The Carry On franchise was hugely popular in the 1970s (Image: Getty)
Barbara Windsor’s wiggle and saucy giggle, Kenneth Williams’s flaring nostrils, Sid James’s dirty laugh… Just to mention the Carry On films is enough to conjure up magical memories for millions.
Now the brilliantly funny franchise is coming back – to get Britain laughing again. And, ooh matron, the company behind it promise it will be bigger and busier than ever. There are plans for seaside theatrical shows, a West End musical, TV spin-offs and of course brand-new movies with a whole raft of fresh-faced stars.
The original films may have been sneered at by snootier critics for their broad lowbrow humour, but the public lapped up their saucy mix of music hall mirth, slapstick and nudge-nudge innuendo.
All told, the Carry Ons are estimated to have generated an incredible £500million, making it one of the most successful British film franchises ever.
Cinema-goers couldn’t get enough of these colourful misfits and their knockabout comic capers.
They were like Donald McGill’s bawdy seaside postcards brought to three-dimensional life.
29 Carry Ons were made in the first 20 years alone, making national treasures of stars like Sid James, Barbara Windsor, Kenneth Williams, Hattie Jacques, Charles Hawtrey, Joan Sims, Kenneth Connor and more.
Think of the Carry Ons and you immediately picture Barbara as Babs in a field doing keep-fit exercises in a bikini, in 1969’s Carry On Camping, along with a bevy of other scantily-clad beauties with Dr Soaper (Kenneth Williams) as the PT instructor.
“Come along,” he barks. “Stretch your arms and fling, and fling, and in, and…oooh!”
Barbara’s bikini top, unable to take the strain, bursts off and flies through the air to wrap itself around Soaper’s face leaving Babs hiding her embarrassment.
(The image was more glamorous than the reality – Bert, an elderly prop man, had to whip the bra off with a fishing line but Barbara’s bra wouldn’t budge; Bert kept on reeling and she was dragged through the mud on her posterior.)
Thirty-one Carry On films were made in total, all produced by Peter Rogers and directed by Gerald Thomas at Pinewood Studios. The best were written by Talbot Rothwell.
The first Carry On Sergeant, about bungling British army National Service recruits, was released in 1958 and made twenty times its budget, becoming the UK’s third most successful film at the box office that year, and inspiring the subsequent series.
In terms of comic quality, the franchise arguably peaked with 1966’s Carry On Screaming! and 1968’s Carry On Up The Khyber. The biggest misfire was the 1992 revival, the oddly-cast flop Carry On Columbus.
Carry On was known for its cheeky comedy (Image: Getty)
They offered Barbara a part, but she turned it down saying, “When the script came through I couldn’t believe how awful it was. I told them, ‘An actress is only as good as her ammo, and that script is crap’.”
The Carry Ons also inspired a 13-episode television spin-off Carry On Laughing, which ran for two series and was repeated for decades, five TV specials, a West End stage show and two provincial summer shows.
Now, with the blessing of the late Peter Rogers, the franchise is coming back thanks to the new Carry On Entertainment Group.
Managing Director Brian Baker told the Sunday Express: “We are planning to launch Carry On Beside The Sea as a theatre show in several seaside venues next summer, loosely based on Carry On Girls, except with a talent show rather than a beauty contest at its heart.”
The company will start auditioning for ensemble casts this Autumn – different ones for each theatre. The best of the new actors will go on to the West End show and the films.
Will fresh faces be able to recreate the old magic?
“With the right cast, why not? Samantha Spiros had a decent stab at Babs in Cor, Blimey!” said director Nigel Gordon-Stewart.
“There are no stars involved, the Carry On franchise is the star. If we make new stars that’s an added bonus.”
Channel 4 banned the films, branding them “sexist”, in the 90s, before eventually changing their minds. In reality, the female characters always got the upper hand.
Can the franchise survive the current climate of cancel culture? Yes said Brian Baker. “There’s nothing offensive about the Carry On films. They’re earthy fun, saucy not lewd; they’re down-to-earth and quintessentially English.
“The Carry Ons were always on the side of the underdogs, poking fun at po-faced officialdom and the establishment.”
Gordon-Stewart added: “We are also developing a West End comedy horror musical version of Carry On Screaming and will be reviving the films, starting with Carry On London” – which was in pre-production in 2009 when financing fell through, shortly before Rogers’s death.
Comedy writers Brian Leveson and Paul Minnett – who created hit TV sitcoms Time After Time and The Piglet Files – will handle the scripts, aiming for the traditional breezy blend of belly laughs and mildly risqué double entendres.
“It’s a whole entertainment package – there will also be a Carry On podcast, books, TV spinoffs and merchandise,” said Gordon-Stewart. “The sky is the limit. And we are looking for investors to reap the benefits.
“We are going to take this wonderful brand, resurge it and make it mega.
“Let’s face it, after the General Election we all need something to cheer us up and get Britain laughing again.”
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THE greatest Carry On quips Julius Caesar (Kenneth Williams): “Infamy, infamy, they’ve all got it in for me.” (Carry On Cleo)
Doctor Tinkle (Kenneth Williams): “It’s an enigma. That’s what it is, Matron, an enigma!”
Charlie Roper (Sid James): “I’m not having another one of them.” (Carry On Doctor)
The Khasi of Kalabar (Kenneth Williams): “May the great god Shivoo bring blessings on your house.”
Sir Sidney Ruff-Diamond (Sid James): “And on yours.”
Khasi: “And may his radiance light up your darkness.”
Sidney: “And up yours.” (Carry On Up The Khyber)
Doctor Tinkle (Kenneth Williams): “You may not realise it but I was once a weak man.”
Matron (Hattie Jacques): Once a week is enough for any man.”
(Carry On Doctor)
Evelyn Blunt (June Whitfield) refuses a drink and smoke because she “tried them once and didn’t like it.”
Vic Flange (Sid James): “Odd.”
Evelyn: “Not at all…my daughter is just the same.”
Vic: “Your only daughter I presume.” (Carry On Abroad)
Matron (Hattie Jacques) delivering letters to Sir Bernard Cutting (Kenneth Williams): “By the way, your mail.”
Sir Bernard: “I know I’m male, and what’s more I can prove it.” (Carry On Matron)
Matron (Hattie Jacques): “Young chickens may be soft and tender but older ones have more meat on them.”
Charlie Roper (Sid James): “True, and they take a lot more stuffing.” (Carry On Doctor)
Emile (Kenneth Williams): “Why me? You can have Tom, Dick or Harry.”
Emmanuelle (Suzanne Danielle): “But I don’t want Tom and Harry.” (Carry On Emmannuelle)
Detective Sergeant Bung (Harry H Corbett): “We can’t afford to leave any stone unturned. What’s the name of this road, Slobotham?”
DC Slobotham (Peter Butterworth): “Er, Avery Avenue, sir.”
Bung: “Well, like I said, we must explore Avery Avenue.” (Carry On Screaming)
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