Q 01/05

Which Welsh actor bellowed his way through It Ain't Half Hot Mum as Battery Sergeant Major Williams?

A) Philip Madoc

B) Windsor Davies

C) Kenneth Griffith

D) Hywel Bennett

Answer · why

B) Windsor Davies

Windsor Davies drew on bullying sergeants he had met during his own national service. Before turning professional at 31 he had worked as a coal miner ...

Q 02/05

Which old song took It Ain't Half Hot Mum's Sergeant Major and Gunner Sugden to UK number one in 1975?

A) Paper Doll

B) Sentimental Journey

C) Whispering Grass

D) Lili Marlene

Answer · why

C) Whispering Grass

Whispering Grass spent three weeks at the top, with the tenor singing it straight and the Sergeant Major growling spoken interruptions in character. T...

Q 03/05

Which Hollywood star, in London in 1974, reportedly liked only the Sergeant Major's voice in It Ain't Half Hot Mum?

A) Clint Eastwood

B) Robert Mitchum

C) Charlton Heston

D) John Wayne

Answer · why

D) John Wayne

John Wayne caught an episode on television while working in Britain and was otherwise unimpressed. Home audiences disagreed: the sitcom drew up to sev...

Q 04/05

Which patriotic song does the char wallah start over It Ain't Half Hot Mum's closing credits before being silenced?

A) Rule, Britannia

B) I Vow to Thee, My Country

C) Land of Hope and Glory

D) God Save the King

Answer · why

C) Land of Hope and Glory

Land of Hope and Glory gets only a few bars from Muhammad the tea seller before the Sergeant Major roars at him to stop. Between scenes he also croons...

Q 05/05

Which wartime sitcom had Jimmy Perry and David Croft already created before It Ain't Half Hot Mum began in 1974?

A) Hi-de-Hi!

B) 'Allo 'Allo!

C) Get Some In!

D) Dad's Army

Answer · why

D) Dad's Army

Dad's Army grew out of Perry's teenage spell in the Home Guard, and the pair then mined their own service in India for a second hit. Perry later calle...