It Ain't Half Hot Mum is a British television sitcom about a Royal Artillery concert party based in Deolali in British India and the fictional village of Tin Min in Burma, during the final months of the Second World War. It was written by Jimmy Perry and David Croft, who had both served in similar roles in India during that war.
Fifty-six episodes were broadcast across eight series on BBC1 between 1974 and 1981, most of which cover a real-time historical period of approximately thirteen weeks. Each episode ran for thirty minutes. The title originates from the first episode, in which young Gunner Parkin (Christopher Mitchell) writes home to his mother in England. In 1975, a recording of "Whispering Grass" performed by Don Estelle and Windsor Davies in character as Gunner "Lofty" Sugden and Sergeant Major Williams (respectively), reached number one on the UK singles chart and remained there for three weeks.
The series, which attracted up to seventeen million viewers in its heyday, has been accused of racism, homophobia, and a pro-imperialist attitude. One specific criticism has been the casting of Michael Bates, a white actor who was born in India and fluent in Urdu, as an Indian character, which required him to wear darkening makeup that some have compared to blackface.
Premise Set in 1945, the series follows a Royal Artillery concert party during the final months of the Second World War. The main characters are performers in the base's concert party; their duties involve performing comic acts and musical numbers (similar to those seen in a music hall) for other soldiers prior to their departure for the front lines. The concert party prevents the soldiers from partaking in combat duty; thus, the soldiers love being part of the outfit. Some even daydream of becoming world-famous actors when they leave the army.
Many songs of the era were performed by the cast in their re-enactment of wartime variety shows.
Theme The theme song for the show, titled "Meet The Gang", was performed by cast members Mike Kinsey, Stuart McGugan, Melvyn Hayes, George Layton, Christopher Mitchell, Don Estelle and Kenneth MacDonald who were filmed as they danced and sang the song on stage; close-up shots of the seven as well as shots of Michael Bates, Windsor Davies, John Clegg, Dino Shafeek and Barbar Bhatti (and other non-main actors who appeared in an episode) were inserted. When Layton left after series 2, the theme was re-filmed to only have Kinsey, McGugan, Hayes, Mitchell, Estelle and MacDonald on stage.
The theme was reshot again in series 5 when the concert party moved to Burma. Insert shots of Bates and Bhatti were removed from the opening and ending following Bates's death after series 5 and Bhatti's departure after series 6. Series 7 and 8 feature insert shots of Andy Ho, who played Ah Syn.
Production
Development and casting It Ain't Half Hot Mum is set in 1945 during the final months of the Second World War, in the period after the German surrender, when the Allies were attempting to finish the war by defeating Japan in Asia. The scripts make clear that the performers are members of a concert party of the Royal Artillery and are thus enlisted soldiers, rather than being members of ENSA. Initially, the British soldiers are stationed at the Royal Artillery Depot in Deolali, British India, where soldiers were kept before being sent to fight at the front lines. The series was based on the experiences of its creators during the Second World War; Jimmy Perry, aged nineteen, had been a member of a Royal Artillery concert party in Deolali, India, while David Croft had been an entertainments officer in Poona (now in the Indian state of Maharashtra).
The characters in the series were based on colleagues whom co-writer Jimmy Perry knew while stationed in Deolali as a Royal Artillery concert party member. Perry recalled: "I assure you that all those wonderful characters were based on real people in that concert party. They know who they are!" The character of Battery Sergeant Major Williams, played by Windsor Davies, was based on Perry's own battery sergeant major; according to Perry, Davies's character was less harsh than Perry's own sergeant had been.
George Layton left his previous show in which he wrote and starred, Doctor in Charge, to appear as Bombardier "Solly" Solomons in It Ain't Half Hot Mum. In 1975, after two series, Layton left to pursue other interests. Michael Bates, who played Indian bearer Rangi Ram, died after the fifth series had been broadcast. The part of chai wallah Muhammad, played by Dino Shafeek, was increased as a result.
Music The theme song, "Meet the Gang", was written and composed by Jimmy Perry and Derek Taverner. Two singles were released, featuring songs performed in-character by Don Estelle and Windsor Davies. The first, "Whispering Grass", reached No. 1 in the British singles chart for three weeks from 7 June 1975. The second, "Paper Doll", reached No. 41 later that year. They also recorded a top 10 LP, titled Sing Lofty.
Characters
Officers Lieutenant-Colonel Charles Arthur Digby St John Reynolds (Donald Hewlett) Lieutenant-Colonel Reynolds is the most senior officer in charge of the concert party and enjoys their shows immensely. He thinks army life in Asia is very hard, while all he does is sit around sipping pink gin and dining with the elite. He is having an affair with Daphne Waddilove-Evans, whose husband, Major Waddilove-Evans, has left for the Punjab. He is a stereotypical British Army officer, with a "stiff upper lip" and prim and proper manner. Captain Ashwood's utter stupidity does occasionally infuriate him, but he is effectively good-natured and tries at all costs to avoid losing the easy life he has. Reynolds is revealed to be a solicitor in civilian life. Captain Jonathan Tarquin "Tippy" Ashwood (Michael Knowles) Captain Ashwood is an even bigger fan of the concert party than Colonel Reynolds, especially when they dress up as girls. He is not very bright, and often unknowingly ruins other people's plans, especially the Sergeant Major's. His catchphrase is "It's a tricky one, sir", which he says in reply to Colonel Reynolds asking for his opinion when the concert party runs into a particular problem. He occasionally writes skits for the concert party, which they reluctantly accept, although they are, on the whole, of very low quality. He has absolutely no military bearing, which makes it very easy for the Sergeant Major and the others to manipulate him into using his authority to achieve their own ends. He is known for his stupidity, high-pitched voice, and love of gardening. He is exceptionally devoted to his wife, Fiona, though he does at one point have a fling with a local girl.
Warrant officer Battery Sergeant Major Tudor Bryn "Shut Up" Williams (Windsor Davies) The Welsh Sergeant Major is the only professional soldier among the concert party and its officers. He is extremely bigoted in his views, making every effort to bully the Indian camp staff and remind everyone of British supremacy in Asia. He has only one goal in life: to get his soldiers posted up the jungle and into action as fast as he can. Williams has a cunning and fierce pirate-like look. He is disgusted that his soldiers "prance about" on the stage wearing dresses and make-up all the time, and frequently calls them a "lot of poofs". He is sometimes portrayed as a stereotypical "devious" Welshman, using cunning schemes to turn events in his favour. He dislikes all members of the concert party, apart from Parkin, whom he believes to be his son. He has a particular loathing for "Lah-Di-Dah" Gunner Graham, owing to Graham's university education, although Williams will praise him for it if it serves his purposes. Williams often mispronounces long words, turning "hysterical" into "historical" or "hysterectical", "sadistic" into "statistics", "misapprehension" into "mishappropriation", "education" into "heducation" and "ignorant" into "higorant". Williams also has a tendency to roar "Shut up!" when he hears something that meets his disapproval, hence his nickname, and is also remembered for his sarcastic remark, "Oh dear, how sad, never mind" invariably delivered in a flat monotone. He plans, when at some future time he should leave the army, to marry a widow who owns a pub.
(In one episode, a letter addressed to Gunner Parkin and intended to be opened only in the event of the Sergeant Major's death falls into the hands of the Concert Party, who read that he is only being hard on the men in order to turn them into soldiers, and he actually thinks that "they are all grand lads, especially little Lofty".)
There is inconsistency over Williams's full name. In the Series 3 episode "Don't Take the Micky", Williams's thoughts are broadcast and he uses the name Tudor Bryn Williams to refer to himself, but in the final episode he reads out the name on his newly issued ration book as "B.L. Williams".
Concert party Bombardier "Solly" Solomons (George Layton) "Solly" is a showbiz man who always plays the male leads in the concert party's shows and is also the party's producer. He is very intelligent, and often has some sort of devious plot to avoid being posted or to get one over on the Sergeant Major. His father was a pawnbroker in Bond Street, and he is Jewish. He leaves at the end of Series 2 when he is demobbed and returns to England. Gunner/Bombardier "Gloria" Beaumont (Melvyn Hayes) "Gloria" Beaumont is a very effeminate person who cannot handle the violence, heat and mosquitoes of army life in India very well. He considers himself an "artiste", and does not believe he should be in the Army, often trying to emphasise his show business angle and ignore the "soldier" parts of his job. He has a passion for show business and always dresses up as famous film stars during the concert party shows, especially Ginger Rogers. He was later promoted to Bombardier when Bombardier Solomons was demobbed. Despite Beaumont's effeminacy, he meets a nurse in the episode "Ticket to Blighty" and they announce they are to be wed. However, no more is heard of this plot line. Gunner Nigel "Parky" Parkin (Christopher Mitchell) "Parky" is the youngest member of the concert party and has tried everything to become part of them, including being a ventriloquist, comedian, and singer, although he is very clumsy and never does anything right. The Sergeant Major falsely believes that Parkin is his son (Williams had a relationship with Parkin's mother Edith in Colchester, which is why he treats him much better than he treats the others, and keeps telling him he has "a fine pair of shoulders"). He is not Williams' son, but when the rest of the concert party discover what the Sgt Major believes, Parkin is welcomed into the party, for the Sgt Major would want to stop it being sent into battle as long as Parkin is a member. In an early episode, the party get hold of Williams' and Parkin's medical records; they discover that Parkin's blood group O and Williams' is AB, so Parkin cannot be his son, but they alter the record of Parkin's blood group so that Williams will still believe he is his son. Consequently, Williams becomes very selective about Parkin's achievement – praising him when he does something right and ignoring the failure when he makes huge blunders. Lacking any talent as a putative entertainer in the concert party Parkin is appointed as the Battery Clerk, but misunderstands orders. Sergeant-Major Williams instructs him to "remove the mess by the Officers' lines", referring to a pile of old beds that were to be discarded. Instead, Parkin proceeds to have the Officer's Mess demolished. Later, Colonel Reynolds tells him to order 200 tent pegs, and he instead orders 200 tents.