Carry On England is a 1976 British comedy film, the 28th release in the series of the original 30 Carry On films (1958–1978). It was released in October 1976 and featured Carry On regulars Kenneth Connor, Jack Douglas, Joan Sims and Peter Butterworth. It was the second and last Carry On film for Windsor Davies, Diane Langton and Peter Jones, as well as the fifth and last for Patricia Franklin and the eighth and last for Julian Holloway. Patrick Mower, Judy Geeson and Melvyn Hayes make their only appearances in a Carry On film. The film was followed by That's Carry On! in 1977.
Contents
Plot
During the darkest days of the war Captain S Melly is put in charge of the experimental 1313 Anti-Aircraft Battery along with the bellowing, ball-squeezing Sergeant Major “Tiger” Bloomer. Melly soon discovers the “experiment” is that half his men are women, led by the randy Bombardier Ready, Sergeant Tilly Willing and Sergeant Len Able. Tiger is unable to discipline properly as he is unable to swear around women and must avoid the libidinous advances of Private Ffoukes-Sharpe. Meanwhile, the battery are happy to spend the war in each other's beds.
Melly shakes things up with a fake air raid and is furious when instead of loading the gun they dive for cover in their private bunker, the “Snoggery”. Even worse the anti-aircraft cannon is made of wood; with a war on, real guns are hard to come by.
Determined to get the battery up to standard Melly and Tiger put the men, and women, through vigorous retraining, violent exercise and 12 mile long route marches. In response Ready, Willing and Able sabotage Melly's uniform, leaving him red faced and bare cheeked. The whole battery is confined to camp as punishment, Melly not realising that men and women in close quarters don't need to leave camp to enjoy themselves. Realising his mistake Melly endeavours to separate man from woman with barbed wire around the sleeping quarters, round the clock battle drills and separate mealtimes.
Determined to reunite with their beloveds, the battery digs secret tunnels under the barbed wire for easy access, making life bearable again. Unfortunately the very next day Melly finally takes delivery of an anti-aircraft cannon, which promptly falls into the tunnel. Forced by Melly to retrieve the gun from its hole the battery sabotages an inspection by Melly's Brigadier, hoping Melly will be reassigned somewhere else.
When a real air raid arrives both battery and officers pull together to defend England, successfully shooting down all enemy planes and with only one casualty: Captain Melly's two sprained fingers, which go on to inspire one of the most famous symbols of victory for the entire war.
Production
This film featured few established members of the Carry On team. Carry On regular Kenneth Connor played a leading role, but the only other long-time regulars present, Joan Sims and Peter Butterworth, had only small supporting roles.
Windsor Davies, who had joined the series with a main role in the preceding film Carry On Behind, again plays a major role, reprising (in all but name) his Sergeant-Major character from the BBC sitcom It Ain't Half Hot Mum, along with Melvyn Hayes as his effeminate foil. Other main roles are played by established and recognisable actors Judy Geeson and Patrick Mower, both newcomers to the Carry On films.
The role of the Brigadier was written for series regular Kenneth Williams, and the role of Private Easy was written for series regular Barbara Windsor, but Williams was unavailable due to appearing in the stage play Signed and Sealed, and Windsor was unavailable due to appearing in Twelfth Night at the Chichester Festival Theatre.
Series regular Sid James was unavailable for the film due to appearing in the stage play The Mating Season. On the opening night of the play at Sunderland Empire Theatre on 26 April 1976, James suffered a heart attack on stage and died, at the age of 62.
In 2023, actor Larry Dann dedicated a chapter of his autobiography Oh, What A Lovely Memoir to share his memories of the making of this production.
The film was originally certified AA by the British Board of Film Censors which would have restricted audiences to those aged fourteen and over, but was cut down to the non-age limited A certificate by heavily toning down the scenes featuring topless nudity and removing one comedic use of the word fokker. However, it still proved to be a major commercial failure and was withdrawn from some cinemas after just three days.
Crew
Screenplay – David Pursall & Jack Seddon
Music – Max Harris
Production Manager – Roy Goddard
Art Director – Lionel Couch
Editor – Richard Marden
Director of Photography – Ernest Steward
Camera Operator – Geoffrey Godar
Wardrobe – Vi Murray & Don Mothersill
Casting Director – John Owen
Stills Cameraman – Ken Bray
Make-up – Geoffrey Rodway
Sound Recordists – Danny Daniel & Gordon McCallum
Continuity – Marjorie Lavelly
Hairdresser – Stella Rivers
Costume Design – Courtenay Elliott
Set Dresser – Donald Picton
Dubbing Editor – Pat Foster
Assistant Editor – Jack Gardner
Assistant Director – Jack Causey
Titles – GSE Ltd
Processor – Rank Film Laboratories
Gun – Imperial War Museum
Producer – Peter Rogers
Filming and locations
Filming dates – 3 May–4 June 1976
Interiors:
Pinewood Studios, Buckinghamshire
Exteriors:
Pinewood Studios. The orchard was utilised once again as it was for the camping and caravan sites in Carry On Camping and Carry On Behind.
Black Park, Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire
Reception
In a 2018 retrospective on the series, the British Film Institute named Carry On England as one of the series' five worst films, alongside Carry On Girls (1973), That's Carry On! (1977), Carry On Emmannuelle (1978), and Carry On Columbus (1992).