The actor Windsor Davies has very sadly passed away at the age of 88. Windsor, as has been seen by the reaction on Twitter today, was an actor held in tremendous affection by the British public, mainly thanks to a series of high profile and well received roles in television situation comedy. An instantly recognisable actor with an unforgettable booming Welsh voice, his death marks the latest in a very sad list of legendary Carry On faces we have recently lost.
Windsor came to acting relatively late on, turning professional in the early 1960s in his early thirties. He came to the Carry On films late in their run too. Joining the team for Carry On Behind in 1975, Windsor was an instant hit with both his fellow team members and the viewing public. His all guns blazing performance as lusty butcher Fred Ramsden was one of the highlights of the film and his double act with Jack Douglas was natural, easy going and very believable. I understand the role of Fred was written by Dave Freeman for Sid James, however with Sid touring overseas at the time, up stepped Windsor. He was the perfect choice. So popular was Windsor that he was quickly brought back for the following film, the Second World War comedy Carry On England in 1976. By now, sadly, Sid James had died and nothing would be quite the same again. Despite this, Windsor gives a spirited performance in a leading role, as the bombastic Sergeant Major, not a million miles away from one of his most famous small screen creations. Again forming a deliciously funny double act (this time with Kenneth Connor) Windsor is one of the few good things about England.
Windsor's Carry On association does not quite end there. Many years later he popped up for a cameo in the ITV drama, Cor Blimey! This adaptation of Terry Johnson's stage play Cleo, Camping, Emmannuelle and Dick, told the story of Sid James, Barbara Windsor and Kenneth Williams and their lives on screen and off. Windsor plays an actor rehearsing the role of Sir Toby Belch opposite Samantha Spiro's Barbara Windsor towards the end of the film. Curiously, Windsor had guest starred as Charlie, a co-worker of Sid James in Sid's classic sitcom Bless This House back in 1974, the year before he would take his place in the Carry On series.
Windsor Davies, one of our most famous Welshmen, was actually born in Canning Town on 28 August 1930. He actually shared a birthday with yours truly, although we were born quite a few years apart. Windsor was born to Welsh parents and the family moved back to Wales upon the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939. After receiving his education in the Ogmore Valley, Windsor took on a variety of jobs including that of a coal miner before training to be a school teacher. He was also posted overseas to Egypt amongst other places during his National Service in the 1950s. During his time as a teacher, he also started to become involved in amateur dramatics in his spare time. This eventually sealed his fate, as his wife persuaded him to enrol in a drama course.
The early 1960s saw Windsor well on his way to success as he began to rack up a long list of credits, mainly on the small screen. His debut came in 1962 when he played Wallace Morton in a television film called The Keep. This comedy drama focussed on a Welsh family tied to the memory of their revered and long dead mother. Before long recurring roles in television series came his way, with parts as Bill Morgan in Probation Officer (1962) and as Detective Sergeant Wade in Ring Out an Alibi (1964). Windsor also made his first forays in cinema at this time with supporting roles in two Agatha Christie adaptations - as Sergeant Brick with Margaret Rutherford in 1964's Murder Most Foul and a year later as Dragbot in The Alphabet Murders.
He appeared several times as Willy the Gospel in the Sam Kydd family adventure series Orlando in 1966 before being cast as a Returning Officer in two episodes of Granada's Coronation Street later that year. His episodes see regular character Len Fairclough become a Weatherfield Councillor, beating the formidable Rovers Return landlady Annie Walker. Windsor also appeared in another soap opera around this time - as Dan Cray in The Newcomers, which also featured a young Wendy Richard. Later in 1967 Windsor also had a brush with Doctor Who, playing Toby in the Patrick Troughton saga The Evil of the Daleks.
Windsor continued to play many supporting roles in a useful mix of comedy and drama across the late 1960s and early 1970s, appearing in series such as The Worker with Charlie Drake, UFO, Nearest and Dearest and Special Branch. In 1971 he even joined fellow Carry On actor Peter Gilmore to play Taffy in the classic serial The Onedin Line. However it was his starring role as Sergeant Major Williams in the Perry and Croft BBC sitcom It Ain't Half Hot Mum which catapulted this hard working character actor to lasting stardom. In a cast which also featured Melvyn Hayes, Michael Bates, Donald Hewlett, Michael Knowles and Don Estelle, Windsor played the most iconic character of all. It even led to a chart hit for Windsor and Don in 1975 - a certain Whispering Grass. The series ran to 56 episodes from 1974 until 1981 and became a huge hit, although it is rarely broadcast today due to certain themes broadcasters deem unacceptable. I'll leave you to make your own mind up on that one.
Despite the success of It Ain't Half Hot Mum, Windsor continued to make many appearances elsewhere, in what must have been a very busy schedule. Aside from the two Carry Ons, he also played Mr Truscott, father of Lynda Bellingham's character Mary in the 1976 film Confessions of a Driving Instructor. That same year he joined familiar Carry On faces Carol Hawkins, Leslie Phillips, Ian Lavender and June Whitfield for the Ray Cooney film farce, Not Now, Comrade. And in 1978 he took on what apparently proved to be his favourite part, as Welsh rugby fan Mog Jones in the comedy adventure, Grand Slam. As soon as It Ain't Half Hot Mum came to an end in 1981, Windsor launched himself into another long running sitcom role. He starred opposite Donald Sinden as two rival antiques dealers in the series Never the Twain. Produced by Thames, the series lasted for 67 episodes and for ten years, finally ending in 1991. The 1980s brought many other roles, quite a few of which were in children's television with appearances on The Sooty Show, Alice in Wonderland and Danger: Marmalade at Work. In 1985 he also starred in the comedy series The New Statesman, playing George Vance.
Windsor continued to work right throughout the 1990s and although comedy still featured, with guest parts in the likes of Oh Doctor Beeching! and 2Point4 Children, both for the BBC, he also got to stretch his dramatic muscles in a range of period dramas. I remember him as Prime Minister David Lloyd George in Channel 4's excellent drama series, Mosley in 1998, with Jonathan Cake playing the infamous British fascist leader, Oswald Mosley. Windsor also played General Tufto in two episodes of the serial Vanity Fair, broadcast the same year. And in 2000, Davies was part of an all star cast for the BBC2 production of Mervyn Peake's Gormenghast. Windsor played Rottcodd in a cast which also featured Warren Mitchell, Eric Sykes, June Brown and Christopher Lee. Windsor's last appearances came in the medical drama series Casualty in 2000 and four years later, in a cameo as a Night Porter in the Robert Lindsay and Zoe Wanamaker BBC sitcom, My Family.
Windsor Davies chose to retire from the acting profession in 2004 at the age of 74. He retired to the South of France with his wife, Eluned. Windsor and Eluned had married in 1957 and were together until her death in September 2018. Together they had five children.
Windsor clearly had a long, successful life, both professionally and personally. Reaching the grand old age of 88 is a wonderful thing, yet that does not make his passing any easier for those who knew him and loved him. As fans of the very best of British comedy and drama, we can cherish his prolific career and all those brilliant roles he played as only he could. Rest in peace, Windsor, and thanks for all the laughs.
You can follow me on Twitter @CarryOnJoan and on Instagram
Today we wish the suave, evergreen actor Patrick Mower a very happy 80th birthday! Patrick, a real Seventies heartthrob if ever there was one, is now best known for his long running role as Rodney Blackstock in the ITV soap opera Emmerdale. Patrick has played the part since the year 2000.
Patrick has been a fixture on television and cinema screens since the 1960s with his most memorable roles coming from a variety of gritty, small screen detective shows in the 1970s. As well as roles in The Sweeney, The Avengers and Jason King, he took lead roles in both Callan and Special Branch. To Carry On fans, Patrick is best remembered for his role as Len Able in the less than successful 1976 film Carry On England, in which he played love interest to Judy Geeson.
Patrick took part in the 2015 ITV tribute show, Carry On Forever, and remains proud of his involvement with the Carry Ons. A further Carry On link comes in the shapely shape of Emmannuelle actress Suzanne Danielle, who was Patrick's real life partner for seven years.
Whatever Patrick is up to today, I hope he has an excellent birthday!
You can follow me on Twitter @CarryOnJoan
I'd like to wish the actress Judy Geeson a very happy birthday. Judy, based over in the United States for many years now, turns 70 years young this very day.
To Carry On fans Judy is mainly known for two things. First of all, for starring in Carry On England as Sergeant Tilly Willing opposite Patrick Mower in 1976 and also for being the real life sister of Bless This House and Carry On Abroad actress Sally Geeson.
Although Judy only made one Carry On appearance, she has enjoyed a long and varied career on screen on both sides of the Atlantic. Following her break out role as Pamela in the 1967 film To Sir, With Love, other films quickly followed. Among Judy's best are Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush (1968) with Barry Evans; 10 Rillington Place (1971) with Richard Attenborough and John Hurt; Fear in the Night (1972) with Joan Collins and Peter Cushing; Brannigan (1975) with John Wayne and The Eagle Has Landed (1976) with Michael Caine and Donald Sutherland. Judy also starred in comedies such as Percy's Progress (from the Betty Box/Ralph Thomas stable) and the sub-Carry On sex comedy Adventures of a Taxi Driver (again with Barry Evans).
On the small screen Judy has been seen in the likes of Emergency - Ward 10, Danger Man, the original 1970s series of Poldark and Tales of the Unexpected. Over in the United States, Judy's career has taken in everything from Murder She Wrote and The A Team to Charmed and Mad About You.
You can read more about Judy here
Whatever Judy is up to today, I hope she has a great birthday!
You can follow me on Twitter @CarryOnJoan and on Instagram
And to front up straight away on this one, I have absolutely no idea. I posted a photo of Tricia from Carry On England on Twitter the other day and it attracted quite a bit of interest. I guess I hadn't given her much thought before as her largest Carry On role is in one of my least favourite Carry On films. However, posting that random picture has piqued my interest. Sadly my investigations haven't got me very far.
Tricia Newby only appeared in two Carry Ons, both small supporting roles. Her first, as Bombardier Murray in the 1976 film Carry On England was her largest part, as it were. As one of the glamorous female recruits in the mixed barracks taken over by Kenneth Connor's fiendish Captain Melly, Newby co-stars alongside Diane Langton, Judy Geeson and Joan Sims. It's a featured role which mainly requires Newby to lose most of her clothes, such was the state of the franchise by this stage. She is part of the line up during one of England's most controversial scenes which sees several female recruits go topless on parade. Peter Rogers and Gerald Thomas clearly being swayed by the popularity of the Confessions films at this time.
It's no fault of Tricia's that she's part of such a woeful film, just bad timing really. She obviously made an impression on Peter and Gerald as two years later she returned for a very brief, yet revealing cameo as the Surgery Nurse in Carry On Emmannuelle in a scene featuring Albert Moses and Kenneth Williams. Again, I've only seen it once but I recall Newby was required to display more than her acting talent in this role. Sadly, Emmannuelle was Tricia's last acting assignment, according to the Internet Movie Database at least. True, this site can be unreliable but when there is little other information available on an actor it can sometimes be all we have to call upon.
Tricia Newby appears to have made her screen debut two years before Carry On England, in an episode of the comedy drama series Moody and Pegg, which starred Judy Cornwell and Derek Waring. She played Sharon in the very first episode, His and Hers, in 1974. Her episode also starred Please Sir actor Peter Denyer and Carry On Behind actress Adrienne Posta. The following year she played Jill Dawson in an episode of the series Public Eye, entitled The Fall Guy. This series starred Alfred Burke and the episode featuring Tricia also starred Susan Penhaligon, Ronald Lewis (of Twice Round the Daffodils and Nurse On Wheels fame) and George Moon (who played in Carry On Camping and Dick and is the father of actress Georgina Moon).
Only a couple more brief roles followed. In 1976 she played Betty in the Nicky Henson/Joan Collins vehicle The Bawdy Adventures of Tom Jones while later the same year she played a French Girl in the war drama Aces High, which starred Christopher Plummer, Simon Ward and Malcolm McDowell. Tricia's two Carry Ons followed and then the trail runs cold.
I have no further information on Tricia, on what she did next, on where she came from or went to or even if she's still with us today (which I very much hope she is). A couple of people on Twitter seemed to think she became a regular in early series of The Bill on ITV but I couldn't find any evidence of that on the net, which is not to say it's not possible.
So I'm flinging this wide open to you, Dear Reader! If anyone knows anything more about Tricia Newby, do get in touch!
You can follow me on Twitter @CarryOnJoan and on Instagram
Next month will mark Kenneth Connor's centenary. This feels like the right time to celebrate the man's legacy and what better a legacy that his seventeen glorious performances in the Carry On films. As I've already done with the three main leading ladies of the series, I plan to embark on a series of blogs profiling each of Kenneth's roles in the Carry Ons, giving my own take on his contributions.
Kenneth is another one of those actors who worked steadily, prolifically and across all mediums throughout his career. From his very early days in film before the outbreak of World War Two, through the 1950s which saw him become an integral part of British radio comedy to the Carry Ons and his unforgettable roles in several 1980s sitcoms, Connor was an incredibly gifted actor. He worked right up until his death at the age of 75 in November 1993. However unlike Sid, Kenneth Williams or Barbara Windsor, I feel that Connor never really got the credit he deserved. He didn't have an outrageous private life, no scandals to be told. He shunned the limelight and his many performances as the ordinary man in the street mirrored his own life away from the cameras.
Kenneth was also one of the precious few actors who's career spanned pretty much the entire run of the Carry Ons. He was there at the very beginning in Carry On Sergeant and, a five year gap in the mind 1960s aside, remained loyal to the films until the very end of the original run in 1978. Connor, along with Williams and Eric Barker were the only actors to appear in the very first and the very last of the series. Kenneth was still around when Columbus was made in 1992 but declined to take part, probably very wisely. This new series of blogs will be a celebration of all those wonderful comedy performances in the Carry Ons - from bumbling romantic lead through to crumbling character parts, Kenneth could play them all.
So let's continue with Kenneth's sixteenth and penultimate role in the series, as Captain S. Melly in the 1976 film, Carry On England!
Carry On England, a return to a period costume subject matter for the series, came at a dark time for the films. The film went into production just weeks after the death of their leading light, the irreplaceable Sid James. Despite this sad news, Peter Rogers and Gerald Thomas decided to go ahead with their latest project, a story about a mixed platoon of male and female soldiers during the Second World War. Now I normally like a period setting for a Carry On but this one, not so much. It's dull and dowdy with all the brown uniforms and low key sets. All shot in the Pinewood orchard which had previously produced the likes of Carry On Camping and Behind, England is a far cry from even the most recent Carry On films.
The basic premise is slim - a new bombastic Captain is sent to take command of the platoon and instil some discipline into them. The soldiers don't take kindly to this and set about disrupting his tactics, driving him potty and hopefully, driving him away. Ok, it has potential as a Carry On story, however it's all in the telling and sadly this story is told without a modicum of the lighthearted, innocent mirth which graced so many of the previous films. For me there are just too many changes in personnel with this film which means it just can't succeed. Instead of keeping on Dave Freeman who had made a success of the Carry On Behind script, Rogers for some reason overlooked Dave and brought in David Pursall and Jack Seddon. Both experienced writers but not experienced in the art of Carry On. Eric Rogers, who had beautifully scored many of the previous films, was absent for England with music duties taken on by Max Harris. Again, the difference is palpable.
With the death of Sid James, Charles Hawtrey in permanent exile and Hattie Jacques, Barbara Windsor, Kenneth Williams and Bernard Bresslaw busy elsewhere, there is also a distinct lack of regulars in Carry On England. Joan Sims and Peter Butterworth are given pitiful roles which give them little more than cameo screen time. Jack Douglas is treated better but plays very much to type. There is a huge amount of new talent in England - again all successful elsewhere but not practiced in the world of Carry On. The like of Judy Geeson, Diane Langton, Patrick Mower and Melvyn Hayes can all act and act well, but they can't pull it off like Sid, Charles and Hattie. There is such a dearth of recognisable faces that one almost gets giddy with excitement when brief scenes with Julian Holloway or Patricia Franklin appear. The only regular Carry On actor to receive major screen time in Kenneth Connor, the subject of this very blog.
Kenneth grabs the starring role as Captain S. Melly (yes the script is that awful). Storming through the action with the best military character the film has to offer, Connor clearly relishes being top dog instead of supporting player. He goes gamely through all the uncomfortable, frankly denigrating comedy sequences which see his character fall for ever nasty prank the platoon can come up with, losing his clothes, falling into goodness knows what (twice) and basically being the laughing stock of the entire barracks.
Despite England being pretty damn woeful, it does provide bucket loads of Kenneth Connor and once again proves what an excellent comic actor and an excellent all round actor Kenneth was. He must have been to make some of this awful material fly. At the heart of England is one blessed consolation. A superb double act between Connor and his second in command, the wonderful Windsor Davies in full It Ain't Half Hot Mum mode. Yes Windsor is really just recreating his small screen character for the Carry Ons, but he's a natural and just excellent at it. Combined with Connor's little man of authority and the film improves ten fold every time they have a scene together.
Sadly though that isn't enough to help Carry On England join the ranks of the true classics in the Carry On series. Indeed the film was removed from general release in many cinemas after only three days. Yes the film is dire, yes it's unfunny and has an air of mean spirited cheapness about it but it does have a fairly patriotic ending. Throughout the film the cast of characters have been pretty woeful at fighting the war. However they are given their moment to shine at the end of the film as they all come together to fight the enemy. Yes it's corny and lacking depth but given the majority of the film hasn't managed to keep the audience awake, the almost rousing finale, complete with archive footage of Churchill, does nearly get the patriotic juices flowing.
Personally, I'd rather forget Carry On England ever existed, despite it featuring several actors I cherish. Kenneth Connor works so bloody hard throughout the film to salvage what he can which begs the question, just how awful would it have been without him?
Stay tuned for the next (and final) blog in this series, in which I take a look at Kenneth Connor's role in the 1978 film, Carry On Emmannuelle.
You can follow me on Twitter @CarryOnJoan and on Instagram
Many happy returns to the actress Diane Langton who celebrates her birthday today. Diane has a long career on stage and screen, is well known to Carry On fans for her performance as Alice Easy in the less than successful Carry On England, released in 1976.
As the rather busty young Private, Langton was pretty much cast in the Barbara Windsor role in this film and despite the overall film being a complete stinker, she's good in the part. England wasn't Diane's only brush with Carry On though. Way back in 1959 she appeared in a non-speaking role as one of the children in Carry On Teacher. Along with the likes of David Barry, Jeremy Bulloch and Francesca Annis, Diane can be spotted in several crowd scenes. Fast forward to 1975 and Langton joined many familiar faces in the ATV Carry On Laughing television series. Diane appeared in three episodes, which must have led to her being cast in England the following year.
Away from the Carry Ons, Diane has appeared in films like Ray Cooney's Don't Just Lie There, Say Something with Leslie Phillips, Joan Sims and Joanna Lumley and Confessions of a Pop Performer, co-starring with fellow England actress Linda Regan. Diane has also had many stage successes in her career, appearing in the likes of Billy Elliot and Sondheim's A Little Night Music.
On television, Diane can currently be seen in the Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks - she has been part of the cast of this show for nearly a decade. Other roles on the small screen have included the 1970s reboot of The Rag Trade, Only Fools and Horses, Doctors, Heartbeat and EastEnders.
Whatever Diane is up to today, I hope she has a wonderful birthday.
You can follow me on Twitter @CarryOnJoan and on Instagram
I grew up watching the actor Johnny Briggs bring the Cockney factory boss lothario Mike Baldwin to life in Coronation Street. As a child I often got confused as at the time there was also a children's television show called "Johnny Briggs" - how could there be two? Anyway, for many of us, Johnny *was* Michael Vernon Baldwin, a fish out of water up North who brought capitalism to the back streets of Weatherfield and tried to take Deirdre from Ken.
As the role of Baldwin was so prominent and became incredibly iconic, it is difficult to believe Johnny Briggs did anything else. After all he played Mike for thirty years from 1976 until the character's death in the spring of 2006. However Briggs had an acting career stretching back to the post-war period, when, as a child actor he began appearing in small parts in various films. At the age of 12, Johnny won a scholarship to the famous Italia Conti stage school and from there, started earning a living as an actor. For many years he slaved away in small, often uncredited roles. His very first film was called Hue and Cry, made way back in 1947. Directed by the legendary Charles Crichton, it starred the wonderful Alastair Sim.
More films followed, among them Oliver Twist, The Lavender Hill Mob and Sink the Bismarck! - all small roles but Briggs kept going. Despite being known for drama, Johnny also appeared in countless classic comedy roles, mainly on the big screen. In 1960 he played Johnny Nolan in the Norman Wisdom comedy The Bulldog Breed. Coincidentally, another young actor who would become forever linked to Briggs also appeared in that film. Playing an uncredited role was William Roache, soon to be catapulted to fame as Coronation Street's Ken Barlow, Baldwin's greatest foe. Three years later, Johnny would have his first brush with the world of Rogers, Thomas and the like when he played one of the young medical students in the Betty Box/Ralph Thomas comedy, Doctor in Distress. He was in good company: his fellow students were played by Christopher Beeny, Derek Fowlds and Richard Briers. Although they didn't cross paths in the film, Johnny's future Corrie wife Amanda Barrie also pops up in Distress playing Rona.
Also in 1963, Johnny Briggs was back working with Norman Wisdom. In the film Stitch in Time, Johnny plays a small time gangster who holds up Mr Grimsdale's butcher's shop at the start of the film, in a very funny scene featuring Norman and future Carry On legend Patsy Rowlands. Johnny went on to play small roles in the Morecambe and Wise film, The Intelligence Men in 1965, the character of Millet in the Reg Varney/Diana Coupland comedy drama The Best Pair of Legs in the Business (1973) and the part of a milkman in the 1974 big screen spin off Man About The House.
In between all that however, Johnny Briggs made his first appearance in the Carry On series. In 1968 he played the small role of "Sporran Soldier" in the classic Carry On Up The Khyber. Watch out for him sharing a few words with Terry Scott during the climactic battle sequence towards the end of the film. Peter Rogers and Gerald Thomas were always loyal to actors they found easy to work with and true enough, Johnny did return to Pinewood to work with them again. Four years later, in 1972, Briggs was cast as a delivery driver in their big screen version of the classic Sid James sitcom, Bless This House. Johnny returned to the Carry Ons again in 1975 when he played one of the painters in the Clubhouse in Carry On Behind. That same year he also guest starred in one episode of the ATV Carry On Laughing series. In "The Case of the Coughing Parrot" Briggs played Norman in a cast which also starred Jack Douglas, Joan Sims, Kenneth Connor and Johnny's future Corrie co-star Sherrie Hewson.
Johnny was given his biggest Carry On role the following year when he played Melly's driver in Carry On England. He shared a couple of decent scenes at the start of the film with its star, Kenneth Connor. This would be one of Johnny's last roles before taking on the life-changing part of Mike Baldwin up at Granada. Johnny turned Mike Baldwin into one of Coronation Street's most legendary characters and I loved following his ups and downs over the years. As I've written about in this blog, it's still worth remembering just what a varied career Briggs had before being cast in his most famous and long-lasting role.
You can follow me on Twitter @CarryOnJoan on Facebook and on Instagram
Quite by accident yesterday I came across the obituary for the actor John Carlin, who sadly passed away back in November at the age of 88. The name might not be instantly familiar to many, but Carlin had a prolific acting career spanning five decades and over 100 screen credits. John also joined the Carry On team towards the end of their original run of films.
John first appeared alongside the likes of Hattie Jacques, Barbara Windsor and Sidney James when he played an assortment of supporting parts in Carry On Laughing in 1975. This ragbag series of half hours for ATV proved less than successful yet did give us some more precious times with the aforementioned actors. John Carlin appeared in six of the mainly historical "epics" playing a range of official types or camp attendants, stepping in for the absent Kenneth Williams and Charles Hawtrey.
He obviously made an impression as Carlin was kept on for what would be the two last gasp attempts at keeping the Carry On flag flying on the big screen. The year after Carry On Laughing limped to the small screen, John was cast in the small role of an Officer in Carry On England. He also returned two years later to play a French parson in Carry On Emmannuelle. Never a main player in the Carry Ons fair enough, but his contribution does still deserve to be remembered.
John Carlin spent many years appearing on television, often in comedy roles. He appeared twice opposite Sid James - first of all in episode of the BBC comedy drama series Taxi in 1964 and a couple of years later in the hugely successful ITV series George and The Dragon. John also had a recurring role as Percy the Barman in the Richard O'Sullivan comedy Man About The House in the mid 1970s. Looking at John's CV he seemed to pop up in almost every successful television series of the era. Guest spots included roles in George and Mildred, The Sweeney, Bergerac, Robin's Nest, Shoestring, Taggart, Minder and Rumpole of the Bailey.
One further interesting detail that emerged from John's obituary concerned a comedy series he was due to star in back in 1971. Carlin had been cast in the ATV police comedy, Coppers End, however when leading lady Joan Sims was forced to give up her role due to illness, most of the parts were recast as they had all been picked to work as a team. John's role went to the bigger name of Richard Wattis while Joan's part was taken on by Josephine Tewson.
Since reading John's obituary I have remembered his small roles in the Carry On story. What I did not realise was that he was actually Scottish, having been born in Johnstone, not far from where I grew up. John's obituary is well worth a read and you can find it in The Herald.
You can follow me on Twitter @CarryOnJoan on Facebook and on Instagram
Today
we wish the suave, evergreen actor Patrick Mower a very happy 79th
birthday! Patrick, a real Seventies heartthrob if ever there was one, is
now best known for his long running role as Rodney Blackstock in the
ITV soap opera Emmerdale. Patrick has played the part since the year
2000.
Patrick
has been a fixture on television and cinema screens since the 1960s
with his most memorable roles coming from a variety of gritty, small
screen detective shows in the 1970s. As well as roles in The Sweeney,
The Avengers and Jason King, he took lead roles in both Callan and
Special Branch. To Carry On fans, Patrick is best remembered for his
role as Len Able in the less than successful 1976 film Carry On England,
in which he played love interest to Judy Geeson.
Patrick
took part in the 2015 ITV tribute show, Carry On Forever, and
remains proud of his involvement with the Carry Ons. A further Carry On
link comes in the shapely shape of Emmannuelle actress Suzanne Danielle,
who was Patrick's real life partner for seven years.
Whatever Patrick is up to today, I hope he has an excellent birthday!
You can follow me on Twitter @CarryOnJoan and also Facebook
Many happy returns to the actress Diane Langton who celebrates her 70th birthday today. Diane has a long career on stage and screen, is well known to Carry On fans for her performance as Alice Easy in the less than successful Carry On England, released in 1976.
As the rather busty young Private, Langton was pretty much cast in the Barbara Windsor role in this film and despite the overall film being a complete stinker, she's good in the part. England wasn't Diane's only brush with Carry On though. Way back in 1959 she appeared in a non-speaking role as one of the children in Carry On Teacher. Along with the likes of David Barry, Jeremy Bulloch and Francesca Annis, Diane can be spotted in several crowd scenes. Fast forward to 1975 and Langton joined many familiar faces in the ATV Carry On Laughing television series. Diane appeared in three episodes, which must have led to her being cast in England the following year.
Away from the Carry Ons, Diane has appeared in films like Ray Cooney's Don't Just Lie There, Say Something with Leslie Phillips, Joan Sims and Joanna Lumley and Confessions of a Pop Performer, co-starring with fellow England actress Linda Regan. Diane has also had many stage successes in her career, appearing in the likes of Billy Elliot and Sondheim's A Little Night Music.
On television, Diane can currently be seen in the Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks - she has been part of the cast of this show for nearly a decade. Other roles on the small screen have included the 1970s reboot of The Rag Trade, Only Fools and Horses, Doctors, Heartbeat and EastEnders.
Whatever Diane is up to today, I hope she has a wonderful birthday.
You can follow me on Twitter @CarryOnJoan on Facebook and on Instagram
Let's play a game of Carry On Room 101. We've all seen the television programme which sees famous faces consign pet hates through the trap door of doom, never to return. Although I love the Carry Ons and will do my best to help keep their fine legacy going strong for many years to come, there will always be certain bum notes (as it were). So here are five of my least favourite Carry On scenes, performances or in some cases, films!
Hope Springs fights with Dawn Brakes, Carry On Girls (1973)
Ah yes the infamous beauty contest fight scene! As regular readers will know I strongly dislike Carry On Girls. In fact I think it's the beginning of the end of the series as we've come to love it. It's cheap, tacky and nearer the knuckle than I'd have liked. It also features Barbara Windsor in my least favourite of all the roles she played in the films. Actors like Joan Sims and Peter Butterworth are given scant attention however the likes of Patsy Rowlands, Kenneth Connor and Joan Hickson still put in tremendous performances, far better than the film they find themselves signed on to make. The fight scene between Barbara and Margaret Nolan is played with real relish by the actresses involved but for me, it's too far and tips the scales into the kind of film the Carry Ons were never meant to be. Maggie Nolan was the ultimate professional during these scenes, especially considering she was pregnant at the time.
Harriet proves she's not Dick, Carry on Dick (1974)
Sorry, I'm afraid it's Dame Barbara again in another scene which took things too far for my liking. By the mid 1970s Barbara was probably the most high profile of the Carry On team and she grabbed the most screen time in her last two films, Girls and this Dick Turpin adventure. For some reason the likes of Hattie, Joan and Patsy Rowlands were almost sidelined in favour of Barbara's considerable attributes. And these attributes were front and centre once again in a sequence which sees her character remove almost all to prove she's not Dick (as it were). Very little is left to the imagination and there was really no need to take things that far. Were the Carry Ons still entertainment for all the family by '74? The jury is out on that one...
Carry On England (1976)
Yes I'm putting the entire film into my Room 101. In my opinion the series should have come to an end after Carry On Behind made in 1975. Despite the departure of several key contributors (Sid, Barbara, Hattie and writer Talbot Rothwell) Behind is actually a half decent Carry On and probably the best of the later films. England is a different kettle of fish entirely. The film is woeful on every level. The cast features a host of new faces ill equipped to tackle Carry On comedy and those few familiar faces present are miscast or shamefully underused. The script is short on laughs and familiar Carry On situations and it's written by two newcomers to the world of Carry On. They may have had experience elsewhere but once again they showed just what a craftsman Talbot Rothwell was. Finally England features some scenes of a dubious nature featuring some of the younger female members of the cast. By this stage the Carry Ons were playing catch up with the Confessions films when they should really have stayed out of that particular race.
Kenneth's Emile Prevert, Carry On Emmannuelle (1978)
I love Kenneth Williams and his contribution to the Carry On films cannot be underestimated. Along with Joan Sims, Kenneth was the most loyal of all the team. He was in the very first in the series and stayed with the films until the end of the original run in 1978. Carry On Emmannuelle was a desperate last gasp for the franchise and an attempt to keep the films going at a time when sex definitely sold and the British film industry was in the doldrums. While Emmannuelle is actually not as bad as the previous film, Carry On England, it should still never have been made. Connor, Sims, Butterworth and most of all Kenneth Williams, are well out of their comfort zone and it shows. Kenneth puts in a painfully uncomfortable performance as Emile and obviously hated every minute. His diaries show he was doubtful about taking the part on but was eventually signed up out of loyalty to Peter Rogers and particularly, to Gerald Thomas. He should have stayed well clear.
Carry On Columbus (1992)
The much-discussed attempt to relaunch the Carry Ons in a new era, Columbus was pretty much an abject failure. Although it provided one last glimpse at genuine Carry On legends in the form of Bernard Cribbins, June Whitfield, Leslie Phillips, Jack Douglas and Jim Dale, throwing modern day alternative comedians into the mix was a gamble that didn't pay off. There was some terrific talent on display in the film but once again all it did was highlight that these new faces just couldn't play the comedy like the old legends. Columbus, although written by Dave Freeman, was not a good script. Freeman was forced to rush out a treatment in under two weeks and it showed. Above all else the film badly missed the towering comedy talents of James, Hawtrey, Sims, Williams, Butterworth and the rest.
So there you have it. Five of my least favourite Carry On moments, all of which I'd happily consign to Room 101. I don't often write negatively about my beloved Carry On films but not even Peter and Gerald could crack it every time! That being said, given their phenomenal output over a twenty year period, it's quite something that these were the only negatives I could find.
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Sometimes casting decisions are taken for the good and some less so. The Carry On films utilised the services of a vast number of truly great British character actors during their twenty year run with many performers returning again and again. However every so often an actor is either cut from the final print and never returns or turns down a part and is never invited back again.
One actor falls into both categories. Dame Penelope Keith, a much-loved comedy great thanks to her memorable roles in BBC sitcoms such as The Good Life and To The Manor Born, has a small yet intriguing Carry On connection. Penelope worked as an actress in cameo roles and other small parts on stage and screen for several years before hitting the big time with her role as Margo Leadbetter in The Good Life in 1975. However eight years before Keith was on location at Maidenhead Town Hall for a scene opposite series semi-regular Peter Gilmore in the classic 1967 comedy, Carry On Doctor.
Penelope Keith, then pretty much an unknown actor, was cast in the rather unflattering role of "Plain Nurse" in Doctor and from what I can tell, only appeared in one scene. This scene, although filmed, was cut and replaced with a similar scene, featuring Gilmore, Barbara Windsor's Nurse Sandra May and a "lovely looking pear". The rest is Carry On history! Despite the joy of the scene that took it's place, it would have been really interesting to see a pre-fame Keith playing a small role in this wonderful Carry On.
However, this wasn't the last brush with Carry On fame for Dame Penelope. Several years later, while at the height of her Good Life fame, Penelope was offered the role of Private Jennifer Ffoukes-Sharpe in the 1976 film Carry On England. Of course you can't begin to compare the truly risible England with Doctor, nearly a decade earlier. Times were a-changing at Pinewood and this film saw a host of new faces join what was left of the Carry On team for this Second World War romp. With the likes of Patrick Mower, Judy Geeson, Diane Langton and Melvyn Hayes in the cast, it was clear Peter Rogers and Gerald Thomas were hiring well-known faces from the world of popular television and cinema. You can understand why they wanted a name like Penelope Keith involved, given her immense popularity.
For whatever reason, Penelope turned down the role, probably due to her commitments to the BBC sitcom which had made her name. Instead series veteran Joan Sims took on the unflattering and forgettable role of Ffoukes-Sharpe and I really wish she had turned it down as well. The role did her no favours and she, together with the likes of Peter Butterworth, looked completely out of place and ill at ease with the material presented to them. Despite this I am amazed the production team opted to offer the role to Keith ahead of Joan, a part of the team since 1958. Looking back, I cannot imagine Penelope Keith in a Carry On - her style of comedy is completely different from the brash, innuendo-laden, knockabout farces the Carry Ons were. I love both styles of comedy and while it might be a shame it didn't happen, it was probably for the best.
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Today we wish the suave, evergreen actor Patrick Mower a very happy 78th birthday! Patrick, a real Seventies heartthrob if ever there was one, is now best known for his long running role as Rodney Blackstock in the ITV soap opera Emmerdale. Patrick has played the part since the year 2000.
Patrick has been a fixture on television and cinema screens since the 1960s with his most memorable roles coming from a variety of gritty, small screen detective shows in the 1970s. As well as roles in The Sweeney, The Avengers and Jason King, he took lead roles in both Callan and Special Branch. To Carry On fans, Patrick is best remembered for his role as Len Able in the less than successful 1976 film Carry On England, in which he played love interest to Judy Geeson.
Patrick took part in last year's ITV tribute show, Carry On Forever, and remains proud of his involvement with the Carry Ons. A further Carry On link comes in the shapely shape of Emmannuelle actress Suzanne Danielle, who was Patrick's real life partner for seven years.
Whatever Patrick is up to today, I hope he has an excellent birthday!
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