Private Frank Pike is a fictional Home Guard private and junior bank clerk, first portrayed by actor Ian Lavender in the BBC television sitcom Dad's Army. He was appointed as the platoon's information officer by Captain Mainwaring in The Man and the Hour. He is frequently referred to by Captain Mainwaring as "stupid boy". Personality Pike was born in 1922, and is the youngest of the Walmington-on-Sea platoon. Aged 17 when the series begins, he is not old enough to join the army, although presumably he has reached, or is nearing, his 18th birthday when he is about to receive call-up papers in When You've Got to Go; in the event, it is revealed that he has a rare blood type that excludes him from military service. In "War Dance", it is revealed to Mainwaring from Wilson that Pike "is going on 19". He lives in the shadow of his bossy and over-protective mother, Mavis Pike, who is in a relationship with Sergeant Wilson. Wilson is referred to by Pike as "Uncle Arthur" and is hinted to be Pike's father. If this is so, Pike has an older half-sister by Wilson's estranged wife. The writers, Jimmy Perry and David Croft, confirmed after the series that Wilson was Pike's father. This was also revealed in the radio series (and sequel to Dad's Army) It Sticks Out Half a Mile where Mainwaring meets Wilson in the branch at Frambourne, where Wilson is the manager. On chatting to Wilson, he says "And how's your son?" Wilson laughs in an embarrassed tone and says that he has left the bank and is now an Under Manager at Woolworths. Wilson's tone shows that he must be the father and Mainwaring's question shows that he knows the truth. Pike's mother is supposedly a widow; it is unclear if there ever really was a Mr Pike, as he is never clearly mentioned. The radio series also reveals that Frank's mother has moved to Frambourne too. Pike often threatens to set his mum on either Captain Mainwaring or Sergeant Wilson if he is shouted at or forced to do something. Although naïve, Pike is aware something is going on with his mother and Wilson: Pike: "By the time we finish supper, it's always so late, you never leave our house until after I've gone to bed and then you're back early for breakfast before I'm awake. But what