It Ain't Half Hot Mum
MAIN CAST
Michael Bates......Rangi Ram, The Bearer (Series 1 - 5)
Windsor Davies.....Sergeant-Major Williams
Melvyn Hayes......Gunner "Gloria" Beaumont
Don Estelle.....Gunner "Lofty" Sugden
Donald Hewlett......Colonel Reynolds
Michael Knowles......Captain Ashwood
Christopher Mitchell.....Gunner Parkin
George Layton.....Bombardier Solomon (Series 1 & 2)
John Clegg.....Gunner Graham
Stuart McGugan.....Gunner Mackintosh
Dino Shafeek......Char Wallah
Babar Bhatti.....Punkah Wallah (Series 1 - 6)
Mike Kinsey.....Nosher
Kenneth MacDonald.....Gunner Clark
Series 1
Original Broadcast Date : 3/1 - 21/2/1974
Produced and Directed by David Croft
Episodes 4 and 6 of this series are "missing" in the BBC archives, but copies of these have been recorded from an Australian transmission. Unfortunately, these are not of broadcast quality, but fear not, they appear on the Series 1 DVD release to complete the series.
Episode 1 : "Meet The Gang"
The concert party are rehearsing for a show, but are having difficulty, due to the fact the Sergeant Major has put their pianist Gunner Graham on jankers, painting stones. Later, a new recruit enters the camp, a certain Gunner Parkin. The show they put on later is disrupted by a mob of natives, who are staging an anti-British demo right outside the camp. The Sergeant-Major is none too impressed and lets it be known, only to find himself covered in cow-dung!
Episode 2 : "My Lovely Boy"
Rangi, the Bearer notices that Gunner Parkin and the Sergeant Major both ahve a photograph of the same woman by their beds. It is Gunner Parkins mother and the Sergeant Majors one and only true love. Could they be father and son?
Episode 3 : "The Mutiny Of The Punkah Wallahs"
The Punkah Wallahs go on strike when it is discovered that they are to be replaced by electric fans. Workers at the telephone exchange also support the Punkah Wallahs, which means the camp is without power or telephones. Solly comes up with the idea of getting the Punkah Wallahs on a bike to power the electric fans and another Punkah Wallah to Punkah in the normal way to keep the cycling Punkah Wallah cool!
Episode 4 : "A Star Is Born"
The men are fed up with Gunner Parkins, as he keeps messing up their act due to sheer lack of talent and try to get him sent up the jungle. The Sergeant Major hears about this from Rangi, and devises a plan to keep him with the Concert Party.
Episode 5 : "The Jungle Patrol"
The Sgt Major gets the go-ahead to take the Concert Party on a 3 day jungle survival course. The Sgt tells the men that they will be living off the land and it will be very hard work. Little does he know that Solly has arranged for Rangi and the Char Wallah to follow them with drinks of tea and egg & chips for the men. How will the Sgt hold out?
Episode 6 : "It's A Wise Child"
Parky finds out that the Sgt may be his father. The rest of the Concert Party are very sympathetic to him, in case it is true. The Sgt also wants to find out if it is true or not, and takes any means to find out, even if it means dressing as a native. Will the real truth be revealed or not?
Episode 7 : "The Road To Bannu"
The Concert Party are travelling by train to Bannu to put on a show. During the last leg of the journey they travel by truck which breaks down. They find themselves surrounded by angry tribesmen. They perform their way ot of the situation by Solly being Bing Crosby and Gunner Beaumont being Dorothy Lamoure. The tribesmen think they are the real thing and give a saddlebag as a gift. Just one snag, the head tribesmen want Dorothy Lamoure in return!
Episode 8 : "The Inspector Calls"
The Sgt Major wants the Concert Party to act like real soldiers so he makes them stand out in the hot sun, and Lofty pretends to faint, so they can go in. The Colonel points out that they can't be real soldiers because they don't all have the same uniform. The Sgt Major quite rightly thinks that they will only all have the same uniform if he cons them into performing a military number. They do, but they have the last laugh.
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