The festive season is peak time viewing for many British soap operas. Love them or loathe them, they are still some of the most popular programmes on television these days. I have a passion for Coronation Street but one must recognise that other soaps do exist!
There are plenty of Carry On connections with the main soaps. Less so these days sadly, as Carry On actors become increasingly thin on the ground, but here are some of the most famous links.
Let's start off with Corrie. Although there aren't any connections left these days, there was a period in the 1990s when the Manchester drama boasted three Carry On actors in the regular cast. Amanda Barrie spent well over a decade as cafe owner Alma Sedgwick, while Johnny Briggs played her on screen husband Mike Baldwin for thirty years. Sherrie Hewson also appeared, as Maureen Naylor for four years before moving on to other soap roles in both Crossroads and Emmerdale.
Other Carry On actors to pop up in Weatherfield have included: Bernard Cribbins, Kenneth Cope, Dilys Laye, Bill Maynard, Noel Dyson, Angela Douglas, June Whitfield, Brian Oulton, Brian Capron, Rosalind Knight and Bill Kenwright.
Let's head down south now to the BBC drama EastEnders. Again during the 1990s, the Albert Square soap opera featured three Carry On actors in its cast. Of course Carry On blonde bombshell Barbara Windsor played Queen Vic landlady Peggy Mitchell for sixteen years during the 1990s and 2000s. Wendy Richard, who appeared in two Carry On films and a Christmas television special was an original EastEnders cast member, appearing as Pauline Fowler from 1985 until 2006. Dilys Laye, already mentioned as having a role in Corrie, played a recurring role as Maxine Palmer in Walford between 1994 and 1995.
What about Emmerdale? The late actress Shirley Stelfox appeared briefly in Carry On At Your Convenience. She would spend the last fifteen years of her career as Edna Birch. Carry On England star Patrick Mower is still a regular cast member in Emmerdale today, having played Rodney Blackstock since 2000.
Over in Hollyoaks, despite it being a youth-oriented soap opera, it has still got a Carry On actress in its cast. Diane Langton, who played Private Alice Easy in Carry On England has been playing Nana McQueen on and off for several years now. Back in 1996, semi-regular Carry On actress Carol Hawkins appeared in a one off role.
So do you know of any other Carry On connections with the best of British soap operas? If you do, get in touch!
Read more about Corrie's Carry On Connections .
You can follow me on Twitter @CarryOnJoan
And so, once again December is upon us. This will be my first Christmas at the helm of Carry On Blogging so I wanted to go all out, bringing you a daily dose of festive Carry On cheer each day on the lead up to the 25th.
So every day I will bring you another cracking Carry On photo with a festive theme. They will probably all be rather naughty, but hopefully all quite nice.
We've made it to Christmas Eve! And to celebrate, here is Sid again, this time in full Father Christmas get up! There's something about our Sidney that suits the Santa outfit and he wore it with aplomb in the 1973 Carry On Christmas. I'm not sure who is responsible for this image of Sid but I love it.
The addition of his Carry On At Your Convenience and Bless This House pipe is a great touch. I hope you have a wonderful Christmas Eve!
What a Carry On at Christmas!
I haven't written in any great detail about the late film director Gerald Thomas so far on Carry On Blogging, which has been a failure on my part. Quite simply the man was a marvel of the British film industry and the Carry Ons would not have been what they were and indeed are, without him. The 10th of December would have been Gerald's 95th birthday so it feels the right time to celebrate the man.
It must be quite a rare thing to have the same director and producer (Peter Rogers) at the helm of an entire franchise of 31 feature films over a 34 year period, give or take the gap between Emmannuelle and Columbus. Rogers and Thomas obviously worked incredibly well together however Gerald's sad death at the age of 72 in 1993 meant that many of the Carry On retrospectives failed to tell his story.
The recent Carry On Forever documentary touched on Gerald's gift as a film editor. As Bernard Cribbins recalled, Gerald edited the film as he went along, knowing exactly how the finished film would be cut from the very beginning. This might be frustrating for the odd actor who likes the freedom to ad lib but what it did mean was that each film was pretty much brought in on time and on budget. Key success indicators for Peter Rogers Productions.
Gerald Thomas did indeed train as a film editor. Originally destined to become a doctor, the Second World War got in the way and once he was demobbed in 1945, Thomas realised a career in medicine was not for him. Gerald began his career in film at Denham Studios, working as Assistant Editor on films such as The October Man and Laurence Olivier's Hamlet. By 1948 he had risen up the ranks to Editor and was involved in the classic film, The Third Man.
Soon Gerald was making his first forays into film comedy thanks to his older brother Ralph Thomas, a film director who had formed a productive partnership with producer Betty Box, a rare female presence in that area of the industry at the time. Gerald joined Ralph and Betty as editor on the classic film Doctor in The House, a runaway success in 1954. Box was married to another producer, Peter Rogers. Here Gerald got to fulfil his desire to become a director in his own right. Gerald and Peter first collaborated on the 1956 film, Circus Friends, a Children's Film Foundation production that brought us an early appearance from a young actress called Carol White. Carol would of course go on to appear in Carry On Teacher and the classic television play, Cathy Come Home.
Although Gerald Thomas is most famous as the director of all 31 Carry On films, he directed many other films during his long career. These included The Vicious Circle starring John Mills, The Duke Wore Jeans starring Tommy Steele and Chain Of Events, starring Susan Shaw. He also directed many other classic British comedies in the Carry On style, many of them featuring regular Carry On actors such as Joan Sims, Kenneth Williams and Kenneth Connor. These films included many that will be familiar to Carry On fans - Nurse On Wheels, The Big Job, Bless This House, Watch Your Stern and Raising The Wind being amongst them.
Tales from the Carry On set are the stuff of legend. The films were produced quickly with no mucking about yet from all accounts, there was always a relaxed, jovial atmosphere and this was mostly down to Gerald. He enjoyed the company of many of the actors he regularly employed. I should think Gerald's presence was a major factor in securing so many repeat bookings from so many brilliant actors. Gerald was also a legendary practical joker, most famously spiking Joan Sims' water glass in the wine tasting sequence in Regardless with neat gin. All this at 8.30 in the morning!
Ever the pro, Joan went for it to avoid a second take! Apparently he also surprised the beauty contestant actresses in Carry On Girls too. Instead of a mild sprinkling of water during the climatic scenes in that film, the likes of Valerie Leon, Barbara Windsor and Margaret Nolan were confronted with hoses!
Thomas also provided the vocal talents in two of the Carry Ons. First of all he appeared as Oddbod Junior in Screaming in 1966. Nearly a decade later he again provided his voice for Joan Sims' foul mouthed mynah bird in Carry On Behind.
Gerald was most certainly an affable force of nature. He lived until his death in leafy Buckinghamshire with his wife Barbara. Together they had three daughters, Sarah, Samantha and Deborah. Although always calm under pressure, it is without a doubt that the strain of making Carry On Columbus in 1992 took its toll on Thomas. He would die in the November of 1993, aged just 72.
Us Carry On fans owe Gerald Thomas a massive thank you for all his work on these wonderful films. Without his talent as a film editor, his eye for detail and his affable working style, the Carry Ons may not have been, and continue to be such a roaring success.
You can follow me on Twitter @CarryOnJoan
I love interacting with fellow Carry On fans on social media. Pretty much right from the start of this blog I have involved fellow fans in some of my posts and this is something I'd like to continue in 2016.
As Peter Butterworth was keen to point out in Carry On Abroad, you have choices!! Whether you want to tell me about your favourite Carry On actor or actress, you'd like to be a fan of the week or you would like to submit a guest blog, do get in touch!
Tell me who your favourite Carry On actor is and why
We all have our favourites and it's completely down to personal taste. You all know I adore Joan Sims, Jim Dale and Kenneth Williams. I'd love you to get in touch and tell me who your favourite Carry On actor or actress is and why. It can be someone from the main team, a supporting actor or even a guest star.
Whoever it is, I want to know why they are your favourite. You may want to tell me what your favourite performance from this actor is, your favourite Carry On character and what other work you have enjoyed seeing them in. You can also, if you are feeling controversial, tell me who your least favourite Carry On actor or actress is and why! It's up to you!
So get in touch via carryonfan15@gmail.com and tell me!
Would you like to be a Carry On Fan of the Week?
Do you love Carry On films? Probably a daft question to ask if you are reading this blog! I have decided to start a new regular feature for Carry On Blogging and I need your help.
If you are a Carry On fan, love the films, the stars and the spin offs, I want to hear from you. All you have to do is get in touch with some info and you will feature in your very own blog. All I need from you is your name, where you're from and the answers to the following questions:
What was the first Carry On film you ever saw?
Who is your favourite Carry On actor and why?
Who is your favourite Carry On actress and why?
Who is your favourite Carry On supporting actor?
Have you ever visited any Carry On film locations?
Have you ever met any Carry On actors?
Do you have any Carry On memorabilia?
Finally, what's your all time favourite Carry On film?
If you want to get in touch and feature in a Carry On Fan blog, please email your answers to the following address: carryonfan15@gmail.com
I look forward to hearing from you!
Would you like to do your own guest blog?
Earlier this year I wrote a guest blog for the wonderful History Usherette Blog which is run by @agathadascoyne . I wrote about the social history of the Carry Ons, comparing Carry On Cruising with Carry On Abroad, highlighting how Britain had changed over that ten year period. This experience got me thinking.
I have really enjoyed hearing from those of you who have submitted answers to my Carry On Fan of the Week blog series. I love interacting with fellow Carry On fans - if you want to take part in that, please do get in touch via carryonfan15@gmail.com. I want to open this idea up further now, though.
If there are any keen bloggers out there who would like to try their hand at writing a guest blog for Carry On Blogging, do get in touch. It can be about anything, as long as it has a Carry On connection. Perhaps you could write about how you first discovered the Carry Ons or who your favourite actor is and why? Anything really that takes your fancy. All you need to do is get writing and email the results to carryonfan15@gmail.com.
Carry On Scribbling!
And so, once again December is upon us. This will be my first Christmas at the helm of Carry On Blogging so I wanted to go all out, bringing you a daily dose of festive Carry On cheer each day on the lead up to the 25th.
So every day I will bring you another cracking Carry On photo with a festive theme. They will probably all be rather naughty, but hopefully all quite nice.
Here's the late, great Sid James giving his all in the 1970 Carry On Again Christmas Thames Television special. Written by Talbot Rothwell and Sid Colin, it starred Sid as Long John Silver (!) It has a Robinson Crusoe feel to it and the gang gamely join in with the fun.
Although this photo of Sid is in glorious technicolour, the show actually went out in black and white. It also featured the very first Carry On appearances for both Carol Hawkins and Wendy Richard. I think Sid really looks the part here, don't you?
What a Carry On at Christmas!
And so, once again December is upon us. This will be my first Christmas at the helm of Carry On Blogging so I wanted to go all out, bringing you a daily dose of festive Carry On cheer each day on the lead up to the 25th.
So every day I will bring you another cracking Carry On photo with a festive theme. They will probably all be rather naughty, but hopefully all quite nice.
Today we have the cast of the original Carry On Christmas in 1969 posing for publicity before the show was broadcast. What a line up it is too - Frankie Howerd, Barbara Windsor, Hattie Jacques, Peter Butterworth and Bernard Bresslaw are all present and correct!
It's my favourite of all the Christmas specials and not just because of the cast. It's all gloriously bright and cheerful and feels like a proper Christmas panto. It's all a bit rough and ready and looks delightfully cheap at times but that just adds to the fun. You wouldn't get a programme like this one these days, more's the pity!
What a Carry On at Christmas!
Last month I brought you the news that Carry On actress Anita Harris would be appearing in pantomime this year. Well, another wonderful Carry On actor will be treading the boards this Christmas. Sherrie Hewson will be starring in Snow White at the De Montfort Hall in Leicester.
Sherrie appeared as Carol in the classic 1975 Carry On film, Carry On Behind, opposite Carol Hawkins, Jack Douglas and Windsor Davies. She also went on to appear in several episodes of the ATV Carry On Laughing television series later the same year.
These days Sherrie is most well known for long running roles in the likes of Coronation Street, Emmerdale and the ITV sitcom Benidorm. She has also been a regular panelist on the ITV chat show Loose Women for over ten years. Sherrie is a fans favourite on Twitter and even follows me!
Sherrie's panto, Snow White, will be running at the De Montfort Hall in Leicester from Saturday 12 December 2015 through until Monday 4 January 2016. Further information can be found on the theatre's website.
If you go along to see the show, do let me know how you get on!
