Carry On Nurse! Celebrating 70 years of the NHS

It's been all over the news for a while and rightly so. Today marks the 70th anniversary of the founding of the National Health Service. Normally you can't mention the NHS without the conversation turning achingly political but we're going to keep it nice and light on the blog as we commemorate this wonderful milestone.

I listened to a discussion on the radio not long ago about a special BFI season of films looking at how television and film has portrayed the NHS. Well for me, you need look no further than the Carry On films. The Carry Ons have become synonymous with the National Health Service and some of the most famous, best loved films in the series have been set in hospitals. Peter Rogers, lauded producer of the series, once said the hospital comedies were so popular as everyone knows what it's like to be in hospital and it really does help to have a jolly good laugh.

Even now, more than half a century after Hattie Jacques first donned the famous Matron uniform, most newspapers can't resist using an image of the actress alongside articles calling for the return of Matron's discipline. Such is the strength of the Carry On brand and the imagery of Hattie, Kenneth, Barbara and that daffodil. The Carry Ons went behind the scenes and provided a humorous, touching and affectionate take on the health service which was never cruel or mocking. Thankfully they didn't go down to the gory Casualty route and medical procedures were relatively few and far between, apart from Leslie Phillips' pesky bunion! 

It was writer Norman Hudis who first brought the idea of a medical comedy to the attentions of Peter Rogers. Norman was to produce a script as a follow up to his national service comedy Carry On Sergeant, so why not focus on yet another great British institution? The authentic feel to Carry On Nurse was provided by Norman's wife who was a nurse at the time. She provided some of the best set pieces and Norman gagged it all up gently. 

That first medical Carry On gave us some deliciously seductive nurses in Shirley Eaton, Ann Firbank and Susan Beaumont; Joan Sims as the accident prone junior nurse; fearsome authority in Hattie Jacques and Joan Hickson; a wide range of sneaky, awkward, down to earth patients in the likes of Kenneth Connor, Kenneth Williams, Cyril Chamberlain and Charles Hawtrey and some delightful hospital visitors in June Whitfield, Marianne Stone, Jill Ireland and Irene Handl. What a cast!

Almost ten years later Talbot Rothwell brought us a wonderful tribute to Norman's iconic Carry On when Carry On Doctor was released in 1967. A swinging sixties follow up to Nurse, all the familiar stereotypes are present and correct - Kenneth Williams' big headed surgeon, Hattie's bombastic Matron and Jim Dale's kindly, human and put upon doctor. Doctor also gave us Barbara Windsor's iconic Nurse Sandra May, wiggling her bottom and fancying a bit of Peter GIlmore's pear. The patients enjoying or enduring a stay in hospital eventually revolt against the hierarchy, headed by Bernard Bresslaw, Peter Butterworth, Sid James and the amazing guest star Frankie Howerd. It is Frankie's Francis Bigger who is subjected to the resurrection of the delicious Carry On Nurse sight gag involving that infamous daffodil. This time it's not Joan Sims and Wilfrid Hyde White, it's Frankie and the gorgeous nurse Valerie Van Ost. What confidence the series had to be so self-referential!

Two years later, we were Carrying On Again Doctor, which focussed less on the NHS, throwing in a trip to a tropical medical mission and a private weight loss clinic. Despite this, all the familiar characters are there - Jim Dale's handsome yet accident prone doctor (yes, that hospital trolley); Hattie Jacques' as a slightly more kindly Matron and Kenneth Williams and Charles Hawtrey as rather conniving senior doctors. By now the Carry Ons were forever interlinked with the NHS, doctors and nurses. 

The final Carry On with a medical theme came along in 1971 when Talbot Rothwell scripted a tribute to Hattie's iconic character - Carry On Matron. Based around a Too Many Crooks attempt to rob vast quantities of the pill from Finisham Maternity Hospital, much of the action centres around the hospital misfits of Hattie, Kenneth Williams and Charles Hawtrey (playing Dr F. A Goode!) Patients are few and far between this time apart from an ongoing side story of Joan Sims' never-ending pregnancy and never-satisfied appetites! Kenneth Connor is amazing as the put upon nervy father to be while the nursing staff are glamorously represented by Jacki Piper, Barbara Windsor again and Kenneth Cope in drag (it's a long story). And who can forget Terry Scott's rather grim, grotty Dr Prodd. An aptly named character if ever there was one.

Hospitals did feature in other Carry Ons, albeit to a lesser degree. In 1960 there was an extended sequence set in a hospital during Carry On Regardless. This involved Helping Hands boss Bert Handy (Sid James) being involved in a case of mistaken identity which caused much chaos in the wards. In a throwback to Nurse, Joan Hickson and Hattie Jacques were both present although this time Joan was the Matron and Hattie the Sister. June Jago is also there as a nurse, six years before she played Hattie's rather duplicitous Sister in Carry On Doctor. And in Carry On Loving ten years on from Regardless (indeed Loving was a modern tribute to the content and form of Regardless) we again return to the wards as Richard O'Callaghan's Bertie is knocked on the bonce by Bernard Bresslaw's Gripper Burke. When Jacki Piper goes hospital visiting Eric Rogers even resurrects his incidental music from Carry On Doctor. I just loved when the Carry Ons provided nods to the past.

The Carry Ons have become a part of British life. In many ways they presented a view of a Britain which never really existed. It was an inflated, stereotypical version of our beloved country, packed full of eccentrics. The series' treatment of the National Health Service was also far from reality - all jolly high jinks, sexy nurses and outlandish Matrons. True some of the stories stemmed from real events but us fans are happy with the Carry Ons staying clear of proper reality. I think we should be ever so proud of the Carry Ons' regular NHS tributes as that's what they were - affectionate, warm and full of appreciation. 

Happy 70th birthday to the NHS. 

You can follow me on Twitter @CarryOnJoan and on Instagram

The Gerald Thomas Archive: Cast Correspondence from Again Doctor

Last month I made a rather delayed trip (thank you British weather) to the British Film Institute on London's Southbank. As I've mentioned over on Twitter, the BFI hold the entire Gerald Thomas archive which is chock full of delightful artifacts from Gerald's long, varied and illustrious career in British film. I was quite frankly dazzled by the array of material on offer and have only managed to flick through a fraction of it, but this blog today is the start of several pieces looking at different aspects of what I've had the very good fortune to see.

Following on from my first blog on Gerald's Scrapbook for Carry On Abroad and my second on the Carry On Abroad Draft Script . I have also, more recently, written a blog about the correspondence between the artist Terence "Larry" Parkes and Peter Rogers about the work he'd been asked to do for the titles of Carry On Doctor. 

Today I'm moving forward a couple of years to another medical Carry On - Carry On Again Doctor, which was filmed in the spring of 1969 and marked Jim Dale's last contribution to the series until his return for Columbus in 1992. As with many of the other films in the archive, I found the correspondence between the actors and their paymasters the most fascinating evidence to read though. And the correspondence over contracts for Again Doctor definitely delivered in spades.

Let's start with the man who brought Dr Jimmy Nookey to life in the film, Jim Dale. Jim was paid £3250 for six weeks work in what was really the starring role in the film. There is considerable correspondence on file regarding a medical claim following an injury Jim had suffered on set. This was either the infamous run away hospital trolley sequence or the scene which saw Dale fall through a rotten floor on a hammock. He really did suffer for his art! A note from Peter Rogers on 7 August 1969 details his position:

Regarding Jim Dale's medical expenses, I don't think that we should be responsible for every pill and laxative if the insurance people don't cough up, do you? Whatever was wrong with Jim Dale was the result of an accident on the floor and I understand that we were covered in this respect. 

Rogers was certainly the money man behind the films and this note gives us a real insight into the serious side of churning out such wonderfully funny, popular films. Part of Peter's note concerns the extra expense involved in the delays caused by Jim's accident and trip to hospital to be checked out. It involved other actors on set - Sid James, Valerie Leon and Elizabeth Knight - being contracted on for extra time, and where Peter was most concerned, extra money too!

Next up is a contract for my favourite Carry On actress, the wonderful Joan Sims. Joan, who was paid her usual £2500 for six weeks playing wealthy widow Ellen Moore, had a clause in her contract which allowed her time out to record episodes of the radio series, then titled "It's Bold" with Kenneth Williams each Monday morning for the BBC. Attached to her contract is a personal letter from Joan, dated 4 May 1969 and written on Joan's own personal stationery:

My dear Peter,

Thank you so much for a really wonderful party on Friday. It was a great send off for us all.

Bless you, 

Love, Joan


The famed camaraderie between the actors and producers of the Carry Ons is justly legendary and even though pay was sometimes an issue, there is no doubting the shared affection and kindness here. Hattie Jacques, appearing as Matron once again in the film, was paid £3000 for the part despite being billed below Joan and actually having less screen time. She too attended the party Joan so obviously enjoyed as can be seen in this charming personal note:

Darling Peter,

I can't begin to tell you how much I enjoyed myself last Friday. Thank you, dearest Guv, for a lovely lunch and a simply gorgeous time. And thank you too for having me in your picture.

Fondest love,

Hattie

It was quite a moment to handle notes from two of my favourite actresses and also interesting to see how, despite being a regular in Peter's films for over a decade by this point, Hattie still seems thrilled to have been asked to do it. 

Turning the pages, I came upon a type written note signed by none other than the brilliant, iconic and elusive Mr Charles Hawtrey. Written from his home at the time in Kew, he too waxed lyrical about the cast party:

Dear Peter,

Thank you for your wonderful luncheon party at the Mirabelle yesterday. The food - the wines - the company - all of which seemed so appropriate after what was generally agreed to be the happiest production. Whilst you remained, undeniably, our gracious host, you complimented us, not to say delighted, by being one of our motley lot. 

With love from,
Your expected but never let it be said rejected,

Charles


Although there were already rumblings of unhappiness from Charles over some aspects of the Carry On experience, at this stage at least, he seems content to be part of the gang. Hawtrey received £3500 for his role as Dr Stoppidge and as usual received his no less than fourth star billing in the film, as stipulated in his contract.

There were further medical concerns around another actor during the making of Again Doctor. Alexandra Dane, probably best remembered for her role as Busti in Carry On Up The Khyber, played a small cameo role as a "Stout Woman" in the 1969 medical comedy. Alexandra was paid the princely sum of £30 for the wordless role which saw her spun round on an out of control weight reducing device. There is correspondence between Dane's agent Max Kester of Foster's Agency and Peter Rogers over an accident on set. Apparently the contraption Alexandra was seen in gave way and she fell, hurting her hip. According to a note included from director Gerald Thomas, Alexandra was sent to the Pinewood nurse who then decided to send her on to Wexham Park Hospital for further treatment.

Max Kester wrote to Peter and Gerald several days later concerning his client's medical expenses and another little matter…

I am presuming that in accordance with our conversation, her name will be included on the actors credit list. It has been included before but was omitted in Carry On Screaming.

I think this demonstrates an agent earning his cut while it also shows up the frailties and little details of being a jobbing actor. Obviously gaining an on screen credit would be very important for a new young actress as it would get her name about, as it were. It was news to me that Alexandra featured in Screaming, indeed I can't ever remember seeing her on screen.

The actress Patricia Franklin, who had made her Carry On debut the previous year in Carry On Camping, was apparently cast as a Night Nurse in Carry On Again Doctor. Her contract is included in the file with it agreed with Busby Smith Management that the actress would receive £30 for the part. The contract has cancelled stamped across it and I couldn't remember seeing her in the finished film. The contract also noted that Miss Franklin was then appearing in a play at the Royal Court Theatre at Sloane Square. When I spoke with Patricia recently (you can read our interview here) she did remember being cast in the role, adding that her agent at the time was Greg Smith, soon to become the producer of the Confessions films. Patricia was not able to take on the role in the end due to her work at the Royal Court in a play by Edward Bond.

Another actress who had debuted in Camping and came back for more fun with the gang was the late Elizabeth Knight. Liz was cast as a casualty nurse in Again Doctor and is only seen very briefly during Wilfrid Brambell's cameo in the film. Apparently the role Knight was cast in was due to be bigger however most of her scenes were sadly cut. She was paid £50 a day for the role with a guaranteed sum of £200 agreed with Peter Rogers. Brambell meanwhile, then a big star thanks to Steptoe and Son, was paid a special one off fee of £100 for his wordless cameo as Mr Pullen.

Peter Butterworth, then a series regular, made the first of several small, often uncredited cameos in the Carry Ons. In Again Doctor he played a shuffling patient in a scene with Jim Dale and Peter Gilmore. Butterworth was given the "special low rate" of £125 for his one day on the film. Patsy Rowlands, who would become a series regular over the course of the next six years, made her debut in Again Doctor as Kenneth Williams' assistant, Miss Fosdick. Patsy was paid £60 a day for this role, with a guaranteed sum of £720 for the entire film. 

Aside from Patricia Franklin's casting issue, there were other problems with the casting for Again Doctor. Apparently an actress called Myrtle Reed was due to play a character called Mrs Rigby at £40 per week - the first I've ever heard of either the actress or the character. Pat Coombs, who was paid £60 over the course of a week to play the New Matron towards the end of the film wasn't originally meant to play that part at all. Pat replaced familiar semi-regular actress Ambrosine Phillpotts although there are no reasons specified for Ambrosine stepping aside from the role. Pat had been cast as Miss Armitage, the troublesome patient who gets an eyeful of Dr Nookey, eventually played by the actress Ann Lancaster. 

Valerie Shute, who had several small roles in the Carry Ons, played a nurse in Again Doctor.    There is a note on file from Gerald Thomas to an Al Shute of Warner Pathe regarding her potential casting in the film:

Thank you for your note and enclosed photograph. I must say it is the most I've ever seen of Valerie! We commence shooting again on March 17th and you can be sure that we will find a nice little 'nurse' part for Valerie.

I was also thrilled to come across a hand written note from one of my favourite character actors of the era, the great Harry Locke. Harry cropped up in countless films during the 1940s, 50s and 60s and featured in three of the medical Carry Ons - Nurse, Doctor and finally Again Doctor. On the lookout for work, Harry wrote to Peter before the casting of Again Doctor:

I was talking to Talbot Rothwell Esq on Sunday about the new script and he said he would mention me when next he saw you…I hope you may have something for me - I have so much enjoyed working with the boys…

Harry was in luck as he was soon cast in the role of the hospital porter, a role than earned him £60. It's intriguing to see actors 'write in' to Peter and Gerald to remind them that they are around and ready to work. In such a fickle business, before the internet and the existence of social media, it must have been an essential part of life as a jobbing actor. 

On a rather sad note, there is also a sad little letter from the actress Lucy Griffiths in the Again Doctor file. Lucy played small parts in quite a few Carry Ons - the trolley lady in Nurse, an excitable neighbour with Leslie Phillips in Constable and a hospital patient in Doctor - and she was once again a patient in bed in a very brief scene in Again Doctor which sees her headphones explode. Lucy wrote to Gerald Thomas about that part on 20th January 1970:

Dear Gerry,

I am delighted to find my 'bit' picked for the trailer of 'Doctor Again'. It happened once before too! So now I really feel perhaps I'm doing a minute 'bit' to help sell the picture and that I belong. I do hope that you will want me more continuously and more often (perhaps bigger bits). It's a happy experience working for you.

…I'm struggling to rebuild my acting career. Spotlight believe in me and are doing their best to help. I can act, I've got to act and that's it.

This letter from Lucy Griffiths provides an example of how tough it can be to survive in the acting profession. Obviously struggling (there are parts of the letter I decided not to share) Lucy is quite determined to continue doing the job she loved and in a not so subtle way hoping Gerry might help her out. Lucy did work for the Carry On people again however her scenes in Loving (filmed the same year she wrote that note) were deleted and her final association with the team in 1975's Carry On Behind, was an uncredited role with no dialogue. You can read more about the life and career of Lucy Griffiths here: Carry On Blogging: Whatever Happened to Lucy Griffiths?

Stay tuned for the next in my series of special blogs on Gerald's archive coming up soon!

You can follow me on Twitter @CarryOnJoan and on Instagram

Missing Presumed Wiped - Join Jim Dale

1969 was a pivotal year for that wonderfully talented comic actor Jim Dale. In the Spring he returned to Pinewood Studios for one last Carry On film with the gang, having taken the previous year out to further develop his stage career. After missing out on Carry On Up The Khyber and Camping, sadly two of the best films which would only have been further enhanced with Jim present amongst the cast, Dale was back for more medical comedy in Again Doctor.

Again Doctor would be Jim's tenth Carry On film and his last until he signed up for the title role in Carry On Columbus in 1992. Despite valiant efforts from all concerned, the less said about that venture the better I think. Although the likes of Roy Castle, Julian Holloway, Richard O'Callaghan and Kenneth Cope would attempt to fill Jim's shoes over the next few films, his absence was keenly felt. Nobody could play bumbling, energetic romantic leads in the Carry On pictures quite like the multi-talented Jim.

Where is this leading? Well, I was looking at what else Jim was getting up to at around the time he parted company with the Carry Ons. After his Jimmy Nookey was released on an unsuspecting cinema-going public later in 1969, Jim signed up for a show with ITV. Titled Join Jim Dale, sadly little is known about this series and after a quick search online it seems the entire series is missing from the archives. What a disaster! Very little is known about the show but as it was built around the extremely talented Jim I really wish it had been saved for future generations to enjoy. Having seen Jim live in the West End doing his one man show in 2015, I know just what a thoroughly talented all singing, all dancing chap he is!

Produced by Associated Television, the series was produced by Dennis Vance and apparently each episode, broadcast between July and August 1969, featured a range of stand up comedy, sketches and musical numbers. Jim was the focal point of each episode, with a different high profile guest star joining in the fun each time. Of particular note to us Carry On fans would be the episodes in which he was joined by Kenneth Williams and Hattie Jacques. Other star names to feature included Beryl Reid, Roy Kinnear, Anna Quayle and Sybil Thorndike.

Given how popular Jim has been over the years and the calibre of those involved, I'm surprised this series was not kept after original transmission. I know episodes of the most random telly turn up in people's attics and sheds when you least expect it, so I wondered if anyone had a copy of this series hidden away, or indeed if anyone who reads the blog remembers it when it was first broadcast.

If you do, get in touch!


You can follow me on Twitter @CarryOnJoan on Facebook and on Instagram

Carry On Laughing: Again Doctor

 

The news has been pretty bleak of late what with one thing and another. It can be difficult in troubled times to stay positive but I think if anyone is going to keep us smiling in the face of adversity it's the Carry On team. So every day this week I'm going to blog one of my favourite Carry On clips to hopefully raise the odd smile or two.

Today I've got a clip from the 1969 medical Carry On, Again Doctor. This film is well remembered for featuring Jim Dale on his runaway hospital trolley and Barbara Windsor wearing little more than three strategically placed hearts. Ahem. The clip below is a lovely little inconsequential scene featuring the soon to depart Jim Dale as Dr Jimmy Nookey. It's basically an excuse to shoehorn two of Jim's frequent co-stars from previous films into the action - Peter Gilmore and Peter Butterworth.

The spot diagnosis gag is yet again not very complex or high brow but it's lifted above the humdrum by performances from three lovely actors. Peter Butterworth in particular shines through this very brief cameo as a rather pained hospital visitor...!

More coming up tomorrow!

Carry On!

You can follow me on Twitter @CarryOnJoan on Facebook and on Instagram

Barbara Carries On ... As Goldie Locks (or is it Maud Boggins?)

Barbara Windsor will be celebrating her 80th birthday this August. In the run up to this milestone, I've decided to blog profiles of each of her nine famous Carry On roles. Much the same as I did with both Joan Sims and Hattie Jacques, these blogs will take each part in turn and provide my own personal take on them. 

Barbara, or Dame Babs as it is now, is a showbiz legend in the UK, with a career dating back to the 1950s. As the recent Babs drama on BBC1 revealed, things haven't always been easy for Windsor, but her hard work and determination have seen her bounce back time and time again. No matter what else she has done in her career, the Carry Ons will always dominate and from our point of view, as Carry On fans, rightly so! So let's continue today with Barbara's fourth role in the series, as Goldie Locks (real name Maud Boggins) in the 1969 film Carry On Again Doctor. 

Carry On Again Doctor was a quick follow up to capitalise on the roaring success of the 1967 medical film, Carry On Doctor. The film is loosely based on the original with more innuendo laden antics in the hospital wards featuring many of the same faces albeit in slightly different roles. While not a proper sequel, despite the same location of Maidenhead Town Hall being used for the hospital exterior, the whole film feels comfortably familiar if a little tired at times. Again Doctor, despite featuring a host of favourites in their prime, is by far my favourite Carry On. The film is mainly remembered as Jim Dale's last outing with the gang until Columbus in 1992. It also captured two classic images that will forever be linked with the series. One, of Dale careering around the hospital on an out of control trolley (fearless Jim doing his own stunts again) and the other of Barbara Windsor, resplendent in her outfit of three strategically placed hearts. 

Again Doctor is very much a film of two halves. The first sees the gang in full flight around the wards of Long Hampton Hospital. Dale is very much the star of the show, as the bumbling romantic hero once again gaining the affection of the patients and exasperating his superiors. Kenneth Williams plays a kindlier version of his Doctor persona, at least to begin with while Hattie Jacques returns once again as Matron. Charles Hawtrey has perhaps the most interesting character as a a rather snide, plotting Dr Stoppidge. He plays the role extremely well and marks a departure from the norm for Hawtrey. Joan Sims pops up for a supporting role as wealthy widow Ellen Moore, which despite Joan's sterling efforts remains one of her least interesting parts in the series. 

Again Doctor also welcomes Patsy Rowlands to the Carry Ons for her first of nine supporting roles. An invaluable and stand out member of the gang throughout many of the later films, Rowlands shines as Kenneth's put upon secretary. Peter Butterworth begins a trend of unfortunately brief yet still memorable cameos as a rather pained hospital visitor while the supporting cast boasts some familiar faces from earlier medical Carry Ons - Harry Locke, Valerie Van Ost, Gwendolyn Watts, Pat Coombs and Peter Gilmore all return and this is a nice point of continuity for long-time fans of the series.

The second half of the film sees Jim's disgraced Dr Nookey (yes, I know) sent off to a tropical island paradise which turns out to be a hell hole populated by wary natives and a lusty orderly played by none other than Mr Sidney James. As Gladstone Screwer, Sid has seen off previous doctors and enjoys a quiet existence with his wives (one for every week day). Jim soon takes to his bed with bottles of product placement whisky (thanks to Sidney!) and not even an early film appearance from Michael Caine's future wife Shakira can bring him round. However once he discovers a weight loss cure he returns to England to make his fortune, setting up a clinic with Sims and Jacques. This leads to a denouement of Williams and Hawtrey trying to steal the magic formula from Dale and of course all goes horribly wrong. This slightly over-tired plot does give us the delightful spectacle of Hawtrey in glorious under-cover drag as Lady Puddleton. You can tell Charles is having a whale of a time.

So what about Barbara's role in the film? Again Doctor pretty much sures up Barbara's role as the glamorous bubbly blonde of the Carry On outfit. Following on from her glorious return to the series in Doctor and Camping, Again Doctor sees much of Barbara's role focus on her considerable assets. She plays model-cum-actress Goldie Locks who first appears as a patient in casualty following an accident on set (advertising Bristol's Bouncing Baby Food). Barbara's first scene is iconic when she arrives in the hospital in her outfit of big red hearts. Apparently Barbara was very nervous about filming this scene and dieted like crazy, much to the dismay of director Gerald Thomas. Looking at it now, I'm not sure why Windsor was so nervous about this scene as several other scenes in the series and even in Again Doctor are much more risque.

Barbara's character is Jim's love interest and the pair work beautifully together as Jim hopelessly pursues her throughout the first section of the film. The scenes at the hospital dance are terrific fun with Eric Rogers on hand with his band playing tunes from some of Jim's earlier Carry On films, listen for classics from Cabby and Spying. Goldie is having none of it though and heads off before Dr Nookey disgraces himself once and for all. Babs then disappears from the film for the middle section while Dale and James share some great scenes at the medical mission. She returns for the final sequence at the slimming clinic and eventually agrees to marry Nookey. 

Yet again Barbara puts in a great performance but despite this the film pigeon holes her as a very specific kind of character. Unlike Joan Sims who played such a wide range of characters throughout her Carry On career, Barbara was pretty much always the Cockney blonde. Camping moved things on a pace thanks to the classic bra-pinging sequence and this was seen yet again in Again Doctor as the actress was asked to expose yet more flesh. There would be at least one flash in each of her remaining Carry On appearances. You can see how she would later struggle to escape her Carry On persona for other acting work.

 

Barbara would return to Pinewood for her fifth appearance in the films the following October, this time for her own personal favourite role, as Bettina in the twenty first film in the franchise, Carry On Henry. I'll leave you with a great photo taken on the press night of Jim Dale's triumphant 2015 one man show, Just Jim Dale. Such was the strength of that image from Again Doctor that Dale and Barbara recreated it at the Vaudeville Theatre!



You can follow me on Twitter @CarryOnJoan on Facebook and on Instagram

What a Carry On this Easter on ITV3: Easter Sunday

ITV3 haven't let us down this Easter! The channel, which now feels like the home of all things Carry On, is showing some fantastic classic Carry Ons over the Easter weekend.

There are back to back Carry On films on the channel from Good Friday, so here, without further ado, is the all important ITV3 Carry On Schedule for Easter Sunday:

07.50 - 09.50 - Carry On Doctor (1967)

Probably my favourite medical Carry On which sees a full compliment of legendary cast members run havoc in the wards! Frankie Howerd guest stars in the first of two appearances in the series and is joined by a host of familiar faces including Charles Hawtrey, Peter Butterworth, Sid James and Bernard Bresslaw. They unite to take on the corrupt Kenneth Williams and Hattie Jacques (reprising her role as Matron) in the hope of reinstating kind doctor Jim Dale.

09.50 - 11.40 - Carry On Behind (1975)

Probably the last half-decent film in the series, this saucy 70s Carry On Camping update misses the likes of James, Jacques and Windsor but it still boasts a cast which includes Kenneths Williams and Connor, Joan Sims, Bernard Bresslaw, Peter Butterworth and Patsy Rowlands. Elke Sommer and Windsor Davies join the fun for the first time while Liz Fraser makes a return to the series for the first time since Carry On Cabby twelve years earlier.

 

13.25 - 15.15 - Carry On Dick (1974)

A watershed film for the series - one of the last period-themed film which takes an innuendo-laden look at the legend of Dick Turpin. The film is the last to star Hattie Jacques, Barbara Windsor and Sid James and the last to be written by the legendary script writer Talbot Rothwell. 

15.15 - 17.05 - Carry On Again Doctor (1969)

A quick follow up to the hugely successful Carry On Doctor in 1967, Again Doctor is part hospital farce and part medical mission comedy as Jim Dale stars in his last film in the series until Carry On Columbus over twenty years later. Kenneth Williams and Charles Hawtrey grab most of the laughs while Barbara Windsor proves irresistible as Goldie Locks, or is it Maud Boggins?

 

17.05 - 18.55 - Carry On Up The Khyber (1968)

1968 was probably the most successful year for the series with two of its biggest hits produced as ever at Pinewood Studios. Carry On Camping came top of the charts in 1969 but first came Up The Khyber, a wonderful tribute to all things British. Set in Victorian-era India, it focuses on the Third Foot and Mouth regiment, or the Devils in Skirts! Sid James is on fine form as Sir Sidney Ruff-Diamond with Joan Sims as his wife Lady Joan. Kenneth Williams has the role of a lifetime as the Khasi! 

 

 
Carry On! 

You can follow me on Twitter @CarryOnJoan