Editing It's That Man Again (section)

===Colonel Chinstrap===
{{Quote box |bgcolor=#e6e6ff|salign=center | quote =<big>'''Colonel Chinstrap'''</big><br />Played by Jack Train<br />Series 5–6 and 8–12<br />Catchphrase: ''I don't mind if I do''.{{sfn|Kavanagh|1975|p=63}}||align=right| width=30%}}

The bibulous Colonel Chinstrap was a retired army officer, perpetually on the look-out for a free drink.{{efn|Jack Train and [[John Snagge]] recalled that Chinstrap was based on an acquaintance of Snagge's, a retired [[British Indian Army|Indian Army]] officer, who told him, "I have bought a water heater on a ten-year instalment plan and the devils who are selling it to me don't know I'm dying of drink". The man did not recognise himself in Chinstrap, whom he considered "exactly like a lot of silly chumps I used to know in India".{{sfn|"Chinstrap". ''Aberdeen Evening Express''}}{{sfn|"Col Chinstrap Speaking". ''Birmingham Daily Gazette''}}}} ''[[The Times]]'' commented that his voice "carried the unmistakeable aroma of vintage port and brandy".{{sfn|"Jack Train". ''The Times''}} An unnamed prototype of the character appeared in the third series:

:'''Handley''': Didn't I meet you in Rumbellipoor, sir?
:'''Train''': You did not, sir. I was never there.
:'''Handley''': Then you must have a double.
:'''Train''': Thanks, I will.{{sfn|Partridge|1992| pp= 139–140}}

The character reappeared in the fifth series, now identified as Colonel Humphrey Chinstrap; he rapidly became one of the show's most popular features.{{sfn|Kavanagh|1975| p=63}} He would "mishear" an innocent remark as an invitation to a drink:

{| cellspacing="0" cellpadding="10" border="0"
| '''Handley''': Colonel, you have been treated most shabbily.<br />'''Chinstrap''': A glass of Chablis, sir? I don’t mind if I do.{{sfn|Kavanagh|2019}}
|
| '''Handley''': Why don't you try a swim in the Serpentine?<br />'''Chinstrap''': Try a gin and turpentine? I don't mind if I do.{{sfn|Fisher|2013|p=163}}
|-
| '''Handley''': Funf ... He's a sly Jerry<br />'''Chinstrap''': Did I hear you say "dry sherry", Handley? I don't mind if I do.{{sfn|"Memories of I.T.M.A."|loc=Event occurs at 9 minutes 30 seconds}}
|
| '''Handley''': King John signing the Magna Carta at Runnymede.<br />'''Chinstrap''': Rum and mead, sir? I don't mind if I do.{{sfn|Kavanagh|1975| p=143}}
|}
The catchphrase, "I don't mind if I do", was not new,{{efn|''[[The Oxford English Dictionary]]'' dates the phrase—"a humorous circumlocution accepting an invitation, esp. the offer of a (usually alcoholic) drink"—to at least 1847.{{sfn|"mind". Oxford English Dictionary}}}} but ''ITMA'' brought it into widespread popular use.{{sfn|Kavanagh|1975| p=139}}
The Colonel had a life beyond ''ITMA''. Train ("assisted by Colonel Chinstrap") made a gramophone record of a song called "I don't mind if I do" in 1949;{{sfn|British Library Catalogue}} Chinstrap and his ''ITMA'' colleague Major Mundy offered comments on the [[New Zealand cricket team in England in 1949#Second Test, Lord's, 25–28 June 1949|Lord's Test Match]] in two short broadcasts in June 1949;{{sfn|"Colonel Chinstrap and Major Mundy: Cover points at the Test Match". ''BBC Genome''}} Train, playing Chinstrap, co-starred in the 1950 comedy series ''The Great Gilhooly'',{{sfn|"I want you to meet Gilhooly". ''The Radio Times''}} and appeared weekly on television in late 1951 and early 1952 with scenes from the Colonel's life story.{{sfn|"Colonel Chinstrap". ''BBC Genome''}} In 1952 [[Evans Brothers Ltd|Evans Brothers]] published Chinstrap's autobiography—ghost-written by Kavanagh, with a foreword by Train.{{sfn|Kavanagh|1952|pages=}} In a 1954 BBC radio programme he featured in ''The True Story of Humphrey Chinstrap (Col. Retd.)'', "the authentic history of a warrior who penetrated the darkest jungles of Whitehall and Wooloomooloo armed only with a sword and a corkscrew".{{sfn|"At Last! The true story of Humphrey Chinstrap (Col. Retd.)". ''The Radio Times''}} Train twice made guest appearances as Chinstrap in ''[[The Goon Show]]'' (1957 and 1959).{{sfn|Wilmut|Grafton|1977|pp=67, 75}}{{efn|The ''Goon Show'' historian Roger Wilmut comments, "It is interesting that the character, although from a different show a decade earlier, fits into the Goon Show framework with no sense of strain".{{sfn|Wilmut|Grafton|1977|p=146}}}}