Carry on Christmas

Just about everything you'd expect when you mix a pantomime, Charles Dicken's Christmas Carol & a carry on film together. OK, so its not exactly a classic in the collection of carry on films, but its certainly watchable just to see Sid James having a laugh playing a leeching Scrooge, Charles Hawtrey popping up as a fairy & ghost in his own unique manner and Frankie Howered playing up to the camera (& getting on Hattie Jacques nerves at the same time, just look at her face!) I couldn't tell weather it was canned laughter or a live studio audience but it came across pretty well. Although not the best performance from the legendary carry on team, its worth a watch.

Far too many overly long lines, poems and speeches shoe-horned into it, to be consistently enjoyable. Such a shame, as you can see the actors are right at their peak. Frankie Howerd is absolutely sparkling and he provides pretty much the only fun in the show. Hattie Jacques and Babs Windsor are ruined by the script, they have so much to remember it's like they're just reading a prescription label.

The writers have clearly never heard of the phrase "less is more". Frankie got more laughs out of a simple "ooh" or "aah", than all the boring rhymes that you can see the actors are finding a chore themselves.

The Carry On movies are so enjoyable, because of the laid back attitude. This just tries to squeeze in far too much and it suffocates most of the fun out of it.

A generally agreeable CARRY ON Christmas special, filled with the usual familiar faces although looking a lot more cheap than the film versions on account of it being shot on video as was so much TV fare back in the day. This one has an end-of-season pantomime feel to it, particularly in some scattershot sketches satirising the Hammer horrors (complete with Peter Butterworth playing Dracula, no less!). The story sees Sid James' Scrooge being visited by various ghosts over Christmas, and it's all very silly but lively with it. Charles Hawtrey is a highlight but the real scene-stealer is Frankie Howerd, whose asides to the audience are hilarious.

Very amusing television show, with every slapstick innuendo, classic line possible from all previous and future films and TV specials.

This is 50 mins of little giggles to huge belly laughs. Barbra Windsor is wonderful with her wicked giggle. The rest of the cast (familiar from all our favourite Carry On films including Frankie Howard) all have at least two roles to play and it is obvious they were having fun filming the show. There are too many instances where you can see they are about to giggle while delivering lines to mention. If you get a chance to see it on a TV special, and you are a Carry On fan and missed it. DO IT! What a carry on Xmas giggle........

For those perfectionists it is a 1 star

For me it is the perfection of television humor in the 70's and is worthy of TEN stars (out of ten) for the classic 70's humor back then.

Feel free to Flame Me but this is classic Brit Humour from the 70's

This humour will never be seen in new shows, enjoy!!

Comedians just want to have a giggle. It would be great if they could be as open and honest as the Carry On team, and funny, without the HR Political Police ruining it for the rest of us.

My score is 5 out of 5 but NOT on a cultural scale, just a Carry On scale..... simply brilliant and funny.

I am always the first to watch a Christmas film or TV special and I do love a good 'Carry On', but this wasn't the brilliant hour of funny that it could have been.

If they had tackled Dickens' Carol more fully instead of just in bits thrown together with Shelley and Stoker, I think it would have been far more successful, similar perhaps to 'The Muppets' version. Unfortunately they tried a bit too hard to bring too much in to it and it all became OTT.

I did like a lot of the elements and they could have all worked together with a bit more thought.

Charles Hawtrey made me giggle as he always does, but it was Frankie Howerd that really made it his own. His quick wit, one liners and ad-libs gave us all a good titter, I kid ye not. It was a shame that Sid didn't get the lines he deserved and favourites like Joan Sims, Kenneth Williams and Jim Dale were missing.

It is quite daft, but it's just innocent fun that doesn't mean to offend. There are lots of references to cross dressing and men fancying men, but there's no malice. It doesn't offend me at least and is only of it's time.

205.15.