Bates appeared in many British television series, including "Last of the Summer Wine" from 1973 to 1975 (as Cyril Blamire) and "It Ain't Half Hot Mum" from 1974 to 1977 (as Rangi Ram). His role as Rangi Ram led to some controversy due to allegations that he had performed in blackface. Perry told Stuart Jeffries in 2003 that they had been unable to find a suitable Asian actor. Interviewed by the journalist Neil Clark for "The Daily Telegraph" in 2013, Jimmy Perry protested that Bates only "wore was a light tan. He wasn’t blacked up! Michael spoke fluent Urdu, and was a captain in the Gurkhas". The show is not repeated in the UK by the BBC, who use the "blacked up" description of Bates’s performance on their website's article about the series.