This series was the second major output from the comedy team of Croft and Perry, the first being Dad's Army. Drawing on the experiences of Jimmy Perry in a wartime concert party, the series is set in the Royal Artillery Depot in Deolali, India (although in later series they changed location). Michael Bates starred as Ranji Ram (although this has been spelt Rangi and even Randi in some places), Windsor Davies as Sgt. Major 'Shut Up' Williams, George Layton as Bombardier Solomans, Melvyn Hayes as Gunner 'Gloria' Beaumont, Don Estelle as Lofty, and Donald Hewlett and Michael Knowles as the officers.
Ranji, played my Michael Bates, the anglophilic Indian servant was almost the lynchpin of the show, with much of the action taking place around him, but the main thrust of this action was generated between the hard army persona of Sgt. Major Williams and the luvvies, or 'poofs' as Williams was often heard to mutter, of the concert party themselves. They were not what could be described as the most alike bunch and their only similarity appeared to be that they were all misfits of one sort or another, but they all knew that to work as a team was their only chance of staying where they were and not to be sent 'up the jungle'.
Sadly the series has, in recent years, been the victim of PC, with a lot of the characters being branded as racist, and therefore, the show has not made it back on the repeat runs on BBC, although the other Croft Perry classics such as Dad's Army and Hi-De-Hi get outings far more regularly. One of the main criticisms was that Bates was 'blacked up' when an Indian actor could have been employed, but Bates' response to this was that he was actually born in India and learned to speak Hindustani before English. If this were not enough, the 'indian' actors playing indians were in actual fact from Pakistan and Bangladesh! UKGold, a UK satellite channel has been showing them on a loop pretty much since it started, but apart from some video releases a few years ago by Acorn Media, there was little representation for such a popular and long comedy series. That is until now.
2|entertain are well on the way to releasing the whole of this series now, with half already available and the next one coming soon. There are the occassional bonus features on the discs, and the first series release even included off-air recordings of the couple of shows that are no longer held in the BBC Archives. Sadly I haven't seen all of these releases yet, but the couple of series I have have lived up to all my hopes and are well worth seeking out. One of my favourite comedy series, and one that I won't wait too long to fill in the gaps on my shelf.
SERIES 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8
| Title | TX Date | Notes |
| Meet The Gang | 3.1.74 | |
| My Lovely Boy | 10.1.74 | |
| The Mutiny Of The Punka Wallahs | 17.1.74 | |
| A Star Is Born | 24.1.74 | Only available as off-air Australian TV copy |
| The Jungle Patrol | 31.1.74 | |
| It's A Wise Child | 7.2.74 | Only available as off-air Australian TV copy |
| The Road To Bannu | 14.2.74 | |
| The Inspector Calls | 21.2.74 | |
| Title | TX Date | Notes |
| Showing The Flag | 2.1.75 | |
| Down In The Jungle | 9.1.75 | |
| The Natives Are Revolting | 16.1.75 | |
| Cabaret Time | 23.1.75 | |
| The Curse Of The Sadhu | 30.1.75 | |
| Forbidden Fruits | 6.2.75 | |
| Has Anyone Seen My Cobra? | 13.2.75 | |
| The Night Of The Thugs | 20.2.75 | |
| Title | TX Date | Notes |
| The Supremo Show | 2.1.76 | |
| Mind My Maharajah | 9.1.76 | |
| Bang Goes The Maharajah | 16.1.76 | |
| The Grand Illusion | 23.1.76 | |
| Pale Hands I Love | 30.1.76 | |
| Don't Take The Micky | 6.2.76 | |
| Title | TX Date | Notes |
| Monsoon Madness | 2.11.76 | |
| Kidnapped In The Khyber | 9.11.76 | |
| A Fate Worse Than Death | 16.11.76 | |
| Ticket To Blighty | 23.11.76 | |
| Lofty's Little Friend | 30.11.76 | |
| Flight To Jawani | 7.12.76 | |
| We Are Not Amused | 14.12.76 | |
| Twenty.One Today | 21.12.76 | |
| Title | TX Date | Notes |
| Front Line Entertainers | 25.10.77 | |
| Bridge Over The River Hipong | 1.11.77 | |
| The Pay Off | 8.11.77 | |
| Puddings From Heaven | 15.11.77 | |
| The Superstar | 22.11.77 | |
| The Eternal Quadrangle | 29.11.77 | |
| Title | TX Date | Notes |
| The Stars Look Down | 23.10.78 | |
| The Big League | 30.10.78 | |
| The Big Payroll Snatch | 6.11.78 | |
| The Dhobi Wallahs | 13.11.78 | |
| Lead, Kindly Light | 20.11.78 | |
| Holidays At Home | 27.11.78 | |
| Caught Short | 4.12.78 | |
| Title | TX Date | Notes |
| That's Entertainment? | 17.10.80 | |
| The Guinea Pigs | 24.10.80 | |
| Dog In The Manger | 31.10.80 | |
| The Great Broadcast | 7.11.80 | |
| Class Of 1945 | 14.11.80 | |
| Star Commandos | 21.11.80 | |
| Title | TX Date | Notes |
| Gloria's Finest Hour | 23.7.81 | |
| Money Talks | 30.7.81 | Audio tape |
| Aquastars | 6.8.81 | |
| The Last Warrior | 13.8.81 | |
| Never The Twain Shall Meet | 20.8.81 | |
| The Long Road Home | 27.8.81 | |
| The Last Roll Call | 3.9.81 | |