Reverend Timothy Farthing

The Reverend Timothy Farthing, usually referred to simply as "The Vicar" or "His Reverence", is a fictional vicar portrayed by Frank Williams in the BBC television sitcom Dad's Army.

Personality

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Farthing is the slightly ineffectual, but well-meaning vicar of St Aldhelm's Church, Walmington-on-Sea. Neither on the side of the Home Guard, or the ARP Wardens, he attempts to care for "The spiritual needs of (his) parishioners", despite the many setbacks presented during the war, such as having to share his church hall and office with both the pompous Captain Mainwaring and the uncouth Chief Air Raid Warden Hodges. In many episodes he ends up embroiled in the escapades of the platoon, often by accident and he joins the Home Guard briefly in "The Recruit".

Prone to making long sermons, his personality is quite sulky – saying to anyone who annoys him "I shall be very cross!" – and occasionally effeminate, although the character is never seen in a bad light, unlike his verger, Mr Yeatman. Farthing is unmarried (he is sleeping alone in "When Did You Last See your Money?"). Also, in the episode The Recruit, Farthing states he joined the Home Guard because "could I stand idly by and watch my wife being ravished by a Nazi? No, I told myself.", to which Captain Mainwaring replies "But you're not married?" The vicar then says he has a very vivid imagination. According to Dad's Army - A Celebration, he was once a missionary. This is also confirmed in the episode The Big Parade by the verger who says the horns used by Walker in an attempt to spruce up a moth eaten goat for Captain Mainwaring were given to the vicar when he was in Umbalumbala as a missionary. However, his background is rarely, if ever, revealed. It is revealed in the Christmas special, Battle of The Giants, that Farthing served in World War I although his role is not specifically stated. He seems to be a practical vicar, not really believing in black magic and rituals – for example, in the episode "When Did You Last See your Money?" when the verger thinks a black ritual is going on he runs to tell the vicar 'Vicar! There's a horrible black mass!', to which the vicar replies, 'A horrible black mass of what?'

During the episode The Enemy Within the Gates it is revealed that the vicar is the editor of Ring-A-Ding Monthly, a fictional bell ringing magazine.

Despite living a relatively clean life, the vicar has one notable vice - a love of Scotch Whisky. In the episodes 'Battle Of The Giants' and 'My British Buddy', Captain Mainwaring offers to buy the vicar a drink. On both occasions, the vicar asks for a double-Scotch. The verger, Maurice Yeatman, warns Mainwaring of the vicar's weakness. Mainwaring then changes the order to a single-Scotch. In the episode 'Battle Of The Giants', the vicar acknowledges the discrepancy; "I shall be an umpire. And the fact that you've only bought me a single will have absolutely no bearing on my judgement".

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