Rent It Ain't Half Hot Mum: Series 2 (1975)

Best Classic 1970s BBC Comedy - It Ain't Half Hot Mum: Series 2 review by PV

This comedy series is superb - I challenge anyone to watch it without laughing out loud - even the pompous pompous finger-wagging police of political correctness. The fact is that the BBC has secretly banned this show - because, no doubt, it features comic Indian characters and the main one (Raji) is a superb white actor called Michael Bates whose skin is slightly darkened for the role. The BBC sees that as 'offensive' blacking up. But this is not racism - it's make-up! There is no racist intent and the Raji character is not a racist figure to mock, demean and belittle - just a comic one. The actor Michale Bates grew up in India and spoke fluent Urdu and Hindi - which is no doubt his character and caricature is so spot-on. It seems at the BBC, cariacature is only OK if it portrays white people - now that's racism , folks!!!...................... This was the favourite series of the writer Jimmy Perry - more so than Dad's Army. It is a national disgrace that this great, funny, non-racist comedy should be labelled as such and kept off our screens for over 30 years by the self-righteous commandants who rule the BBC (on our money). To be replaced by what? The terminally unfunny Lenny Henry and the vomit-inducing 'Outnumbered'. Yuk.....................All I can say is: Thank Krishna and all the gods for the Internet and DVDs so we can circumvent any ban by the nanny BBC and watch great funny comedy series like this again........................ And by the way, the big joke here is on the useless white British soldiers and the Empire-loving sergeant major - the native Indians are always shown as more clever and getting one over on them! Racist? No. Hilarious? Yep. Watch it and mourn the current state of BBC 'comedy'.