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 discarded, and he destroyed the Officers' Mess. Then Colonel Reynolds tells him to order 200 tent pegs and he orders 200 tents.) Parkins references the show's title in the first ever episode when he signs off a letter to his mother with the words "I've been in India now two days, and it ain't half hot, Mum." Parkins was born on 2 October 1924, making him 21 years old, a birthday which he celebrates in at the end of Series 4 in the episode "Twenty-One". Gunner Graham is the concert party's pianist. His appearance – bald and bespectacled – marks