‘BANG GOES THE MAHARAJAH’

Please feel free to comment on my review.

In the second episode of the two-episode story about the Concert Party protecting the Maharajah of Bharatpur, which began in ‘Mind My Maharajah’, the false alarms continue. The Concert Party tries to stop the attempts on the life of the Maharajah, especially when doing a special performance for him.

One of the false attempts on the Maharajah’s life involves an apparent gun made of chocolate. Who would make a weapon made of chocolate like that? That’s got to raise cause for concern, especially when the chocolate gun could easily be switched for a real gun. Hasn’t anyone considered that here?

Soon, the Concert Party become aware of dynamite in a pit underneath in the Maharajah’s bedroom. As expected, Lofty gets sent down into the pit to get rid of the dynamite. Unfortunately, Lofty gets stuck whilst down in the pit and nearly triggers off the dynamite, which was very amusing.

In the end, the Sgt-Major has to go down into the pit in order to rescue Lofty. It was amusing to see the antics going on between the Sgt-Major, the officers and the Concert Party in trying to get rid of the dynamite. The Colonel himself keeps a stiff upper lip whist Captain Ashwood seems dim as ever.

I’m sure Michael Knowles isn’t like that in real life, since he’s adapted episodes of ‘Dad’s Army’ into radio. 🙂 Once the crisis is over, Renu Setna as the Maharajah explains to the Concert Party that the dynamite is there to blow a hole in order to build a swimming pool. The Concert Party are confused.

They wonder why they were told that the Maharajah was going to be killed by one of his seven sons when he only has five. It turns out that the Concert Party are guarding the wrong Maharajah. It’s the one who lives across the road that they should have helped. How come they got that part so wrong?

It’s too late of course, as the palace of the Maharajah that they were supposed to protect gets blown up sky high. 😦 Ashwin Patel as Pandit, the Maharajah’s butler also appears in this episode. I don’t suppose the Concert Party are going to get a good recommendation once they return to base camp.

The Maharajah two-episode story has been fun to watch in the ‘It Ain’t Half Hot Mum’ series. I wonder if this was meant to be a two-part story, as sometimes some episodes overlap with the running time of 25 to 30 minutes. Regardless, it was quite interesting to see this as a two-part story. 🙂

‘Bang Goes the Maharajah’ rating – 7/10