Carry On Blogging Festive Advent: 14 December

And so, once again December is upon us. I'll be bringing you a daily dose of festive Carry On cheer each day on the lead up to the 25th. 

So every day I will bring you another cracking Carry On photo with a festive theme. They will probably all be rather naughty, but hopefully all quite nice. 

Today we're back in 1969 and the very first (and in my opinion the very best) Christmas special with the gang. Featuring Talbot Rothwell firing on all cylinders and a cracking cast of Carry On favourites, it can't really fail. At the centre of the action is Sid James as skinflint Scrooge himself and here he is at the start of the show, about to kick poor old Peter Butterworth up the crutch! 

What a Carry On at Christmas! 

You can follow me on Twitter @CarryOnJoan and on Instagram

Carry On Christmas Classics!

I've found this wonderful video over on YouTube which provides an excellent compilation of the very best bits from all four Carry On Christmas television specials. Produced between 1969 and 1973 for Thames Television, these fantastic festive editions featured the vast majority of the Carry On team and are definitely worth a watch.

Although the production values are not up to modern standards, the quality of the star turns make these shows very watchable even after all these years. For me, the very first and the very last (made in '69 and '73) are the best of the bunch. The first episode from Christmas 1969 features a stunning guest star turn from Frankie Howerd, who obviously enjoys performing in front of the live audience at Thames! 

The like of Sid James, Terry Scott, Charles Hawtrey, Joan Sims, Barbara Windsor and Hattie Jacques all appear throughout the run of specials with terrific support from familiar faces such as Bernard Bresslaw, Valerie Leon, Julian Holloway, Kenneth Connor, Jack Douglas and Peter Butterworth.

The 1969 special features a panto sketch which should really have been an episode all to itself while 1973 has highlights which include Bernard, Kenneth Connor and Peter doing a ballet routine and Sid as a lusty department store Santa!

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My Carry On Christmas Wishlist

Christmas is upon us once again. Oh joy! While some of us may have other things to think about as it's only just the start of December, I'm launching right in there with my festive Carry On Christmas wish list. 

I've already seen some of the television scheduling for the 2017 festive season and to be frank it's not really retro enough for me so if any schedulers, executives or otherwise influential people are reading, here is my Christmas comedy wishlist:

There's nothing like a black and white film at Christmas...

I love black and white movies. There is something so very special and charming about them. They also have a lot of style and sophistication that colour films can lack. So let's have some wonderful black and white classics on the tellybox this Christmas. And no I don't mean Citizen Kane or It's A Wonderful Life, I mean something a little closer to home. I've always thought the original Norman Hudis black and white Carry Ons deserve more prominence in the schedules these days are they really are well written, beautifully acted and filmed comedies in their own right. So come on Channel 4 or BBC 2 - why not bung on Carry On Nurse over Christmas? Or maybe even my personal favourite, Carry On Cabby. It would make this fan very happy indeed. 

The glory days of the festive TV special

The Carry On team made four Christmas specials for Thames Television between 1969 and 1973. They were always a ragbag, cheap and cheerful concoction but featured casts of wonderful actors game for a laugh. Nearly all the regulars appeared, with the exception of Kenneth Williams, so there's plenty to enjoy. My own personal favourites are the original special shown in 1969 and featuring a barnstorming guest turn from Frankie Howerd and a joyous Carry On panto sketch which should have been feature length in its own right! I also love the much naughtier 1973 special, featuring Sid as a rather unorthodox department store Santa. Various sketches are introduced by Sid starring the likes of Joan Sims, Kenneth Connor and Peter Butterworth but it's one of the earliest scenes that lives long in the memory co-starring Joan and Barbara Windsor as a rather advanced school girl. They couldn't get away with that nowadays! Channel 5 showed some of these a few years back and I think it's high time they were given another broadcast.

Seventies Sitcom Christmas specials

They just don't make them like they used to. For me the seventies were the glory days of television domestic sitcoms and I'm afraid the likes of Mrs Brown's Boys really just doesn't cut it. I have a few classic sitcom episodes I wish they would show again. One of these is an episode of Sykes from Christmas 1975 which sees Eric and Hattie join Corky Turnbull for the festive season. There is a wonderful wordless cameo from the actress Sheila Steafel and I remember it being very funny indeed.

Although not strictly Carry On related I'd also love to see one of the Please Sir Christmas specials from the early 70s. Another rarely shown series these days but anything with Joan Sanderson in it must be good! And finally, we all know Terry and June but how about showing some festive episodes of its predecessor, Happy Ever After? This series starring Terry, June and Beryl Cooke, ran from 1974 until 1978.

What about a Carry On blockbuster on Christmas Day?

ITV seem to limit their Carry On output to ITV3 and while their commitment to this over the past few years has been admirable, how about showing one of the very best, classic Carry Ons on the main network channel on Christmas Day? An afternoon showing of Carry On Up The Khyber would be a wonderful addition to the schedules and the sight of Sid, Joan, Kenneth and Peter in all their glory would make me stick around for the Queen's message.  

So that's what would make this fan happy over the festive season, what would be on your wishlist?

 

You can follow me on Twitter @CarryOnJoan and also Facebook

Carry On Stuffing with your Hampton Court!

 

It's time for another festive treat with a Carry On flavour and today's tasty morsel comes from way back in 1972. This year saw the third Carry On Christmas television special made by Thames Television and they were by now an institution.

This special, otherwise known as Carry On Stuffing, is possibly my least favourite of all the festive shows the team made for television however it still has it's highlights. The cast is headed up by the three regular Carry On ladies - Hattie Jacques, Joan Sims and Barbara Windsor - which makes a change and give the actresses more time to shine. Although Sid James, Terry Scott and Charles Hawtrey are absent, there is still plenty to enjoy with Peter Butterworth, Kenneth Connor and Jack Douglas adding to the festive cheer.

This clip shows the team demonstrating their vocal talents as they join together for an innuendo-laden comedy song, "Hampton Court". All those featured were used to singing on stage, with the likes of Joan and Barbara well-versed in classic revue sketches and songs and Hattie a regular at the Players' Theatre for many years. It's a delight and shows off more of these great performers' broad range of skills than perhaps the main Carry On film series ever allowed.

Hope you enjoy!

Sadly this programme also marked the end of the road for Charles Hawtrey. Annoyed at Hattie Jacques being given top billing for this special, Hawtrey fell out once and for all with Carry On producer Peter Rogers. The films that followed missed his special brand of magic keenly.


You can follow me on Twitter @CarryOnJoan and also Facebook

Carry On Christmas: The 1969 Television Special

With Christmas fast approaching, i thought I would blog about one of my favourite television outings for the Carry On team: the original Carry On Christmas special from 1969.

This first ever Christmas special has it all. It boasts a cast groaning with classic Carry On regulars; it has a tip top script from regular scribe Talbot Rothwell; it has an amazing guest star on top form and it's deliciously rude, naughty festive fun from beginning to end.

Peter Rogers was approached by Thames Television to make this special at a time when the Carry On brand was at the peak of its popularity. The previous year had seen Carry On Camping and Carry On Up The Khyber reach the top of the box office charts, even beating the likes of James Bond and many other big budget international pictures. Clearly wanting to cash in on this success as much as possible, businessman Rogers saw the opportunity to bring the film series to the television screens as being highly lucrative. And indeed it was. 

The 1969 special is my favourite of all four Christmas episodes the gang made. Setting it in Victorian times with Sid James leading the pack as a gloriously nasty Scrooge, the episode has all the usual Carry On goons mugging away around Sid as the star. The show is made up of various sketches, all pretty loosely linked together. The only one which doesn't really work for me is the Frankenstein parody featuring Terry Scott as a deranged doctor, Bernard Bresslaw as the monster and Barbara Windsor as his erm Fanny. It's funny in places but about as festive as the middle of January.

Much better is the hilarious sequence which sees Hattie Jacques dressed up as a nun with Bresslaw, Hawtrey, Scott and Peter Butterworth as carol singing school girls. The four male actors clearly relish being in drag and mug for the camera with complete shamelessness! Hawtrey in particular is on excellent form throughout and impishly giggles and falls in and out of character. Peter Butterworth barely manages to conceal his giggles while Hattie gamely continues with the script and attempts to keep them all under control! Priceless stuff.

The highlight for me is the pantomime sequence at the end. Terry Scott and Peter Butterworth go through their ugly sister routine with aplomb, relishing the chance to bring what must have been a regular stage role for them both to the small screen. Barbara Windsor is great as a downtrodden Cinderella while Charles Hawtrey nearly loses his wig as Buttons! Best of all is the magnificent arrival of guest star Frankie Howerd as the Fairy Godmother. His costume is completely outrageous and this being Frankie, he barely acknowledges the script, going straight into stand up mode. He ad-libs aplenty with Charles Hawtrey and gives Barbara the giggles! It's an absolute joy.

So if you are looking for a festive Carry On special to watch this Christmas, my advice is go for the first and best of the lot, the 1969 Carry On Christmas.

What a Carry On at Christmas! 

You can follow me on Twitter @CarryOnJoan 

Share Your Christmas Carry On Memories

Christmas is almost upon us once again, or so the adverts would have us believe. This year, I have published many blogs either written by Carry On fans or with contributions from regular blog readers. These guest blogs and Fans of the Week posts have been a joy as I've been able to interact a great deal more with fellow fans.

This has got me thinking and I've come up with an idea for some festive blogs. I would really love you all to share your favourite Christmas Carry On memories with me. This can either be in the form of a full blog if you want to submit one, or just a couple of paragraphs to be included in a blog made up of comments from a range of people - completely up to you. What you choose to talk about is also up to you, but it must be festive in tone and obviously focus on the Carry On films and their stars.

Perhaps you have a favourite Carry On Christmas television special you would like to write about? Maybe you have fond memories of seeing a Carry On actor in pantomime? Or maybe you would just like to reminisce about the thrill of discovering which Carry On films would be in the Christmas telly schedules?

I'd love to share your Christmas Carry On memories on Carry On Blogging this festive season, so why not get your thinking caps on? You have plenty of time to write and submit your memories. When you do so, please email them to carryonfan15@gmail.com

I look forward to hearing from you!

You can follow me on Twitter @CarryOnJoan 

Clicking on the adverts helps to keep this blog going.

Share your Christmas Carry On Memories

Christmas is almost upon us once again, or so the adverts would have us believe. This year, I have published many blogs either written by Carry On fans or with contributions from regular blog readers. These guest blogs and Fans of the Week posts have been a joy as I've been able to interact a great deal more with fellow fans.

This has got me thinking and I've come up with an idea for some festive blogs. I would really love you all to share your favourite Christmas Carry On memories with me. This can either be in the form of a full blog if you want to submit one, or just a couple of paragraphs to be included in a blog made up of comments from a range of people - completely up to you. What you choose to talk about is also up to you, but it must be festive in tone and obviously focus on the Carry On films and their stars.

Perhaps you have a favourite Carry On Christmas television special you would like to write about? Maybe you have fond memories of seeing a Carry On actor in pantomime? Or maybe you would just like to reminisce about the thrill of discovering which Carry On films would be in the Christmas telly schedules?

I'd love to share your Christmas Carry On memories on Carry On Blogging this festive season, so why not get your thinking caps on? You have plenty of time to write and submit your memories. When you do so, please email them to carryonfan15@gmail.com

I look forward to hearing from you!

You can follow me on Twitter @CarryOnJoan 

Clicking on the adverts helps to keep this blog going.