''Carry On'' is a British comedy franchise comprising 31 films, four Christmas specials, a television series and stage shows produced between 1958 and 1992. Produced by Peter Rogers, the ''Carry On'' films were directed by
Gerald Thomas
Gerald Thomas (10 December 1920 – 9 November 1993) was an English film director best known for the long-running ''Carry On (franchise), ''Carry On'' series'' of British film comedies.
Early life
Born in Kingston upon Hull, Hull, East Riding ...
Barbara Windsor
Dame Barbara Windsor (born Barbara Ann Deeks; 6 August 193710 December 2020) was an English actress, known for her roles in the Carry On (franchise), ''Carry On'' films and for playing Peggy Mitchell in the BBC One soap opera ''EastEnders''.
, Jack Douglas, and Jim Dale. The humour of ''Carry On'' was in the British comic tradition of
music hall
Music hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment that was most popular from the early Victorian era, beginning around 1850, through the World War I, Great War. It faded away after 1918 as the halls rebranded their entertainment as Varie ...
and bawdy
seaside postcard
A postcard or post card is a piece of thick paper or thin cardboard, typically rectangular, intended for writing and mailing without an envelope. Non-rectangular shapes may also be used but are rare.
In some places, one can send a postcard ...
s. The success of the films led to several spin-offs, including four Christmas television specials (1969–1973), a 1975 television series of 13 episodes, a West End stage show and two provincial summer shows.
The ''Carry On'' series contains the largest number of films of any British film franchise, and is the second longest running, albeit with a 14-year gap (1978–1992) between the 30th and 31st entries. (The ''James Bond'' film series is the longest-running, having started in 1962, four years after the first ''Carry On'', though with fewer films.)
Rogers and Thomas were responsible for all 31 films, usually on time and to a strict budget, and often employed the same crew — some of whom were also regulars on the James Bond series, such as Peter Lamont, Alan Hume, and Anthony Waye. Between 1958 and 1992, the series employed seven writers, most often Norman Hudis (1958–1962) and Talbot Rothwell (1963–1974). Anglo Amalgamated Film Distributors Ltd produced 12 films (1958–1966), and
the Rank Organisation
The Rank Organisation (founded as the J. Arthur Rank Organisation) is a British entertainment Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in 1937 by industrialist J. Arthur Rank. It quickly became the largest and most vertical integration, ve ...
made 18 (1966–1978), while
United International Pictures
United International Pictures (UIP) is a joint venture of Paramount Pictures and Universal Pictures that distributes their films outside the United States and Canada. UIP also had international distribution rights to certain Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (M ...
Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire (, abbreviated ''Bucks'') is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-east, Hertfordshir ...
. Budgetary constraints meant that a large proportion of the location filming was undertaken close to the studios in and around south Buckinghamshire, including areas of
Berkshire
Berkshire ( ; abbreviated ), officially the Royal County of Berkshire, is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Oxfordshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the north-east, Greater London ...
and
Middlesex
Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, former county in South East England, now mainly within Greater London. Its boundaries largely followed three rivers: the River Thames, Thames in the south, the River Lea, Le ...
. However, by the late 1960s, at the height of the series' success, more ambitious plots occasionally necessitated locations further afield, which included Snowdonia National Park, Wales (with the foot of
Snowdon
Snowdon (), or (), is a mountain in Snowdonia in North Wales. It has an elevation of above sea level, which makes it both the highest mountain in Wales and the highest in the British Isles south of the Scottish Highlands. Snowdon i ...
standing in for the
Khyber Pass
The Khyber Pass (Urdu: درۂ خیبر; ) is a mountain pass in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan, on the border with the Nangarhar Province of Afghanistan. It connects the town of Landi Kotal to the Valley of Peshawar at Jamrud by tr ...
Sussex
Sussex (Help:IPA/English, /ˈsʌsɪks/; from the Old English ''Sūþseaxe''; lit. 'South Saxons'; 'Sussex') is an area within South East England that was historically a kingdom of Sussex, kingdom and, later, a Historic counties of England, ...
'' Carry On Sergeant'' (1958) is about a group of recruits doing National Service; its title, a command commonly issued by army officers to their sergeants in the course of their routine duties, was in keeping with its setting. The film was sufficiently successful to inspire a similar venture, again focusing on an established and respected profession in '' Carry On Nurse''. When that too was successful, further forays with '' Carry On Teacher'' and '' Carry On Constable'' established the series. This initial 'pattern' was broken with the fifth film in 1961, '' Carry On Regardless'', but it still followed a similar plot to that of many of the early films—a small group of misfit newcomers to a job make comic mistakes, but come together to succeed in the end.
The remainder of the series developed with increased use of the British comic traditions of
music hall
Music hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment that was most popular from the early Victorian era, beginning around 1850, through the World War I, Great War. It faded away after 1918 as the halls rebranded their entertainment as Varie ...
and bawdy
seaside postcard
A postcard or post card is a piece of thick paper or thin cardboard, typically rectangular, intended for writing and mailing without an envelope. Non-rectangular shapes may also be used but are rare.
In some places, one can send a postcard ...
s. Many titles parodied more serious films, such as their tongue-in-cheek homages to James Bond ('' Spying''), westerns (''
Cowboy
A cowboy is an animal herder who tends cattle on ranches in North America, traditionally on horseback, and often performs a multitude of other ranch-related tasks. The historic American cowboy of the late 19th century arose from the ''vaquero'' ...
''), and
Hammer
A hammer is a tool, most often a hand tool, consisting of a weighted "head" fixed to a long handle that is swung to deliver an impact to a small area of an object. This can be, for example, to drive nail (fastener), nails into wood, to sh ...
horror films ('' Screaming!''). The most impressive of these was '' Carry On Cleo'' (1964), in which the budget-conscious production team made full use of some impressive sets that had been created in 1960 for the Burton and Taylor epic ''
Cleopatra
Cleopatra VII Thea Philopator (; The name Cleopatra is pronounced , or sometimes in both British and American English, see and respectively. Her name was pronounced in the Greek dialect of Egypt (see Koine Greek phonology). She was ...
'' (1963) but abandoned when production moved to Rome. '' Carry On Emmannuelle'', inspired by the soft-porn '' Emmanuelle'', brought to an end the original ''Carry On'' run.
The stock-in-trade of ''Carry On'' humour was
innuendo
An innuendo is a wikt:hint, hint, wikt:insinuation, insinuation or wikt:intimation, intimation about a person or thing, especially of a denigrating or derogatory nature. It can also be a remark or question, typically disparaging (also called in ...
and the sending-up of British institutions and customs, such as the
National Health Service
The National Health Service (NHS) is the term for the publicly funded health care, publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom: the National Health Service (England), NHS Scotland, NHS Wales, and Health and Social Care (Northern ...
(''Nurse'', ''Doctor'', ''Again Doctor'', ''Matron'' and the proposed ''Again Nurse''), the
monarchy
A monarchy is a form of government in which a person, the monarch, reigns as head of state for the rest of their life, or until abdication. The extent of the authority of the monarch may vary from restricted and largely symbolic (constitutio ...
Empire
An empire is a political unit made up of several territories, military outpost (military), outposts, and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a hegemony, dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the ...
Sergeant
Sergeant (Sgt) is a Military rank, rank in use by the armed forces of many countries. It is also a police rank in some police services. The alternative spelling, ''serjeant'', is used in The Rifles and in other units that draw their heritage f ...
'', ''
England
England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
'', '' Jack'' and the proposed ''Flying'' and ''Escaping''), the police (''
Constable
A constable is a person holding a particular office, most commonly in law enforcement. The office of constable can vary significantly in different jurisdictions. ''Constable'' is commonly the rank of an officer within a police service. Other peo ...
'') and the
trade union
A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...
Camping
Camping is a form of outdoor recreation or outdoor education involving overnight stays with a basic temporary shelter such as a tent. Camping can also include a recreational vehicle, sheltered cabins, a permanent tent, a shelter such as a Bivy bag ...
Teacher
A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching.
''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. w ...
'') amongst others. Although the films were very often panned by critics, they mostly proved very popular with audiences. In 2007, the
pun
A pun, also known as a paronomasia in the context of linguistics, is a form of word play that exploits multiple meanings of a term, or of similar-sounding words, for an intended humorous or rhetorical effect. These ambiguities can arise from t ...
"Infamy, infamy, they've all got it in for me", spoken by Kenneth Williams (playing
Julius Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar (12 or 13 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC) was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in Caesar's civil wa ...
) in ''Carry on Cleo'', was voted the funniest one-line joke in film history. However, this line had originally been written by Frank Muir and Denis Norden for Jimmy Edwards in the radio series'' Take It From Here'' some years previously.
A film had appeared in 1957 under the title '' Carry On Admiral''; although this was a comedy in similar vein (and even featured Joan Sims in the cast) it has no connection to the ''Carry On'' series itself. The much earlier 1937 film ''Carry On London'' is also unrelated (though it coincidentally starred future ''Carry On'' performer Eric Barker).
The cast were poorly paid—around £5,000 per film for a principal performer.Butters, Wes and Davies, Russell. ''Kenneth Williams Unseen'',
HarperCollins
HarperCollins Publishers LLC is a British–American publishing company that is considered to be one of the "Big Five (publishers), Big Five" English-language publishers, along with Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group USA, Hachette, Macmi ...
, 2008 In his diaries Kenneth Williams lamented this, and criticised several of the movies despite his declared fondness for the series as a whole. Peter Rogers, the series' producer, acknowledged: "Kenneth was worth taking care of, because while he cost very little ../nowiki> he made a very great deal of money for the franchise."
Barbara Windsor
Dame Barbara Windsor (born Barbara Ann Deeks; 6 August 193710 December 2020) was an English actress, known for her roles in the Carry On (franchise), ''Carry On'' films and for playing Peggy Mitchell in the BBC One soap opera ''EastEnders''.
Several other films were planned, scripted (or partly scripted) or entered
pre-production
Pre-production is the process of planning some of the elements involved in a film, television show, play, video game, or other performance, as distinct from production and post-production. Pre-production ends when the planning ends and the co ...
before being abandoned:
* ''What a Carry On...'' (1961)
* ''Carry On Smoking'' (1961), revolving around a fire station and various attempts to train a bungling group of new recruits.
* ''Carry On Spaceman'' (1961), scripted by Norman Hudis and planned to be released shortly after '' Carry On Regardless''. Satirising the
Space Race
The Space Race (, ) was a 20th-century competition between the Cold War rivals, the United States and the Soviet Union, to achieve superior spaceflight capability. It had its origins in the ballistic missile-based nuclear arms race between t ...
, the cast was to consist of three would-be
astronaut
An astronaut (from the Ancient Greek (), meaning 'star', and (), meaning 'sailor') is a person trained, equipped, and deployed by a List of human spaceflight programs, human spaceflight program to serve as a commander or crew member of a spa ...
s who constantly bungled on their training and their mission into outer space; most likely the trio would have been played by Kenneth Williams, Kenneth Connor, and Leslie Phillips that had been established in '' Carry On Constable''. Attempts to revive ''Carry On Spaceman'' in 1962 under Denis Gifford, again by Hudis, failed, and the project was subsequently abandoned.
* ''Carry On Flying'' (1962), about a group of RAF recruits. Norman Hudis penned a script and the film got as far as pre-production before being abandoned. Jim Dale was to have had a starring role.
* ''Carry On Robin'' (1965), a spoof of
Robin Hood
Robin Hood is a legendary noble outlaw, heroic outlaw originally depicted in English folklore and subsequently featured in literature, theatre, and cinema. According to legend, he was a highly skilled archer and swordsman. In some versions o ...
starring "the ''Carry On'' regulars". Rogers outlined the film and registered it with the British Film Producers Association but never pursued it any further.
* ''Carry On Escaping'' (1973), scripted by Talbot Rothwell, a spoof of World War II escape films. The complete script is included in the book ''The Complete A–Z of Everything Carry On''.
* ''Carry On Texas'' (1980), a spoof of popular American soap opera ''
Dallas
Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...
'', was pursued in 1980. A script was written and casting offers made to Williams, Connor, Douglas, Sims, Windsor, Hawtrey and Dale. The production was abandoned when ''Dallas'' production company
Lorimar Productions
Lorimar Television, formerly Lorimar Productions, Inc. and Lorimar Distribution, was an American production company that was later a subsidiary of Warner Bros., active from 1969
demanded a royalty fee of 20 times the total production budget. The idea was revisited in 1987, with casting considerations for Windsor, Douglas, Bernard Bresslaw, Terry Scott and Anita Harris, but the idea progressed no further.
* ''Carry On Down Under'' (1981) was considered when, while on holiday in Australia, Gerald Thomas scouted locations and spoke to the Australian Film Commission about a potential film. The production was abandoned when finance fell through, and a complete script written by Vince Powell is included in the book ''Fifty Years of Carry On''.
''Carry On Again Nurse''
An intended sub-sequel to the successful '' Carry On Nurse'' was renamed and made as '' Carry On Doctor'' in 1967. ''Carry On Nurse'' was alluded to twice in ''Carry On Doctor'', firstly with the sub-titles (one reading ''Nurse Carries On Again'' and ''Death of a Daffodil''), and again in a later scene with
Frankie Howerd
Francis Alick Howard (6 March 1917 – 19 April 1992), better known by his stage-name Frankie Howerd, was an English actor and comedian.
Early life
Howerd was born the son of a soldier Francis Alfred William (1887–1934)England & Wales, Deat ...
commenting on a vase of daffodils in his hospital room. A second attempt at ''Carry On Again Nurse'' came in 1979, after the series left Rank Films and moved to Hemdale. A completed script had been written by George Layton and Jonathan Lynn in 1977, but the attempt was cancelled due to the financial loss of '' Carry On Emmannuelle''.
The final attempt to create ''Carry On Again Nurse'' came in 1988, with a script written by Norman Hudis. It was to revolve around a hospital set for closure, and set to star original actors
Barbara Windsor
Dame Barbara Windsor (born Barbara Ann Deeks; 6 August 193710 December 2020) was an English actress, known for her roles in the Carry On (franchise), ''Carry On'' films and for playing Peggy Mitchell in the BBC One soap opera ''EastEnders''.
, Jack Douglas, Kenneth Williams, Charles Hawtrey, Kenneth Connor and Joan Sims, with Sims filling in the role of Matron that was previously held by Hattie Jacques. The end of the film was going to be a tribute to Jacques, with Sims turning around a photograph of the actress and asking "Well, did I do alright?" (the script is included in the book ''The Lost Carry Ons''). Production was scheduled to begin in June 1988, but the death of Williams two months previously, followed by that of Hawtrey six months later – combined with a budget of £1.5 million, which was deemed too expensive – proved to be the end of the film and it was cancelled.
''Carry On London''
The final proposed ''Carry On'', before Peter Rogers's death in 2009, was ''Carry On London''. Announced in 2003 by Rogers and producer James Black, it remained in pre-production well into 2008. The script was signed off by the production company in late March 2008, and "centred on a limousine company ferrying celebrities to an awards show". The film had several false starts, with the producers and cast changing extensively over time. Only the little-known Welsh actress Jynine James remained a consistent name from 2003 to 2008. Danniella Westbrook, David Jason, Shaun Williamson and
Burt Reynolds
Burton Leon Reynolds Jr. (February 11, 1936 – September 6, 2018) was an American actor most famous during the 1970s and 1980s. He became well known in television series such as ''Gunsmoke'' (1962–1965), '' Hawk'' (1966) and '' Dan Augus ...
were also once attached to the project. It was announced in May 2006 that Vinnie Jones and Shane Richie were to star in the film, which was to be directed by Peter Richardson, though Ed Bye later replaced him as the named director. At the 50th anniversary party held at Pinewood Studios in March 2008, Rogers confirmed that he was planning a series of ''Carry On'' films after ''London'', subject to the success of the first.
In early 2009, ''Carry On London'' or ''Carry On Bananas'' was once again 'back on', with Charlie Higson attached as director, and a different, more modern, cast list involving Paul O'Grady (as the acidic Kenneth Williamsesque character), Jynine James,
Lenny Henry
Sir Lenworth George Henry (born 29 August 1958) is a British Jamaicans, British-Jamaican comedian, actor and writer. He gained success as a Stand-up comedy, stand-up comedian and impressionist in the late 1970s and early 1980s, culminating in ' ...
Barbara Windsor
Dame Barbara Windsor (born Barbara Ann Deeks; 6 August 193710 December 2020) was an English actress, known for her roles in the Carry On (franchise), ''Carry On'' films and for playing Peggy Mitchell in the BBC One soap opera ''EastEnders''.
Frank Skinner
Christopher Graham Collins (born 28 January 1957), known professionally as Frank Skinner, is an English comedian, actor, presenter and writer. At the 2001 British Comedy Awards, he was named Best Comedy Entertainment Personality. His televisio ...
(filling in the Sid James role). Despite new media interest and sets being constructed at Pinewood Studios, the film was once again put on hold, and the project was abandoned after the death of Peter Rogers in April 2009.
Reboot
In May 2016, producer Jonathan Sothcott of Hereford Films announced plans for a new series of ''Carry On'' films, beginning with ''Carry On Doctors'' and ''Carry On Campus''. On 12 April 2017, Sothcott confirmed to the website ''The Hollywood News'' that he was no longer involved with the film series. As of September 2019, three ''Carry On'' films were set to be filmed back-to-back, after Brian Baker won the rights to the movies following a legal battle with ITV earlier that year. Production of the new films had been planned to take place in spring 2020. However, filming was postponed due to the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
and little more was heard about the project until after the death of
Barbara Windsor
Dame Barbara Windsor (born Barbara Ann Deeks; 6 August 193710 December 2020) was an English actress, known for her roles in the Carry On (franchise), ''Carry On'' films and for playing Peggy Mitchell in the BBC One soap opera ''EastEnders''.
in December 2020, when Baker announced that he would be using old footage of the actress in the film, saying "Barbara will be making an appearance." Baker told the '' Daily Star Sunday'' that "we have got two new stories and we are looking to do one of the old ones again to bring it up to modern day quality – probably '' Carry On Sergeant''.
Baker's company Carry On Films Ltd was later dissolved.
Spin-offs
Television
The characters and comedy style of the ''Carry On'' film series were adapted to a television series titled '' Carry On Laughing'', and several Christmas specials.
Stage shows
Album
In 1971, Music for Pleasure released a long-playing record, ''Oh! What a Carry On!'' (MFP MONO 1416), featuring songs performed by Kenneth Williams, Jim Dale, Kenneth Connor, Frankie Howerd, Bernard Bresslaw, Joan Sims, Barbara Windsor, and
Dora Bryan
Dora May Broadbent (7 February 1923 – 23 July 2014), known as Dora Bryan, was an English actress of stage, film and television.Leslie Phillips, was broadcast in two parts on BBC Radio 2 on 19 and 20 July 2010. A three-part television retrospective with the same title, narrated by Martin Clunes, was shown on
ITV3
ITV3 is a Television in the United Kingdom, British free-to-air television channel owned by ITV Digital Channels, a division of ITV plc. The channel was first launched on Monday 1 November 2004 at 9 pm, replacing Plus (British TV channel), Plus ...
in the UK over Easter 2015.
Home media
The ''Carry On'' film series has had numerous individual releases on VHS, and a number of VHSs were released in an eighteen VHS box-set on 1 September 2003.
The film series was first released as a DVD box-set on 1 September 2008, by ITV Studios Home Entertainment. Five years later, on 7 October 2013, it was re-released with smaller packaging. All the movies contained in the collection are also available to buy individually.
Since 2013,
StudioCanal
StudioCanal S.A.S. (formerly known as Le Studio Canal+, Canal Plus, Canal+ Distribution, Canal+ D.A., and Canal+ Production and also known as StudioCanal International) is a French film & television production and distribution company which is a ...
The success of the ''Carry On'' series occasionally led to affectionate parodies of the series by other contemporary comedians:
* In ''The Spitting Image Book'', released in 1985, there is a reference to a fictitious made-for-TV film entitled ''Carry On Up the Rectum'', satirising the transparency of the puns used for '' Carry On Up the Khyber'' and possibly '' Carry On Up the Jungle''.
* Harry Enfield's mockumentary '' Norbert Smith: A Life'' (1989) includes a clip from an imagined film, ''Carry On Banging'' (a parody of the more risque approach of the later films, such as '' Carry On Dick'' and '' Carry On Emmannuelle''). The setting is the Greenham Common Women's Peace Camp of the 1980s, and featured
Barbara Windsor
Dame Barbara Windsor (born Barbara Ann Deeks; 6 August 193710 December 2020) was an English actress, known for her roles in the Carry On (franchise), ''Carry On'' films and for playing Peggy Mitchell in the BBC One soap opera ''EastEnders''.
double entendre
A double entendre (plural double entendres) is a figure of speech or a particular way of wording that is devised to have a double meaning, one of which is typically obvious, and the other often conveys a message that would be too socially unacc ...
, except by one doctor who has trouble fitting in as he comes out with simple obscenity, unable to understand the distinction.
* A " flash frame" of the end shot of '' Carry On Cowboy'' is used in series two of '' The Young Ones''.
* In Tom Holt's eighth Portable Door novel ''When It's a Jar'' (2013) the ''Carrion'' franchise offers a "uniquely quirky blend of spatterfest zombie horror and traditional British slapstick-and-innuendo comedy" with titles such as ''Carrion Nursing'', ''Carrion Camping'' and ''Carrion Up the Khyber''.
* In The Goodies' book ''The Making of the Goodies Disaster Movie'', the trio visit the set of ''Carry On Christ'' in order to get advice from the Carry On team, while they are filming a scene relating to 'The Feeding of the Five Thousand', with some of the cast noted as Kenneth Williams playing 'Pontius Pilate', Charles Hawtrey as 'A Wise Virgin', Barbara Windsor as 'Not a Wise Virgin' and Hattie Jacques as 'The Five Thousand'.
* Clips from several ''Carry On'' films are used in ''In The Movies It Doesn't Hurt'' (1975), a short film on laboratory safety for schools starring Bernard Bresslaw.
* The satirical website TVGoHome often included ''Carry On'' films in its fictional listings.
* In the song '' Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others'' by
The Smiths
The Smiths were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Manchester in 1982, composed of Morrissey (vocals), Johnny Marr (guitar), Andy Rourke (bass) and Mike Joyce (musician), Mike Joyce (drums). Morrissey and Marr formed the band's songwrit ...
, one of the lines is "As Anthony said to Cleopatra, as he opened a crate of ale, oh, I say", making reference to '' Carry on Cleo''.
* In the 2023 television series '' Funny Woman'', the ''Carry On'' films are mentioned several times as character Sophie Straw ( Gemma Arterton) receives an offer for a role in a proposed entry in the series.
IMDb
IMDb, historically known as the Internet Movie Database, is an online database of information related to films, television series, podcasts, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and biograp ...