them on his bicycle screaming in anger.
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* ReversePsychology: Jakey tries this in "End of Basic Training" from Series 3 after seeing Ken, Matthew, and Bruce all get assigned to a nursing course at RAF Midham, irrespective of what they really wanted to do after basic training. When he meets the Squadron Leader assigning the aircraftmen to their new posts, he tells him he really wants to study nursing, assuming that his "wishes" will also be ignored. To his dismay, the Squadron Leader is delighted... that's exactly what he had in mind for Jakey anyway.
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* ReversePsychology: ReversePsychologyBackfire: This happens to Jakey tries this in "End of Basic Training" from Series 3 after 3. After seeing Ken, Matthew, and Bruce all get assigned to a nursing course at RAF Midham, irrespective of what they really wanted to do after basic training. When training, he meets tells the Squadron Leader assigning the aircraftmen to their new posts, he tells him posts that he really wants to study nursing, assuming that his "wishes" will also be ignored. To his dismay, the Squadron Leader is delighted... that's exactly what he had in mind for Jakey anyway.
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* TwoFacedAside: The Series 2 episode "Field Exercise" features this trope as a RunningGag. Flight Lieutenant Grant repeatedly tells "C" flight that he will be with them every step of the way during the field exercises, only to turn to Marsh and mutter that he's going back to bed, or that he's returning to the mess and that Marsh should let him know when the remaining aircraftmen have been "killed".
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However, the ''News of the World'', citing audience figures of over 14 million, successfully petitioned Thames to uncancel the series, and the fifth series saw the four National Servicemen (with Jakey now played by Karl Howman, Robert Lindsay having departed to take the lead role in ''Series/CitizenSmith'') recalled to Britain and posted to the fictional RAF Druidswater, where they once again crossed paths with Marsh, who had apparently risked his life to save that of a superior officer and returned to Britain as a hero and a Corporal once again. Viewing figures plummeted, and the series was cancelled for a second and final time without a definite resolution.
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However, the ''News of the World'', citing audience figures of over 14 million, successfully petitioned Thames to uncancel the series, and the fifth series saw the four National Servicemen (with Jakey now played by Karl Howman, Robert Lindsay having departed to take the lead role in ''Series/CitizenSmith'') recalled to Britain and posted to the fictional RAF Druidswater, Druidswater in Scotland, where they once again crossed paths with Marsh, who had apparently risked his life to save that of a superior officer and returned to Britain as a hero and a Corporal once again. Viewing figures plummeted, and the series was cancelled for a second and final time without a definite resolution.
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* EveryoneMeetsEveryone: "Callup", the first episode of Series 1, starts with Marsh already established at RAF Skelton, and over the course of the next ten minutes, we see Ken packing his bags in a rush to catch his train to Skelton (which he misses, making him the last new recruit to arrive), Jakey and his girlfriend Edna on another train, Bruce arriving with a group of nameless airmen, and Matthew being dropped off at the camp by his father.
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* NotNowKiddo: When Marsh wakes up the Group Captain at Skelton to tell him Bruce has committed suicide, he takes him to the barracks and tries to spin the story to incriminate Jakey, Ken, and Matthew as the ones who drove him to take his own life. However, Bruce is very much alive, and unsuccessfully tries to get Marsh's attention but is shouted down every time until finally the Group Captain demands to know the name of this interrupting troublemaker. Marsh identifies him as Leckie, the one who killed himself... [[DelayedOhCrap and realisation finally dawns on him]]. The unamused Group Captain orders him outside to give him a dressing down.
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* FakeUltimateHero: Marsh is hailed as a hero when he returns in "V.I.P. Guard", the first episode of Series 5, in which he is reported as having risked his life to save that of a superior officer. However, in "Labrador", Matthew discovers that Marsh did nothing of the kind, and simply spun what really happened to restore himself to his former rank of Corporal. Marsh does not take kindly to the discovery of his deception.
* GrandFinale: "Exam Results", the last episode of Series 4, was expected to be the series finale when it was written and filmed, and so Jakey, Ken, Matthew, and Bruce finally escaped from under Marsh's thumb with a posting to RAF Luqa in Malta, while Marsh was hit by LaserGuidedKarma as he was caught cheating on the final nursing exam, demoted to Aircraftman First Class, and posted to a remote RAF base in Labrador. The last two scenes show the four National Servicemen standing on a balcony in Malta soaking in their new surroundings, while in Labrador a furious Alice Marsh switches off a weather forecast predicting continued snow as a parka-clad Percy tries to rouse her interest in a snowball fight. However, the ''News of the World'' successfully petitioned Thames to renew the series after all; the actual final episode, "Operation Greenfly", provides no resolution.
* GrandFinale: "Exam Results", the last episode of Series 4, was expected to be the series finale when it was written and filmed, and so Jakey, Ken, Matthew, and Bruce finally escaped from under Marsh's thumb with a posting to RAF Luqa in Malta, while Marsh was hit by LaserGuidedKarma as he was caught cheating on the final nursing exam, demoted to Aircraftman First Class, and posted to a remote RAF base in Labrador. The last two scenes show the four National Servicemen standing on a balcony in Malta soaking in their new surroundings, while in Labrador a furious Alice Marsh switches off a weather forecast predicting continued snow as a parka-clad Percy tries to rouse her interest in a snowball fight. However, the ''News of the World'' successfully petitioned Thames to renew the series after all; the actual final episode, "Operation Greenfly", provides no resolution.
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* DiggingYourselfDeeper: In the Series 1 episode "Boots", Marsh selects Matthew to show what he has learned about being on sentry duty, and sets the scene by telling him he is in the Libyan desert guarding millions of pounds of new aircraft from hordes of [[UsefulNotes/TheTroubles IRA terrorists.]] Matthew points out that the IRA would probably not be in the Libyan desert, and proceeds to identify other tribes who might instead be found there as an unimpressed Marsh gives the entire squad an extra hour's bull (cleaning/polishing their quarters). When Marsh then sarcastically identifies himself as MickeyMouse as part of the roleplay and hands over his identification, Matthew pretends to shoot him for supposedly being Mickey Mouse but having Corporal Marsh's ID. The irate Marsh assigns the flight an extra two hours' bull, which prompts Matthew to say that he's dead and shouldn't be able to speak... which in turn prompts Marsh to make it three hours.
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* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: In the Series 1 episode "Medical", Marsh claims that the entire flight could be dismissed from National Service if one of them were to commit suicide. When Bruce returns from a round of punishment for mistakes made during earlier drills, he snaps that he might as well shoot himself... and the other airmen (except for Matthew, who was also being punished) seem to egg him on. When he disappears along with his rifle and a round of live ammunition is reported missing, the airmen are horrified by the thought that they might have helped to drive Bruce to suicide. Fortunately, the missing round of ammunition was just miscounted, and Bruce has actually been talking to a fellow Scot in the armoury about how not to make the same mistakes with his rifle again.
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* PlayingSick: In "Medical" from Series 1, Jakey tries to get himself disqualified from National Service on medical grounds by pretending to be hard of hearing. The Medical Officer tells him to repeat what he says, then whispers, "Six pounds of lettuce." Jakey replies, "Whenever you're ready, Sir!" Finally, the MO tells Jakey to sit down, and Jakey complies... giving away the fact he can hear perfectly well. His ploy of swallowing cotton wool so that it shows up as a shadow on his lungs in his chest X-ray is also recognised straight away, and he passes his medical with flying colours.
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* YouLookFamiliar: John D. Collins played the Medical Officer at RAF Skelton in the Series 1 episode "Medical", then showed up as recurring character Squadron Leader Baker (another medical officer) at RAF Midham in Series 3 and 4.
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* RecklessGunUsage: In "Flight" from Series 2, the aircraftmen are taken to the rifle range at RAF Wareham. Matthew spends a few moments making himself comfortable while Jakey, Ken, and Bruce fire their five rounds, then he is ordered to fire his rounds on his own. After not placing the butt of the gun against his shoulder properly, he is caught off guard by the recoil on the first shot. On his second shot, the gun jams, and the dismayed Matthew stands up and turns around, still holding his gun. The other airmen immediately dive for cover, while the alarmed Marsh carefully directs Matthew to turn around, set his gun down gently, and step away from it slowly. Unsurprisingly, he then gives him a bollocking for endangering the lives of everyone present.
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* TitleThemeTune: "It's time for National Service, lads, so get some in! / They'll tell you 'no' if you ask your dads to get some in..."
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* MistakenForCheating: In the Series 1 episode "Kit", Marsh confiscates/buys a box of ladies' hankies from Jakey for half a crown and gives them to Alice as a present. However, Jakey has dozens of boxes of hankies which he bought for pennies apiece and is selling at a huge profit, and he sells one to LAC Hodder, the quartermaster at RAF Skelton, to give to his girlfriend as a present. When Marsh shows up to get Ken a replacement kit, he finds one of the hankies on the floor and assumes that Hodder and Alice are having an affair. Ken promises to keep quiet about this apparent indiscretion, but when Marsh discovers that Alice still has all of the hankies in her box, he punishes Jakey for being a spiv and Ken for [[{{Hypocrite}} doubting his wife's fidelity.]]
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* RhetoricalQuestionBlunder: Flight Lieutenant Grant reacts to Matthew answering "Yes!" to his question "Any complaints?" as he walks through the mess during dinner as if it were an example of this; no-one has dared complain about the food for a long time for fear of retribution from Marsh or Cook-Corporal Jenner, so Grant has started thinking of the question "Any complaints?" as purely rhetorical (an observation which Marsh, who doesn't know what "rhetorical" means, misinterprets).
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* RhetoricalQuestionBlunder: In "Complaints" from Series 2, Flight Lieutenant Grant reacts to Matthew answering "Yes!" to his question "Any complaints?" as he walks through the mess during dinner as if it were an example of this; no-one has dared complain about the food for a long time for fear of retribution from Marsh or Cook-Corporal Jenner, so Grant has started thinking of the question "Any complaints?" as purely rhetorical (an observation which Marsh, who doesn't know what "rhetorical" means, misinterprets).
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* RhetoricalQuestionBlunder: Flight Lieutenant Grant reacts to Matthew answering "Yes!" to his question "Any complaints?" as he walks through the mess during dinner as if it were an example of this; no-one has dared complain about the food for a long time for fear of retribution from Marsh or Cook-Corporal Jenner, so Grant has started thinking of the question "Any complaints?" as purely rhetorical (an observation which Marsh, who doesn't know what "rhetorical" means, misinterprets).
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* BookDumb: Jakey Smith is not too bright when it comes to academic subjects (in "End of Basic Training", when he is looking at possible postings after completing basic training, he chooses cartography as he thinks it involves cars), but he is by far the most savvy of the four main characters; in "Erks", he alone suspects that Marsh is trying to pull something when he claims that Flight Lieutenant Grant is dying and that his last wish is that "C" flight win the shield for highest test scores at the end of basic training, and sure enough, he's right (it's all a ploy to get his long-desired promotion to Sergeant).
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* BookDumb: Jakey Smith is not too bright when it comes to academic subjects (in "End of Basic Training", when he is looking at possible postings after completing basic training, he chooses cartography as he thinks it involves cars), but he is by far the most savvy of the four main characters; aircraftmen; in "Erks", he alone suspects that Marsh is trying to pull something when he claims that Flight Lieutenant Grant is dying and that his last wish is that "C" flight win the shield for highest test scores at the end of basic training, and sure enough, he's right (it's all a ploy to get his long-desired promotion to Sergeant).
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The series stood apart from the various other ArmedFarces series on British radio and television (such as ''The Army Game'', ''Radio/TheNavyLark'', ''Series/DadsArmy'', etc.) by being set in the Royal Air Force. However, the main characters hardly ever even ''saw'' an aeroplane, and only once actually went up in one, true to the experiences of many National Servicemen who joined the RAF in the hopes of taking to the skies only to be bitterly disappointed.
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** Matthew, as a devout Christian, is referred to by such derogatory names as "Holy Joe" by the far less devout Marsh.
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** Matthew, as a devout Christian, is referred to by such derogatory names as "Holy Joe" and "Angel Face" by the far less devout Marsh.
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* ArmedFarces: In the RAF of ''Get Some In!'', the officers are [[UpperClassTwit toffee-nosed buffoons]], the [=NCOs=] are [[TheBully petty sadists]], the men in the regiment are animalistically savage, and the young new recruits are gullible naifs.
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* DrillSergeantNasty: Marsh revels in the power he has over the National Servicemen, and makes it clear in the first episode that they will learn to despise him, and jokes that his name is spelled "B-A-S-T-A-R-D". However, he goes beyond whipping them into good soldiers and straight into bullying them for his own amusement; for example, in the Series 2 episode "Coke", he reacts to the coke[[note]] the fuel, not the beverage[[/note]] rationing gripping Britain by helping himself to the barracks' allocation, leaving the National Servicemen to freeze. However, his sadism has stood in the way of his promotion to Sergeant, as his recruits routinely fail their end of basic training tests deliberately just to spite him.
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* DrillSergeantNasty: Marsh revels in the power he has over the National Servicemen, and makes it clear in the first episode that they will learn to despise him, and jokes that his name is spelled "B-A-S-T-A-R-D". However, he goes beyond whipping them into good soldiers and straight into [[TheBully bullying them for his own amusement; amusement]]; for example, in the Series 2 episode "Coke", he reacts to the coke[[note]] the fuel, not the beverage[[/note]] rationing gripping Britain by helping himself to the barracks' allocation, leaving the National Servicemen to freeze. However, his sadism has stood in the way of his promotion to Sergeant, as his recruits routinely fail their end of basic training tests deliberately just to spite him.him; ironically, this simply causes him to be more brutal to the recruits as an outlet for his frustration.
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* VideoInsideFilmOutside: Some of the interior scenes (such as the scene in "Boots" where Marsh lights a canister of gas to show the recruits how well their respirators work and then to familiarise them with how the gas smells) were shot on film on location at actual RAF facilities, but the others (such as those in the various barracks and [=NAAFIs=] and Marsh's houses at Skelton, Midham, and Druidswater) were shot on videotape.
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* ReversePsychology: Jakey tries this in "End of Basic Training" from Series 3 after seeing Ken, Matthew, and Bruce all get assigned to a nursing course at RAF Midham, irrespective of what they really wanted to do after basic training. He decides to apply reverse psychology to the Squadron Leader assigning the aircraftmen to their new posts by telling him he really wants to study nursing. To his dismay, the Squadron Leader is delighted... that's exactly what he had in mind for Jakey anyway.
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* ReversePsychology: Jakey tries this in "End of Basic Training" from Series 3 after seeing Ken, Matthew, and Bruce all get assigned to a nursing course at RAF Midham, irrespective of what they really wanted to do after basic training. He decides to apply reverse psychology to When he meets the Squadron Leader assigning the aircraftmen to their new posts by telling posts, he tells him he really wants to study nursing.nursing, assuming that his "wishes" will also be ignored. To his dismay, the Squadron Leader is delighted... that's exactly what he had in mind for Jakey anyway.
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''Get Some In!'' was a British sitcom written by John Esmonde and Bob Larbey (best known as the writers of ''Series/TheGoodLife'') which aired on Creator/ThamesTelevision for five series between 1975 and 1978. It followed the trials and tribulations of a group of Royal Air Force National Service recruits in 1955 (between 1949 and 1960, all healthy males between the ages of 17 and 21 were required to serve in the British military for two years), and starred Tony Selby as Corporal Percy Marsh, the RAF's version of a DrillSergeantNasty. The recruits included snarky Teddy boy Jakey Smith (Robert Lindsay), well-spoken grammar school graduate Ken Richardson (David Janson), shy vicar's son Matthew Lilley (Gerard Ryder), and pessimistic Scot Bruce Leckie (Brian Pettifer).
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''Get Some In!'' was a British sitcom written by John Esmonde and Bob Larbey (best known as the writers of ''Series/TheGoodLife'') which aired on Creator/ThamesTelevision for five series between 1975 and 1978. It followed the trials and tribulations of a group of Royal Air Force National Service recruits in 1955 (between 1949 and 1960, all healthy males between the ages of 17 and 21 were required to serve in the British military for two years), and starred Tony Selby as Corporal Percy Marsh, the RAF's version of a DrillSergeantNasty. The recruits included snarky Teddy boy Jakey Smith (Robert Lindsay), well-spoken grammar school graduate Ken Richardson (David Janson), shy naive vicar's son Matthew Lilley (Gerard Ryder), and pessimistic Scot Bruce Leckie (Brian Pettifer).
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* BookDumb: Jakey Smith is not too bright when it comes to academic subjects (in "End of Basic Training", when he is looking at possible postings after completing basic training, he chooses cartography as he thinks it involves cars), but he is by far the most savvy of the four main characters; in "Erks", he alone suspects that Marsh is trying to pull something when he claims that Flight Lieutenant Grant is dying and that his last wish is that "C" flight win the shield for highest test scores at the end of basic training, and sure enough, he's right (it's all a ploy to get his long-desired promotion to Sergeant).
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* ReversePsychology: Jakey tries this in "End of Basic Training" from Series 3 after seeing Ken, Matthew, and Bruce all get assigned to a nursing course at RAF Midham, irrespective of what they really wanted to do after basic training. He decides to apply reverse psychology to the Squadron Leader assigning the aircraftmen to their new posts by telling him he really wants to study nursing. To his dismay, the Squadron Leader is delighted... that's exactly what he had in mind for Jakey anyway.
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* WideEyedIdealist: As a devout Christian, Matthew has been brought up to believe that there is good in everyone, and not even being bullied, scammed, and bellowed at on a regular basis for the most minor infractions (or even for no reason whatever) by Marsh seems to shake his faith that, deep down, the corporal is not so bad.
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* AccidentalInnuendo: The none-too-worldly Matthew occasionally uses suggestive language without realising it. For example, in "Complaints", he introduces an anecdote about he and his fellow Life Boys deciding which of them would read the day's Bible lesson by seeing which of them their brigade leader addressed first by saying, "When I was in the Life Boys, we used to take advantage of Mr. Underwood." Jakey lampshades the innuendo by telling Matthew, "Don't get sordid," which only confuses him.
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* AccidentalInnuendo: AccidentalInnuendo:[[invoked]] The none-too-worldly Matthew occasionally uses suggestive language without realising it. For example, in "Complaints", he introduces an anecdote about he and his fellow Life Boys deciding which of them would read the day's Bible lesson by seeing which of them their brigade leader addressed first by saying, "When I was in the Life Boys, we used to take advantage of Mr. Underwood." Jakey lampshades the innuendo by telling Matthew, "Don't get sordid," which only confuses him.
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* AccidentalInnuendo: The none-too-worldly Matthew occasionally uses suggestive language without realising it. For example, in "Complaints", he introduces an anecdote about he and his fellow Life Boys deciding which of them would read the day's Bible lesson by seeing which of them their brigade leader addressed first by saying, "When I was in the Life Boys, we used to take advantage of Mr. Underwood." Jakey lampshades the innuendo by telling Matthew, "Don't get sordid," which only confuses him.
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* DrivenToSuicide: In "Exam Results" from Series 4, Marsh has had his exam results nullified for cheating and been demoted to Aircraftman First Class, his supposedly plum posting to RAF Minden in Germany (which the four National Servicemen tricked him into taking from Bruce in exchange for a posting to RAF Luqa) has been revoked, and his wife, Alice, has left him. He heads for a weir near RAF Midham and plans to jump over the edge and drown himself. However, Alice happens to walk past at the same time with similar ideas; after first mistaking her voice for an auditory hallucination, Marsh declares that their reunion must be a sign that they should go on living - together. Alice seems lessed thrilled about this than Marsh, but agrees.
to:
* DrivenToSuicide: In "Exam Results" from Series 4, Marsh has had his exam results nullified for cheating and been demoted to Aircraftman First Class, his supposedly plum posting to RAF Minden in Germany (which the four National Servicemen tricked him into taking from Bruce in exchange for a posting to RAF Luqa) has been revoked, and his wife, Alice, has left him. He heads for a weir near RAF Midham and plans to jump over the edge and drown himself. However, Alice happens to walk past at the same time with similar ideas; after first mistaking her voice for an auditory hallucination, Marsh declares that their reunion must be a sign that they should go on living - together. Alice seems lessed less thrilled about this than Marsh, but agrees.
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Changed line(s) 14 (click to see context) from:
** In the Series 4 finale, "Exam Results", Jakey, Ken, Matthew, and Marsh are all posted to RAF Luqa in Malta, while Bruce is posted to RAF Minden in Germany. The four National Servicemen decide to manipulate Marsh into exchanging postings with Bruce by claiming that Malta is a barren rock, whereas at RAF Minden he will be surrounded by beer, sausages[[note]] at least, that's how Marsh interprets Matthew's observation that Minden is near the Bechstein [piano] factory[[/note]], and eager German women. Sure enough, the pleasure-seeking Marsh falls hook, line, and sinker for the ploy - and is left stranded when the Minden posting is withdrawn while the four recruits go to Malta together.
to:
** In the Series 4 finale, "Exam Results", Jakey, Ken, Matthew, and Marsh are all posted to RAF Luqa in Malta, while Bruce is posted to RAF Minden in Germany. The four National Servicemen decide to manipulate Marsh into exchanging postings with Bruce by claiming that Malta is a barren rock, whereas at RAF Minden he will be surrounded by beer, sausages[[note]] at At least, that's how Marsh interprets Matthew's observation that Minden is near the Bechstein [piano] factory[[/note]], factory; the others think better of telling Marsh that Bechsteins are not sausages, but pianos.[[/note]], and eager German women. Sure enough, the pleasure-seeking Marsh falls hook, line, and sinker for the ploy - and is left stranded when the Minden posting is withdrawn while the four recruits go to Malta together.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 14 (click to see context) from:
** In the Series 4 finale, "Exam Results", Jakey, Ken, Matthew, and Marsh are all posted to RAF Luqa in Malta, while Bruce is posted to RAF Minden in Germany. The four National Servicement decide to manipulate Marsh into exchanging postings with Bruce by claiming that Malta is a barren rock, whereas at RAF Minden he will be surrounded by beer, sausages, and eager German women. Sure enough, the pleasure-seeking Marsh falls hook, line, and sinker for the ploy - and is left stranded when the Minden posting is withdrawn while the four recruits go to Malta together.
to:
** In the Series 4 finale, "Exam Results", Jakey, Ken, Matthew, and Marsh are all posted to RAF Luqa in Malta, while Bruce is posted to RAF Minden in Germany. The four National Servicement Servicemen decide to manipulate Marsh into exchanging postings with Bruce by claiming that Malta is a barren rock, whereas at RAF Minden he will be surrounded by beer, sausages, sausages[[note]] at least, that's how Marsh interprets Matthew's observation that Minden is near the Bechstein [piano] factory[[/note]], and eager German women. Sure enough, the pleasure-seeking Marsh falls hook, line, and sinker for the ploy - and is left stranded when the Minden posting is withdrawn while the four recruits go to Malta together.
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* HoistByHisOwnPetard: In "Complaints" from Series 2, the four aircraftmen are trying to decide which of them will complain to Flight Lieutenant Grant about the quality of the food when he walks through the mess asking, "Any complaints?", and Matthew notes that when he was in the Life Boys (the junior Boys' Brigade), he and his friends would decide who would read the day's Bible lesson by seeing which of them their brigade leader, Mr. Underwood, spoke to first. They decide that whichever of them is the first to be spoken to by the next person to enter the barracks will speak to Grant, and soon another aircraftman enters, whistling and absently noting that the other four seem to be trying to avoid looking at him. He then sits down with a book, and Matthew notices the title:
-->'''Matthew:''' Oh, ''The Wooden Horse''![[note]] The (mostly) true story of the second most famous escape from Stalag Luft III (after Film/TheGreatEscape), in which the entrance to the escape tunnel was concealed under a wooden vaulting horse.[[/note]]\\
'''Aircraftman:''' ''(not looking up from the book)'' Yeah.\\
''(Matthew realises his mistake, but too late; he looks over to see Jakey and Ken pointing at him as if to say "You're it!")''\\
'''Matthew:''' Oh, flip!
-->'''Matthew:''' Oh, ''The Wooden Horse''![[note]] The (mostly) true story of the second most famous escape from Stalag Luft III (after Film/TheGreatEscape), in which the entrance to the escape tunnel was concealed under a wooden vaulting horse.[[/note]]\\
'''Aircraftman:''' ''(not looking up from the book)'' Yeah.\\
''(Matthew realises his mistake, but too late; he looks over to see Jakey and Ken pointing at him as if to say "You're it!")''\\
'''Matthew:''' Oh, flip!
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Changed line(s) 3,4 (click to see context) from:
In the first two series, they went through basic training at the fictional RAF Skelton somewhere in the south of England; at the beginning of the third series, they were assigned to a nursing training course (along with Marsh, who had requested a transfer) at the fictional RAF Midham in Lancashire, where they remained until the end of the fourth series. In an ostensible GrandFinale, the four National Servicemen were posted to the non-fictional RAF Luqa in Malta, while Marsh was demoted to Aircraftman First Class for cheating on the final nursing exam and posted to Labrador, and that seemed to be that for the series.
to:
In the first two series, they went through basic training at the fictional RAF Skelton somewhere in the south of England; at the beginning of the third series, they were assigned to a nursing training course (along with Marsh, who had requested a transfer) at the fictional RAF Midham in Lancashire, where they remained until the end of the fourth series. In an ostensible GrandFinale, the four National Servicemen were posted to the non-fictional RAF Luqa in Malta, while Marsh was demoted to Aircraftman First Class for cheating on the final nursing exam and [[ReassignedToAntarctica posted to Labrador, Labrador]], and that seemed to be that for the series.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Added DiffLines:
''Get Some In!'' was a British sitcom written by John Esmonde and Bob Larbey (best known as the writers of ''Series/TheGoodLife'') which aired on Creator/ThamesTelevision for five series between 1975 and 1978. It followed the trials and tribulations of a group of Royal Air Force National Service recruits in 1955 (between 1949 and 1960, all healthy males between the ages of 17 and 21 were required to serve in the British military for two years), and starred Tony Selby as Corporal Percy Marsh, the RAF's version of a DrillSergeantNasty. The recruits included snarky Teddy boy Jakey Smith (Robert Lindsay), well-spoken grammar school graduate Ken Richardson (David Janson), shy vicar's son Matthew Lilley (Gerard Ryder), and pessimistic Scot Bruce Leckie (Brian Pettifer).
In the first two series, they went through basic training at the fictional RAF Skelton somewhere in the south of England; at the beginning of the third series, they were assigned to a nursing training course (along with Marsh, who had requested a transfer) at the fictional RAF Midham in Lancashire, where they remained until the end of the fourth series. In an ostensible GrandFinale, the four National Servicemen were posted to the non-fictional RAF Luqa in Malta, while Marsh was demoted to Aircraftman First Class for cheating on the final nursing exam and posted to Labrador, and that seemed to be that for the series.
However, the ''News of the World'', citing audience figures of over 14 million, successfully petitioned Thames to uncancel the series, and the fifth series saw the four National Servicemen (with Jakey now played by Karl Howman, Robert Lindsay having departed to take the lead role in ''Series/CitizenSmith'') recalled to Britain and posted to the fictional RAF Druidswater, where they once again crossed paths with Marsh, who had apparently risked his life to save that of a superior officer and returned to Britain as a hero and a Corporal once again. Viewing figures plummeted, and the series was cancelled for a second and final time without a definite resolution.
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!!This series provides examples of:
* AwfulWeddedLife: Marsh and his wife Alice are constantly arguing, and Alice finally has enough and leaves Percy in the Series 3 episode "Marsh's Wife", but returns to him in the finale of Series 4.
* BadLiar: Marsh is usually terrible at bluffing his way into desired situations or out of sticky situations with dishonesty.
** In "Rugby" from Series 2, when Ken is invited to join RAF Skelton's rugby team and thereby rub shoulders with the officers, Marsh claims that he plays rugby as well, as a centre forward (which Ken immediately notes is a position in football, not rugby).
** When told he is on a charge for cheating on the nursing exams in "Exam Results" from Series 4, Marsh tries to get out of it by claiming that Flight Sergeant Wells, who put him on the charge, has done so out of racial prejudice, and that while his skin tone might not mark him as Afro-Caribbean, the tight curls in his hair are where it comes out. Squadron Leader Baker is not convinced for a moment and threatens to put him on a second charge for lying.
* BatmanGambit: Two examples, one "heroic" and one "villainous", stand out:
** In "Erks", the first episode of Series 3, Flight Lieutenant Grant tells Marsh that he will make his temporary promotion to Sergeant a permanent one if his recruits finish first in the tests at the end of basic training. Knowing that their first instinct will be to finish last to spite him but that they have more respect for Grant, Marsh tells the recruits that Grant is dying, and that it would mean a lot to him if he could end his career, and life, on a high by seeing the group win the shield for highest test scores. Jakey is suspicious, but agrees to join the other three in putting their best foot forward, and they win the shield - at which point a gleeful Marsh reveals the truth. (His promotion is short-lived, however; the recruits' hut in the barracks burns down, and he is demoted back to Corporal by the end of the episode.)
** In the Series 4 finale, "Exam Results", Jakey, Ken, Matthew, and Marsh are all posted to RAF Luqa in Malta, while Bruce is posted to RAF Minden in Germany. The four National Servicement decide to manipulate Marsh into exchanging postings with Bruce by claiming that Malta is a barren rock, whereas at RAF Minden he will be surrounded by beer, sausages, and eager German women. Sure enough, the pleasure-seeking Marsh falls hook, line, and sinker for the ploy - and is left stranded when the Minden posting is withdrawn while the four recruits go to Malta together.
* BillingDisplacement: The series' DVD release gave top billing not to Tony Selby but to Robert Lindsay, who had become famous in the intervening years in such series as ''Series/CitizenSmith'' and ''Series/MyFamily''. Tony Selby has likened this to releasing a Sixth Doctor-era ''Series/DoctorWho'' DVD with "Starring Tony Selby and Creator/ColinBaker" on the cover.
* ChristmasEpisode: "Christmas at the Camp" from 1975 sees the four recruits stuck at RAF Skelton for Christmas. Alice Marsh is taken ill, so Marsh tries to force the aircraftmen to cook his Christmas dinner, only for the turkey to be stolen by a dog. Marsh then tries to get into the [=NCOs'=] party, but Alice has recovered enough to go herself, and his treatment of her has left him ''persona non grata'' among the other [=NCOs=] and their wives, so he is forced to join Jakey, Ken, Bruce, and Matthew for a dull evening of orange squash and bad ventriloquism with the camp chaplain (an evening only Matthew enjoys).
* DrillSergeantNasty: Marsh revels in the power he has over the National Servicemen, and makes it clear in the first episode that they will learn to despise him, and jokes that his name is spelled "B-A-S-T-A-R-D". However, he goes beyond whipping them into good soldiers and straight into bullying them for his own amusement; for example, in the Series 2 episode "Coke", he reacts to the coke[[note]] the fuel, not the beverage[[/note]] rationing gripping Britain by helping himself to the barracks' allocation, leaving the National Servicemen to freeze. However, his sadism has stood in the way of his promotion to Sergeant, as his recruits routinely fail their end of basic training tests deliberately just to spite him.
* DrivenToSuicide: In "Exam Results" from Series 4, Marsh has had his exam results nullified for cheating and been demoted to Aircraftman First Class, his supposedly plum posting to RAF Minden in Germany (which the four National Servicemen tricked him into taking from Bruce in exchange for a posting to RAF Luqa) has been revoked, and his wife, Alice, has left him. He heads for a weir near RAF Midham and plans to jump over the edge and drown himself. However, Alice happens to walk past at the same time with similar ideas; after first mistaking her voice for an auditory hallucination, Marsh declares that their reunion must be a sign that they should go on living - together. Alice seems lessed thrilled about this than Marsh, but agrees.
* IronicFear: Despite being in the Royal Air Force, Corporal Marsh is paralytically terrified of flying. When he is forced to accompany the aircraftmen on a flight helmed by a former Lancaster pilot in the Series 2 episode "Flight", he spends the entire flight rigid with fear, and babbles to a bewildered Bruce that the pilot has shrapnel in his head from the war and is flying the plane into the Sun. When Ken tells the other recruits that the pilot will be showing them how the aeroplane flies with only three engines, Marsh screams, "HE'S MAAAAAD!" and runs into the toilet, where he remains locked in for the rest of the flight.
* LethalChef: Cook-Corporal Lionel Jenner, as seen in "Complaints" from Series 2, has lax attitudes toward the cleanliness of his kitchen and the food cooked in it. Rather than removing slugs from the cabbage, he tells his staff to boil the cabbage, slugs and all, and scoop the slugs off the top of the water with a strainer; meanwhile, after Bruce falls headfirst into a vat of leftover porridge, Jenner implies to Marsh that the same porridge will be on the next day's breakfast menu.
* TheNicknamer: Like most drill instructors, Marsh has multiple nicknames for the various recruits.
** He addresses Teddy boy Jakey as "Ted" and "King Edward VII" as well as "Three-F Smith" after Jakey introduces himself as "Smif" and, in a moment of SnarkToSnarkCombat, responds to Marsh's question of whether he spells it with one or two Fs with "Three."
** Marsh decides that the well-spoken Ken must be a closet homosexual, and routinely addresses him as "Poofhouse" or "Nance".
** Matthew, as a devout Christian, is referred to by such derogatory names as "Holy Joe" by the far less devout Marsh.
** The Scottish Bruce is known to Marsh as "Jock strap".
* OhCrap:
** In the Series 2 episode "Complaints", Cook-Corporal Jenner gets this look on his face when Matthew hesitantly complains to Flight Lieutenant Grant about the quality of the food, and Grant tries a forkful of cabbage, mutters "Oh my GOD!", and runs out of the mess.
** Marsh gets this look in "Final Exams" from Series 4 when Flight Sergeant Wells claims that the textbook Marsh used to cheat on his final exam was laced with a delayed action indicator which will turn his hands bright green, and he stuffs his hands into his pockets.
** The four recruits all get this look in the Series 5 opener, "V.I.P. Guard", when they discover that the V.I.P. to whom they have been assigned upon arriving at RAF Druidswater is a returning Corporal Marsh, who clearly plans to pick up where he left off with them before being demoted in the previous series.
* ReassignedToAntarctica: After getting demoted to Aircraftman First Class and trading away his posting to RAF Luqa in the Series 4 finale "Exam Results", Marsh is posted to an RAF base in Labrador in eastern Canada, where it snows non-stop and he and Alice are assigned to live in a poorly-heated tin hut.
* SarcasmBlind: The ever innocent Matthew doesn't seem to recognise sarcasm when he hears it. In the Series 2 episode "Flight", he [[ExactWords takes Marsh at his word]] when he says "In your own time" while drilling the aircraftmen on the rifle range, and hasn't even taken aim by the time Jakey, Ken, and Bruce have fired five rounds at the target, as he is busy making himself "more comfy". When Marsh is surveying the results of the other recruits' shots, he drily asks if Matthew is quite comfy yet, and promises not to keep him waiting; Matthew fails to note the sarcasm in his voice and brightly says, "Right you are!"
* TraumaticHaircut: In the first episode, "Callup", Jakey shoves his way to the front of the queue for haircuts and gives the barber detailed instructions as to how he wants his "duck's arse" (the standard Teddy boy haircut) styled. The barber then grabs the front of Jakey's hair and chops it off completely, causing Jakey to roar with horror as he sees himself in the mirror.
* UpperClassTwit: The RAF officers are almost exclusively public school graduates (in "End of Basic Training" from Series 3, an officer effectively tells Ken to his face that a public school background is a requirement to become an officer; as Ken went to grammar school, this rules out this path for him) with clipped RP accents and more interest in rugby matches than in actually running the Royal Air Force. In "Crash Exercise" from Series 4, Squadron Leader Baker is seen in the middle of an argument with a doctor who trained at a rival hospital[[note]] Baker trained at St. Bartholomew's, the civilian doctor trained at Guy's Hospital (both among the UK's top teaching hospitals)[[/note]] about... the result of a rugby match between the two hospitals from two years earlier.
----
In the first two series, they went through basic training at the fictional RAF Skelton somewhere in the south of England; at the beginning of the third series, they were assigned to a nursing training course (along with Marsh, who had requested a transfer) at the fictional RAF Midham in Lancashire, where they remained until the end of the fourth series. In an ostensible GrandFinale, the four National Servicemen were posted to the non-fictional RAF Luqa in Malta, while Marsh was demoted to Aircraftman First Class for cheating on the final nursing exam and posted to Labrador, and that seemed to be that for the series.
However, the ''News of the World'', citing audience figures of over 14 million, successfully petitioned Thames to uncancel the series, and the fifth series saw the four National Servicemen (with Jakey now played by Karl Howman, Robert Lindsay having departed to take the lead role in ''Series/CitizenSmith'') recalled to Britain and posted to the fictional RAF Druidswater, where they once again crossed paths with Marsh, who had apparently risked his life to save that of a superior officer and returned to Britain as a hero and a Corporal once again. Viewing figures plummeted, and the series was cancelled for a second and final time without a definite resolution.
----
!!This series provides examples of:
* AwfulWeddedLife: Marsh and his wife Alice are constantly arguing, and Alice finally has enough and leaves Percy in the Series 3 episode "Marsh's Wife", but returns to him in the finale of Series 4.
* BadLiar: Marsh is usually terrible at bluffing his way into desired situations or out of sticky situations with dishonesty.
** In "Rugby" from Series 2, when Ken is invited to join RAF Skelton's rugby team and thereby rub shoulders with the officers, Marsh claims that he plays rugby as well, as a centre forward (which Ken immediately notes is a position in football, not rugby).
** When told he is on a charge for cheating on the nursing exams in "Exam Results" from Series 4, Marsh tries to get out of it by claiming that Flight Sergeant Wells, who put him on the charge, has done so out of racial prejudice, and that while his skin tone might not mark him as Afro-Caribbean, the tight curls in his hair are where it comes out. Squadron Leader Baker is not convinced for a moment and threatens to put him on a second charge for lying.
* BatmanGambit: Two examples, one "heroic" and one "villainous", stand out:
** In "Erks", the first episode of Series 3, Flight Lieutenant Grant tells Marsh that he will make his temporary promotion to Sergeant a permanent one if his recruits finish first in the tests at the end of basic training. Knowing that their first instinct will be to finish last to spite him but that they have more respect for Grant, Marsh tells the recruits that Grant is dying, and that it would mean a lot to him if he could end his career, and life, on a high by seeing the group win the shield for highest test scores. Jakey is suspicious, but agrees to join the other three in putting their best foot forward, and they win the shield - at which point a gleeful Marsh reveals the truth. (His promotion is short-lived, however; the recruits' hut in the barracks burns down, and he is demoted back to Corporal by the end of the episode.)
** In the Series 4 finale, "Exam Results", Jakey, Ken, Matthew, and Marsh are all posted to RAF Luqa in Malta, while Bruce is posted to RAF Minden in Germany. The four National Servicement decide to manipulate Marsh into exchanging postings with Bruce by claiming that Malta is a barren rock, whereas at RAF Minden he will be surrounded by beer, sausages, and eager German women. Sure enough, the pleasure-seeking Marsh falls hook, line, and sinker for the ploy - and is left stranded when the Minden posting is withdrawn while the four recruits go to Malta together.
* BillingDisplacement: The series' DVD release gave top billing not to Tony Selby but to Robert Lindsay, who had become famous in the intervening years in such series as ''Series/CitizenSmith'' and ''Series/MyFamily''. Tony Selby has likened this to releasing a Sixth Doctor-era ''Series/DoctorWho'' DVD with "Starring Tony Selby and Creator/ColinBaker" on the cover.
* ChristmasEpisode: "Christmas at the Camp" from 1975 sees the four recruits stuck at RAF Skelton for Christmas. Alice Marsh is taken ill, so Marsh tries to force the aircraftmen to cook his Christmas dinner, only for the turkey to be stolen by a dog. Marsh then tries to get into the [=NCOs'=] party, but Alice has recovered enough to go herself, and his treatment of her has left him ''persona non grata'' among the other [=NCOs=] and their wives, so he is forced to join Jakey, Ken, Bruce, and Matthew for a dull evening of orange squash and bad ventriloquism with the camp chaplain (an evening only Matthew enjoys).
* DrillSergeantNasty: Marsh revels in the power he has over the National Servicemen, and makes it clear in the first episode that they will learn to despise him, and jokes that his name is spelled "B-A-S-T-A-R-D". However, he goes beyond whipping them into good soldiers and straight into bullying them for his own amusement; for example, in the Series 2 episode "Coke", he reacts to the coke[[note]] the fuel, not the beverage[[/note]] rationing gripping Britain by helping himself to the barracks' allocation, leaving the National Servicemen to freeze. However, his sadism has stood in the way of his promotion to Sergeant, as his recruits routinely fail their end of basic training tests deliberately just to spite him.
* DrivenToSuicide: In "Exam Results" from Series 4, Marsh has had his exam results nullified for cheating and been demoted to Aircraftman First Class, his supposedly plum posting to RAF Minden in Germany (which the four National Servicemen tricked him into taking from Bruce in exchange for a posting to RAF Luqa) has been revoked, and his wife, Alice, has left him. He heads for a weir near RAF Midham and plans to jump over the edge and drown himself. However, Alice happens to walk past at the same time with similar ideas; after first mistaking her voice for an auditory hallucination, Marsh declares that their reunion must be a sign that they should go on living - together. Alice seems lessed thrilled about this than Marsh, but agrees.
* IronicFear: Despite being in the Royal Air Force, Corporal Marsh is paralytically terrified of flying. When he is forced to accompany the aircraftmen on a flight helmed by a former Lancaster pilot in the Series 2 episode "Flight", he spends the entire flight rigid with fear, and babbles to a bewildered Bruce that the pilot has shrapnel in his head from the war and is flying the plane into the Sun. When Ken tells the other recruits that the pilot will be showing them how the aeroplane flies with only three engines, Marsh screams, "HE'S MAAAAAD!" and runs into the toilet, where he remains locked in for the rest of the flight.
* LethalChef: Cook-Corporal Lionel Jenner, as seen in "Complaints" from Series 2, has lax attitudes toward the cleanliness of his kitchen and the food cooked in it. Rather than removing slugs from the cabbage, he tells his staff to boil the cabbage, slugs and all, and scoop the slugs off the top of the water with a strainer; meanwhile, after Bruce falls headfirst into a vat of leftover porridge, Jenner implies to Marsh that the same porridge will be on the next day's breakfast menu.
* TheNicknamer: Like most drill instructors, Marsh has multiple nicknames for the various recruits.
** He addresses Teddy boy Jakey as "Ted" and "King Edward VII" as well as "Three-F Smith" after Jakey introduces himself as "Smif" and, in a moment of SnarkToSnarkCombat, responds to Marsh's question of whether he spells it with one or two Fs with "Three."
** Marsh decides that the well-spoken Ken must be a closet homosexual, and routinely addresses him as "Poofhouse" or "Nance".
** Matthew, as a devout Christian, is referred to by such derogatory names as "Holy Joe" by the far less devout Marsh.
** The Scottish Bruce is known to Marsh as "Jock strap".
* OhCrap:
** In the Series 2 episode "Complaints", Cook-Corporal Jenner gets this look on his face when Matthew hesitantly complains to Flight Lieutenant Grant about the quality of the food, and Grant tries a forkful of cabbage, mutters "Oh my GOD!", and runs out of the mess.
** Marsh gets this look in "Final Exams" from Series 4 when Flight Sergeant Wells claims that the textbook Marsh used to cheat on his final exam was laced with a delayed action indicator which will turn his hands bright green, and he stuffs his hands into his pockets.
** The four recruits all get this look in the Series 5 opener, "V.I.P. Guard", when they discover that the V.I.P. to whom they have been assigned upon arriving at RAF Druidswater is a returning Corporal Marsh, who clearly plans to pick up where he left off with them before being demoted in the previous series.
* ReassignedToAntarctica: After getting demoted to Aircraftman First Class and trading away his posting to RAF Luqa in the Series 4 finale "Exam Results", Marsh is posted to an RAF base in Labrador in eastern Canada, where it snows non-stop and he and Alice are assigned to live in a poorly-heated tin hut.
* SarcasmBlind: The ever innocent Matthew doesn't seem to recognise sarcasm when he hears it. In the Series 2 episode "Flight", he [[ExactWords takes Marsh at his word]] when he says "In your own time" while drilling the aircraftmen on the rifle range, and hasn't even taken aim by the time Jakey, Ken, and Bruce have fired five rounds at the target, as he is busy making himself "more comfy". When Marsh is surveying the results of the other recruits' shots, he drily asks if Matthew is quite comfy yet, and promises not to keep him waiting; Matthew fails to note the sarcasm in his voice and brightly says, "Right you are!"
* TraumaticHaircut: In the first episode, "Callup", Jakey shoves his way to the front of the queue for haircuts and gives the barber detailed instructions as to how he wants his "duck's arse" (the standard Teddy boy haircut) styled. The barber then grabs the front of Jakey's hair and chops it off completely, causing Jakey to roar with horror as he sees himself in the mirror.
* UpperClassTwit: The RAF officers are almost exclusively public school graduates (in "End of Basic Training" from Series 3, an officer effectively tells Ken to his face that a public school background is a requirement to become an officer; as Ken went to grammar school, this rules out this path for him) with clipped RP accents and more interest in rugby matches than in actually running the Royal Air Force. In "Crash Exercise" from Series 4, Squadron Leader Baker is seen in the middle of an argument with a doctor who trained at a rival hospital[[note]] Baker trained at St. Bartholomew's, the civilian doctor trained at Guy's Hospital (both among the UK's top teaching hospitals)[[/note]] about... the result of a rugby match between the two hospitals from two years earlier.
----
