It Ain't Half Hot Mum

I enjoyed this series when it was originally broadcast. As there is no likelihood of it being broadcast again,I bought The box?box set and have just finished it.It is very funny,almost as good as Dads Army.It does have problems. Michael Bates,blacked up,as the bearer, makes it unacceptable for broadcastimg,as does the homophobic rants by the Sergeant Major. Furthermore it has to be said that many of the Indian characters are drawn in an unsympathetic light..

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.

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.

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.

The series has been rerun by Dutch TV lately, and really, it was in fact the only program I really enjoyed 5 times a week for a long time. Lovely boys, lovely series!!!!! The show has lost none of its freshness, wit and edge. SM Williams as the prototype British drill sergeant and the bedraggled concert party which remind me a lot of the stories depicted in Spike Milligan's war memoirs. The final episode with the demob scenes I found very touching. It was very realistically depicted with the war heroes returning to a drab Blythe and viewed with disdain and even contempt by the civvies they were "protecting".

I really hope that the BBC will air the show again. I miss it!!!!