Carry on Laughing

America had Hee Haw and the Blue Collar Comedy Tour while the Brits had Benny Hill and Carry On movies. Sure, they also had wonderful stars like Sid James, Joan Sims, Bernard Bresslaw, Kenneth Connor, Barbara Windsor, Hattie Jacques, and others to make us laugh and ease living a little. I could see why Babsy is so popular because she is so much fun. Sadly, Sid James died in 1976 and he was the king of the Carry On playing the dirty old man most of the time. The lovely Dame of British comedy, Joan Sims, never got to be a dame, a CBE, An OBE, or an MBE during her lifetime but I hope somebody out there would consider an award named after her for women who provide lifetime achievement in comedy. Even though, most of us known Joan from As Time Goes By as Madgie. She was truly a gifted comedic actress worthy of such honors that was never properly bestowed upon her and it is pity. Maybe it's because Carry On stars like Barbara Windsor and Kenneth Connor were finally awarded MBEs but it was something. Maybe the honors committee don't consider the Carry Ons to be anything to be proud so they knight and Dame those Shakespearan actors and actresses instead but I bet that they don't have as much fun as the Carry On Gang does here. Carry On isn't classless but a teaser of a show for everybody involved. They appear to have a lot of fun making it without getting awards. Maybe that's why they don't matter as much.

Not to be confused with the series of compilations from the Carry on films that is still being repeated today, the episodes of this 1975 series were 13 brand spanking new Carry Ons made for the small screen. Unfortunately, even by Carry On standard they were not particularly good. After four successful Christmas specials, and with the film series cutting down from two to one per year, most of the regulars were willing to appear in these 30 minute spoofs. Only Kenneth Williams refused to do television and Charles Hawtrey had left the series after 'Carry on abroad' (1972) because of a billing dispute.

Interestingly enough, some of the biggest stars in the Carry On menagerie made their last appearance on this show. Sid James, Hattie Jacques and Barbara Windsor starred in several episodes after their last cinematic appearance in 'Carry on Dick' (1974. Technically, Babs did co-present 'That's Carry On' in 1977 but she made her final acting contributions on 'Laughing'. Each naughty stand alone story was filled to the brim with one liners, innuendo and double entendre's. Naturally they ranged in quality: a few actually had something that could pass for a plot, while others were just one long sketch.

Spoofing famous books, plays or films not yet covered in the movies, the targets included the court of King Arthur twice and no less than three take offs on the 1920's Lord Peter Wimsey mysteries. This trio ('The Nine Old Cobblers', 'The Case of the Coughing Parrot' and 'The Case of the Screaming Wrinkles') starred Jack Douglas as Lord Peter Flimsey and Kenneth Connor as Punter the butler. Strung together this trilogy might possibly have justified one complete Carry On film, were it not for the fact that it starred the least interesting of the Carry On regulars and these sort of mysteries were not exactly Carry On material. Still, Jack Douglas did prove himself a lot less annoying without his constant twitches.

The main interest of 'Carry on Laughing' lies in the fact that most people never knew this series existed, even though all the episodes were released by ITC video and more recently as bonus material on the Carry On Special Edition DVD series. Where, however are the Christmas specials?

4 out of 10

This series of comedies is 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.

If there is a fault with the shows, its that they were possibly too short to develop a proper storyline. And maybe the audience was expecting more than a 20-odd minute show on ITV could possibly deliver. But there are some worthy performances and it was fun seeing Hattie Jacques playing Elizabeth I - a role that could surely have translated into a big screen treatment.

Best watching if you're in a good mood, late at night and after having had a few pints.