Guest Blog: Chris Stephenson on 'Our House'

Chris Stephenson recently wrote a guest blog for me on his own top 20 favourite Carry On actors and it was a great read. Chris has also written in on how he came to become such a fan of the Carry On series and a recent discovery of a classic comedy television series with a host of Carry On links.

So without further ado, it's over to Chris…

My first recollection of the Carry Ons was Carry On Henry at Butlins, Filey as their new film of the week! Being 10 I loved the visual gags but the rest passed by by! Growing up they crept more into my life and now they're my favourite comedy film franchise. Jim Dale, Sid James and Kenneths Williams and Connor are my favourite males while my female choices are more obscure with Angela Douglas, Jacki Piper, Liz Fraser and Dilys Laye being my favourites.

I was recently looking through the Network On Air sale (a great place for old TV and movies) and noticed a DVD called Our House, written by Norman Hudis and Starring Hattie Jacques (a librarian who turns into a foghorn outside the workplace), Joan Sims (whose employment record is second to none), Charles Hawtrey (an oddball who works in a rates office) and Norman Rossington (a law student) who along with five other share the same house!

The series ran from 1960 to 1962 and there were 39 episodes recorded (some 55 minutes and some 45 minutes) but due to some errors all but three were erased and those are on the DVD! Other famous faces appearing to various episodes included Bernard Bresslaw, Johnny Vyvyan, Hylda Baker, Deryck Guyler, Roy Hudd, Frank Williams, Frank Thornton and Leonard Sachs among others although most of these have been lost.

Although Talbot Rothwell is my favourite, Our House creator Norman Hudis is a Carry On legend himself and will go down in history as the scriptwriter for the first six Carry Ons, therefore helping them gain their lasting popularity. The surviving episodes are all from the first series and were broadcast in the September, October and November of 1960. The episodes themselves are a cross between a Carry On movie and a Brian Rix farce. Plenty of one liners ('It's only 86 and a half miles as the crow flies' 'Ooh that poor crow bust be really tired!') and visual gags interspersed with running around the set including up and down the stairs. In one of the episodes Charles plays his relatives including an aunt who is the spit of Lady Puddleton from Carry On Again Doctor! And in one scene Hattie even says the immortal line 'Carry On then'!

As a footnote the Our House producer Ernest Maxin produced programmes for such comedy greats as Norman Wisdom, Charlie Drake (in which he won the Golden Rose for Drake's rendition of the 1812 Overture), Dave Allen, Dick Emery, Les Dawson and Morecambe and Wise (including the 1976 and 1977 Christmas shows!).

Many thanks again to Chris for writing this really interesting Guest Blog.

You can follow me on Twitter @CarryOnJoan and on Instagram

My Holiday Guilty Pleasures

As it's the Christmas holidays, I've treated myself to a few bargain basement guilty pleasures thanks to a well known online retailer. There are quite a few "classic" British comedies I've never seen and I've decided now is the time to put that right. So I've stumped up a few pennies and ordered some forgotten films featuring some well known faces.

First on my hit list is the only Doctor film I've never seen, Doctor in Love from 1960. Starring that dish of the era Michael Craig, it also features a host of familiar Carry On faces including Leslie Phillips, Irene Handl, Liz Fraser, Joan Sims and Fenella Fielding. It also boasts supporting turns from the likes of James Robertson Justice, Joan Hickson, Cyril Chamberlain, Sheila Hancock and Rosalind Knight. You surely can't go wrong with a cast like that! 

Next in my shopping basket came the Peter Rogers / Gerald Thomas / Norman Hudis collaboration from 1959: Please Turn Over. This film tells the story of a sleepy English town which is caught up in scandal when a young woman writes a steamy novel! Based on the play Book of the Month, this film stars a host of favourites including Ted Ray, Leslie Phillips, Joan Sims, Dilys Laye, Joan Hickson, Charles Hawtrey and Victor Maddern. I've always heard good things about this hidden gem so I can't wait to see it for myself.

Another forgotten gem is the television sitcom Our House. Also written by Carry On scribe Norman Hudis, this early comedy series from 1960 stars Hattie Jacques, Joan Sims, Norman Rossington and Charles Hawtrey. The basic plot sees several very different, colourful characters in a house share. Sadly many episodes from the original series are lost however the remaining few have been released on DVD and I am looking forward to checking it out.

Finally, probably the guiltiest of guilty pleasures is the Ray Cooney farce Not Now, Comrade from 1976. A loose follow up to the 1973 film Not Now, Darling, this low brow farce tells the story of a Russian ballet dancer who plans to defect to the west with the help of a stripper and a Triumph Stag. I have a feeling this will be so bad it's good but it does feature a plum cast which includes Leslie Phillips, Carol Hawkins, June Whitfield, Ian Lavender, Windsor Davies and Roy Kinnear. Hopefully these classic comedy performers will make this one more than watchable!

My plan is to watch them all with a critical eye and then review each title for the blog in the new year. So stay tuned for my verdicts! 


You can follow me on Twitter @CarryOnJoan 

Our House

In the early 1960s television was becoming much more accessible in the United Kingdom. With the growing demand for programme content, the advent of the TV sitcom brought many stars of the big screen on to the small screen. As well as early hits such as The Army Game and Sykes, Our House also boasted Carry On connections.

For a start it was scripted by Norman Hudis, the man who put words in the mouths of Carry On actors for the first six films in the series. Our House also boasted a prime cast of early Carry On stars. It featured the likes of Charles Hawtrey, Hattie Jacques, Joan Sims, Norman Rossington and later Bernard Bresslaw. 

Our House was basically an excuse to put lots of exaggerated comedy characters into a big house and have them live together. Nothing wrong with that when the cast reads as above. I admit I've never seen this series before, this is partly due to the fact many episodes have disappeared or been wiped. Thankfully some kind soul has uploaded some of the surviving episodes to YouTube.

So sit back, relax and enjoy some of our favourite Carry On actors on the small screen. 

You can follow me on Twitter @CarryOnJoan and also Facebook

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