It Ain't Half Hot Mum
| It Ain't Half Hot Mum | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Created by | Jimmy Perry & David Croft |
| Written by | Jimmy Perry & David Croft |
| Directed by | David Croft Graeme Muir Bob Spiers Ray Butt Paul Bishop John Kilby |
| Starring |
Michael Bates Windsor Davies Melvyn Hayes George Layton Don Estelle Donald Hewlett Michael Knowles Christopher Mitchell John Clegg Stuart McGugan Kenneth MacDonald Mike Kinsey Dino Shafeek Babar Bhatti |
| Opening theme | Meet the Gang |
| Ending theme | "Land of Hope and Glory" |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of series | 8 |
| No. of episodes | 56 (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Producer(s) | David Croft Graeme Muir |
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Release | |
| Original network | BBC1 |
| Original release | 3 January 1974 – 3 September 1981 |
It Ain't Half Hot Mum is a BBC television sitcom, about the adventures of a Royal Artillery Concert Party, broadcast on the BBC between 1974 and 1981, and written by Jimmy Perry and David Croft. It was set in India and Burma, during the last months of the Second World War, starting just prior to V-E Day in 1945 (the German surrender is announced in an early episode).
It Ain't Half Hot Mum was the second of the three sitcom series co-written by David Croft set in the Second World War, the first being Dad's Army (1968–1977) (with Jimmy Perry) and the third being 'Allo, 'Allo! (1982–1992) (with Jeremy Lloyd).
Set during the Second World War (in the period just after the German surrender when the Allies were trying to finish the war by defeating Japan in Asia), the show focuses on a group of British soldiers stationed at the Royal Artillery Depot in Deolali, India, where soldiers were kept before being sent to fight at the front lines. The main characters are performers in the base's Concert Party, which involved putting on comic acts and musical performances (similar to those seen in a music hall) for the other soldiers prior to their departure for the front lines. The soldiers in the Concert Party all love this particular job, as it keeps them out of combat duty, but some do harbour dreams of becoming world-famous actors when they leave the army.
The main characters include Gunner "Lofty" Sugden, a short, fat soldier who wears a pith helmet and possesses an incredible singing voice; Gunner "Parky" Parkin, a young recruit who, though eager, is slightly bumbling and has very little aptitude for the theatre; Gunner "La-de-dah"/"Paderewski" Graham, a bald-headed and intelligent Oxford graduate who plays the piano; Gunner "Atlas" Mackintosh, a short-tempered Scotsman who specialises in feats of strength; Gunner "Nobby" Clark, a not-very-bright soldier who does bird calls and whistling acts; and Gunner "Nosher" Evans, a soldier who does a paper-tearing act and tends to eat a lot, spraying food whenever he speaks. Rounding out the enlisted crew are Bombardier "Solly" Solomons, a soldier from London, who is a former theatrical agent, a Jew; and Gunner "Gloria" Beaumont, an effeminate, cowardly soldier who specialises in performing female roles in drag (as there are no women assigned to the Concert Party). Beaumont is later promoted to Bombardier after Solly is demobbed and sent back to Britain.
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