Robin Askwith: Live, Dangerous and Uncut!

Robin Askwith will be back at the Darlington Film Club next month for a special screening of one of his many classic movies, followed by the latest incarnation of the legendary one man show!

Entitled "Live, Dangerous and Uncut"…ahem…Robin will be present for a screening of the 1970 film Cool It, Carol. Following the film, the man himself will take to the stage with hilarious anecdotes from his impressively diverse 50 year career on stage and screen.

Robin entered the film industry in 1968 making his debut in Lindsay Anderson's If... He then went onto work with the likes of Pier Paulo Pasolini, Franco Zeffirelli, Pete Walker, Franklin Schaffer, Clive Donner, Dick Clement and Antony Balch, before he made the controversially successful Confessions of... series of films.

At the height of his career Robin worked with the likes of Nigel Davenport, Pamela Stephenson, Rula Lenska, Leonard Rossiter, Alan Lake and Darth Vader! Come and hear the stories first hand by the cheeky chappie himself as he takes us on a history of his theatre, film and TV career. Dubbed the King of Elstree Studios in the 1970s, Robin was asked back there last year with his sell-out one man show, to celebrate the 90th anniversary of the studios.

Recently he has been seen in Coronation Street, Emmerdale, Benidorm and Casualty, but it is as Timmy Lea in the Confessions of... films that he is best remembered.

Robin Askwith: Live, Dangerous and Uncut is at the Darlington Film Club @ The Forum at 7pm on 1st April (no joke!) Tickets cost £10 and you can buy yours here.


You can follow me on Twitter @CarryOnJoan and on Instagram

Talking Pictures: Great British Comedies

This afternoon BBC2 repeated a great little documentary first shown a few years back. Talking Pictures, not to be confused with the brilliant Talking Pictures TV channel, is a series profiling well known names from the past in classic films both in Britain and beyond. Narrated by screen icon Sylvia Syms, this particular edition looked back at the glory days of British film comedy.

Featuring rarely-seen interviews and classic clips from the BBC archives, this episode sees many of our favourite stars take a bow. From the early pre and post war days of George Formby to the classic Ealing comedies, Carry On fans won't be disappointed as eventually both the Doctor and the Carry On series are covered. There is some archive footage of leading man Dirk Bogarde, giving a revealing and insightful interview for the BBC series Omnibus in 1983 and black and white clips of a young Joan Bakewell chatting with the legendary actor James Robertson Justice.

The programme then goes on to talk about the Carry Ons. Here we get some classic interviews from the 1970 Carry On Forever documentary which went behind the scenes of Carry On Up The Jungle. I've featured this show before, but it's always great to see the likes of Gerald Thomas, Sid James, Joan Sims and Charles Hawtrey out of character and relaxed as themselves. It's a rare treat. 

The programme also touches on Peter Sellers' work on the Pink Panther films and later comedy efforts from the Monty Python films, the John Cleese picture A Fish Called Wanda and more recent films like Four Weddings and a Funeral. Anyway, never mind these also-rans, tune in for the classic clips of Bogarde, James and Sims. It's superb.

You can watch the programme here: Great British Comedies.

You can follow me on Twitter @CarryOnJoan and on Instagram

Carry On Blogging Interview: Samira Ahmed

Last year I listened to Samira Ahmed present a brilliant podcast for 'The Boring Talks' on Why the Carry Ons are better than Shakespeare. Intrigued, I got in touch with Samira and asked if she might be interested in doing an interview for the blog. I was absolutely delighted when she agreed and here is the result. It's a really eloquent, interesting read and bound to create some talking points!

Samira Ahmed is someone I'm sure you'll know well from television and radio. A prolific writer, journalist and broadcaster, Samira currently presents Newswatch on BBC Television and Front Row for BBC Radio 4. She has also made a wide variety of documentaries, hosts many fascinating talks and events and contributes to lots of high profile publications. Given all this, I'm incredibly grateful she has taken the time to talk to me. I hope you enjoy.

I've heard you talk about reconnecting with the Carry Ons as an adult, but can you remember when you first discovered the films and the impact they had on you at the time?

They started to appear on TV in the mid 1970s when I was a child. I remember seeing Carry On Doctor on a Saturday evening so it felt like a big event. I got genuinely moved by the plight of hapless but good hearted Jim Dale, loved by patients and nurses but persecuted by the senior management. Bernard Cribbins in Carry On Jack affected me the same way. The best Carry Ons had a sense of right and wrong about them, and about the ordinary rising up against the Establishment. That changed later on. Carry On At Your Convenience has some very dodgy pro boss-class politics which would fit with how the cast were treated in general.

We had Carry On Again Doctor taped on our early Betamax player so I knew that one particularly well.  Carry On Up The Khyber was particularly loved by my extended Indian and Pakistani family who enjoyed sitting round together to watch it. Older visiting relatives thought it sent up Empire rather well, though I suspect the dads and uncles quite liked the naughtiness of it all too.

In your podcast for The Boring Talks, you argued rather convincingly that Carry On films are actually better than Shakespeare. What has the reaction been to this bold claim?

To be fair it was the producer Luke Doran who pushed me to say that! I was happy with “as good as”. Where I would say the Carry Ons surpassed Shakespeare is in their double drag – men dragging up as women, passing as women and learning what it is to be a woman. I think the scene where Kenneth Cope dragged up a a student nurse gets harassed and sexually assaulted by Terry Scott in Carry On Matron is a moment of wonder.  You could even say it’s a “teachable moment”. That’s why I show that clip to students. To help them understand the weird sexual politics of the 70s and how something could be horrifying and funny at the same time.

Fans of the Carry Ons love my theory but I know some people just hate the films and find them really offensive. But that’s about personal taste and I’m totally fine with that. No Shakespeare scholars have given me a hard time yet. The issue is the films are fading from popular memory. They’ll never be shown again on TV I don’t think and I’m not sure how young people will encounter them if they’re not watching them with older relatives who can help them understand the context.

I should say there are films I’ve never got on with; Carry On Henry and Carry On Dick have always seemed too vulgar for me. And I dread to think what Carry On Emmannuelle and Carry On England are like. I’ve never watched them.

It was really refreshing to hear you speak up on the side of the Carry Ons. Why do you think there is still such snobbery (in certain quarters) towards these classic comedies?

I think too many people are focused only on the later cruder ones which often looked cheap with contemporary settings.  There’s a huge evolution from the first 1950s Ealing comedy esque capers. Some like Cruising are really glamorous. There’s no denying a fair amount of the most famous Carry On films’ humour has dated, though there was actually very little that was outright offensive. (I always cite the rape-y humour of Angela Douglas being “helped” by men in Follow That Camel as one of the few genuinely shocking jokes). Even at the time they relied on quite a 1950s even a pre-war coyness about sex. The amount of male embarrassment in the Carry Ons is remarkable. The male heroes are always terrified of powerful sexy women, even while apparently being obsessed with sex. I have a theory that many men now find that uncomfortable which is why they sneer at the films. The Carry Ons mock them in a way that On The Buses (which you probably know I loathe) didn’t. On The Buses revelled in a nasty leering predatory male attitude to women. I don’t think the Carry Ons were so loaded against women. They were full of strong older women, which is why I did make the comparison to the women in Shakespeare in the Carry Ons’ favour. Perhaps it’s also getting older and being less anxious about things. But I can see why many women don’t buy that. The way Joan Sims is portrayed in Khyber is mean – that she’s this fat, older, nagging woman that no reasonable man would love. Even though her acting is great, and I’m hugely on her side. I don’t think the film producers wanted you to be.

I was really interested to hear clips from the Carry Ons are used when you work with film studies students. What kind of reactions do they get?

I talked about that Carry On Matron clip to a bunch of award-winning film graduates. It’s partly just to broaden their horizons. Partly to help them appreciate the way something can be offensive and yet revelatory. Films are products of their time and of the attitudes of the people making them. They tend to be surprised and in a way excited to have someone throw a new way of looking at things at them. I made my children sit down and watch one of the On the Buses films when it was on ITV2 or 3 a few years back. I remember saying, “You need to watch this. This is what it was like for women in the 70s.” It was a real “a lesson from history” moment. Some of the films of that time are really nasty and cruel towards especially older or plain women. I think it was a reaction against the Women’s Lib movement, just like the backlash against Me Too and feminism now by some men whose self esteem relies on them feeling superior.

Some would argue that the Carry On series is sexist in its treatment of female characters but I think the women are often stronger than the men. What’s your view?

As a young girl I identified with the romantic leads like Angela Douglas and Liz Fraser.  There was often a sweet fairytale element to their plot lines. And often the women were brave – like Juliet Mills and Angela taking on a male identity in Carry On Jack or Carry On Cowboy. Hattie Jacques I always loved because she so often played on being incredibly strong and formidable with a secret girlish vulnerability underneath.

I enjoyed all the strong older women – married, middle aged, and sometimes old and cheeky like Esma Cannon in Carry On Cruising. There were the exotic roles they got to play – Joan Sims in Cowboy and in Follow That Camel – which seemed such fun. Some of the later ones like Camping went too much towards the On the Buses model of leering over younger girls.

But the best of the Carry Ons were full of strong women. And more and more I became aware of how crippled the men were by embarrassment.

Now here’s a confession that will put me at odds with your fans. Don’t hate me but: I’m not a fan of Sid James in the Carry Ons. I love him in Hancock and all his other films; I think he was a great actor. But I didn’t buy into the idea that he was this cool  hero that we were supposed to identify with. I think he was presented like he was the James Bond of the Carry Ons but I never really warmed to him in them. I watched Don’t Lose Your Head again a few years ago and was amazed that he was playing the lead rather than Jim Dale. It felt like a dirty old man’s middle-aged fantasy. Harry H Corbett in the Sid role in Screaming is much, much better. Genuinely sexy as well as comic. Too often I thought we were supposed to identify with Sid as a hero and I didn’t. His best Carry On role in a way is the dodgy tropical doctor with his polygamous marriages in Carry On Again Doctor.

You talked quite a bit in the podcast about the use of drag in the Carry Ons, particularly men like Bernard Bresslaw dressing up so unconvincingly as women. Why do you think these scenarios fit so well with the traditional Carry On narrative?

I’ve always loved drag so much. I’ve been trying to make programmes about the history of British drag for years. There’s obviously the old music hall tradition of drag acts the Carry Ons draw on. I don’t know, there’s something lovely about big obviously hairy strong men playing old women in particular. Bresslaw had a sweetness about him which is why he was so charming.

More broadly I grew up watching Danny La Rue, Dick Emery and Monty Python – Terry Jones was especially good at doing sympathetic old women – as much as the Carry Ons.

I know there are some people who think drag is insulting to women, but I don’t think you can make such a sweeping statement. The best drag makes fun of men, it makes fun of gender roles – men learning the horrors of high heels, tights and corsets. I love the idea in Carry On Up The Khyber that dragging up as palace dancing girls and having to dance in front of the enemy could be the most dangerous and terrifying thing a bunch of male soldiers have ever done. Imagine Henry V having to do that instead of just winning the Battle of Agincourt by killing people and threatening those who don’t surrender with rape, which is what is in Shakespeare? And in a totally unexpected way, the Carry Ons had moments of real liberation. Again I cite Carry On Matron -- Barbara Windsor and Kenneth Cope falling in love while both wearing dresses and lipstick as a genuinely modern moment that stands the test of time.

I started my blog as a tribute to my heroine, Joan Sims. I think comedy actors like Joan, Hattie Jacques and June Whitfield were pioneers. What do you think their legacy is and has been?

I think it’s really significant that your blog was inspired by these women. I agree it’s their talent that gives the Carry Ons their strength and heart. When June Whitfield died recently I was really struck talking to other writers about how under appreciated she’d been in official histories of British comedy till very recently. Because she was often in a supporting role, even though the shows only worked because of her presence. I was listening back to her work with Jimmy Edwards and remain in awe at her talent. I think they have influenced many performers who came after, not least because they were still working into their later years like Joan. One of their strengths is the way they worked in a company – the team of Carry Ons or Take It From Here or Hancock’s Half Hour or the News Huddlines. Graeme Garden recently told me how they deliberately cast all these amazing talented women they admired in The Goodies -- Joan Sims and June Whitfield in that Come Dancing/gangster episode are amazing. These women really stand out in those sitcoms for how seriously funny and professional they are; really talented actors who outshine all the men onscreen. I think their legacy is alive everywhere we see great British female comedians.  

One critic I’ve railed against described the Carry Ons as “a world of misery and it knows it” however I think they are light, frothy and delightfully uncomplicated. What do you think?

I went and looked up the article. It’s a bit harsh but I can see her point of view. I disagree that they’re always light and frothy and delightfully uncomplicated. I’d say they were delightfully and deliberately complicated in the convoluted situations they came up with, but for laughs. There was definitely something sad and creepy about some of the later contemporary dramas like Abroad and Camping. But it’s a sweeping generalization. And the best early ones like Constable, Cabby and Spying did as you say offer lightness and froth. But they also felt like proper homegrown cinema. I remember watching them on TV and getting a sense of a more optimistic worldview in the late 50s and early 60s. There’s also something quite painful in our age of cuts to policing and local services, to seeing a fully funded welfare state being celebrated on screen as entirely normal. I would say I feel I have real anger towards the producers for how they exploited their actors though. Reading about Liz Fraser’s treatment, for example, is horrible. But that’s as true for Laurel and Hardy.  

You recently introduced a special screening of Carry On Cleo at the BFI, interviewing Amanda Barrie at the same event. What was that like?

Amanda Barrie’s performance in Cleo has always been a favourite of mine since childhood. I was surprised at how insecure she was at the time and how modest she still is, talking about her work on that film. She was beautiful and funny, with some amazing slapstick moments. Because for so long we have been told in mainstream reporting that men are better comedians, I think it’s really important to remind ourselves how many great comic actresses have always been there on screen; just not counted.

We had a great chat beforehand and part of what I respect about her and her generation of professionals is how they see themselves as jobbing performers and they bring such class to everything they do. Which is why I think they’re so outstanding in soaps. Many soap actors are the best.  

A question I ask everyone I interview, if you had to choose, who is your favourite Carry On performer and why?

I can’t just pick one! Joan Sims and Hattie Jacques for their combination of good humour, highbrow talent and dignity.

© Copyright - Samira Ahmed

Jim Dale because of his combination of physical stuntwork and good looks. Check out that gorgeous pinstriped suit he wears at Carry On Again Doctor when he’s become a rich private consultant. When I interviewed him a few years ago I got a sense that his early experience as a pop star had left him scarred and afraid of being the heartthrob. Which might explain why he was always playing the fool, rather than the confident straight lead, as if ducking the attention.

And I’ve always loved Roy Castle for his ability to play dead straight with such humour.  Even though he’s only in one Carry On it’s unimaginable without him. He was a great comic actor. In Dr Who and The Daleks as well. There’s something about those actors who could connect with children as well as adults. I really miss him.

Finally, why do you think the Carry Ons remain so popular so many years after they were made?

Well are they? Clearly they have their devotees and there’s a huge nostalgia factor. But I suspect they are declining from public memory. Do they have the cult status of shows like The Prisoner? Or The Avengers? Or the James Bond films? Or will they die with those of us old enough to remember when they were popular and mainstream? I wonder if they now ought to be on a curriculum somewhere and studied. Perhaps they defy categorization. They were genuinely popular in their time and on TV. But the story behind their creation is an unpleasant one about exploitation. Are young people discovering them and liking them? That’s the test. Bond films have been trying to move with the times with some success. But the Carry Ons relied on a model of excruciating embarrassment about sex which I suspect people raised in the age of Love Island can’t fathom.

I’ve felt sad at realizing something I love may be fading out of sight. Perhaps that’s why I felt compelled to write and talk about it while there are still enough of us out there to share the memories. Whether the Carry Ons have a living future as a shared cult, rather than one as a historical curio, I don’t know. Sorry to be so sad. Answering your questions has left me hankering to go back and watch the early ones though. I’m going to go and watch Carry On Constable now.

A huge thank you to Samira for taking the time to answer my questions in such an eloquent, thoughtful and considered way. It was an absolute pleasure. 

You can listen to Samira's interview with JIm Dale for BBC Radio 4's Front Row here and you can read more about it here.

And you can find out more about Samira on her website: http://www.samiraahmed.co.uk/ and also over on Twitter @SamiraAhmedUK

You can follow me on Twitter @CarryOnJoan and on Instagram

Catch Bless This House this evening on Talking Pictures TV!

This evening Talking Pictures TV are showing yet another comedy classic from the golden age of British film comedy. Possibly the closest any other film got to being an official part of the Carry On team without actually gaining the Carry On title, Bless This House was yet another quickly made, cheaply made picture from Peter Rogers Productions. A big screen version of the hit Thames Television domestic sitcom, bringing Bless This House to the cinema was just another part of the very 1970s trend of transferring TV comedy favourites to film. This had varying results with some performing better than others. I think we can agree Bless This House is probably one of the most successful.

Part of its success is down to the Carry On-like quality the film has, mainly down to the personnel employed both in front of and behind the camera. Bless This House remains a hugely popular film, 47 years after it was first released. It's easy going, has bags of charm, remains completely light, frothy, undemanding and innocent and in modern, more cynical times its special brand of escapism is very appealing. Nothing really happens across its 80 odd minutes and basically writer Dave Freeman, who would go on to pen Carry On Behind and Columbus, stitches together three potential small screen half hours into one film. 

There's the traditional suburban new neighbours move in and don't get on with those around them strand. So what you say? Well when the main opponents are Sid James and an extremely pompous pre-Terry and June Terry Scott, you have comedy magic. Then there's the farcical wedding strand which sees the offspring of Sid and Terry (Robin Askwith and Carol Hawkins) hitch up and get hitched. Of course nothing goes to plan but all's well in the end. In between all this there are several small plots of little consequence such as Sally Geeson's naive 1970s environmental activism, Diana Coupland and Patsy Rowlands hoarding junk for a future antiques business and best of all, Sid and best mate Peter Butterworth attempting to make their own alcohol in the garden shed, with startling results! 

In the hands of lesser actors, all of this would have fallen flat and this little film would be a very distant memory. As with the main Carry On series, the secret of this films' success is the casting. The film is mainly made up of instantly recognisable Carry On faces with only leading lady Diana Coupland failing to Carry On elsewhere (a great pity I think I as you can read here: Should Diana Coupland have carried on? Leading team members Sid James, Peter Butterworth and Patsy Rowlands are joined by Carry On supporting players Terry Scott, June Whitfield, Marianne Stone, Bill Maynard, Patricia Franklin, Julian Orchard, Molly Weir, Wendy Richard and Johnny Briggs. Phew! It seems to modern viewers that Peter Rogers basically arranged for the cast of the early 1970s Carry Ons to decamp to suburban Windsor for six weeks. Recent Carry On starlets Carol Hawkins and Sally Geeson also grab leading roles while rising star Robin Askwith, soon to appear in Carry On Girls and then the Confessions series, plays Sid's son Mike. Quite an ensemble!

Of course several of these actors transferred across from the television version of Bless This House. Alongside Sid, Sally Geeson played daughter Sally in all 65 episodes of the sitcom alongside Diana Coupland. Patsy Rowlands too was a semi-regular in the sitcom as neighbour Betty. However the actors playing Trevor and Mike did not appear in the film. I don't really know why Anthony Jackson and Robin Stewart were replaced by Peter Butterworth and Robin Askwith but I can't fault either of the actors who stepped into the film. To complicate matters further, the likes of June Whitfield and Marianne Stone also appeared in the television series, albeit in very different roles!

Many of the core Carry On crew also appeared behind the camera on Bless This House. Pinewood stalwart Alan Hume was in charge of photography, Eric Rogers did the music while even the hair and make up team moved across in the familiar guise of Stella Rivers and Geoff Rodway. It really was a team effort and a film family and us fans take great comfort from seeing all these names scrolling across the screen once again. 

So make a date to catch up with your favourite comedy character actors in an undemanding hour and half of slapstick, gentle humour and family fun. 

Bless This House is on Talking Pictures TV tonight at 7.10pm. Find out more here: https://talkingpicturestv.co.uk


You can follow me on Twitter @CarryOnJoan and on Instagram

My Review: Carry On Up The Archive

I've just listened to the most wonderful hour of radio, the programme 'Carry On Up The Archive' on the BBC. It was first broadcast a couple of days ago and I blogged about the production earlier in the month. Produced by Richard Latto, the programme is hosted by Carry On legend Jim Dale.

Richard has painstakingly unearthed some extremely rare clips of some of our favourite, most cherished Carry On stars in conversation on radio stations up and down the land. It's always fascinating to hear our beloved stars 'as themselves' and this hour long special really didn't disappoint. All our favourites were featured - from Bernard Bresslaw and Kenneth Connor, to Sid James, Joan Sims and Barbara Windsor. 

Some of the clips were sourced from regional stations and hadn't been heard for decades while others were found in the most unusual of places; dusty cupboards and attics and possibly even a garden shed or two. Back in the day the BBC were perhaps not as forward thinking when it came to preserving programmes or interviews for future generations, either due to a lack of modern technology or just short-sightedness. Whatever the reason, this programme is a really important treasure trove of material for fans old and new.

So what were the highlights for me? Well before we get to the headline act, that special last interview Sid James ever gave, there are lovely moments from Barbara Windsor as she discusses the routine on the Pinewood Studio floor. It was very evocative hearing the down to earth pursuits of these comedy legends as they killed time between shots. It made them seem life size almost after decades on the big screen in outlandish costumes, cracking innuendos in comedic tones. I also loved hearing snippets of Barbara and also Jack Douglas fielding calls from fans on local radio stations. The love from the ordinary man and woman on the street still strong after decades of Carry On capers.

Another highlight was hearing from two of my absolute favourites, Joan Sims and Kenneth Connor. Perhaps two members of the team we heard less from in their own voices. Listening to them having fun as they reminisced over the filming of Carry On Constable and that infamous shower sequence, I was struck by the warmth between the two old pros and just how eloquent and intelligent they were, a bit like the affable, gently spoken Bernard Bresslaw who also features in the range of clips. You'll have to listen yourself to hear what Joan and Kenneth had to shriek about over Constable but all I'll say is it involved Charles Hawtrey's buttocks and some eye shadow…

There was also a lovely little clip of Kenneth Connor again, this time in conversation with the brilliant director of all the films, Gerald Thomas. Another man we rarely heard from, Gerald and Kenneth shared some lovely memories of filming that sweet scene at the end of Carry On Nurse which sees Kenneth's real life son Jeremy appear down the hospital corridor and on cue, give his dad a bit of a slap around the chops!

The headline grabber from this special programme however was the unearthed recordings of the late, great Sidney James. There were two amazing interview clips shared for the first time since they were recorded in 1976. The first from a local hospital radio show and the second BBC Radio down in Bournemouth. At the time Sid was touring with the theatre show The Mating Season and he spoke to the BBC about his lengthy career, his fitness regime and his passion for fishing whenever the hard working actor could grab a bit of down time. Apart from the poignancy of hearing Sid just days before he so very sadly died on tour in Sunderland, it's just lovely to hear the actor as himself - beautifully spoken, erudite, calm and honest. That familiar laugh is there as a crowd pleaser but this really is Mr Sidney James as he was off camera. It's a joy and that joy is bitter sweet given what happened so soon afterwards. How wonderful though, for Sid's children to hear this forgotten interview their father did for the very first time.

Massive thanks go to Richard Latto for all his hard work in piecing this wonderful programme together, it's been a true highlight of the festive season for me and I just loved every second. I couldn't help but shed a little tear as Jim Dale, excellent as the presenter of the show, gathered the story up at the end by remarking that while so many of his Carry On costars are now no longer with us, the laughter and happy times they gave us will be with us forever. 

You can listen to the wonderful 'Carry On Up The Archives' here


You can follow me on Twitter @CarryOnJoan and on Instagram

Bernie Carries On … as Sir Roger Daley!

Over the past year I have written a series of blogs covering each of the roles of some of our favourite Carry On stars. I began my looking back at each film role played by the three leading ladies in the series - Joan Sims, Hattie Jacques and Barbara Windsor - and most recently I've written about all of Kenneth Connor's Carry On performances in the run up to the great man's centenary. 

Today I am continuing a new strand of this series by turning the spotlight on that gentle giant of British comedy, the late Bernard Bresslaw. Probably one of the most under-rated actors in the main team, Bernard was a part of the series for ten years and fourteen films, tackling a superb range of crumbling villains and delightfully dimwitted foils to the likes of Sid James and Kenneth Cope. Bernard enjoyed a long career away from the Carry Ons and spent much of his later life wowing audiences in legitimate theatre. However he will forever to remembered for his clutch of hilarious Carry On supporting turns. 

Bernard joined the Carry On team in the mid 1960s and along with Peter Butterworth was the last main team member to join the gang. Along with Butterworth, Bernard played a series of smaller, supporting roles to begin with before graduating to major roles towards the end of the decade. Bernard fitted in effortlessly with the rest of the team and he's the kind of actor who is working hard but making it look oh so easy. A quiet, erudite, thoughtful family man away from the film studios, I often think Bresslaw has never received the credit he's due as like Connor and Butterworth, he didn't ever seek the limelight or splash his life over the front pages.

So today, we'll continue this new series looking at Bernard's role as Sir Roger Daley (!) in the 1974 historical adventure, Carry On Dick.

Carry On Dick has never been one of my favourites in the series. As a later effort though and one of the last historical films it works fairly well however compared to earlier entries like Don't Lose Your Head and Up The Khyber, Dick is very static and studio-based and some of the cast are starting to show their age. Despite this, the film captures the seedy atmosphere of the times very well and all the scenes set in the Old Cock Inn are brilliant to watch. Dick also provides fans with the last opportunity to see several favourites in a Carry On film. The cast is bursting with team members as all current actors in the gang appear. As well as Hattie, this film is also the farewell for both Sid James and Barbara Windsor. Sid and Barbara would appear in several episodes of the ATV Carry On Laughing series broadcast the follow year (even Hattie would make an appearance) however this would be the last original feature film for all three stalwarts. Also, prolific writer Talbot Rothwell retired from the films after Dick, his health having deteriorated further. Future films in the series would really suffer without his talents.

Carry On Dick tells the well-worn story of highway man Dick Turpin and who else could play Dick but Sidney James. The film follows his gang as they rob the rich and constantly evade capture by Captain Desmond Fancey and Sergeant Jock Strapp (Kenneth Williams and Jack Douglas). Sid's last role in the series is a great one. Dick Turpin is Sid at his twinkly, naughtiest best while the film also provides him with the dual role of the Rev Flasher (!) Dick's cover story as the sedate, understated local vicar. The rest of his gang comprise Peter  Butterworth as Tom and Barbara Windsor as Harriet. Sid and Barbara have terrific chemistry throughout and go as near the knuckle as they could possibly go! 

Dick is in many ways a sequel to the French Revolution romp, Don't Lose Your Head, almost eight years earlier. In that film Sid also had a dual role as both Sid Rodney Ffing and the Black Fingernail. It allows Sid the actor to really work and show some subtlety in performance (Yes that was possible even in a Carry On). It's a great role for him to go out on even though nobody knew it at the time. He was due to appear in Carry On Behind, however touring commitments in the theatre meant the role written for him eventually went to Windsor Davies. 

So anyway, back to Bernard's role in the film. Rising up the cast lists as other veterans take time out or sadly don't come back, Bernard enjoys a fairly large supporting turn in Dick. As the chief law enforcer and fierce-some leader of the Bow Street Runners, it's a towering performance in every sense of the word. Bernard's Sir Roger is not really like any other role he plays in the series and that can surely only be a good thing, as far as the actor is concerned. He's not his usual simple, bumbling accomplice to Sid James and neither is he on full historical villain mode like his parts in Khyber or Follow That Camel. He's an authoritarian who has little time for the antics of Kenneth Williams or Jack Douglas, preferring to spend his time with a bevy of young lovelies. 

Although I'm not mad on the film, I do love the trio of Williams, Douglas and Bresslaw. It's a great triumvirate of comedy, with Douglas as the bumbling Jock Strap, constantly letting down Kenneth's haughty Captain Desmond Fancey, who in turn is constantly deferential and cow towing whenever his superior Sir Roger appears on the scene. The class system in action perhaps? Although seen through a typically bawdy Carry On lens. Poor Bernard loses his clothes at least twice during the film as his stagecoach is repeatedly held up at gun point by Big Dick and his gang. Leaving little to the imagination, Bresslaw is obviously game and as a cheeky behind the scenes snap reveals, the crew weren't afraid of playing a trick on the actors! 

Bernard is paired with the fragrant Margaret Nolan in Dick. Playing Lady Daley, Maggie is more prim and proper than usual and her supporting turn is rather understated when compared to other parts such as her previous role as Dawn Brakes in Carry On girls. Sadly, this would be her last Carry On performance. Much fruitier is Bernard's pairing with none other than Joan Sims. Joan is on fine form as the bogus French Madame Desiree, touring dubious hostelries with her 'Birds of Paradise'. Slipping into her common Cockney, Joan is at her vulgar best and makes for a memorable double act with Bernard once he's despatched his wife back to London!

Bernard spends most of the film stomping about with suitable authority, he may not get the majority of the belly laughs, but it's still a fine performance. In a cast which does still burst with Carry On talent, Bernard stands head and shoulders above them all. Literally. The majority of the action goes to Sid, Barbara, Kenneth Williams and Jack Douglas. This leaves little for Joan, Peter Butterworth, Hattie Jacques or Kenneth Connor to do but Bernie fairs ok. He was perhaps finally stepping into the Carry On leading man role vacated by Jim Dale five years earlier.

Sadly, Dick was the beginning of the end for the franchise, with so many key contributors bidding farewell, even if they weren't aware of it at the time. Bernard would return for one final film adventure with the gang and plenty more besides. With Carry On London still playing twice nightly at the Victoria Palace well into the following year and Bernard appearing in several of the ATV Carry On Laughing episodes on telly, 1975 may have been Bernard's final year of Carrying On, but it was also his most prolific.

Stay tuned for the final blog in this series coming up soon. I'll be looking at Bernard's fourteenth and final role, as henpecked Arthur Upmore in Carry On Behind. 


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