Carry on Again Doctor

Being the third outing in the series to be set against a medical backdrop, I was fully expecting this to be a tired rehash of old gags and ideas; however, I found it quite an agreeable latter-day entry – if still essentially second-tier material.

The cast sees Kenneth Williams, Hattie Jacques and Jim Dale in more or less similar roles as its predecessor CARRY ON DOCTOR (1967); on the other hand, Sid James, Joan Sims, Charles Hawtrey and Barbara Windsor play different characters. Also, the mid-section of the film reverts to a tropical island setting (to which Dale has been assigned as a punishment, and where wily orderly James is stationed – though, even in such remote surroundings, he manages to keep up-to-date with English soccer results via coded drum-playing from the natives!).

Some of the best gags involve Dale's accident-prone antics at the hospital early on (including his examination of scantily-clad starlet Windsor) and the latter stages set in Dale's private clinic (James has devised a concoction which turns out to be an effective slimming treatment – subsequently exploited by Dale under the patronage of wealthy Sims), which also sees Hawtrey once again in drag (he's a doctor who's jealous of Dale and has infiltrated the clinic on a mission for Dale's ex-superior/now-rival Williams). Series regular Peter Butterworth only has one wacky scene; other bits highlight Wilfrid Brambell (uncredited as an eccentric patient), lovely Valerie Leon (as Dale's sultry secretary) and future Mrs. Michael Caine Shakira Baksh (as a native-girl who successfully undertakes James' miraculous cure).

The Carry On troupe takes on the medical profession in Carry On Again Doctor. Of course Carry On is exactly what at least one doctor is doing.

In fact Jim Dale is the bane of the existence of Doctors Kenneth Williams and Charles Hawtrey who run a clinic in London. The Dickensian named Dale as Dr. Nookey has little trouble getting plenty of that at the clinic and he keeps Williams and Hawtrey constantly agitated.

But an accidental and I do mean accidental indiscretion with a female patient brings Dale an assignment to a south seas island clinic run by the cheerfully hedonistic Sid James. James has invented a weight loss remedy and the shapely shape of some of the south sea native female population is proof it works. Funny how everyone seems interested in only seeing how it works on women.

Lots of typical Carry On bawdy humor in Carry On Again Doctor. I do so love seeing Hawtrey in drag on an industrial espionage mission so to speak.

Loaded with funny jokes, and featuring Kenneth Williams at his very finest, this is one of the strongest entries in the Carry On series. Sure, it is rather silly in a number of different ways, and the music and sound effects choices are quite poor, plus there is some fast motion used very ineffectively - but otherwise there is little not to like in it. The characters are simply great, the plot is rather interesting, and there are some good, though briefly shown, tropical locations. It is all rather well shot and definitely well written. Overall, it is surprising that this entry does not have a better reputation.

Carry On Again Doctor returns to the well-tilled field of bedpans, undressed patients, and discussions about symptoms, from wind to bowels being regular dialogue fodder. The third of the medical-themed adventures tackled by the team, this time the focus is on the hospital staff rather than the patients who are mostly just cameos; it features a rare, slightly nasty and cynical streak for the series, essentially a film about people being selfish, lying, manipulating and cheating to get ahead in the profession. I was at first concerned this was where the series stopped being fun but the fast-moving plot and changing locations keep the show moving and, like so many others in the series has great performances, a wonderful script, and some genuinely funny lines. Offset by Jim Dale's accident-prone pratfalls, Carry On Again Doctor is an assured and confident piece of filmmaking even if the focus has waned, it doesn't hang about and provides a lot of visual dynamism to any otherwise crazy film.

Fans of the original CARRY ON DOCTOR might well be forgiven for assuming that this rushed-out sequel offers more of exactly the same, and indeed for the first half of the production that's exactly the case. Once more, the setting of the film is a hospital, with Hattie Jacques as Matron and Kenneth Williams as a pompous doctor. It's all very warm and familiar, with most of the Carry On team present and correct. Once again, Jim Dale is the focus of the slapstick comedy, and there's also a meatier role for Charles Hawtrey who gets probably the most screen time of his Carry On career.

So far, so predictable and yet so amusing - fans will be in their element with another assured, confident piece of film-making, packed with seaside postcard-style humour. And then at the halfway point things change; there are exotic locales and a surprisingly densely-plotted narrative involving a magical weight loss elixir. This all builds to an unpredictable climax with multiple factions attempting to get one over on each other; it's the most complex script-writing of the series since the early 1960s, and proved to be a great and welcome surprise for this fan.