Remembering the Greats

The past six months or so has brought lots of sad news for fans of classic British comedy. I've found myself writing tributes to far too many great comedy actors who we have all watched on our screens, seen on stage or listened to on the radio for decades. 

Writing blog posts about the recently departed isn't something I ever relish and although I only do this as a hobby and a love of writing, I do take this side of it seriously. Some of these actors still have a media profile when they leave us, others have long since retired and left the public eye. No matter what their status, they deserve a great deal of respect when they depart. The past year has seen many familiar faces leave us, from the likes of Bill Maynard and Liz Fraser, to Fenella Fielding, June Whitfield and most recently, the brilliant Windsor Davies.

Although it's very sad, these actors do share one common trait - they all lived long lives. The fact they passed on in their eighties or nineties doesn't make it any easier for those closest to them, but they've all lived full, successful lives and brought pleasure and joy to so many. It gives us all a chance to reflect on their wonderful careers and all those performances they've left us to cherish for years to come.

I was struck once again just the other day by the surge of affection for these legends of comedy. Windsor Davies was an actor who made his name in the 1960s and was in his prime in the 70s and 80s, thirty or forty years ago. Despite retiring from the spotlight fifteen years ago and rarely giving interviews since, the outpouring of affection and sadness was really quite something. Hundreds of people shared memories of the great man on Twitter and many of you took the time to read my blog tribute - and a big thank you from me for doing that.

In these difficult times, with people at each other's throats over all sorts of nonsense, it's heart warming to see people from all over the place take the time to remember an actor like Windsor. So Carry On, you know it makes sense! 

You can follow me on Twitter @CarryOnJoan and on Instagram

Remembering Windsor Davies

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

Happy Birthday Windsor Davies!

Many happy returns to that terrific actor and star of two Carry On films, Mr Windsor Davies! Windsor turns the grand old age of 88 today and I'm sure you'll all join me in wishing him well.

Windsor Davies is best known for his long running role in the BBC sitcom It Ain't Half Hot Mum, which ran from 1974 until 1981. He also went on to appear in another well remembered comedy series, Never The Twain, alongside the late, great Sir Donald Sinden. As well as appearing in countless other films, Windsor is best known to us for appearing in two later Carry On films, Behind in 1975 and England the following year.

Sadly Windsor retired from acting some years ago. While we may miss his wonderful acting performances, I hope he is enjoying a relaxing and fulfilling retirement. As a personal aside, Windsor also shares a birthday with yours truly, although there may be a few years separating us...

Happy Birthday Windsor!

You can follow me on Twitter @CarryOnJoan 

Carry On Blogging Interview: Kathy Jones

I'm delighted to blog an interview with the wonderful actress, singer, classic car enthusiast and cake maker extraordinaire, Kathy Jones. Kathy played Tricia Hopkins in Coronation Street, first appearing back in September 1973 and staying in the role until June 1976. Following her success in Corrie, Kathy went on to star in several popular television series for Granada as well as appearing in countless theatre productions. She even recorded an album at the famous Abbey Road Studios.

I first got to know Kathy through my work on the brilliant Coronation Street Blog and above all her other achievements, she's just one of the nicest ladies you could wish to meet. She's also fond of a bit of a good old Carry On...

- First of all, I'd love to know how you got started in the business?

My first stage appearance was at the age of four. I was a shy girl, in the middle of a family of six children, my sister Carol was ten years older than me, then David and Robert, me, followed by Peter and Stewart. I was the only one to go on stage, I didn't sing at home, I never sang at family gatherings either. My father was a concert secretary at Coppenhall Working Men's Club in Crewe, the artist he had booked failed to appear, so the entertainment that night was a free and easy, anyone who wanted to sing could go on stage and the pianist would accompany them, out of the blue I went onto the stage in my party frock and a purple cardigan some one had knitted for me, and sang My Old Man Said Follow The Van. I'd heard someone sing it before. My mum and dad were a little stunned I think, but saw potential, and it carried on from there, I was semi professional from the age of eight touring WMC's most weekends in Stoke-on-Trent mainly.

- I'd love to hear what it was like to work at Granada back in the late 60s and 70s. It was such a legendary place at the time.

Producer Johnny Hamp at Granada had a new talent show starting, my mother found out about it and I auditioned for it. It was called First timers, I won best female vocalist and I was thirteen. I was a frequent visiting performer in various guises at Granada from then on.
It was a wonderful place to work there in the late sixties and seventies.

In those days you could sneak into a studio via the sound proof doors and watch whatever was being recorded. Or a favourite place was the canteen, everyone came in there eventually, it was in the tea queue that  I first saw Jack and Annie Walker from the Rovers, Doris Speed and Arthur Leslie, but at the time it was Jack and Annie to me. In the seventies Laurence Olivier held the door open for me in the corridor. He was on his way to recording in studio 12 with Natalie Wood, I'd just finished recording an episode of Songbook in studio 6. I think I closed my mouth after my jaw dropped. 

When I was eighteen Muriel Young another fabulous producer at Granada wanted me to pilot two children's programmes, one was a disaster after a hamster bit me, it was a how to look after your pet show, the other was a singing show called A Handful of Songs. That show ran for years.

 

- When you joined Coronation Street many of the iconic characters and actors were still very active in the show. Of all the people you worked with during your time there who were you closest to on and/off screen?

When I was in the Street I became great friends with Peter Adamson. He had opened a club near Stockport called Sobers, Peter asked if I would sing at the opening night and I went with my parents, in fact my father was a little miffed as he hadn't realised that there wasn't any alcoholic drink in that club, at all! He fancied a pint, but had a pint of non-alcoholic beer instead. Peter and I worked together quite a lot, we did a summer season of Sunday nights in Morecambe, with Stephen Hancock on piano, Peter organised all of the shows, sang and told a few jokes, and introduced guest artists, one was a comedy sketch with Graham Haberfield dressed as a tramp. 

Peter was a kind man, he was a very attentive husband to his wife who was quite poorly when I was there. Some days I'd travel in by train, on one occasion there was an incident that needed the police to be involved, Peter was the first person to come to my aid. When he found out I was leaving he arranged a meal out for four of us, Robert me himself and Bryan Mosley who kept us entertained all night with amazing jokes and tales. He was another very kind man.

- Your Coronation Street family was made up of Richard Davies, Kathy Staff and Jessie Evans. What are your memories of working with these actors?

My family in the Street consisted of Jessie Evans as my grandmother Richard Davies as my father and Kathy Staff as my mother. We were first introduced at a lunch at Granada, thank goodness we all got along, I couldn't have wished for a better family. I learned so much from all three. Kathy treated me like one of her daughters, her real daughters were close to my agree anyway. Jessie had lots of time for us, Richard was a gentle soul who Jessie really did boss around a bit like a real son, but he took it all in good heart. He had some great stories too, we once travelled on a Pullman train from Manchester to London. On the same train we met up with Windsor Davies, the Welsh banter (and a small amount of gin) flowed but I had to get off at Crewe. Richard said this Pullman doesn't stop at Crewe. Windsor said it does now, even if we have to slow down and dangle you out of the window, you're not going to miss your stop! Thankfully he had a word in someone's ear and he got the train to stop for me. His voice booming out of the window 'Cymru am byth Jonesie!'

 

- From your three years at Corrie, do you have a favourite storyline or a favourite moment off screen?

I don't have a particular favourite moment, but a few memorable scenes. Riding a tandem sticks in my mind for one. Helen and I are not very tall and neither of us had ridden a tandem before, and it was a large tandem, how we managed to ride it up hill without falling off I'll never know. Health and safety! Ha!

- I write a lot about British comedians and comedy actors from the 50s, 60s and 70s. Do you have a favourite(s) from that era and if so, who and why?

Ken Dodd is still king of comedy. He spans all the decades. I've worked with him in the past, at the age of twelve in Blackpool to Stoke-on-Trent at Jollies when I was twenty eight. When you work with Ken you don't have to work on stage for long, he takes over the whole night, it's not a short act. I also had a week long run with Arthur Askey in Thameside. He had that audience in fits of laughter every night, and with no bad language or filthy jokes at all. Unlike some of today's comedians.

 

- I love the kind of character comedy actresses you used to get in the 50s, 60s and 70s. What was it about them, in your opinion, that made them so special and do you have any particular favourites?

Thora Hird - her timing was faultless in comedy roles and in her serious acting roles. I remember watching one of her interviews on TV. in which she said her father taught her so much. There was a scene where she was required to be distressed and upset, he told her to get to the verge of tears but be seen to hold them back, this allows the audience to cry. Timing you see, it's everything in every role, in her black and white films you can see her comic timing even there. She was still fabulous in Last of the Summer Wine. 

- Why do you think old films like the Carry Ons are still so popular in the 21st Century?

I think the Carry Ons are still popular today because there is just no political correctness gone mad in them. Just lighthearted harmless fun with plenty of risqué innuendo. They weren't made to portray real life, just a life full of fun. No one was murdered, and a happy ending was guaranteed. They are there to make us laugh and we certainly need a laugh these days.

- Away from Coronation Street, you made many other series at Granada in the 1970s. What was your favourite show to be a part of and why?

My favourite programme I was involved with will always be A Handful of Songs. Each week children from all over the country would send in their paintings and drawings and request a song about them. They were fantastic, on one or two of them we had to decide which way up they should be, but most had a story on the back along with their name and requested favourite nursery rhyme. We showed every painting that was sent in. I left Handful in the capable hands of Keith Fields and Maria Morgan, while I joined the Street.  It's a shame there isn't anything like this program today, not with me at the helm though, I fear some of the old nursery rhymes may disappear.

- You went on to record an album at Abbey Road in 1974. What are your memories of that time?

I recorded an Album at Abbey Road Studios in 1974 called A Handful of Songs, Bob Barratt was the producer, I was just twenty and Bobs daughter used to watch the TV show. One day at a lunch out with him and his young daughter, (he said the canteen only served egg chips and beans, little knowing that would have suited me!) but with me only being five foot, she thought her father had brought a playmate along with him. Again my parents and younger brothers came along with me to London, so while I was working in the studio, they were sight seeing London. One day my brother Peter stayed with me for the day, he was into music in a big way, and to be taken to the Mecca of recording studios was fantastic. He was shown around and we were taken to all the studios, in fact I recorded most of the album in the actual Beatles studio. The Lady Birds famous for backing vocals did the backing tracks for my album, how cool was that! In the corridors there were Beatles photos everywhere, fantastic. I met Andre Previn there he was recording in another studio. I returned in 1976 to Abbey Road, this time for a Single called Down our Street. Bob Barratt produced it again, we (Bob Robert and me) went for a curry between sessions, he swears I sang better after that curry.

 

- I've got to ask, what's your favourite Carry On film and why?

Carry On Up The Khyber is my favourite Carry On. Sid James and Joan Sims as Sir and Lady Ruff-Diamond at their best I think. Sid's dirty laugh flows through every Carry On, and Joan's perfect portrayal of every different role she plays in all of her performances in the films. Up the Khyber though is just full on fun and innuendos. Roy Castle's straight character Captain Keene and Charles Hawtrey as Private Widdle of the Third Foot and Mouth Regiment, priceless! Bernard Bresslaw as Bungdit Din, it's all there. The Khasi, it just goes on.

In addition to a previous question, (not only Thora Hird) but Joan Sims is my favourite actress from all of the Carry On films. With each character she plays, and there have been many, she is thoroughly convincing, be it the junior nurse, the PE teacher or a Madam.
I also thought she was wonderful as Madge Hardcastle in As Time Goes By, Mrs Wembley in On the Up, 'just the one Mrs Wembley' is still quoted in my house along with 'oh dear I seem to be a little plastered' from Up the Khyber.

- Finally I've got to ask about your love of classic cars. How did all that come about?

I've always loved cars. Especially sporty ones. When I first met Robert he invited me to Oulton Park circuit, he had raced and won championships there many times. Cars were in his blood. His grandfather had thirteen Model T Ford taxis on Crewe Station. His drivers would take the troops from the First World War from Crewe station to their barracks in Preese Heath. So I sort of married into a car family. We love all sorts of Classic Vintage and Veteran motoring. Of the veteran cars some of them take a lot of gentle handling, almost all have no or little weather protection, so if it rains, you get wet. Oh the joy when it hails, but it's great to know that they are not just sitting in a museum. 

 

I'd like to thank Kathy for giving this fabulous interview, it's been a joy. You can follow Kathy on Twitter @KathyJones_

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

Jack Douglas - His Carry On Story

 

Jack Douglas was the only actor to appear in every Carry On film following his first appearance with the team. Coming to Carry On relatively late in the span of the series, Jack originally played brief cameos, gradually gaining bigger and bigger roles as he found favour with both Peter Rogers and the rest of the gang. 

I must confess that although I admire Jack's long career on stage and television, I never really got his "Alf" persona and didn't find it a good fit with the traditional brand of Carry On humour. In the end he rather uneasily filled the gap vacated by Jim Dale and Terry Scott, providing another male supporting actor to bolster the ranks as the team began to fragment in the 1970s. I think some of his appearances were more successful than others, however let's take a run through Jack's contribution to the Carry On films during the 1970s.

 

Jack first appeared with the Carry On team in the 1971 film Carry On Matron. Appearing early on in the film in a short, one scene cameo, Douglas had the eye catching role of a expectant father in the maternity hospital who makes a call to the Guinness Book of Records! Allegedly Jack wasn't paid for this cameo, however days later a Rolls Royce appeared outside his house with a crate of champagne from Peter Rogers. This successful cameo proved Jack's entry as a full time member of the Carry On gang. In the Spring of 1972 he was back at Pinewood for a slightly larger role in the classic Carry On Abroad. Again inhabiting the Alf role, complete with compulsory twitches and mayhem, Jack's appearances top and tail the film as a regular in Sid's public house. His scenes with Sid, Joan and Barbara Windsor are funny and both set the story up for the rest of the film and round things off nicely at the end.

With an appearance alongside the likes of Joan Sims, Hattie Jacques and Kenneth Connor in the 1972 Carry On Christmas television special (Carry On Stuffing) Jack definitely had his feet under the Carry On table. The following year saw Jack grab his biggest supporting role to date, as the accident prone William, an employee of Connie's rather drab seaside hotel in Carry On Girls. Jack shares some fruitful comedic scenes with Sid James and also the wonderful Joan Hickson. He would once again join the gang for the 1973 Christmas special on television, appearing in more material than the previous year. However most of his contributions revolved around the same Alf persona.

By now the Carry On team were only making one film a year. This meant Jack would appear in every original Carry On film in the series until the end of the run. In 1974's Carry On Dick, Jack worked well as sidekick to Kenneth Williams' Desmond Fancey. The pair shared some very funny scenes and Dick saw Jack gain his largest amount of screen time in a Carry On so far. He slotted in well amongst a cast of regular faces, many of which would be making their last appearance with this film. Following entries would sorely miss Hattie Jacques, Sid James and Barbara Windsor. Possibly Jack's most successful contribution came in 1975 with his role as Ernie Bragg in Carry On Behind. This modern reworking of Carry On Camping saw Douglas teamed with newcomer Windsor Davies, who was obviously cast in the role earmarked for the absent Sid James. Douglas and Windsor make a great double act, best of all in the scene where they attend to Kenneth Williams' Professor Crump following an accident with a bottle of tomato sauce!

1975 would be Jack's busiest year as part of the Carry On team as away from Pinewood he would also appear in the vast majority of the ATV Carry On Laughing television half hours. Although these episodes were less than successful overall, it did at least give Jack the chance of starring roles in smaller productions and also the opportunity to move away from Alf. Jack also starred in the Carry On London stage show at the Victoria Palace, having started the run in 1973, it came to an end in 1975. Sadly this year would see the beginning of the end for the Carry Ons. 1976 saw a major departure for the films, with Carry On England being a much more cynical film, with more near the knuckle scenes and a host of new, younger faces. The likes of Joan Sims and Peter Butterworth suffer badly from small, unfunny roles however Jack probably fares the best out of the recognisable regulars.

 

In 1978, Jack grabbed a major role in the last gasp of the original run, Carry On Emmannuelle. As the butler Lyons, Douglas finally moved away from the twitching Alf persona with a relatively straight role. Emmannuelle is pretty woeful though and is probably best forgotten. There would be no further Carrying On until Carry On Columbus sailed into view in 1992. However Jack Douglas was aboard for the adventure, alongside a host of new, alternative comedians. Sadly most of Jack's material was cut from the final print, a great shame given that so many of his old colleagues did not feature in the film.

Jack Douglas continued to be a loyal exponent of all things Carry On right up until his death in December 2008. He was a regular face at reunions and fan conventions, recording a number of DVD audio commentaries and being interviewed for many television and radio retrospectives. He was always an enthusiastic supporter of the films and the team and was always ready to reminisce. While I may not have been the biggest fan of some of his appearances in the film, Jack must be commended for his enthusiasm and loyalty when it came to keeping the Carry On story alive. 

 You can follow me on Twitter @CarryOnJoan and also Facebook

An August Month for Carry On

What is it about the month of August when it comes to Carry On related birthdays? I hadn't really noticed until now but as I've been blogging either good wishes to Carry On actors who are still with us and celebrating or remembering those who are sadly not, it's made me realise that August is a really prolific month for Carry On birthday celebrations.

Let's look at the evidence:

 

 Jacki Piper, born 3 August 1946

 

Joan Hickson, born 5 August 1906

Barbara Windsor, born 6 August 1937

Liz Fraser, born 14 August 1930

Jim Dale, born 15 August 1935

Marianne Stone, born 23 August 1922

Imogen Hassall, born 25 August 1942

Peter Gilmore, born 25 August 1931

Pat Coombs, born 27 August 1926

Windsor Davies, born 28 August 1930

I think you'll agree that's quite a roll call of names! Can you think of any more that I've forgotten? If so get in touch! 

You can follow me on Twitter @CarryOnJoan and also Facebook

Happy Birthday Windsor Davies!

Many happy returns to that terrific actor and star of two Carry On films, Mr Windsor Davies! Windsor turns the grand old age of 86 today and I'm sure you'll all join me in wishing him well.

Windsor Davies is best known for his long running role in the BBC sitcom It Ain't Half Hot Mum, which ran from 1974 until 1981. He also went on to appear in another well remembered comedy series, Never The Twain, alongside the late, great Sir Donald Sinden. As well as appearing in countless other films, Windsor is best known to us for appearing in two later Carry On films, Behind in 1975 and England the following year.

Sadly Windsor retired from acting some years ago. While we may miss his wonderful acting performances, I hope he is enjoying a relaxing and fulfilling retirement. As a personal aside, Windsor also shares a birthday with yours truly, although there may be a few years separating us...

Happy Birthday Windsor!

You can follow me on Twitter @CarryOnJoan and also Facebook

Joan Carries On ... As Jennifer Ffoukes-Sharpe

 

This blog is part of a new regular series on Carry On Blogging. I'm going to attempt to blog about each of Joan Sims' wonderful roles in the Carry On films. Joan was the most prolific of all the actresses involved in the series, clocking up 24 films. Indeed, only Kenneth Williams made more Carry Ons. 

Today I am going to write about one of Joan's later roles in the series. In 1976, just weeks after the sad death of Sid James, what remained of the Carry On team regrouped at Pinewood for Carry On England. Joining Kenneth Connor, Jack Douglas and Peter Butterworth was Joan as Jennifer Ffoukes-Sharpe. Those four actors were the only members of the proper team to turn up from England and they probably ended up wishing they hadn't. England was a disaster with the Carry Ons attempting to keep pace with the racy Confessions films. New writers were brought in and a new composer created the musical score and none of it quite worked. Add to that several new faces who couldn't really play traditional Carry On comedy and it was no surprise that the film was withdrawn from most cinemas after a few days.

 

Sadly Carry On England isn't kind on Joan Sims. Her role wasn't even offered to her originally. The producers had television star Penelope Keith in mind for the role of Ffoukes-Sharpe however due to commitments on The Good Life, Keith turned it down. It baffles me that after almost twenty years and 22 films, Joan wasn't an automatic choice for England. In retrospect Joan probably wished she had not accepted the role at all. Jennifer is probably Joan's smallest and least significant Carry On role, practically a walk on in a sea of dreadful comic turns. Joan herself was quite disparaging about the film and loathed the tight-fitting army uniform she had to wear. Joan always craved a little glamour in the parts she played and England was far than glamorous.

While Kenneth Connor grabs most of the screen time, sadly such prize comedy actors like Sims and Peter Butterworth are shamefully restricted to a few scenes of little note. Joan's role mainly consists of painful romantics with returning star Windsor Davies. I can't even tell if Joan and Windsor have any screen chemistry as they hardly have any time together on screen with the likes of Patrick Mower and Judy Geeson dominating the action. One of the few funny moments involving Joan sees her character take on Peter's in an arm wrestling competition. Yes, that's as good as it gets.

Viewing it today, England is relatively tame and does not deserve its reputation as a dirty film. However at the time it was a step too far for the loyal Carry On audience. For the first time families could not go to the cinema to see a Carry On together. It really was the beginning of the end and a rare misstep from producer Peter Rogers. The idea of bringing in a whole host of new faces to freshen up the series is one thing, however at the same time Rogers and Thomas managed to overlook the talent they already had. 

As with the previous entry, Carry On Behind, England shamefully neglects Joan Sims' wonderful talents. After a break of a year, the team would reunite one final time in the original run of films. If you thought England was bad, you obviously haven't seen Carry On Emmannuelle!


You can follow me on Twitter @CarryOnJoan and also Facebook