It Ain't Half Hot Mum to Bombardier after Solly is demobbed and sent back to Britain. The soldiers are under the orders of Battery Sergeant Major "Shut Up" Williams, a belligerent Welshman who has spent almost all of his life as a professional soldier. In turn, Williams reports to the two officers in charge of the Concert Party: Captain Ashwood and Lieutenant-Colonel Reynolds. Both Ashwood and Reynolds are characterised as coming from upper-class backgrounds. Ashwood, the younger officer, is rather stupid and slightly excitable, while Reynolds is older and more worldly-wise and sensible. While often bemoaning the rough conditions of Army life, both Ashwood and
It Ain't Half Hot Mum Film Institute's Screenonline website, a belief that it contains "national stereotyping and occasionally patronising humour". According to Mark Duguid, writing for the same website, it suffers "from its narrow stereotypes of its handful of Indian supporting characters as alternately servile, foolish, lazy or devious". Its flaws have not stopped it appearing in several "best of" lists. The show's producers had been aware of the issues around the casting a white actor to play one of the Indian characters, but relented owing to the lack of suitable Indian actors at the time. Jimmy Perry defended the casting as Bates "spoke fluent