It Ain't Half Hot Mum

I am in my late 70s and have just finished watching, for the third time, the boxed set of 'It ain't half hot mum'.

I found it amusing and of the period and reflected how the majority of Britons regarded the rest of the world. I never met one who was different, in skin colour, until I joined the RAF at 17 when I travelled up to Bridgnorth with an Indian/Pakistani recruit. Just as the BBC doesn't show shows that reflect the times they were made I think that is pandering to the 'lilly liveried' who are trying to take our heritage away.

When I have worked my way through the DVDs that I have, I don't have a TV, I shall again take the series and enjoy it. I admit that it may be all the wrong reasons but I will enjoyed it well into my 80s.

I didn't know what to make of this comedy after watching the first few episodes. It certainly had jokes, but it is such a unique setup that it was difficult to be comfortable with it at. Nevertheless, after becoming familiar with the characters and roles, it became a lot easier to get into the swing of the show.

The show is about troupe of entertainers who are soldiers (in rank only) in the Royal Artillery Core and are based in India (hence the programme's title). They perform shows for the regular soldiers which involve a range of acts, such as dancing, singing, joke-telling, acting etc. This is all to the extreme frustration of the Sergeant Major Williams, a seasoned soldier with decades of combat experience. He is desperate to see real fighting action and resents being in charge of this concert party that frequently embarrass him with their "less-than-macho" attitude. There are also two pompous senior officers who are generally oblivious to anything that is going on, only concerned with attending dinner parties with other officers.

The first few series did become a bit repetitive in my opinion: the plots mostly being Williams scheming to get the concert party disbanded and sent into the jungle, partly out of spite as he despises them so much, but also to satisfy his taste for combat. Whilst never becoming boring, it did become a bit stale.

However, perhaps I am imagining it, but from around series 4 or 5, when they are all relocated to a jungle in Burma (still as the concert party), the plots seemed to improve in my opinion, becoming more varied and creative and generally funnier.

One thing that is enormous credit to Croft and Perry is their ability to make some rather quite powerful and emotional episodes for a programme that is otherwise slapstick and daft. The final episode was really quite moving. The finale was done excellently, considering how so many other programmes fall flat with their finales.

As a final comment, Windsor Davies gives an incredible performance as the Sergeant Major, being naturally hilarious and also a convincing military figure (I believe he did spend a year or two in the army, so was probably very familiar with how to act the role).

Great fun.

This had people rolling around laughing in the 1970s and for good reason. It was very funny and totally politically incorrect which made it even better. No one was offended by it back then - even the targets of its jokes but in today's climate thin skinned professionally offended whackjobs absolutely would be. Hilarious.

How awful that the BBC refuse to show this again...what a load of nonsense...it was and still is an affectionate look at how things were in the war...I went on holiday to Turkey last year and saw exactly the same thing in the markets...foreign people imitating British for comedy purposes... poor Michael Bates was lambasted as racist for his role but that is exactly the kind of character around at the time...and there still is. This is almost "Spike Milliganesque" in its approach to multi culture comedy...there was never any intent to mock or offend...pure vaudeville. Perry and Croft understood perfectly the comedy in wartime as these were all obviously based on real life characters..anybody who is offended by this should be genuinely ashamed.....this series had 15 million viewers in its heyday...all apparent racists. Must add that all the crew were all in on the fun...Windsor Davies was brilliant., much like Hylda Baker and always using the wrong words ...one thing though....almost every British comedy at the time was made into a movie...why was this left out. Marvelous comedy from the finest writing duo since Galton and Simpson.

Dad's Army may be a classic but this series by the same scriptwriters involving a similar but more youthful crowd of army misfits generally has more laughs per episode and is a lot funnier. The scene after the closing titles where Sergeant Major Williams barks "shut up" at Char Wallah Mohammed never ceases to be funny. The series lost something when Michael Bates died (you know, there's an old Hindu proverb....). Don Estelle has a marvellous singing voice and another running joke in the programme was the performances where he played romantic heroes like Nelson Eddy or Ivor Novello and he'd have Melvyn Hayes (Gloria) as his leading lady. This programme has been frequently criticised as racist but frankly the various Indians, Malaysians and Burmese who used to appear in it were usually portrayed as smarter and more sorted out than the Sergeant Major and his platoon. Sergeant Major Williams has a fair bit of trouble with the King's English (degrading to the Welsh?), Gunner Atlas Mackintosh takes offence very quickly, particularly with Gloria (insulting to Scots?) and Captain Ashwood is an upper-class twit (so that degrades the English?). The BBC seems to show Dad's Army practically every waking day and "It Ain't Half Hot Mum" should be seen more often too. It's a classic and has a big fan following.