I’m Anglo-Indian. Five generations from both sides of my family were born and lived in India, aside from the Indians with whom they had children. The last to leave India moved to England in the ‘60s. They left behind everything and everyone aside from one wooden cabin trunk each for the voyage from Mumbai to Southampton. None of them had ever set foot in England and on arrival were confronted with derision and racism, even though they were British citizens. All they owned, from generations of history was what they could fit in their cabin trunk. Those who were left behind were the Coolies, Ayas, Malis, Cooks…. Nannies, gardeners, general housekeepers. Their children were always clothed in tailored attire and always received birthday and christmas presents, the same as my family were given. They were loved and well cared for. My family worked on and in jungle railway colonies, ensuring the infrastructure was built and run efficiently. They were working class and naturalised, not Raj who were mainly from England and on temporary assignments. When this tv series was originally aired, my parents were always in hysterics and said how accurately portrayed the characters were. Never mocking but enjoying the relative accuracy. Just though i’d share that.
Thank you for the personal anecdote and the insight. I have no doubt there are many others who have a similar story because of how long Britain was in India. I have no issues. I think many of today's generation don't know proper history, causation or correlations and would therefore go into meltdown hysterics of portrayals in this show because they, well they're mostly intelligent in their own minds and would be offended for the sake of it with this show. Which is a pity because 2 episodes in and Im in love with this show and even more so after reading comments like yours. So thank you for the personal story, it's ones like yours that truly make me love doing this.
@@TheEclecticBeard it’s also important to recognise that Britain in the ‘60s was (and continued to be) an inherently racist country, so shows like this ‘Mind Your Language’, ‘Love Thy Neighbour’, ‘Steptoe and Son’, ‘Rising Damp’ (please watch them too if you can) and many others were viewed as entertainment, as if those arriving in post-war Britain were all uneducated ‘Coolies’; a Coolie was a low caste able-bodied man who was used for general and menial labour duties, similar to the ‘Punkah Wallah’. A ‘Punkah’ is the name given to your big toe, to which a string was tied and during hot weather, a Punkah Wallah would be hired to pull the string to which the other end was attached a rattan bamboo ceiling fan. So racists in Britain saw dark skinned people from ex colonies as subservient and uneducated idiots. For them, such tv shows reinforced these stereotypes. Nothing could be further from the truth! Currently Britain is deporting descendants of Windrush Island migrants whose parents were invited to live in Britain in the ‘60s. Racism is a very real thing in Britain and as you have correctly analysed, a matter of ignorance, fear and inherited anger. So these shows were a double edged sword for many people, though we still watch them with fond memories and hilarious laughter, as do you. I’m very glad to be able to share this with you and hope this adds perspective to the genius humour of It Ain’t Half Hot Mum.
If you read his initial comment he's viewing it through personal perspective and family perspective that he has first hand experience on. He's not poo pooing it but actually praised it. Funny, I tell folks to be good to each other and to love themselves. You clearly didn't read the mans comments fully to have made such a comment. Just because you view things differently or haven't experience what he has seen with his and through his families eyes, you make a derogatory comment. I don't understand folks not being allowed to have an opinion or to share their experience without someone deriding them because they don't see it the same way.
As a British born Pakistani who grew up in the UK, our family watched this show on Thursday nights. We all loved it. It's too bad the BBC has changed their tune on great programming that brought people together, as humor usually does.
My grandad would have been stationed in Assam then with the RAF supporting the Chindits in Burma -1943-45 . He mentions the occassional concert in the jungle. Still with us at 103 years old
It's genuinely underrated, this show. In the UK in the 1950's you would go to jail for being gay. These concert parties let a lot of men express themselves in ways they could never do at home. Having children outside of marriage was also socially unacceptable. Then you have the indians who fight with the British and think they will be accepted as British after the war. You have a long way to go but the last few episodes of the final series are astonishing.
At 3.27 the soldier says the sergeant major has the 'doolally tap'. This is an army expression for being mad. The full saying is 'he has been drinking from the doolally tap'. Doelali was an army base in India, and it was said that the local water supply, the water coming from the tap, was contaminated and sent men mad if they drank it. It was possibly malaria. This is still used today and is shortened to 'he is doolally'.
enjoying watching your reactions to our older shows, for me it's like stepping back in time to my childhood, simpler yet more pleasant times, thumbs up EB
A lot of the shows were repeated in the 90s so I was brought up with all the classics. Some shows like IAHHM however didn't get reruns because of society changing and finding some of the shows not PC. We Brits have sooo many though, aiming to get every single British sitcom on DVD / Bluray and backed up on a hard drive.
In the summer of '76, I was a young airman based at Leeming in Yorkshire. We were having a royal visit, and because the grass had been burned in the sun I had to go out and paint the grass around the landing lights green. I got such funny looks from the pilots as they taxied out and took off.
The Seargant, Windsor Davies, and Lofty played by Don Estelle both had excellent voices, and actually got in the charts over here in the UK with a song called Whispering Grass💙✊
Dino Shafeek RIP who played Chai Wallah Muhammad sang 'Land Of Hope And Glory' at the end of the credits. He played the English language student Ali Nadim in Mind Your Language.
Fun fact - The WW2 Prison Camp “Stalag Luft III” (famous for the Great Escape) had a theatre run by British POW’s. The shows were so good that high ranking German officials would travel from afar to see the shows. There was a few in there who went on to have showbiz careers, such as Peter Butterworth (comedy actor) and theatre director Talbot Rothwell who went to to write most of the “Carry on” films. The camp theatre had terraced seating, and they stashed earth from the escape tunnels under the seating, which made the room stink of soil and sand. So all POW’s in the audience were ordered to smoke pipes during the shows, to hide the smell of the soil from the Germans/Goons.
You should take a look at the song the Sergeant Major (Windsor Davies) did with Lofty Sugden (Don Estelle) - ''Whispering Grass.'' Don has a really good singing voice. :-)
I would recommend series 2, episode 14, "Forbidden Fruits", when the camp runs out of "the stuff they put in the tea" to suppress one's natural urges, and everyone gets rather "hot and bothered". It is a real classic.
When I was 18 I was in lodgings (in the UK) in a place called Farnham Common, Buckinghamshire. One sunday my Landlady said she had to and cook lunch for Melvin Hayes and his family, who lived locally. I knew who he was from the film Summer Holiday with Cliff Richard. When he arrived to collect her, he had the youngest of 5 children with him. He really is a good actor in this show and you wouldn't believe he wasn't gay.
Wasn't all comedy about taking the piss out of everyone, no prisoners before PC became a thing brought about by the likes of Ben Elton et al? #ChubbyDidNuffinWrong
@@thephantomraspberryblower2675 pretty much, yes. All good jokes are at somebody's expense whether it's the subject of the joke, the person hearing the joke or the person telling the joke, difference these days is people don't like the joke being on them so they have to make out that every joke at someone's expense is offensive. 🤷
@@thephantomraspberryblower2675 I was having this conversation with the wife the other day funnily enough, and we came to the opinion that it was when kids stopped playing out and walking to school
@@TheMadTatter When I was old enough and passed the cycling proffisioncy test I cycled to school. And there was me thinking it was participation trophies for sports day. The Blair years basically.
I just want to say mate I love your reactions, I'm twenty three years old and I'm classical liberal. I love this show, my dad showed me It Ain't Half Hot Mum last year and I bought the entire box set. Again thank you.
The casting of this show was genius. They were a great team all round. Michael Bates was born in India, and spoke fluent Hindi. Some of the actual ethnic Indians were born in UK, and had never been to India, but the bbc refuse to repeat this series because they say Michael was culturally not entitled to play the part of an Indian. The bbc is "woke".
I played Sitar on the final series in 1982 I think it was. This series is now seen as politically incorrect!! Same producr as of 'Dad's Army' and that was really funny also.
Back even before Shakespeare's time only men were allowed to be actors so if a female part was required then the men would dress as women. Goes right back to ancient Greece and Roman times. Nothing whatsoever to do with their personal preferences. A woman on the stage was quite shocking!
Brilliant. Glad you enjoy this, I loved it as a kid, I loved the opening and end songs, watching in my dressing gown. Old school programmes you may like "Shelley" "Citizen Smith", "The New Statesman" "The Goodies" all comedies. Famously, a guy died laughing so much at "The Goodies" when originally aired. "The Sandbaggers" "Callan" and the excellent BBC adaptation of "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy" and it's sequel "Smiley's People" all very high quality espionage dramas. Callan stars Edward Woodward from "The Equalizer" if you liked that, he plays a reluctant but highly proficient government killer.
The head bearer- Randy Ram- was played by a white actor. Michael Bates was born in India. He also elected to serve there during WWII. When he talks with the Chawalla Mohammed and the Punkawalla Ramzin, he is speaking genuine Hindi. Randy is a Sikh. It's generally taken that the Sikhs sold their souls to the British to advance themselves at the expense of other Indians- "these damn natives".. Randy is an example of this. He is also a conniving, money-grubbing chap who seeks only to advance his own fortune- also seen as a typically "Indian" trait. Every character in that show, from Colonel Reynolds on down to the Indians, is a stereotype. BSM Williams ("SHUT UP!") is the only real soldier; the rest of the British are volunteers that have been put into this ragtag bunch as they are unfit for regular soldiering. This gets borne out as the series progresses.
My father was a sergeant in the Australian army, and my sister and mother remember how the soldiers would have to white-wash the rocks everyday (this was in the 1960's)
The story and character development of this show was excellent, it drew on real life experience from the war years. It is well worth watching this show all the way to the very end. You will be delighted and moved by the finale.
Michael Bates, was born in India to British parents, but he could speak fluent Urdu and Hindi as these were his 1st languages before he came to the UK, many take offence to his character now as a "black face" which it is, though he was more authentic than Spike Milligan in Curry and Chips, at least he knew and understood the culture, as it was where he was born and grew up.
The generation that made this comedy (1970s) were also highlighting what was wrong with Empire. Our countries had just defeated the Nazis for doing that. But this was pure comedy. I notice that 95% of characters in it are idiots in some way, irrespective of race etc. Well loved at the time by many in the UK, and still is.
It's a pretty unique series, in that the entire eight year run takes place in the few months in 1945, from just prior to Germany's surrender to (spoiler alert) the few days following Japan's.
When I got 7 days in the glasshouse ( I won't say for what reason) we had to paint stones and brickwork white one day, yellow the next and so on for a week.
Don Estelle (Lofty) sang a wonderful version of the Ink Spot's "Whispering Grass" with a bit of tenor assistance from Windsor Davies. I sang it to my kids when they were growing up
In the 1970s, during the Cold war I was in the Royal Artillery stationed in Germany. One day I was on BSM's fatigues and by 2:30 I had finished all my allotted tasks, so I went to the BSM thinking he would let me have the rest of the day off. He told me to water the plants in the garden outside of the block. It was pissing down with rain, but he wouldn't have it. I took a fire bucket, stood on the step and threw out the water. I returned to his office and told him that I had finished. "Are you sure?" he said. "Yes Sir, just look out the window and see that I have done such a good job." He looked out, saw the rain for the first time, grunted and dismissed me from duties. You have to see series 2 episode 1, it's a killer.
Why did the BBC never re-broadcast this show? It tells me what attitudes were acceptable in the 1970s and from that if you amplify it a bit what sort of attitudes existed in the 1940s. Not re-broadcasting it is like trying to erase the past. If ever the situation is one where the BBC refuses to re-broadcast material that is sexist, there will be nothing that can be shown that was made before the year 2000...... so they'd best learn to come to terms with it all now....
About 20 years ago I had the pleasure of serving Melvyn Hayes (Gloria) while he shopped in the B&Q where I worked in North London. He was a lovely man, very quite and pleasant to talk to 😊
it is good to see an American making a comment about British comedy, how they see it, how would Americans look at Pantomine,but many many years ago had their own comedy shows like the old time music hall acts , where did The Marx Brothers start W C fields Vaudeville acts
As some have said and having watched this when it first came out. It was a clever reflection on what happened and attitudes back then. Sgt Shutup was very much like the drill Sgts I had when I did my 10 years in the RAF from 70 to 80. There were still many serving men who told me tales that fitted in with this series and the characters. Two points though. 1, watch a few more episodes then watch the last. You will feel intense emotion. 2, Many Indian, African and other countries think nothing of us blacking up for some parts because they also think nothing of someone whiting up for their own shows. Its just theatrical, that's alll it ever was. Keep on with that laugh, it makes my day. Peace Boss
I grew up on stories of pre-war India, as my (English) mother was born there and lived there for twenty years, her parents being part of the Raj. Whoever wrote this show seems to have known the the place and times very well indeed
You have to understand that whilst the US were fighting their way through the Pacific against the Japanese, British and commwealth forces were fighting in a titanic struggle against the Japanese in Burma and Mayala. These men, theatrical artists were put into the armed forces and tasked with moral boosting shows not far from the fighting. The bombastic Sargent major in this comedy was a professional soldier with years of service in the British Army is now placed in charge of the members of the Royal Artillery Concert party.
Windsor Davies was a legend! interesting to see an American take on a comedy that was uniquely British and made only thirty years after the war when a lot of old soldiers who fought in the far east could relate to it. I hate this judging of television through a 21st century lens about it being not politically correct etc. It is nearly 50 years old
Not sure if this has already been mentioned, as there are a lot of comments. Jimmy Perry and David Croft who wrote this, had both served in India during the war, one in a similar role to the concert party and the other an entertainments officer, so this was exactly how it was at the time. Even Michael Bates who played the bearer was actually born in India and could speak Urdu. It never gets shown on normal terrestrial TV on the UK anymore, labeled as racist and homophobic, but has appeared on TV gold. This is despite it getting huge audiences at the time and running for 8 seasons. You have to view it as of its time.....and it was funny and had good characters.
I received that ventriloquist dummy for Christmas one year, sadly a career in ventriloquism never surfaced, yet another great reaction bringing back more childhood memories back.🐻
These entertainers were men who were sent all over the world, were part of the Entertainment National Service Association or ENSA. Of course the average british soldier just couldn't resist thinking up an alternative meaning for the acronym ENSA, they swore it stood for Every Night Something Awful. 😂
Just remembered that my twins were at Nursery school with the daughter of Melvin Hayes about twenty years ago now He is in the concert party playing Ginger Rogers.
Michael Bates went into Last of the Summer Wine another gentle series that went on for years the sergeant Mayor Windsor Davis made sure his son never left the camp brilliant
EB However unPc this seems to be these days, it was absolutely hilarious tv back in the day! The quality of the acting and performances is superb! SO glad you realise that this series is gonna take you a bit further . . . .
These were really funny shows. The chap with the S belt on his turban was in Last of The Summer Wine. Another funny show about older people getting into funny scrapes. My brothers used to wear S belts on their shorts.
These programmes displayed stereotypes in order to challenge stereotypes, everyone was a ridiculous idea of a 'type', at the base of it was the idea of responsibility, how real life rubs up against ideals so its intent was wholesome, very clever and very indicative to how shy society has become of stating beneficial hard ttruth at the risk of offending
So pleased you’re reacting to this. Obviously slightly problematic these days - and I get it - however there’s a wealth of pluses to outweigh the sensitive aspects, and as you say, it’s of its time. It’s been held in slightly low regard for years, not repeated since the early/mid 80s (I’m guessing), so it’s great to watch these with you. Windsor Davies was a fabulously funny, brilliant actor, a great sport in real life at the height of this show’s popularity, always happy to give the public what they wanted. Digging back in time shows how good he was in serious roles in TV shows from the 60s, as well as his handful of memorable contributions to the Carry On films. Looking forward to more of these!
Of course it happened, only a few months ago I saw a photo of a anti aircraft gun crew, they were rehearsing a play when the air raid sirens went. The pic shows a guy in a dress loading the gun.
just did a google search and found them 🤣. It seems the photos were banned from being released at the time as it didn't give the right image of British soldiers.
the Sgt Major, Windsor Davies, went on to make loads of training videos for the Real British army. I knew a few sgt majors like him during my time in the army.
This show gets a lot of criticism mostly from people passing off second hand opinions from people who have never seen it or don't understand it. It is a show based on real people, actual events and real life experiences of the writers. It's also a pretty ruthless satire that takes down the absurdity of the British in India. Two episodes in and it's literally about how the British loved to "whitewash" everything about their empire... in every sense!
oh mate, I haven't seen this for years lol. watched them all when it came out. love your reactions. I'm going to start watching them all again if I can find them to download. You must watch Dad's Army. As Coldstream Guards veteran it just cracks me up
For people commenting on the DVD release of this series. There are edits but they are music edits and non BBC material which could not be cleared. That's common in a lot of shows. Master copies of the fourth and sixth episodes of series one ('A Star is Born' and 'It's a Wise Child') were lost after first broadcast, and have not been recovered. VHS copies recorded at home by a viewer in Australia were found in 1988. They are not of broadcast quality. Music clearance is the most common issue for a lot of DVD's. For Example the American show Werewolf from 1988 will never get a release because of serious music issues. Likewise the recent Charmed blu-ray has music problems. Ironically enough for fans of BBC TV comedy classics America is usually the place to purchase uncut copies on home video. So for example "Are You Being Served" is uncut in the American market but cut in the UK market.
He was model for every Sgt Major I ever served under lol. 😂😂
I’m Anglo-Indian. Five generations from both sides of my family were born and lived in India, aside from the Indians with whom they had children. The last to leave India moved to England in the ‘60s. They left behind everything and everyone aside from one wooden cabin trunk each for the voyage from Mumbai to Southampton. None of them had ever set foot in England and on arrival were confronted with derision and racism, even though they were British citizens. All they owned, from generations of history was what they could fit in their cabin trunk.
Those who were left behind were the Coolies, Ayas, Malis, Cooks…. Nannies, gardeners, general housekeepers. Their children were always clothed in tailored attire and always received birthday and christmas presents, the same as my family were given. They were loved and well cared for.
My family worked on and in jungle railway colonies, ensuring the infrastructure was built and run efficiently. They were working class and naturalised, not Raj who were mainly from England and on temporary assignments.
When this tv series was originally aired, my parents were always in hysterics and said how accurately portrayed the characters were. Never mocking but enjoying the relative accuracy.
Just though i’d share that.
Thank you for the personal anecdote and the insight. I have no doubt there are many others who have a similar story because of how long Britain was in India. I have no issues. I think many of today's generation don't know proper history, causation or correlations and would therefore go into meltdown hysterics of portrayals in this show because they, well they're mostly intelligent in their own minds and would be offended for the sake of it with this show. Which is a pity because 2 episodes in and Im in love with this show and even more so after reading comments like yours. So thank you for the personal story, it's ones like yours that truly make me love doing this.
@@TheEclecticBeard it’s also important to recognise that Britain in the ‘60s was (and continued to be) an inherently racist country, so shows like this ‘Mind Your Language’, ‘Love Thy Neighbour’, ‘Steptoe and Son’, ‘Rising Damp’ (please watch them too if you can) and many others were viewed as entertainment, as if those arriving in post-war Britain were all uneducated ‘Coolies’; a Coolie was a low caste able-bodied man who was used for general and menial labour duties, similar to the ‘Punkah Wallah’. A ‘Punkah’ is the name given to your big toe, to which a string was tied and during hot weather, a Punkah Wallah would be hired to pull the string to which the other end was attached a rattan bamboo ceiling fan.
So racists in Britain saw dark skinned people from ex colonies as subservient and uneducated idiots. For them, such tv shows reinforced these stereotypes. Nothing could be further from the truth!
Currently Britain is deporting descendants of Windrush Island migrants whose parents were invited to live in Britain in the ‘60s. Racism is a very real thing in Britain and as you have correctly analysed, a matter of ignorance, fear and inherited anger. So these shows were a double edged sword for many people, though we still watch them with fond memories and hilarious laughter, as do you.
I’m very glad to be able to share this with you and hope this adds perspective to the genius humour of It Ain’t Half Hot Mum.
@@terencestrugnell4928 Why is he a muppet?
@@terencestrugnell4928 Did you even read his post?
Or did you somehow get completely confused about his point?
If you read his initial comment he's viewing it through personal perspective and family perspective that he has first hand experience on. He's not poo pooing it but actually praised it. Funny, I tell folks to be good to each other and to love themselves. You clearly didn't read the mans comments fully to have made such a comment. Just because you view things differently or haven't experience what he has seen with his and through his families eyes, you make a derogatory comment. I don't understand folks not being allowed to have an opinion or to share their experience without someone deriding them because they don't see it the same way.
As a British born Pakistani who grew up in the UK, our family watched this show on Thursday nights. We all loved it. It's too bad the BBC has changed their tune on great programming that brought people together, as humor usually does.
My grandad would have been stationed in Assam then with the RAF supporting the Chindits in Burma -1943-45 . He mentions the occassional concert in the jungle. Still with us at 103 years old
It's genuinely underrated, this show. In the UK in the 1950's you would go to jail for being gay. These concert parties let a lot of men express themselves in ways they could never do at home. Having children outside of marriage was also socially unacceptable. Then you have the indians who fight with the British and think they will be accepted as British after the war. You have a long way to go but the last few episodes of the final series are astonishing.
try upto the 70s you woulda been jailed in UK for being Gay
At 3.27 the soldier says the sergeant major has the 'doolally tap'. This is an army expression for being mad. The full saying is 'he has been drinking from the doolally tap'. Doelali was an army base in India, and it was said that the local water supply, the water coming from the tap, was contaminated and sent men mad if they drank it. It was possibly malaria. This is still used today and is shortened to 'he is doolally'.
Michael Bates was so brilliant in this role! The british school boy belt on his turban was a brilliant costume master stroke!,
A snake belt! I used to have on as a child.
@@tomhaskett5161 still got one on my masonic apron!!
enjoying watching your reactions to our older shows, for me it's like stepping back in time to my childhood, simpler yet more pleasant times, thumbs up EB
How old are you? Jesus that's a long time ago to be a kid when this was out
A lot of the shows were repeated in the 90s so I was brought up with all the classics. Some shows like IAHHM however didn't get reruns because of society changing and finding some of the shows not PC. We Brits have sooo many though, aiming to get every single British sitcom on DVD / Bluray and backed up on a hard drive.
I was a kid I'm 44
@@jackmehoffe9372 I'm a 60's child so yes I'm a bit of a fossil
@@beakybuzzard lucky you beaky
In the summer of '76, I was a young airman based at Leeming in Yorkshire. We were having a royal visit, and because the grass had been burned in the sun I had to go out and paint the grass around the landing lights green. I got such funny looks from the pilots as they taxied out and took off.
Man, when Michael Bates said "may my chapati's turn to dust' I just totally lost it.
Brilliant comedy.
The Seargant, Windsor Davies, and Lofty played by Don Estelle both had excellent voices, and actually got in the charts over here in the UK with a song called Whispering Grass💙✊
Dino Shafeek RIP who played Chai Wallah Muhammad sang 'Land Of Hope And Glory' at the end of the credits. He played the English language student Ali Nadim in Mind Your Language.
Fun fact - The WW2 Prison Camp “Stalag Luft III” (famous for the Great Escape) had a theatre run by British POW’s. The shows were so good that high ranking German officials would travel from afar to see the shows.
There was a few in there who went on to have showbiz careers, such as Peter Butterworth (comedy actor) and theatre director Talbot Rothwell who went to to write most of the “Carry on” films.
The camp theatre had terraced seating, and they stashed earth from the escape tunnels under the seating, which made the room stink of soil and sand. So all POW’s in the audience were ordered to smoke pipes during the shows, to hide the smell of the soil from the Germans/Goons.
Alun Turing is a prime example of how we treated men 'who weren't like other men'.
I keep saying this. Also the people who were "rescued" from concentration camps put back in because of their Orientation
You should take a look at the song the Sergeant Major (Windsor Davies) did with Lofty Sugden (Don Estelle) - ''Whispering Grass.'' Don has a really good singing voice. :-)
TBF Davies weren't bad either. Welsh blood and Whatnot
@@thephantomraspberryblower2675 True. He just wasn't shown at his best on this one.
I would recommend series 2, episode 14, "Forbidden Fruits", when the camp runs out of "the stuff they put in the tea" to suppress one's natural urges, and everyone gets rather "hot and bothered". It is a real classic.
I find it fantastic that you laugh so heartily at our humour. There's a great connection there.
When I was 18 I was in lodgings (in the UK) in a place called Farnham Common, Buckinghamshire. One sunday my Landlady said she had to and cook lunch for Melvin Hayes and his family, who lived locally. I knew who he was from the film Summer Holiday with Cliff Richard. When he arrived to collect her, he had the youngest of 5 children with him. He really is a good actor in this show and you wouldn't believe he wasn't gay.
The snake belt around the top Indians turban always cracks me up! I had one just like it as a kid in the 70s. Not worn around my head though! 😂🥴👀
Me too 😂
Ditto!!
Another classic from the Dads Army writers. Somewhat over shadowed by changing attitudes yet still cleverly done poking fun in all directions.
Wasn't all comedy about taking the piss out of everyone, no prisoners before PC became a thing brought about by the likes of Ben Elton et al?
#ChubbyDidNuffinWrong
@@thephantomraspberryblower2675 pretty much, yes. All good jokes are at somebody's expense whether it's the subject of the joke, the person hearing the joke or the person telling the joke, difference these days is people don't like the joke being on them so they have to make out that every joke at someone's expense is offensive. 🤷
@@TheMadTatter When did the youngsters become such wimps?
@@thephantomraspberryblower2675 I was having this conversation with the wife the other day funnily enough, and we came to the opinion that it was when kids stopped playing out and walking to school
@@TheMadTatter When I was old enough and passed the cycling proffisioncy test I cycled to school.
And there was me thinking it was participation trophies for sports day.
The Blair years basically.
I remember watching this show when it was first broadcast in the UK. It was a show we all sat and watched as a family. Great days.
This idea of his secret son being there runs through the whole series
I just want to say mate I love your reactions, I'm twenty three years old and I'm classical liberal. I love this show, my dad showed me It Ain't Half Hot Mum last year and I bought the entire box set. Again thank you.
This Englishman is getting addicted to your channel dude! Thank you for your posts. Rich.
The casting of this show was genius. They were a great team all round. Michael Bates was born in India, and spoke fluent Hindi. Some of the actual ethnic Indians were born in UK, and had never been to India, but the bbc refuse to repeat this series because they say Michael was culturally not entitled to play the part of an Indian. The bbc is "woke".
That is blatant racism from the BBC
The Sergeant Major met Edith in Colchester, that’s where I live and there’s still an Army base here today.
I played Sitar on the final series in 1982 I think it was. This series is now seen as politically incorrect!! Same producr as of 'Dad's Army' and that was really funny also.
Back even before Shakespeare's time only men were allowed to be actors so if a female part was required then the men would dress as women. Goes right back to ancient Greece and Roman times. Nothing whatsoever to do with their personal preferences. A woman on the stage was quite shocking!
Thus the term d.r.a.g. dressed as girl.
Nice historical call back. As you are very correct on that.
"Actress" used to be a synonym for prostitute, so makes sense men did played the part and spared the women's virtue
@@neilgayleard3842 DRAG - DRessed As Gril. DRAB - DRessed As Boy
Brilliant. Glad you enjoy this, I loved it as a kid, I loved the opening and end songs, watching in my dressing gown. Old school programmes you may like "Shelley" "Citizen Smith", "The New Statesman" "The Goodies" all comedies. Famously, a guy died laughing so much at "The Goodies" when originally aired. "The Sandbaggers" "Callan" and the excellent BBC adaptation of "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy" and it's sequel "Smiley's People" all very high quality espionage dramas. Callan stars Edward Woodward from "The Equalizer" if you liked that, he plays a reluctant but highly proficient government killer.
Kenneth MacDonald RIP who played Gunner Nobby Clark. He played Mike Fisher the barman of The Nag's Head in Only Fools And Horses.
My old man went to college with Windsor Davies. Rangi mentions Montgomery; Michael Bates played Montgomery in the film Patton!
The word 'Natives' is, as my old history teacher said, always used out of context by the people saying it. We are all 'Natives' of our own countries.
Aboriginal/ of this land.
In the same way as the original people of America are referred to as native americans.
CLASSIC !! Love it Ain't Half Hot Mum. I have the 8 series box set and watch them numerous times every year...
The head bearer- Randy Ram- was played by a white actor. Michael Bates was born in India. He also elected to serve there during WWII. When he talks with the Chawalla Mohammed and the Punkawalla Ramzin, he is speaking genuine Hindi.
Randy is a Sikh. It's generally taken that the Sikhs sold their souls to the British to advance themselves at the expense of other Indians- "these damn natives".. Randy is an example of this. He is also a conniving, money-grubbing chap who seeks only to advance his own fortune- also seen as a typically "Indian" trait.
Every character in that show, from Colonel Reynolds on down to the Indians, is a stereotype. BSM Williams ("SHUT UP!") is the only real soldier; the rest of the British are volunteers that have been put into this ragtag bunch as they are unfit for regular soldiering. This gets borne out as the series progresses.
My father was a sergeant in the Australian army, and my sister and mother remember how the soldiers would have to white-wash the rocks everyday (this was in the 1960's)
The story and character development of this show was excellent, it drew on real life experience from the war years. It is well worth watching this show all the way to the very end. You will be delighted and moved by the finale.
Michael Bates, was born in India to British parents, but he could speak fluent Urdu and Hindi as these were his 1st languages before he came to the UK, many take offence to his character now as a "black face" which it is, though he was more authentic than Spike Milligan in Curry and Chips, at least he knew and understood the culture, as it was where he was born and grew up.
The generation that made this comedy (1970s) were also highlighting what was wrong with Empire. Our countries had just defeated the Nazis for doing that. But this was pure comedy. I notice that 95% of characters in it are idiots in some way, irrespective of race etc. Well loved at the time by many in the UK, and still is.
I'd be interested in seeing your reaction to Allo Allo, another BBC wartime comedy.
he's already started watching it :)
Michael Bates….a fantastic actor. Incidentally, born and raised in India and fluent Gujerati speaker.
It's a pretty unique series, in that the entire eight year run takes place in the few months in 1945, from just prior to Germany's surrender to (spoiler alert) the few days following Japan's.
When I got 7 days in the glasshouse ( I won't say for what reason) we had to paint stones and brickwork white one day, yellow the next and so on for a week.
Don Estelle (Lofty) sang a wonderful version of the Ink Spot's "Whispering Grass" with a bit of tenor assistance from Windsor Davies.
I sang it to my kids when they were growing up
In the 1970s, during the Cold war I was in the Royal Artillery stationed in Germany. One day I was on BSM's fatigues and by 2:30 I had finished all my allotted tasks, so I went to the BSM thinking he would let me have the rest of the day off. He told me to water the plants in the garden outside of the block. It was pissing down with rain, but he wouldn't have it. I took a fire bucket, stood on the step and threw out the water. I returned to his office and told him that I had finished. "Are you sure?" he said. "Yes Sir, just look out the window and see that I have done such a good job." He looked out, saw the rain for the first time, grunted and dismissed me from duties.
You have to see series 2 episode 1, it's a killer.
Love his S belt on his turban! My brothers used to wear them for their shorts!
My my Alan you are tearing it up , 24/7 , great stuff brother.........your laugh just kills me every time
Enjoying this memory lane trip buddy, thank you.
I loved this show as a kid growing up in the 70s and 80s clasic old school British comedy
Why did the BBC never re-broadcast this show? It tells me what attitudes were acceptable in the 1970s and from that if you amplify it a bit what sort of attitudes existed in the 1940s. Not re-broadcasting it is like trying to erase the past. If ever the situation is one where the BBC refuses to re-broadcast material that is sexist, there will be nothing that can be shown that was made before the year 2000...... so they'd best learn to come to terms with it all now....
It's been re run on cable👍🏻
About 20 years ago I had the pleasure of serving Melvyn Hayes (Gloria) while he shopped in the B&Q where I worked in North London. He was a lovely man, very quite and pleasant to talk to 😊
Quiet
Opps my bad 😉😊🤣
Best Sgt Major impression ever . I've known a few !
it is good to see an American making a comment about British comedy, how they see it, how would Americans look at Pantomine,but many many years ago had their own comedy shows like the old time music hall acts , where did The Marx Brothers start W C fields Vaudeville acts
The was a TV show called The Good Old Days which I watched as a child with my nan. That was Old Time music and variety acts.
Windsor Davies was great rip :( love his little quips when he's around the officers
British Army mentality: If it moves salute it, if it doesn't paint it!!!
As some have said and having watched this when it first came out. It was a clever reflection on what happened and attitudes back then. Sgt Shutup was very much like the drill Sgts I had when I did my 10 years in the RAF from 70 to 80. There were still many serving men who told me tales that fitted in with this series and the characters. Two points though. 1, watch a few more episodes then watch the last. You will feel intense emotion. 2, Many Indian, African and other countries think nothing of us blacking up for some parts because they also think nothing of someone whiting up for their own shows. Its just theatrical, that's alll it ever was. Keep on with that laugh, it makes my day. Peace Boss
I grew up on stories of pre-war India, as my (English) mother was born there and lived there for twenty years, her parents being part of the Raj. Whoever wrote this show seems to have known the the place and times very well indeed
Nobody could play the part of the sgt majour better than Windsor Davis. No one.
My dad was sgt in British army in the 50’s , and that’s just wat he was like…. He was an excellent dad , funny as .
You have to understand that whilst the US were fighting their way through the Pacific against the Japanese, British and commwealth forces were fighting in a titanic struggle against the Japanese in Burma and Mayala.
These men,
theatrical artists were put into the armed forces and tasked with moral boosting shows not far from the fighting.
The bombastic Sargent major in this comedy was a professional soldier with years of service in the British Army is now placed in charge of the members of the Royal Artillery Concert party.
Dino Shafeek: Land of hope and glory, mother of the free...
Windsor Davies: SHUUT UUUPPPPP!!!
Spot on Eclectic, you are quick with your grasp of the show!
Windsor Davies was a legend! interesting to see an American take on a comedy that was uniquely British and made only thirty years after the war when a lot of old soldiers who fought in the far east could relate to it. I hate this judging of television through a 21st century lens about it being not politically correct etc. It is nearly 50 years old
Not sure if this has already been mentioned, as there are a lot of comments. Jimmy Perry and David Croft who wrote this, had both served in India during the war, one in a similar role to the concert party and the other an entertainments officer, so this was exactly how it was at the time. Even Michael Bates who played the bearer was actually born in India and could speak Urdu. It never gets shown on normal terrestrial TV on the UK anymore, labeled as racist and homophobic, but has appeared on TV gold. This is despite it getting huge audiences at the time and running for 8 seasons. You have to view it as of its time.....and it was funny and had good characters.
Mr. EB, so glad you're enjoying another great UK series. Happy Thanksgiving from San Francisco.
3:30 Mike the Barman in Only Fools and Horses.
The chap playing tea bearer was a white fella but was ironically Indian by birth
I received that ventriloquist dummy for Christmas one year, sadly a career in ventriloquism never surfaced, yet another great reaction bringing back more childhood memories back.🐻
These entertainers were men who were sent all over the world, were part of the Entertainment National Service Association or ENSA.
Of course the average british soldier just couldn't resist thinking up an alternative meaning for the acronym ENSA, they swore it stood for Every Night Something Awful. 😂
My mother in law was brought up in India whe she was younger. We had very good indian friends. They are very respectful people.😂
Anglo-Indian saw themselves as British and above the full blood natives, that is why he calls himself British and the full bloods natives,.
If it doesn't move whitewash it. If it does move salute it!
Just remembered that my twins were at Nursery school with the daughter of Melvin Hayes about twenty years ago now He is in the concert party playing Ginger Rogers.
The actor who played rangi ram was a British actor Micheal ates very funny portrayal xx
Even if you don't watch the whole series you need to watch the last episode it's so good
Michael Bates went into Last of the Summer Wine another gentle series that went on for years the sergeant Mayor Windsor Davis made sure his son never left the camp brilliant
Michael Bates played Field Marshal Montgomery in the movie "Patton".
It as brilliant comedy and the characters were great for the parts . Very good accent too .
EB However unPc this seems to be these days, it was absolutely hilarious tv back in the day! The quality of the acting and performances is superb! SO glad you realise that this series is gonna take you a bit further . . . .
It’s just brilliant acting, writing and whatever conjures up great comedy, I love all the accents, exaggerated they are not.
These were really funny shows. The chap with the S belt on his turban was in Last of The Summer Wine. Another funny show about older people getting into funny scrapes. My brothers used to wear S belts on their shorts.
These programmes displayed stereotypes in order to challenge stereotypes, everyone was a ridiculous idea of a 'type', at the base of it was the idea of responsibility, how real life rubs up against ideals so its intent was wholesome, very clever and very indicative to how shy society has become of stating beneficial hard ttruth at the risk of offending
So pleased you’re reacting to this. Obviously slightly problematic these days - and I get it - however there’s a wealth of pluses to outweigh the sensitive aspects, and as you say, it’s of its time. It’s been held in slightly low regard for years, not repeated since the early/mid 80s (I’m guessing), so it’s great to watch these with you. Windsor Davies was a fabulously funny, brilliant actor, a great sport in real life at the height of this show’s popularity, always happy to give the public what they wanted. Digging back in time shows how good he was in serious roles in TV shows from the 60s, as well as his handful of memorable contributions to the Carry On films. Looking forward to more of these!
Of course it happened, only a few months ago I saw a photo of a anti aircraft gun crew, they were rehearsing a play when the air raid sirens went. The pic shows a guy in a dress loading the gun.
just did a google search and found them 🤣. It seems the photos were banned from being released at the time as it didn't give the right image of British soldiers.
Like how the actor who played Ali in Mind your language was in this. 😀
The English expression you need to know explains some of the characters, depicted herein "I believe he bowls from the pavillion end".
E B. Lad enjoy watching you enjoying Brit giggles, I get as much from you as I remember the original shows, CHEERS.
the Sgt Major, Windsor Davies, went on to make loads of training videos for the Real British army. I knew a few sgt majors like him during my time in the army.
Me too. His portrayal is amazingly accurate. A proper stereotype.
Some are on YT. ruclips.net/video/Ad7rkB_GE6Y/видео.html
The funniest thing regarding the actors, the only straight white actor was the man playing Gloria 😅
This show gets a lot of criticism mostly from people passing off second hand opinions from people who have never seen it or don't understand it. It is a show based on real people, actual events and real life experiences of the writers. It's also a pretty ruthless satire that takes down the absurdity of the British in India. Two episodes in and it's literally about how the British loved to "whitewash" everything about their empire... in every sense!
As for the aforementioned Mrs Waddilove-Evans,we will meet her but not for a while yet...
Yes mate! Glad you're doing this
Deolali Tap was a real condition that became a synonym for going round the bend. 'Going Deolali' meant being sent crazy.
Ranjid Sam was played by Michael Bates, who was born in India, and could speak Guturati
Try Allo Allo.
oh mate, I haven't seen this for years lol. watched them all when it came out. love your reactions.
I'm going to start watching them all again if I can find them to download. You must watch Dad's Army. As Coldstream Guards veteran it just cracks me up
Michael Bates who plays Ranjit also played Montgommery in 'Patten'
I am sure the original episodes were longer, there seems to be bits missing. Such a shame.
There is. Trying to upload the full version to my discord and dailymotion now.
I thought that too, but I was a nipper back then. So I can't be sure.
For people commenting on the DVD release of this series. There are edits but they are music edits and non BBC material which could not be cleared. That's common in a lot of shows. Master copies of the fourth and sixth episodes of series one ('A Star is Born' and 'It's a Wise Child') were lost after first broadcast, and have not been recovered. VHS copies recorded at home by a viewer in Australia were found in 1988. They are not of broadcast quality. Music clearance is the most common issue for a lot of DVD's. For Example the American show Werewolf from 1988 will never get a release because of serious music issues. Likewise the recent Charmed blu-ray has music problems. Ironically enough for fans of BBC TV comedy classics America is usually the place to purchase uncut copies on home video. So for example "Are You Being Served" is uncut in the American market but cut in the UK market.
Yeah the phrase “to go Do lally” (crazy) comes from the place in India, Deolali
BSM explaining the dummy in same way as how to load a rifle, etc ! great.