More Carry On capers with BritBox

A host of comedy films arrives on the streaming service today…

There’s more Carry On classics on BritBox from today with the addition of Carry On Cabby (1963). A successful businessman who owns a taxi company goes bankrupt when the services of a rival company start being offered in the city. Starring Sid James, Hattie Jacques, Charles Hawtrey and Kenneth Connor.

There’s crime titters with Carry On Constable (1960). With a flu epidemic running rife, three new bumbling recruits are assigned to Inspector Mills police station. With help from Special Constable Gorse, they manage to totally wreck the operations of the police force and let plenty of criminals get away, even before they arrive at the station. They all have to prove themselves or else they’ll be out of a job and Sergeant Wilkins will be transferred. Starring Charles Hawtrey, Kenneth Connor, Sid James and Hattie Jacques.

Get on your horse and trot along with Carry On Cowboy (1965). When an outlaw wreaks havoc in Stodge City, Marshal P Knutt, a sanitation engineer mistaken for a US Peace Marshal, is sent in to control the situation. Starring Sid James, Angela Douglas, Kenneth Williams and Charles Hawtrey. If a relaxing sea journey is more your thing then set sail with Carry On Cruising (1962). Wellington Crowther, the captain of SS Happy Wanderer, finds himself in a pickle when five of his crew members leave without a notice. He is forced to hire five incompetent men at the last minute. Starring Sid James, Kenneth Connor, Kenneth Williams and Dilys Laye.

Just what the doctor prescribes with Carry On Nurse (1959). Set in Haven Hospital where a certain men’s ward is causing more havoc than the whole hospital put together. The formidable Matron gives the patients a chill every time she walks past. Starring Hattie Jacques, Kenneth Connor, Kenneth Williams and Joan Sims. Carry On Regardless (1961) sees Bert Handy and his assistant hire a handful of people for a new business venture, Helping Hands. The workers are made to carry out unusual tasks: from walking chimpanzees to helping couples patch up. Starring Sid James, Kenneth Williams, Kenneth Connor and Charles Hawtrey.

Carry On Screaming (1966) joins an evil doctor who kidnaps women and turns them into mannequins so that he can sell them to shops. The detective investigating the case has no clue about the disappearance of several women from the city. Starring Kenneth Williams, Fenella Fielding, Gerald Thomas and Harry H. Corbett. The days of National Service are comically recalled in Carry On Sergeant! (1958). Sergeant Grimshawe is a retiring army training sergeant who is faced with possibly the worst group of NS recruits ever to have been called up. Starring William Hartnell, Charles Hawtrey, Kenneth Connor and Hattie Jacques.

Carry On Spying (1964). A top-secret chemical formula has been stolen by STENCH (the Society for the Total Extinction of Non-Conforming Humans), and so Agent Simpkins and his three trainees are hot on the trail, chasing the villains across the world. There are gadgets galore, and disguises are compulsory if the heroes are to win the day. Starring Kenneth Williams, Barbara Windsor, Charles Hawtrey and Bernard Cribbins.

This film can certainly be an education, Carry On Teacher (1959) as pupils run amok at Maudlin Street School in an attempt to hang on to their headmaster. He has applied for a new job, but the students like him and don’t want to lose him. Starring Ted Ray, Kenneth Connor, Kenneth Williams and Hattie Jacques.

Other comedy movies include 1967’s The Plank, After someone uses the last floorboard for heating, two hapless carpenters have to buy a replacement. They return to the house with the plank on top of a Morris Eight, but the journey is fraught with unexpected and humorous difficulties. Slapstick comedy starring Eric Sykes, Jimmy Edwards, Tommy Cooper and Hattie Jacques.

More recent laughs with Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa (2013). DJ Alan Partridge becomes an unlikely negotiator when the radio station is held hostage by a disgruntled Pat Farrell, Alan’s colleague, who is afraid of losing his job after the radio station is sold. Starring Steve Coogan, Felicity Montagu, Tim Key and Diane Morgan.

Comedy series joining BritBox across this month include Granada Television’s Surgical Spirit series one and two, 1989-1990, following Sheila Sabatini, a senior surgeon at the Gillies Hospital whose verbal skills have most people running for cover. She dominates the operating theatre, while dealing with divorcing her husband Remo, with whom she had a son, Daniel. Starring Nichola McAuliffe, Marji Campi, Duncan Preston and Emlyn Price.

There’s also BBC comedy with the first series of The Goodies (1970), which has proved popular on the streaming service. The first series of the “We Do Anything, Anytime, Anywhere” anarchic comedy show from Graeme Garden, Bill Oddie and Tim Brooke-Taylor. And more recent fun with Channel 4’s Stath Lets Flats series three (2021). In the unstable world of London’s property market, Stath tries to prove himself as the perfect heir to his father’s flat-letting business despite his undesirable personality and incompetence. BAFTA-winning comedy starring Jamie Demetriou, Natasia Demetriou, Alastair Roberts and Katy Wix.

There’s also gentle laughs with As Time Goes By series five to nine (1996-2002). Lionel and Jean, separated lovers, meet by chance when Lionel takes a young woman out on a date only to learn that she is Jean’s daughter The two lovers rediscover love once again. Starring Judi Dench, Geoffrey Palmer, Moira Brooker and Philip Bretherton.