‘THE PAY OFF’

Please feel free to comment on my review.

There are a couple of faces I recognised in this ‘It Ain’t Half Hot Mum’ episode. The first is Gorden Kaye, who plays a burly soldier watching a Concert Party show at the episode’s beginning. Gorden Kaye would later go on to play René Artois in the series ‘Allo, ‘Allo’ by David Croft and Jeremy Lloyd.

He’s also been in an episode of the original ‘All Creatures Great and Small’ BBC TV series. 🙂 It was surreal to find Gorden Kaye in this episode of this BBC comedy series by Jimmy Perry and David Croft. Maybe Gorden Kaye took some tips from Michael Bates on how to do opening monologues. 🙂

Anyway, in the episode, Colonel Reynolds, Captain Ashwood and the Sgt-Major are visited by Norman Mitchell as Captain Owen. Norman Mitchell has been in ‘The Feast of Seven’ episode in the ‘Doctor Who’ story ‘The Daleks’ Master Plan’. He was also in one of the ‘Dad’s Army’ episodes on TV.

He played Captain Rogers in the episode ‘Something Nasty in the Vault’. He’s been in an ‘All Creatures’ episode too. Anyway, the Concert Party are ordered to put on a show for the Burmese bandits. This is to keep them quiet and to prevent them attacking whilst being stationed in Burma. 😐

The leader of the Burmese bandits happens to be Burt Kwouk as Me Thant. Burt Kwouk has also been in the ‘Doctor Who’ story ‘Four to Doomsday’ and he’s been in the Big Finish audio ‘Loups-Garoux’, both with Peter Davison. He’s been in ‘The Inn of the Sixth Happiness’ with Ingrid Bergman.

And he’s also been in ‘Last of the Summer Wine’. 😀 It turns out the Burmese bandits are the Concert Party’s most appreciative audience ever. This is especially when Parkin is doing well with his latest stand-up comic routine and Gloria is pleased with all the adulation he’s receiving with being an artist.

However, they discover the bandits are keeping bolts for their guns, so the Sgt-Major suggests they steal them and hide them in Lofty’s trousers. The Concert Party have to hurry their show before they go. As they make their way back across the river, Lofty almost drowns under the weight of the bolts.

The bandits are amazed to see the escaping performances with their hands in Lofty’s pants to drop the bolts into the river. 😀 Incidentally, I think all the proverbs Rangi Ram has been giving to us have been fake ones made for the TV series. It might explain why the series isn’t repeated nowadays. 😀

‘The Pay Off’ rating – 8/10