25 Feb 2012
News: Carry On Confidential - the thinking fan's guide to the Carry On films
The Carry On films have delighted audiences around the world for over 50 years. Saucy yet subtle, crude but never lewd, the Carry Ons really are the very best of British.
From gentle romantic comedies, through innuendo, double- (and single-) entendre to an all-too-brief dalliance with alternative comedy in the 1990s, the Carry Ons and the people who made them have become cultural icons and household names.
But how well do you really know our most beloved comedy institution? Carry On Confidential is the thinking fan's guide to the Carry Ons, taking a fresh look at these classic British comedies. A unique spotter's guide with something new for even the most seasoned devotees, Carry On Confidential is packed with trivia, bloopers and gaffes, spin-offs and collectibles and a comprehensive guide to the locations used in every film.
You'll fall in love with the Carry Ons all over again.
Preview chapter available now! Click here to download a sample chapter from the book, covering Carry On Constable and visit Miwk Publishing to pre-order your copy for just £12.99.
Event: Carry On guests announced for the NEC Memorabilia in March
Signing Saturday and Sunday
Robin Askwith - £15
Margaret Nolan - £15
Anita Harris - £15
Signing Saturday
Madeline Smith - £15
Albert Moses - £15
Jacqueline Pearce - £10
22 Jan 2012
Event: Carry On star Shirley Eaton appearing at Stars of Time in July
Carry On star Shirley Eaton will be signing autographs at Stars of Time on Sunday 29th July 2012 at the The Helicopter Museum, Weston-super-Mare. Ticket entry for adults is £10, find out more here.
Event: Carry On star Valerie Leon appearing at London Film Memorabilia in July
Carry On star Valerie Leon will be signing autographs at the London Film Memorabilia on 14th July 2012 at the Central Hall, Westminster. Ticket entry for adults is £4, find out more here
Event: Carry On stars appearing at Greatest Show in the Galaxy in May
Carry On stars Valerie Leon, Robin Askwith and Madeline Smith will be signing autographs at the Greatest Show in the Galaxy on 12th-13th May 2012 at the East of England Showground, Peterborough. Ticket entry starts from £11, find out more here
News: Citizen James Series 1 released on DVD with Sid James and Liz Fraser
Carry On star Sid James stars as Citizen James in the hilarious 1960s TV comedy series. Sid James as Sid and Bill Kerr as Bill, are joined by Liz Fraser as Liz, Sid’s long-suffering fiancée, and a supporting cast that includes Sydney Tafler, John Bluthal, Patricia Hayes, Bob Todd, Frank Thornton, Irene Handl, Lance Percival, Derek Nimmo and film star Cecil Parker.
In Series One, written by Alan Simpson and Ray Galton (Hancock, Steptoe & Son), Sid James is the hard-working layabout, gambler and con artist, hanging out in Charlie’s Nosh Bar and on the Soho streets, occasionally stopping off at Liz’s drinking club to borrow money to pay off his gambling debts and cons gone wrong Starring Sid James, Liz Fraser, Bill Kerr.
DVD Extras
• Exclusive Liz Fraser Interview
• Cast Filmographies
• Galton and Simpson on ‘Citizen James’
Find out more here
News: Carry On star Jacqueline Pearce autobiography released in March
Synopsis: The actress Jacqueline Pearce is best known to television audiences as the villainous Servalan from the fondly remembered Blake’s Seven (BBC 1978-1981). But her career has taken her from RADA to Hollywood, via starring roles in international comedy films, Hammer Horror, BBC Shakespeare, and London’s West End. So how did she end up living in the African bush with her belongings in black bin-bags? Find out with this gripping memoir of an extraordinary life – from Byfleet to the Bush.
Jacqueline’s motherless upbringing in suburban Byfleet was unconventional and her education at the hands of nuns left her emotionally scarred. Through the course of her erratic career, she found love, laughter, heartache, breakdowns, fame, obscurity, and sex drugs and rock and roll. On the way, she encountered such stars as Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, Sammy Davis Jr, Jerry Lewis, Alan Bates, John Hurt, Dervla Kirwan and Rupert Penry-Jones. Candid, vivid, mordant and funny, this is an unusual and enchanting memoir.
Find out more here
Watch: An Appreciation of Sid James
Produced shortly after his death in 1976, here's a radio appreciation of the life and work of Carry On, Hancock and Bless This House Sid James. The programme is presented by Barry Norman.
Thanks to MysteriousBritishGuy
17 Dec 2011
Carry On Night on Channel 5 - Tuesday 27th December
It's almost 54 years since the first Carry On film, Carry On Sergeant, was unleashed upon the public. A far cry from the saucy romps that made the franchise its name, Sergeant was nevertheless uproarious for its time - and spawned one of the most successful movie series of all time. Now Channel 5 are preparing to celebrate the great Carry On legacy with Carry On Night, hosted by none other than the Duchess of Carry On herself, Barbara Windsor.
The evening's on Tuesday 27th December, and kicks off at 9pm with Thames Television's riotous 1969 farce Carry On Christmas. At 10:05 pm, we take a look at the Greatest Carry On Films, a special highlights show celebrating the very best of the series, and Cor, Blimey!'s on at 11pm. A TV adaptation of the award-winning play Cleo, Camping, Emmanuelle and Dick, it isn't wholly historically accurate, but depicts the behind-the-scenes affair between Windsor and Carry On legend Sid James, and how their relationship affected the other stars of the films.
Watch: Carry On star Jack Douglas in a classic pantomime sketch
Jack Douglas (Baron) and Paul Zerdin (Buttons) perform The Green Eyed Yellow God routine in Cinderella at the Octagon Theatre, Yeovil Christmas 1993.
Thanks to goodgodyes
Article: How Barbara Windsor became a Little Cracker
There’s no doubt she still has the cleavage. Now Barbara Windsor has made a short film about the beginnings of her famous bosom. Everyone’s favourite Carry On star is one of 11 actors to take part in Sky1’s Little Crackers – a series of 15-minute films showing this Christmas based on a significant “first” in their subject’s life. Windsor’s opens the series on Sunday.
She smiles as she remembers the development process, when she and the makers were trying to decide which major moment in her life to go for. “I always say I haven’t got much of an ego, but the ego in you goes, ‘Ohhh,’” she does a little shimmy of pleasure as she recalls some significant firsts. “Right, first time I stopped the show in Fings Aint What They Used T’Be, I got this standing ovation. And the first time I opened on Broadway…” She feigns the breathless diva remarkably accurately.
“Of course then when you settle down and say, hold on a minute, you’ve got to make it so the public also identify with you.”
Click here to read more.
Also visit Sky1 official Little Crackers website for interviews and photos!
Carry On star Anita Harris is appearing in Panto this Christmas!
Carry On Doctor star Anita Harris is appearing in Sleeping Beauty at the Theatre Royal Windsor alongside Britt Ekland and Tony Christie. The show starts from 07 December to 08 January. Click here to book tickets.
"Following last year's 'Spectacular and Exquisite panto' Surrey Advertiser, Theatre Royal Windsor, renowned for its traditional pantomimes, is proud to present Sleeping Beauty – the pantomime of your dreams and the perfect way to start the festive season.
This year’s panto, Sleeping Beauty, stars our own hit parade superstar Tony Christie; international movie legend Britt Ekland; Britain’s beautiful pop icon Anita Harris; last year’s panto sensation Kevin Cruise; Dancing on Ice phenomenon Chloe Madeley; ITV’s Grease is the Word’s singing sensation Bradley Clarkson and Windsor favourite Steven Blakeley; as well as a special guest star appearance from Children’s TV favourite NODDY, who will be driving his taxi all the way from Toyland to join our fabulous cast. Sleeping Beauty also features Christopher Biggins as the voice of the dragon!"
Heres a little interview Anita did about the show.
Article: Carry On Aboard star Ray Brooks Interview
Do you think you’ll recognise me?” asks Ray Brooks, when we fix a meeting over the telephone. Ray, it seems, has never been blessed with self confidence – a feeling that’s underlined when I read his newly published autobiography. In the first few pages he reveals that the actress Miriam Margolyes once told him: ‘The trouble with you, Ray, is that you don’t like yourself and you’re ill educated.’ He assures me that the words didn’t sting, but he’s never forgotten them. Well, you wouldn’t, would you?
The irony is that in the sixties Ray was one of the ‘beautiful people’ when, as he puts it, everyone was “tight trousered and alluring”. He made his name in the 1965 film The Knack... and How to Get It, which was directed by Dick Lester and starred Michael Crawford and Rita Tushingham. Ray played a serial womaniser with a taste for sharp suits, ‘fast birds’ and Harley-Davidsons.
Click here to read more.