The series uses the British comic traditions of music hall and bawdy seaside postcards. Many titles parodied more serious films, such as their tongue-in-cheek homages to James Bond, westerns, and Hammer horror films. Carry On Emmannuelle, inspired by the soft-porn Emmanuelle, brought to an end the original Carry On run.
Sergeant Grimshaw wants to retire in the flush of success by winning the Star Squad prize with his very last platoon of newly called-up National Servicemen. But what a motley bunch they turn out to be.
The journalist Ted York (Terence Longdon) is rushed to Haven Hospital with appendicitis. The ambulance gets there at top speed, but only because the driver wants to know the result of a horse race. Ted is given a bed and is instantly smitten with Nurse Denton (Shirley Eaton). The other nurses are incessantly having to respond to the calls of the Colonel (Wilfrid Hyde-White), who has a private room. He is an inveterate gambler and is having his bets placed by Mick (Harry Locke), the orderly.
During the current term at Maudlin Street Secondary Modern School, William Wakefield (Ted Ray (comedian)) – who has been at the school for 20 years – is acting headmaster. He spots an advertisement for a headmaster of a brand new school near where he was born and decides to apply for the post.
A suburban police station is understaffed due to a flu epidemic, and Sergeant Wilkins, under pressure to maintain staffing levels, is pleased to hear that three new recruits, straight from training school, are due shortly.
Down at the local labour exchange, everyone is moaning about the lack of decent jobs, unaware that nearby Bert Handy and his secretary Miss Cooling are attempting to fill vacancies, at a new enterprise called Helping Hands. When word gets round, people are quick to visit the agency, notably Sam Twist, Francis Courtenay, Delia King, Gabriel Dimple, Lily Duveen, Mike Weston and Montgomery Infield-Hopping. Bert decides to hire them all and at first business is slow. The only customer is a man who speaks gobbledygook but since Francis (who can speak 16 languages) is not present nobody can understand him and he goes on his way. Within a few days business picks up and Delia has an assignment to try on a complete women's wardrobe for Mr Delling, a gentleman who is planning a surprise for his wife. However things get complicated when the man's wife arrives home unexpectedly.
Captain Crowther (Sid James) has five of his crew replaced at short notice before a new cruise voyage begins. Not only does he get the five most incompetent crew men ever to sail the seven seas, but the passengers turn out to be a rather strange bunch too.
Charlie Hawkins (Sid James) is the workaholic owner of thriving taxi company ''Speedee Taxis'', but his wife Peggy (Hattie Jacques) feels neglected by him. When Charlie misses their fifteenth wedding anniversary, because he is out cabbing, she decides to punish him. Telling Charlie that she is going to 'get a job', she establishes a rival company, ''GlamCabs''. The cars are brand new Ford Cortina Mk1s and driven by attractive girls in provocative uniforms. Flo, the wife of one of Charlie's drivers, is appointed to the post of office manager.
''Carry On Jack'' starts with Battle of Trafalgar of Horatio Nelson (Jimmy Thompson (actor)), whose last words are that Britain needs a bigger navy with more men, followed by his famous request for a kiss to Hardy (Anton Rodgers). In the main story, Albert Poop-Decker (Bernard Cribbins) has taken 8 years and still not qualified as midshipman, but is promoted by the First Sea Lord (Cecil Parker) as England needs officers. He is to join the frigate ''Venus'' at Plymouth. Arriving to find the crew all celebrating as they are sailing tomorrow, he takes a sedan chair with no bottom (so he has to run), carried by a young man and his father (Jim Dale and Ian Wilson (actor), respectively) to ''Dirty Dick's'' Tavern.
A top-secret chemical formula has been stolen by STENCH (the Society for the Total Extinction of Non-Conforming Humans). Fearful of the formula falling into the wrong hands, the chief of the Secret Intelligence Service reluctantly sends the only agent he has left, the bumbling and silly Agent Desmond Simpkins (Kenneth Williams), and his three trainees—Agent Harold Crump (Bernard Cribbins), Agent Daphne Honeybutt (Barbara Windsor), and Agent Charlie Bind (Charles Hawtrey (actor born 1914))—to retrieve the formula.
The film opens during Caesar's invasions of Britain, with Mark Antony (Sid James) struggling to lead his armies through miserable weather. At a nearby village, Caveman Horsa (Jim Dale) and Hengist Pod (Kenneth Connor) attempt to alert Boudica to the invasion, but are captured by the Romans.
Outlaw Johnny Finger, better known as The Rumpo Kid (Sid James), rides into the frontier town of Dodge City, and immediately guns down three complete strangers, orders alcohol at the saloon—horrifying Judge Burke (Kenneth Williams), the Teetotalism Mayor of Stodge City—and kills the town's sheriff, Wyatt Earp (Jon Pertwee). Rumpo then takes over the saloon, courting its former owner, the sharp-shooting Belle (Joan Sims), and turns the town into a base for thieves and cattle-rustlers.
The film opens in Edwardian times in Hocombe Woods, where Doris Mann (Angela Douglas) and Albert Potter (Jim Dale) are courting. When Albert searches the woods for a Peeping Tom, Doris is abducted by a monster named Oddbod (Tom Clegg (actor)), which leaves a finger behind. Albert, finding the finger, rushes to the police station and reports the matter to Detective Constable Slobotham (Peter Butterworth), who in turn tells his superior, the henpecked Detective Sergeant Sidney Bung (Harry H. Corbett), who has been investigating similar disappearances in the same woods.
It is the time of the French Revolution, and two bored English noblemen, Sir Rodney Ffing (pronounced "Effing") and his best friend Lord Darcy Pue (played by Sid James and Jim Dale respectively), decide to have some fun and save their French counterparts from beheading by the guillotine.
His reputation brought into disrepute by Captain Bagshaw, a competitor for the affections of Lady Jane Ponsonby, Bertram Oliphant West AKA "Bo" decides to leave England and join the French Foreign Legion, followed by his faithful manservant Simpson. Originally mistaken for enemy combatants at Sidi Bel Abbès, the pair eventually enlist and are helped in surviving Legion life by Sergeant Knocker, although only after they discover that when he is "on patrol" he is actually enjoying himself at the local cafe with the female owner, ZigZig.
Francis Bigger (Howerd) is a charlatan faith healer, convinced that "mind over matter" is more effective than medical treatment. During a lecture, he stumbles offstage and is admitted to the local hospital. In hospital, he incessantly groans and whines about being "maltreated", demanding better treatment than the other, eccentric patients. These include: bedridden layabout Charlie Roper (James) who shams illnesses to stay in hospital; Ken Biddle (Bresslaw) who makes frequent trips to the ladies' ward to flirt with his love interest, Mavis Winkle (Dilys Laye); and Mr Barron (Hawtrey) who seems to be suffering sympathy pains while his wife awaits the birth of their baby. While being treated, Bigger meets two very different doctors. Clumsy yet charming Dr Kilmore (Dale) is popular with the patients and loved from afar by the beautiful Nurse Clark (Harris) while hospital registrar Dr Tinkle (Kenneth Williams) is universally detested, as is his battleaxe Matron (Jacques), who harbours an unrequited love for him.
Sir Sidney Ruff-Diamond (Sid James) is Queen Victoria's Governor#India in the British India province of Khalabar near the Khyber Pass. The province is defended by the feared #The regiment, who are said to True Scotsman under their kilts. When Private Widdle (Charles Hawtrey (actor born 1914)) is found wearing underpants after an encounter with the warlord Bungdit Din (Bernard Bresslaw), chief of the warlike Burpa tribe, the Qadi#Indian subcontinent of Khalabar (Kenneth Williams) plans to use this information to incite an anti-British rebellion. He aims to dispel the "tough" image of the Devils in Skirts by revealing that contrary to popular belief, they do indeed wear underpants under their kilts.
Sid Boggle (Sid James) and his friend Bernie Lugg (Bernard Bresslaw) are partners in a plumbing business. They take their girlfriends, prudish Joan Fussey (Joan Sims) and meek Anthea Meeks (Dilys Laye), to the cinema to see a film about a Naturism camp called Paradise. Sid has the idea of the group holidaying there, reasoning that in that environment their heretofore chaste girlfriends will relax their strict moral standards. Sid easily gains Bernie's co-operation in the scheme, which they attempt to keep secret from the girls.
At the Long Hampton Hospital, Dr Jimmy Nookey (Jim Dale) seems to attract trouble, beginning with an incident in the women's washroom which he'd mistakenly entered, frightening the highly strung Miss Armitage out of her senses. Nookey's carefree manner isn't to everyone's liking at the hospital, with Dr. Stoppidge (Charles Hawtrey (actor born 1914)) wanting Nookey sacked for the washroom incident. Accident-prone Nookey then quickly falls in love with a film star patient named Goldie Locks (Barbara Windsor). With the hospital Matron (Hattie Jacques) and his moody boss Dr. Frederick Carver (Kenneth Williams) watching his every move, Dr. Nookey drinks a fruit punch spiked by jealous Dr. Stoppage (Charles Hawtrey (actor born 1914)) at the staff party. The drunk Nookey ends up crashing through a window on a hospital trolley, after he had almost got into bed with a patient. Goldie leaves Nookey, as the latter is not interested in marriage. Meanwhile, Carver and his rich patient Ellen Moore (Joan Sims) dispatch the disgraced Nookey to Moore's medical mission in the Beatific Islands, where it rains for nine months of the year. Nookey discovers Gladstone Screwer (Sid James), the local medicine man, who has a weight-loss serum. Nookey soon returns to England and opens a new surgery with Mrs. Moore, much to the anger of Carver. While Matron joins Dr. Nookey's clinic, Carver and Stoppage plot to try to steal the serum. Stoppage dresses as a female patient to effect the theft, but his luck runs out when Nookey catches him in the act. Goldie returns to have the serum as well, much to Nookey's chagrin. Gladstone quickly discovers that Nookey is making a fortune from his serum, and cuts off his supply to deliver the serum in person and get in on the action. Nookey prevaricates, so Gladstone gives him a serum which in fact seems to cause sex changes! The movie ends with Nookey and Goldie getting married and the rest of the staff of the Long Hampton Hospital becoming friends again
Camp ornithologist Professor Inigo Tinkle (Frankie Howerd) tells a less-than-enraptured audience about his most recent ornithological expedition to the darkest, most barren regions of the African wilds in search for the legendary Oozlum bird, which is said to fly in ever decreasing circles until it disappears up its own rear end. Financing the expedition is Lady Evelyn Bagley (Joan Sims) and the team are led by the fearless (and lecherous) Bill Boosey (Sid James) and his slow-witted African guide Upsidasi (Bernard Bresslaw). Also on the expedition is Tinkle's idiotic assistant, Claude Chumley (Kenneth Connor) and June (Jacki Piper), Lady Bagley's beautiful but unappreciated maidservant. The journey does not get off to a good start, with a mad gorilla terrorising the campsite and the travellers' realising they have ventured into the territory of the bloodthirsty "Noshas", a tribe of feared Cannibalism.
Various events involve a dating agency run by Sid Bliss (Sid James) and his longtime girlfriend Sophie Plummett (Hattie Jacques). Their "Wedded Bliss" agency purports to bring together lonely hearts using computer-matching technology, but couples are actually paired up by Sophie. Bliss consistently avoids marrying Sophie, enthusiastically pursuing Esme Crowfoot (Joan Sims), a seamstress and client who consistently rejects his advances.
Henry VIII has just married Marie of Normandy and is eager to consummate their marriage. Unfortunately for Henry, she is always eating garlic, and refuses to stop. Deciding to get rid of her in his usual manner, Henry has to find some way of doing it without provoking war with Marie's cousin, the King of France. Perhaps if she had an affair...
In bathroom ceramics factory W.C. Boggs & Son, the traditionalist owner W.C. Boggs (Kenneth Williams) is having no end of trouble. Bolshy and lazy trade union Vic Spanner (Kenneth Cope) continually stirs up trouble in the works, to the irritation of his co-workers and management. He calls a strike for almost any minor incident – or because he wants time off to attend a local association football match. Sid Plummer (Sid James) is the site foreman bridging the gap between workers and management, shrewdly keeping the place going amid the unrest.
Sid Carter (Sid James) is the cunning head of a criminal gang that includes the longhaired drip Ernie Bragg (Bernard Bresslaw), the cheeky Freddy (Bill Maynard) and Sid's honest son, Cyril (Kenneth Cope). Cyril does not want a life of crime, but is emotionally blackmailed by his father into going along with his scheme to rob Finisham Maternity Hospital for its stock of contraceptive pills and sell them abroad. Cyril reluctantly disguises himself as a new female nurse to case the hospital and the booty. Assumed to be one of the new student nurses who have just arrived, he is assigned to share a room with the shapely blonde nurse, Susan Ball (Barbara Windsor). Unfortunately for Cyril, he also catches the eye of the hospital lothario, Dr Prodd (Terry Scott).
The film opens with pub landlord and frequent holidaymaker Vic Flange (Sid James) openly flirting with the sassy saucepot widow Sadie Tompkins (Barbara Windsor) as his battleaxe wife, Cora (Joan Sims), looks on with disdain. Their twitching friend Harry (Jack Douglas (actor)) arrives and lets slip that the package holiday Vic has booked to the Mediterranean island Elsbels (a pun on the slang expression "Hell's Bells") which is on the Costa Bomm, also includes Sadie, much to Cora's outrage. Cora, who avoids holidays because she hates flying, suddenly decides to accompany her boorish husband on the trip, to ensure he keeps away from Sadie.
The seaside town of Fircombe is facing a crisis – it's always raining and there's nothing for the tourists to do. Councillor Sidney Fiddler (Sid James) hits on the notion of holding a beauty contest. The mayor, Frederick Bumble (Kenneth Connor), is taken with the idea but feminist councillor Augusta Prodworthy (June Whitfield) is outraged and storms out of the meeting. The motion is carried in Augusta's absence, and Sidney contacts publicist Peter Potter (Bernard Bresslaw) to help with the organisation. Sidney's girlfriend, Connie Philpotts (Joan Sims), runs a local hotel and soon her residents—including the eccentric Mrs Dukes (Joan Hickson) and the randy old Admiral (Peter Butterworth)—are outnumbered by putative models, including diminutive biker Hope Springs (Barbara Windsor) and tall, buxom Dawn Brakes (Margaret Nolan). A catfight orchestrated by Hope after thinking Dawn has stolen her bikini provides better newspaper copy than bringing a donkey off the beach which, despite the bucket and spade of hotel porter, William (Jack Douglas (actor)), ruins the plush carpets. Augusta's son, press photographer Larry (Robin Askwith), is hired to document the donkey stunt and snaps the catfight that has the Mayor losing his trousers, then gulps his way through a nude photo shoot with Dawn. The Mayor's wife, Mildred (Patsy Rowlands), joins Prodworthy's bra-burning movement and plots the downfall of the Miss Fircombe contest on the pier. Peter Potter reluctantly becomes a man in a frock for another publicity gimmick for the television show ''Women's Things'', presented by Cecil Gaybody (Jimmy Logan) and produced by Debra (Sally Geeson). Prodworthy and butch feminist Rosemary (Patricia Franklin) call in the police (David Lodge (actor) and Billy Cornelius) to investigate the male pageant contestant but Peter's previously prim girlfriend, Paula (Valerie Leon), has a makeover and turns out to be very buxom and glamorous. and steps into the breach as the mysterious girl. Prodwort
In the year 1750, England is rife with crime and highway robbers. To stop the wave of chaos, King George sets up the first professional police force named the Bow Street Runners, under the command of the bellowing Sir Roger Daley (Bernard Bresslaw), and seconded by Captain Desmond Fancey (Kenneth Williams) and Sergeant Jock Strapp (Jack Douglas (actor)). The Runners are apparently successful in wiping out crime and lawlessness – using all manner of traps and tricks to round the criminals up. However their main target is the notorious Richard "Big Dick" Turpin (Sid James), a highwayman who has evaded capture and succeeded in even robbing Sir Roger and his prim wife (Margaret Nolan) of their money and clothing. After this humiliation, Turpin becomes the Bow Street Runners' most wanted man, and thus Captain Fancey is assigned to go undercover and catch the famous Dick Turpin and bring him to justice.
Frustrated butcher Fred Ramsden (Windsor Davies) and his dim electrician friend Ernie Bragg (Jack Douglas (actor)) happily head off for a holiday trip at the Riverside Caravan Site, while their respective wives Sylvia (Liz Fraser) and Vera (Patricia Franklin) look forward to their health farm holiday. Once at the caravan site of Major Leaper (Kenneth Connor), Fred starts making eyes at two young female campers, Carol (Sherrie Hewson) and Sandra (Carol Hawkins). However, as Ernie talks in his sleep and any infidelities are likely to be spoken of in the marital bed after their holiday, Fred is despondent. Professor Roland Crump (Kenneth Williams) teams with Roman expert Anna Vrooshka (Elke Sommer) in an Excavation (archaeology) at the site. Arthur Upmore (Bernard Bresslaw) and his wife Linda (Patsy Rowlands) are saddled with her mother Daphne (Joan Sims) and her vulgar mynah bird. Arthur is caught in a compromising position with attractive blonde Norma Baxter (Adrienne Posta) whose husband Joe (Ian Lavender) is lumbered with their giant wolfhound. After a few pints with the amused pub landlord (David Lodge (actor)), Fred and Ernie discover that the caravan site is riddled with excavation holes. Daphne is perturbed by the discovery that her estranged husband Henry Barnes (Peter Butterworth) lives a downtrodden life as the camp's odd-job man, despite having won the Football pools. Major Leaper is determined to give the place a boost and arranges an evening cabaret for the caravanners, but a mix-up over the phone secures a stripper, Veronica (Jenny Cox), rather than the singer he wanted. Carol and Sandra having hooked up with archaeology students Bob (Brian Osborne) and Clive (Larry Dann), Fred and Ernie pick up Maureen (Diana Darvey) and Sally (Georgina Moon), two beautiful young women from the village. Some wet paint, some glue, heavy rain that causes the tunnels of the dig to collapse, and the arrival of their wives soon bring their planned night of passion to a halt.
Captain S Melly (Kenneth Connor) is put in charge of an experimental mixed-battery during the darkest days of the Second World War. It is a relief for Captain Bull (David Lodge (actor)) to greet his relief but Melly is not prepared for the ball-squeezing Sergeant Major "Tiger" Bloomer (Windsor Davies) and the randy antics of Bombardier Ready (Jack Douglas (actor)), Sergeant Tilly Willing (Judy Geeson) and Sergeant Len Able (Patrick Mower). Forever feigning illness or hiding in their underground "snoggery", the troops are happily getting to grips with each other rather than the enemy. Most prominent of the females is Private Alice Easy (Diane Langton) who tries to charm her new commanding officer but only succeeds in propelling her top button into his system! Private Jennifer Ffoukes-Sharpe (Joan Sims) pines for "Tiger" while everybody – including little Gunner Shorthouse (Melvyn Hayes) – gets a piece of the action. Even after a tip-off to the medical officer, Major Butcher (Julian Holloway) segregation and rigorous training, the unit is still a shower. However, an inspection by the cowardly Brigadier (Peter Jones (actor)) and Major Carstairs (Peter Butterworth) is interrupted by an airborne attack and Melly's troops finally prove they are real British bulldogs.
Kenneth and Barbara introduce clips from all the Carry On movies. The two regulars converse at the Rank Film building to host the film with their own running gags involving Barbara's "assets" and Kenneth's desperate need of a toilet.
Emmannuelle Prévert (Suzanne Danielle) relieves the boredom of a flight on Concorde by seducing timid Theodore Valentine (Larry Dann). She returns home to London to surprise her husband, the French ambassador, Émile Prevert (Kenneth Williams) but first surprises the butler, Lyons (Jack Douglas (actor)). He removes her coat, only to find that she has left her dress on the aircraft. The chauffeur, Leyland (Kenneth Connor), housekeeper, Mrs Dangle (Joan Sims), and aged boot-boy, Richmond (Peter Butterworth), sense saucy times ahead… and they are right! Émile is dedicated to his bodybuilding, leaving a sexually frustrated Emmannuelle to find pleasure with everyone from the Lord Chief Justice (Llewellyn Rees) to chat show host, Harold Hump (Henry McGee). Theodore is spurned by Emmannuelle, who has genuinely forgotten their airborne encounter, and, despite reassurances from his mother (Beryl Reid), exacts revenge by revealing Emmannuelle's antics to the press. However, after a visit to her doctor (Albert Moses), she discovers that she is pregnant and decides to settle down to a faithful marriage with Émile… and dozens of children.
History is only slightly rewritten: instead of experienced sailors, there are only convicts whose last and only meeting with H2O was their prison diet of bread and water. And Columbus doesn't have his own map.
A television spin off from the popular Carry On film series. Each episode featured members of the team in a different short story. A priceless addition to the "Carry On" body of work. OK, so we all know that the scripts are patchy. OK, so Talbot Rothwell (the script writer of most of the classic films) had already retired and some of the cast were definitely showing their age, but this remains an important addition to the series and vital footage from the gang from the mid-70's.
The Carry On Christmas Specials were four one-off sitcoms produced for Thames Television made in 1969, 1970, 1972 and 1973. They brought the cast and formula of the Carry On films to a television production.
