History Film / CarryOn

!!NOTE: This has nothing to do with the FunnyAnimal WebComic ''Webcomic/CarryOn'' or the 1957 film ''Carry On Admiral'' (a.k.a. ''The Ship Was Loaded'', that featured Joan Sims).

[[quoteright:330:[[Film/CarryOnCamping http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/WardrobeMalfunction.png]]]]
[[caption-width-right:330:"[[ExactWords Now, really let's see those chests come out!]]"]]

->''"The team who turned so many of our national institutions into riotous comedy."''
-->--'''''Film/CarryOnCabby''''' trailer

The '''''Carry On''''' films were a [[LongRunners long series]] of movies made with a diverse troupe of British comic actors from TheFifties to TheSeventies and an excellent example of a UniversalAdaptorCast. All were produced by Peter Rogers and directed by Gerald Thomas.

Over the years, different actors would join or leave the ''Carry On'' gang, or just take a break for a film or two. Creator/KennethWilliams was the actor who appeared in the most ''Carry On'' movies, but some of the other actors who regularly appeared included Creator/JoanSims, Creator/CharlesHawtrey, Bill Maynard, Creator/SidneyJames, Creator/KennethConnor, Creator/PeterButterworth, Creator/BernardBresslaw, Creator/HattieJacques, Creator/JimDale, Peter Gilmore, and Creator/BarbaraWindsor. [[LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters And many others]].

Each ''Carry On'' actor tended to specialize in a particular type of role. Thus Kenneth Williams would usually play a snide, [[SmugSnake haughty]] character who would easily be outraged, Joan Sims started out playing young and desirable women then moved to older and [[AbhorrentAdmirer less-desirable]] women, Charles Hawtrey would be naive and effete, Sid James played [[TheCharmer lecherous]], [[LadyKiller leering]] Cockneys ([[TheDanza often named]] "Sid"), and so on.

Each ''Carry On'' film would find a different situation to put these types in. Sometimes a normal everyday setting (a hospital setting was used four times), sometimes a well-known historical period or a parody of a specific film genre. Once in a while an actor would play different from their usual type, such as Kenneth Williams playing the Mayor in ''Film/CarryOnCowboy'' with a FakeAmerican accent instead of in the voice and style usually associated with Kenneth Williams.

Some say these movies have an important place in the history of British film comedy, others say they represent one of the lowest points of British comedy. Most say the series was uneven, with some films better than others, but there is little consensus on which are the best films.

The series relied heavily on one-liners, puns, and sexual innuendo. Gradually, as censorship standards for British films changed, the sexual humour came to be more explicit, until it seems to completely dominate the later movies; it was, after all, the age of the AwfulBritishSexComedy.

These films are frequently shown on British television, only very rarely in the United States. This is probably due both to more stringent rules about sexual humour and nudity on American television, and also due to the very British quality of the humour.

In addition to the films, the group made four Christmas specials for British television (in 1969, 1970, 1972 and 1973), and there were three live stage shows in the early '70s. There were also two television series called ''Carry On Laughing''; the first in 1975 consisted of spoofs of period pieces (King Arthur legends, ''Film/ThePrisonerOfZenda'', various historical events, etc.); the second from 1981-1983 consisted of clips from the films.

The films ''Please Turn Over'' (1959), ''Watch Your Stern'' (1960), ''No Kidding'' (1960), ''Raising the Wind'' (1961), ''Twice Round the Daffodils'' (1962), ''Nurse on Wheels'' (1963) and ''The Big Job'' (1965) were all also directed by Gerald Thomas, produced by Peter Rogers and used the same writers and some of the same cast and crew of the ''Carry On'' films, but are not part of the ''Carry On'' series.

There's a rather uncertain future for the film series. Despite the backlash from ''Carry On Columbus'' in 1992, a new ''Carry On'' movie, titled ''Carry On London''/''Carry On Bananas'' was announced in 2003, started pre-production in 2008, and didn't seem to be going anywhere after 2010, possibly due to the death of Gerald Thomas. Then in autumn 2015, it was announced during the Cannes Film Festival that ''Carry On Bananas'' would be back in the making, which was then followed by another announcement of a new movie the following year to be released in 2017 called ''Carry On Doctors''. Who knows what else is soon to come.

Meanwhile on TvTropes, the series has a [[Characters/CarryOn Character page]], an [[Awesome/CarryOn Awesome page]], a [[ReferencedBy/CarryOn Reference page]], a [[DrinkingGame/CarryOn Drinking Game to try]], and an [[AwesomeMusic/CarryOn Awesome Music page]]. Feel free to contribute.
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!!The complete list of films in the series is as follows:
[[index]]
# ''Film/CarryOnSergeant'' (1958) -- [[MilitaryAcademy National Service]] [[BootCampEpisode training]]
# ''Film/CarryOnNurse'' (1959) -- [[PuttingTheMedicInComedic Hospital]]
# ''Film/CarryOnTeacher'' (1959) -- TheGoodOldBritishComp
# ''Film/CarryOnConstable'' (1960) -- [[UsefulNotes/BritishCoppers Police Force]]
# ''Film/CarryOnRegardless'' (1961) -- Temporary Employment Agency
# ''Film/CarryOnCruising'' (1962) -- Cruise Ship
# ''Film/CarryOnCabby'' (1963) -- [[DriverOfABlackCab Taxicab company]] and BattleOfTheSexes
# ''Film/CarryOnJack'' (1963) -- [[WoodenShipsAndIronMen British navy]] in the time of UsefulNotes/HoratioNelson, with elements of {{Swashbuckler}} films, but mostly ''Film/MutinyOnTheBounty''
# ''Film/CarryOnSpying'' (1964) -- {{Espionage|Tropes}}, especially Film/JamesBond, ''Film/TheThirdMan'', etc.
# ''Film/CarryOnCleo'' (1964) -- ''Theatre/AntonyAndCleopatra'' and ''Theatre/JuliusCaesar'', filmed on the abandoned sets of ''Film/{{Cleopatra}}''.
# ''Film/CarryOnCowboy'' (1965) -- TheWildWest[=/=]CowboysAndIndians
# ''Film/CarryOnScreaming'' (1966) -- {{Horror|Tropes}} movies, especially Film/HammerHorror
# ''Film/DontLoseYourHead'' (1966) -- Literature/TheScarletPimpernel and UsefulNotes/TheFrenchRevolution
# ''Film/FollowThatCamel'' (1967) -- FrenchForeignLegion, with elements of ''Film/BeauGeste'' and ''Film/UnderTwoFlags''
# ''Film/CarryOnDoctor'' (1967) -- Another Hospital
# ''Film/CarryOnUpTheKhyber'' (1968) -- The Khyber Pass during UsefulNotes/TheRaj, with elements of ''Film/{{Zulu}}''
# ''Film/CarryOnCamping'' (1969) -- HorribleCampingTrip
# ''Film/CarryOnAgainDoctor'' (1969) -- Yet another Hospital
# ''Film/CarryOnUpTheJungle'' (1970) -- [[DarkestAfrica African Exploration]], including Franchise/{{Tarzan}} and TropesOfTheJungle.
# ''Film/CarryOnLoving'' (1970) -- [[DatingServiceDisaster Computer dating agency]]
# ''Film/CarryOnHenry'' (1971) -- ''Film/AnneOfTheThousandDays'', UsefulNotes/HenryVIII and the [[UsefulNotes/TheHouseOfTudor Tudor period]], with elements of the [[UsefulNotes/TheHouseOfStuart Stuart Era]].
# ''Film/CarryOnAtYourConvenience'' (1971) -- Toilet factory [[WeirdTradeUnion trade union]].
# ''Film/CarryOnMatron'' (1972) -- Still another Hospital
# ''Film/CarryOnAbroad'' (1972) -- Package Tour
# ''Film/CarryOnGirls'' (1973) -- BeautyContest and UsefulNotes/{{Feminism}}
# ''Film/CarryOnDick'' (1974) -- Dick Turpin and TheCavalierYears
# ''Film/CarryOnBehind'' (1975) -- Archaeological {{beachcomb|ing}}ers at a caravan site
# ''Film/CarryOnEngland'' (1976) -- UsefulNotes/WorldWarII
# ''Film/ThatsCarryOn'' (1977) -- ClipShow with footage from the other movies
# ''Film/CarryOnEmmannuelle'' (1978) -- ''Film/{{Emmanuelle}}'' and other {{awful British sex comed|y}}ies
# ''Film/CarryOnColumbus'' (1992) -- ChristopherColumbus
[[/index]]
[-Note that two of the films were originally released with titles that did not include the words "Carry On"; this was due to a change of film distributor. They were later known as ''Carry On Follow that Camel!'' and ''Carry On Don't Lose Your Head''.-]
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!!The ''Carry On'' film series provides examples from the following tropes:
* AccidentalPervert: Generally at least one example per movie, often more.
* {{Adorkable}}: A common male character that filled in the love interest part in the 1960s onwards, although there were much older-looking actors that had these moments, too. The typical ones were Peter Butterworth, Jim Dale, Bernard Cribbins, Richard O'Callaghan, Terry Scott, Kenneth Connor, Bernard Bresslaw, and Charles Hawtrey, to a lesser extent.
* AffectionateParody: ''Carry On Cleo'', ''Carry On Jack'', ''Carry On Spying'', ''Carry On Henry'', ''Carry On Cowboy'' and ''Carry On Emmannuelle'', to name a few. See the movie list above for more information.
* AluminumChristmasTrees: Being a long-running comedy series from the mid-20th century, it's unsurprising that this trope will occur in at least every movie. For example, bus conductors (''Loving'') and buckets of water to put out fires (also ''Loving'').
* AmbiguouslyJewish: Sid James, Bernard Bresslaw and Amelia Bayntun are Jewish, and sometimes played roles that fit with the stereotypes (Amelia being the [[JewishMother pushy housewife]], Bernard often being the NiceJewishBoy, and Sid was [[JewishAndNerdy quick-thinking]]), but their characters were never stated to be Jewish.
** Phil Silvers' character in ''Follow That Camel!'' started to become {{greedy|Jew}} when it came to getting medals from Burger and le Pice. Silvers himself was Jewish, but his character was portrayed as the typical LeeroyJenkins loud-mouthed American.
** There have been a few exceptions, if you can call them that. For example, in ''Carry On Matron'', Terry Scott jokingly calls the hypochondriac Sir Bernard "the rabbi", although Bernard shows no evidence of being Jewish, the neediness and complaining of the prudish Joan and Andrea in ''Carry On Camping'' (well, considering that Joan's mother is Amelia, and the fact that their boyfriends are Bernard and Sid), and Citizen Bidet stating that he got circumcised when he was born in ''Don't Lose Your Head''.
* AnachronismStew: A staple of the "historical" films, always for [[RuleOfFunny purely humorous purposes.]] Just as an example, irrespective of the era in which the films were set, Charles Hawtrey's characters always wore "granny glasses".
* AnnoyingPatient: At least one crops up in all of the medically-themed films. The Colonel from ''Carry On Nurse'' is the earliest, and one of the best, examples.
* ApronMatron: A fixture of the hospital films contained an actual matron like this, always played by Hattie Jacques. She even [[TheCameo shows up]] as a matron in ''Carry On Regardless'' when Bert Handy (Sid James) is hired to hold a rich man's place in the waiting room queue at a hospital and is [[MistakenForSpecialGuest mistaken for a visiting dignitary]].
* ArmedFarces: ''Carry On Sergeant'', ''Carry On Jack'', ''Follow That Camel'', ''Carry On Up the Khyber'', and ''Carry On England''.
* ArtifactTitle: "Carry on, Sergeant" was a common order given by officers which English audiences would have been familiar with. After that there is usually no phrase or pun involved for subsequent films' titles, it's just sticking "Carry On" before the subject.
* AttractiveBentGender: Often accompanies DisguisedInDrag. For example, in ''Carry On Matron'', Kenneth Cope is disguised as a female nurse to case the hospital Sid James' gang are planning to rob. He promptly attracts the attention of a lecherous doctor played by Terry Scott.
* AwfulBritishSexComedy: Sometimes played straight once TheSixties ended.
* AwfulWeddedLife: Many of Sid's characters suffer from this. Mostly because his wife isn't in the mood for a physical relationship anymore.
* BackForTheFinale: Much of the characters that appeared in the movie would cameo in the final scene. [[WhatHappenedToTheMouse Except Charles Hawtrey, though.]]
* TheBigGuy:
** Bernard Bresslaw. All 6'7½" of him.
** In some cases, the 6'4" Jack Douglas.
* BigLippedAlligatorMoment: [[invoked]] A RuleOfFunny with the series, there were often scenes or moments that are never referred to in the rest of the movie.
* BitchInSheepsClothing: At least one or two of these appear in the movies. The most common ones are Sid James, Hattie Jacques, Kenneth Williams and Patsy Rowland.
* BloodKnight: The important authority figure in many of the movies that severed under a blundering idiot as a leader. A brilliant example is Lieutenant Howett from ''Carry On Jack'', who organises a fake mutiny in order to scare the timid [[IronicName Captain Fearless]] away from his ship, and begins his first day in power sailing to Spain to threaten the government into surrendering at gunpoint.
* BloodlessCarnage:
** ''Carry On Cowboy'' had the ShowdownAtHighNoon where many were shot dead with no blood stains.
** ''Carry On Up The Khyber'' had a war at the Khyber Pass and outside Sir Sidney's house.
** ''Don't Lose Your Head'' had the fight in a mansion that was like this.
* BlowingARaspberry: Often came from Sid, which was probably a substitution for a [[PrecisionFStrike curse]] word.
* TheCameo: Peter Butterworth, Jim Dale, Bernard Bresslaw, Hattie Jacques and Terry Scott were more likely to appear in uncredited roles than any other recurring regulars.
* CampStraight:
** Any character played by Kenneth Williams or Charles Hawtrey. The latter was actually gay, while Kenneth Williams is a matter of debate to this day. (It's generally thought that Williams was the friend to whom playwright Joe Orton addressed his famous speech about [[EthicalSlut screwing whatever moves you without worrying about the values of society]], but nobody knows whether Williams followed the advice or not.)
** Creator/FrankieHowerd, also known [[note]]([[ArmouredClosetGay rumoured first]], revealed posthumously)[[/note]] to have been gay, embodied this trope in his two ''Carry On'' appearances (''Carry On Doctor'' and ''Carry On Up the Jungle'').
** Recurring actor Julian Orchard (who appeared in about four movies in bit parts -- most memorably as the Duke de Ponsy in ''Carry On Henry'') also played this role. Whether he was actually gay in real life is unknown.
* CatchPhrase: Although they were playing different characters in each film, some of the actors had a few catchphrases which showed up with considerable regularity.
** Charles Hawtrey's first line in each film was nearly always a very camp "Oh, hel-''lo!''"
** Kenneth Williams would often deliver at least a few lines in his "Snide" voice from ''Radio/HancocksHalfHour'' (in a few films, such as ''Carry On Spying'', he would do the entire role in "snide" mode), including the character's catchphrases of "No, don't be like that!" and "Stop messin' about!"
* {{Catfight}}: Barbara Windsor has one in ''Carry On Camping'', and then with Margaret Nolan in ''Carry On Girls''. The latter film was over a stolen bikini.
* TheChessmaster: Many of Sid James' characters, if they didn't get their own way. His character in ''Carry On Loving'' was so quick to make his girlfriend (who he frequently cheats on) come back to him, he ''invoked'' a ThirdActMisunderstanding on the date she had hours after she dumped him.
* ChristmasCake: Most of the actresses, sparing Margaret Nolan, Valerie Leon and Barbara Windsor. [[InformedFlaw Characters]] that were this trope were often lampshaded. Take this scene from ''Carry On Dick'':
-->'''Lady Daley:''' [Dick Turpin] took my most treasured possession!\\
'''Captain Fancey:''' Come now, milady -- [[DeadpanSnarker surely that went long ago]].
* ChristmasEpisode: ''Carry On Christmas'', the collective name for four one-off Christmas television specials starring many of the ''Carry On'' regulars (notably excluding Kenneth Williams, who refused to take part) produced in 1969, 1970, 1972, and 1973.
* ClipShow: ''That's Carry On!'' was conceived by Peter Rogers as a ''Carry On'' version of the successful ''That's Entertainment!'' compilations, with clips presented by Kenneth Williams and Barbara Windsor. The second ''Carry On Laughing'' series which ran from 1981 to 1983 transferred the idea to television, minus Ken and Babs (except for the 1983 Christmas special).
* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: Many of Charles Hawtrey and Bernard Bresslaw's characters.
* ComedicUnderwearExposure: Kenneth Williams and Kenneth Connor suffered from this a couple of times.
* CoverDrop: Many of the movie posters after ''Carry On Teacher'' were this. The poster artist(s) would mostly cut and paste frames from the film or just draw scenes dotted around the page. For example:
** ''Carry On Camping'' featured a tiny Barbara Windsor-like girl with her bikini top flying off her body.
** ''Carry On Jack'' had a sailor getting whipped against a wall.
** ''Don't Lose Your Head'' had Jim Dale swinging from a chandelier as Sid James is crawling out of Joan Sims' dress while Charles Hawtrey and Peter Butterworth are trying to hold up a pillar.
* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass: A couple of Charles Hawtrey characters.
* TheDanza: [[invoked]] Common with characters outside of the period dramas. As mentioned before, Sid James commonly had characters that were named Sid.
* DeadArtistsAreBetter: Arguably, the ''Carry On'' series is much more appreciated and well-received now that the majority of the cast are dead.
** Particularly Sid James, whose characters were sleazy wisecracking old men who lusted over young vulnerable JailBait women. When he was alive, some saw him as a bad example to men. After he died, he was constantly praised for being one of the funniest members of the recurring cast.
** Although, this was probably because the last few films that were made after his death didn't do as well at the box office and were accused of being "repetitive".
** In many cases, the ''Carry On'' series is being called the best of British comedy, even by the haters that believed the series was raunchy and crude, and a bad influence on younger viewers.
* DisguisedInDrag: Often involving the aforementioned Bernard Bresslaw. Peter Butterworth, Charles Hawtrey, and Kenneth Williams also frequently dressed in drag to go undercover, almost invariably without bothering to disguise their voices.
* DrillSergeantNasty: There were several of these in the ArmedFarces movies, mostly ruling under a GeneralFailure that they despised. The original one was Eric Barker's captain in ''Carry On Sergeant'', along with [[ThoseTwoGuys his sidekick]] Bill Owen's corporal, who was just as bad as him. You could say that they were the UrExample of this trope for the entire film series.
* DoggedNiceGuy: There were a couple of these from both genders throughout the series, but it was commonly male characters. The female version was often Hattie Jacques, who would try and sabotage the plans of a rival suitor to make her look trustworthy.
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness:
** The films made prior to Talbot Rothwell's arrival (up to and including ''Carry On Cruising'') generally tended to have more situational-based humour rather than the puns and sexual innuendo the later films relied on.
** Kenneth Williams' characters in the first two films were played straight and were more {{deadpan snarker}}s than his other characters (in fact, his character in ''Carry On Nurse'' had a sort-of romance going on with a girl who occasionally visits him -- [[ObliviousToLove not that he notices her affections though...]]).
** Sid James began as an authority figure who was strict with the dim-witted workers he had to deal with, and even ''cowered in fear'' when horny women willingly threw themselves at him.
** Joan Sims wasn't a nagging prude in the early films and was often the attractive female lead -- a role that was later given to Barbara Windsor.
* EuropeansAreKinky: European characters in the series that were outside the British Isles were often portrayed as this. In ''Carry On Henry'', Henry VIII marries a French woman after his fourth "prudish" wife is executed, but then becomes horny and frustrated when he finds out that his new Queen eats garlic. Meanwhile, ''Carry On Emmannuelle'' stars a French woman that cheats on her prudish husband with several men, and is even a member of the Mile High club.
* {{Fanservice}}: "In ''Carry On'', [insert 90% of the list of fanservice tropes here]".
** Let's just say Barbara Windsor and have done with it.
** The series began to rely on this a lot in the mid-sixties onwards by hiring younger and attractive actors (Jim Dale, Richard O'Callaghan, Jacki Piper, Angela Douglas, etc.) to have a LoveInterest subplot in some of the films. Even though they suffered from many fanservice tropes, don't expect many of them to be showing much skin.
** ''Carry On Cabby'' [[DeconstructedTrope presents the argument]] that in a free market, no amount of quality can compete with blatant fanservice, as a rival cab company arrives out of nowhere providing only drivers with low-cut tops, large breasts and long legs. One sequence features a succession of customers happily fixing their own cabs as the drivers lean against them idly.
** ''Carry On Emmannuelle'' was an attempt at building an ''entire'' film around the concept of fanservice. It failed dismally, demonstrating a profound truth about how fanservice works. Or possibly not.
** [[EveryoneLovesBlondes Margaret Nolan]] and [[AloofDarkHairedGirl Valerie Leon]] deserve special mention too.
* {{Fainting}}: Often happened to the female characters that were married to Sid James, usually because they were unknowingly pregnant. Male versions were usually from MistakenForBadass characters during bloodshed.
* TheFonzie: Sid James was the fans' (and maybe the producers') favourite regular ever since his first appearance as a supporting character in ''Carry On Constable'', which is probably why many of the films that he was the leading man in were written in his favour[[note]]even if he was a villainous serial killer, [[WrittenByTheWinners the movie would make him out to be the good guy]][[/note]].
* GainaxEnding[=/=]AmbiguousEnding: A lot of the films didn't really have a satisfying conclusion and mostly ended with many unanswered questions. This was mostly down to the series' love of the BigLippedAlligatorMoment YMMV.
* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: Oh, where to start?
** How about ''Carry On Up the Khyber'''s title. It's Cockney rhyming slang: Khyber → Khyber Pass → Arse (Anus).
*** And "FAKIR! OFF!" from the same film.
** "One moment they want peace on, then the next -- peace off," from ''Carry On Cowboy''.
** In ''Carry On Henry'', after Guy[[note]]presumably; [[OneNameOnly his first name is never mentioned]][[/note]] Fawkes' plan to blow up Henry VIII with gunpowder has fizzled out (literally), Lord Hampton of Wick (whose name is another example, "Hampton Wick" being Cockney rhyming slang for... well, just guess) mutters, "Oh, ''Fawkes!''"
** Related to Lord Hampton of Wick, there are plenty of names across the series derived in some way from "Hampton"; for example, the hospital in ''Carry On Again Doctor'' is called Longhampton Hospital.
** In ''Carry On England'', when S.MJR. Bloomer derides SGT. Able's ability to recognize different aircraft, Able retorts, "I know a Fokker when I see one..."[[note]]This was notably deleted upon first release by the censors in exchange for the movie's rating to not go further than a 15+.[[/note]]
** The oh-so-carefully-pronounced "Count" in ''Carry On Screaming!''
** Fircombe, the fictional seaside town in ''Carry On Girls''. On the signs shown in the opening shots, it even does look like a generic English place name, until it's actually said out loud...
* HandOrObjectUnderwear: Many examples; see the page illustration if you're confused.
* HenpeckedHusband: Many of Sid James' characters, with the nagging wife generally played by Hattie Jacques or Joan Sims, which was mostly the reason why he preyed on other women. Also sometimes played by Kenneth Connor (''Carry On Cleo'' and ''Carry On Abroad'') or Terry Scott (''Carry On Camping'').
* HeroAntagonist: Many of Kenneth Williams' characters.
* HospitalHottie: Jim Dale and Barbara Windsor, when they were doctor and nurse in the medical films.
* IAmNotLeonardNimoy: Face it, if you watch a film, you'll refer to the people on screen by the name of their actor. Even this page has only referred to the characters by their actors.
* IncrediblyConspicuousDrag: Several of the films involve Sid James or Bernard Bresslaw (or someone similarly unmistakably masculine) wearing a dress, and the authority figure they're trying to evade falling instantly for him, despite the fact that he's clearly Sid James or Bernard Bresslaw wearing a dress. (The fact that the authority figure was frequently Kenneth Williams may add a [[AmbiguouslyGay bit of subtext to this]].)
* InformedAttractiveness:
** Barbara Windsor was not exactly a Hollywood beauty, though she did have a couple of things in her favour.[[note]] Although Windsor herself has noted that they looked bigger than they were due to her small waist and the fact that her small feet meant that she walked in a way that emphasised her bust. The BuxomIsBetter trope actually applied at a smaller cup size at the time anyway -- breasts were smaller on average and implants were almost unknown.[[/note]]
** Sid James, mostly when he played charming GentlemanThief [[AllGirlsWantBadboys womanisers]], managed to get so many women falling for him. The possible fact that many of his admirers were [[AllWomenAreLustful sexually-frustrated]] at the time could've played in his favour as well.
** Kenneth Williams, who mostly got at least two women fighting over him every so often. You could say that it was because of PowerIsSexy.
** [[invoked]] Charles Hawtrey sometimes, who managed to chase [[UnfortunateImplications terrified women around the room until they gave in to have sex with him.]] Some even [[SexGod come back for some more.]]
* InvisibleHoles: Occurs in ''Follow That Camel'' (Kenneth Williams shot by Arabs), ''Carry On Up the Khyber'' (the {{almost dead|guy}} Peter Gilmore), ''Carry On Henry'' (Charles Hawtrey after being tortured in an iron maiden).
* {{Jerkass}}: Commonly a Kenneth Williams character that was of high authority. One of the exceptions was his character in ''Carry On at Your Convenience''.
* KitchenSinkDrama: Many of the films that were outside movie parodies.
* TheKlutz: Plenty of Jim Dale characters. One managed to trip over a trolley and pull out an ''entire fuse box''.
* {{Leitmotif}}: The Matron character had a distinct tune that played throughout the films whenever she showed up. It made her sound haughty and gave out a battleaxe feeling.
* LieBackAndThinkOfEngland: Some of Sid's wives (and the man himself) often suffer from this, which is why they both pine for other people.
* LoveableRogue: Many of Sid James' characters, when he wasn't playing {{henpecked husband}}s.
* LoveTriangle: Some films had this as a subplot, usually featuring Jim Dale, Sid James, Hattie Jacques, Barbara Windsor, Richard O'Callaghan, Kenneth Williams and/or Joan Sims. Many of them slipped into ImaginaryLoveTriangle.
* MassiveNumberedSiblings: The movies often used this trope to imply how much sex that a couple was usually having. The more children, the better. So it was often that Sid James' married characters had no children or a fully-grown adult child.
* MeaningfulName: If a cheap joke could be got out of a person's name, it was.
* MistakenForBadass: Major plot points in a few films, especially ''Carry On Cowboy'' (Marshal is his name) and ''Carry On Cleo''.
* MuggedForDisguise: Common in the period piece films. [[InstantCostumeChange Then, the perpetrator would immediately reappear in the disguise]].
* NakedPeopleAreFunny: Most commonly Barbara Windsor, alternatively Charles Hawtrey.
* NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast: A common theme with the punny names in the series. For example, a surgeon named Bernard '''Cutting''' from ''Carry On Matron'' and Dr '''Kilmore''' from ''Carry On Doctor''.
* NeverMyFault: A Kenneth Williams character who was trying to suck up to a higher authority figure would commonly blame anyone around them if his plans to catch the villains failed.
* OfCorsetsFunny: In many of the films, particularly the period pieces.
* OperationJealousy: When Sid never showed interest, his wife would flirt with another man in order to get this reaction.
* PeriodPiece: Much of the movie parodies.
* PermaShave: In some movies in which the characters are stranded in a place with no food and civilization to find, the male characters mostly stay clean-shaven throughout.
** ''Follow That Camel'' featured an aimless trek around the desert for at least a week but the Legion soldiers don't grow stubble or beards when it's highly unlikely that they took their razors with them.
** ''Carry On Jack'' subverts this when the male cast have week-long stubble when they are stranded in a boat in the middle of the ocean. The DisguisedInDrag Sally does not, which would've given the men a ''big'' hint that she is not a man, but they don't notice.
** ''Carry On Again, Doctor'' appears to double subvert this. Jim Dale and Kenneth Williams are sent to a far-off island to be doctors for the villagers; both men grow a noticeable amount of stubble, however, they both spend at least a couple of weeks (in Williams' case, three months) on the island, yet they have stubble that you'd expect on men that haven't shaved in two or three days.
*** [[invoked]] It's also jarring to see this SpecialEffectsFailure on Jim Dale -- especially if you immediately see this movie after his cameo in ''Carry On Jack'', in which his one-scene character had a face full of thick stubble (which was probably what ''he'd grown himself'' for the role).
* PintSizedPowerhouse: The 5'2 Kenneth Connor would be prone to this trope if his character called for it. It was invoked in ''Carry On Cleo'', and played straight in ''Carry On Nurse''.
* PrettyBoy: Richard O'Callaghan and Jim Dale.
* PunnyName: A staple of the series once Talbot Rothwell took over as the series' screenwriter.
** Shamelessly indulged in for ''Carry On at Your Convenience''. The toilet factory is run by W.C. Boggs and his son Lew (Lewis), with factory foreman Sid Plummer.
** Other punny names were more suggestive, such as the slimming clinic in ''Carry On Again Doctor'' founded by Dr. Nookey with capital from Ellen Moore: the Moore-Nookey clinic.
* PuttingTheMedicInComedic: ''Carry On Nurse'', ''Carry On Doctor'', ''Carry On Again, Doctor'' and ''Carry On Matron''.
* RagtagBunchOfMisfits: Some of Sid's characters usually had this that were usually put against Kenneth Williams' version.
* RecurringRiff: A jazzier version of the military march played to open and close ''Carry On Sergeant'' was used for the opening and closing credits for the following five films (beginning with ''Carry On Cabby'', each film had a unique score composed by Eric Rogers).
* RichSuitorPoorSuitor: This was also a common trope at times whenever there was a LoveTriangle. The most glaring one was ''Carry On at Your Convenience'' when the pretty Myrtle Plummer had to choose between the soft-spoken boss' son Lewis Boggs and the lazy scheming BasementDweller Vic Spanner.
* RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething: In movies that feature a royal family, the monarchs would mostly get involved with the storylines and often controlled the army.
** ''Carry On Up the Khyber'' had the Khasi leader of Khalabar organising his army (with the help of his warrior leader), and his daughter, the princess, helping the enemy when her father's back was turned.
** ''Don't Lose Your Head'' had a British knight and a Lord saving rich French aristocrats.
** ''Follow That Camel'' has the Arabian sheikh at war with the French Foreign Legion.
* SexComedy: the premise of the series in the mid-'70s.
* SexTourism: All of the vacation movies contained at least one or two characters who were only on holiday in the hopes of getting lucky with either their reluctant spouses or any attractive person that they meet up with along the way.
* ShorterMeansSmarter: Kenneth Connor and Kenneth Cope were often one of/the smartest of a group.
* ShutUpKiss: These were common in the movies, mostly between either two young love interests or a married couple. The latter type was always from the husband, who usually "forgot" the kissing and went straight into the sex, which successfully [[RapePortrayedAsRedemption shut their wives up]]. In many cases, it made the wives less [[DefrostingIceQueen frigid]] and much [[AllWomenAreLustful more open]].
* SmugSnake: Many of Kenneth Williams' characters.
* SnobsVsSlobs: A common theme in many of the films, which mostly linked with the growing issues of [[ATouchOfClassEthnicityAndReligion social class]] in Britain at the time, and was seen as the most relate-able humour that was around.
** However, this caused a few problems when it came to releases. Due to the production team being right-wing, many of the working-class and "pauper" characters were often heavily implied to be the butt of the jokes, which didn't help when most of the audience of the series were in fact working-class as well. When ''Carry On at Your Convenience'' was released, many fans boycotted the series after seeing the negative portrayal of some of the characters that were meant to represent them.
* SpecialGuest: There were several over the course of the series, leading to lots of tension over the guest's salary with the regular actors in series. [[note]]The regular cast were paid low salaries for each movie they did (Kenneth Williams' was known for being vocal about this in his published diaries; his highest salary he received was £6000, which wasn't really high for a movie star back then), but Pinewood Studios shelled out up to ''£30,000'' for a guest star that only had a couple of lines.[[/note]]
** Creator/PhilSilvers as a very [[Series/ThePhilSilversShow Sgt. Bilko-esque]] Foreign Legion sergeant in ''Follow That Camel'' (a role originally intended for Sid James; writer Talbot Rothwell felt that Silvers would be ideal for the role when James proved unavailable).
** Cecil Parker, who appeared in many blockbuster movies at the time, was promoted to AndStarring credits -- above Kenneth Williams and Charles Hawtrey -- when he appeared in ''Carry On Jack'', and was paid over £20,000 when all he did was appear in two scenes that {{book end|s}} the film and had less than ten lines.
* StiffUpperLip: Usually common in the period drama movies among British characters, but mostly made fun of.
* SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute: A lot of the movies could've had this and was especially played straight whenever a special guest was brought in to play a DirtyOldMan Sid James-esque character.
** Coincidence that the CampStraight Kenneth Williams, who couldn't make ''Carry On Up the Jungle'', was replaced by the openly gay Frankie Howerd for that film?
** The original MsFanservice female lead could definitely be seen as this. Look at it like: Shirley Eaton → Liz Fraser → Barbara Windsor → Amanda Barrie → Anita Harris → Barbara Windsor, until the end of the series.
** There were always [[ThoseTwoGuys two army officers]] in the ArmedFarces sketches who were either RedOniBlueOni or both OfficerJerkass (see DrillSergeantNasty): Captain Potts & Corporal Copping (''Sergeant'') → [[TreacherousAdvisor Lieutenant Howett]] & [[BeleagueredAssistant Mr Angel]] (''Jack'') → Captain le Pice & Commandant Burger (''Follow That Camel'') → Sergeant-Major [=MacNutt=] & Captain Keene (''Up the Khyber'') → [[TheNapoleon Captain S. Melly]] & Sergeant-Major Bloomer/Brigadier & Major Carstairs (''England'').
** The 6'7 Bernard Bresslaw was in the series for ten years. When the 6'4 Jack Douglas appeared, he would start to get bigger roles, whereas Bresslaw seemed to be getting demoted into background characters, eventually leaving the series for good in 1975.
** The PrettyBoy had this as well. Leslie Phillips → Jim Dale → Richard O'Callaghan. Sometimes when Jim Dale wasn't available, Julian Holloway would fill a similar role.
** The NiceGirl Angela Douglas left after ''Carry On Up the Khyber'', and in walked nice girl Jacki Piper at the beginning of the seventies.
* SympatheticInspectorAntagonist: Kenneth Williams in ''Don't Lose Your Head'' and ''Carry On Dick''.
* TallDarkAndHandsome: Jim Dale, Richard O'Callaghan and Jullian Holloway. Bernard Cribbins, to some extent.
** In-universe, Sid James, Kenneth Williams and Charles Hawtrey.
** Kenneth Connor and Kenneth Cope were shorter versions that portrayed this role.
* ThoseTwoGuys: Often had a duo in the movie. Variations include a [[{{UST}} married couple]], [[LargeAndInCharge two soldiers]], two friends that will probably end up [[WithFriendsLikeThese hating each other at the end]], two friends that work together, and a person of higher authority and their underclass leader.
* TitleDrop: Often occurs near the end of the films. ''Carry On Cruising'' has one right at the end that is notable for how completely it fails to arise naturally out of the dialogue.
* UnfortunateNames: Many examples throughout the series, though the most glaring example (and acknowledged as such in-universe) is CPT S. Melly from ''Carry On England''.
* UniversalAdaptorCast: The cast did the same character type, more or less, regardless of setting. In fact, if one of the regulars is absent from a film, it's invariably easy to guess which role was written with him or her in mind (just to name two examples, SGT. Sidney Bung in ''Carry On Screaming!'' was written for Sid James but played by [[Series/SteptoeAndSon Harry H. Corbett]], while the foppish Professor Inigo Tinkle in ''Carry On Up the Jungle'' was written for Kenneth Williams but played by Creator/FrankieHowerd).
* VillainProtagonist: Sid James' common character forte.
* WardrobeMalfunction:
** Nearly every film featured at least one scene where a male character either lost or split his trousers or a female character lost her skirt or top.
** The page image is from ''Carry On Camping'', and it provided the most famous example in the series -- sometimes referred to as the most famous scene in British cinema history. Barbara Windsor is doing aerobics with her classmates and flings her arms a bit too wide, making her bikini top pop off and fly into the face of her school principal. [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J0J9FdN8oqA Watch it on YouTube.]]
* WhateverHappenedToTheMouse: A common theme with Charles Hawtrey's characters were that they would disappear out of the story when the climax reared its ugly head. It didn't help that his storyline wasn't far from being completed.
* WorldOfPun: [[SarcasmMode Actually quite restrained in its use of puns]]. For instance, Kenneth Williams in ''Carry On Cleo'': "Infamy, infamy, they've all got it in fer me!" [[note]]This gag was originally written for the radio series ''Take It From Here'' by Frank Muir and Denis Norden.[[/note]]
* WorldOfSnark: Every character was a DeadpanSnarker when the narrative called for it.
----

A new ''Carry On'' movie, titled ''Carry On London'' or ''Carry On Bananas'' was announced in 2003, started pre-production in 2008, and doesn't look to be going anywhere as of 2010, mostly due to the death of Gerald Thomas. In Autumn 2015, it was announced at the Cannes Film Festival that ''Carry On Bananas'' would be back, with possible cameos from old actors from the series that are still alive.

# ''Film/CarryOnDoctor'' (1967) -- Another Hospital, based on the ''Series/DoctorInTheHouse''

# ''Film/CarryOnNurse'' (1959) -- [[AccidentAndEntertainment Hospital]]

* RealLifeWritesThePlot: Peter Rogers and Gerald Thomas were always quick to say that the movies they've released is because of this trope.
** Everyone will be in a hospital at least once in their life which is why there's four medical comedies[[note]]A fifth medical movie was planned in the mid-1980s called ''Carry On Again, Nurse'', [[WhatCouldHaveBeen hoping to bring the series back to life]] after five-or-so years, but the [[AuthorExistenceFailure death of Kenneth Williams and Charles Hawtrey]] within two years stopped production[[/note]].
** The VacationEpisode movies were based on popular holidays at the time they were released. The biggest examples are ''Carry On Cruising'', which was made in a time when cruise holidays were typical of the British, and ''Carry On Abroad'', when the British were going on packaged tourist holidays into Europe.
** ''Carry On Spying'' happened because ''Film/{{Goldfinger}}'' was being filmed near the ''Carry On Jack'' studio.
*** Most of the movie parodies were because of the originals either being made nearby or because of rumours of them being in production. ''Carry On Cowboy'' was made to rival a rumoured western movie being made by Music/TheBeatles.
** The plot of ''Carry On Girls'' was based on the angry protests of women outside a popular beauty pageant in London over their disgust on implied female objectification in media.
** [[invoked]] ''Carry On Again, Doctor'' could be seen as this as well, because it raised awareness of the media's ideology of hourglass-shaped women being better than the HollywoodPudgy kind of women.[[note]]Barbara Windsor even said herself that when she read the script for her character (mostly over a scene of her character naked with paper hearts covering her), she immediately began dieting, which slightly angered Peter Rogers because of the "Bristol's Bouncing Baby Food" joke.[[/note]]

# ''Film/CarryOnNurse'' (1959) -- Hospital

** ''Carry On Cabby'' presents the argument that in a free market, no amount of quality can compete with blatant fanservice, as a rival cab company arrives out of nowhere providing only drivers with low-cut tops, large breasts and long legs. One sequence features a succession of customers happily fixing their own cabs as the drivers lean against them idly.

* BackForTheFinale: Much of the characters that appeared in the movie would cameo in the final scene. [[WhatHappenedToTheMouse Expect Charles Hawtrey, though.]]

** Creator/FrankieHowerd, also known [[note]]([[ArmouredClosetGay rumoured first]], revealed later)[[/note]] to have been gay, embodied this trope in his two ''Carry On'' appearances (''Carry On Doctor'' and ''Carry On Up the Jungle'').

* {{Catfight}}: Barbara Windsor and Margaret Nolan have one in ''Carry On Camping'' and ''Carry On Girls''. The latter film was over a stolen bikini.
* TheChessmaster: Many of Sid James' characters if they didn't get their own way.

* DoggedNiceGuy: There were a couple of these from both genders throughout the series, but it was commonly male characters. The female version was often Hattie Jacques, who would try and sabotage the plans of any other suitor to make her look trustworthy.

* GainaxEnding: A lot of the films didn't really have a satisfying conclusion and mostly ended with many unanswered questions.

* BlondGuysAreEvil: Peter Gilmore was often the villain in period pieces. In ''Carry On Henry'', he was Henry VIII's #1 hated monarch, even though he never did anything to upset him.[[note]]This mirrors the same relationship that Henry VIII had with Francis I of France.[[/note]]

!!Has nothing to do with the FunnyAnimal WebComic ''Webcomic/CarryOn'' or the 1957 film ''Carry On Admiral'' (a.k.a. ''The Ship Was Loaded'', that featured Joan Sims).

# ''Film/CarryOnHenry'' (1971) -- UsefulNotes/HenryVIII and the [[UsefulNotes/TheHouseOfTudor Tudor period]], with elements of the [[UsefulNotes/TheHouseOfStuart Stuart Era]].

!!!Has nothing to do with the FunnyAnimal WebComic ''Webcomic/CarryOn'' or the 1957 film ''Carry On Admiral'' (a.k.a. ''The Ship Was Loaded'', that featured Joan Sims).

!!Has nothing to do with the FunnyAnimal WebComic ''Webcomic/CarryOn'' or the 1957 film ''Carry On Admiral'' (a.k.a. ''The Ship Was Loaded'', that featured Joan Sims).

Has nothing to do with the FunnyAnimal WebComic ''Webcomic/CarryOn'' or the 1957 film ''Carry On Admiral'' (a.k.a. ''The Ship Was Loaded'', with Joan Sims).

* OfCorsetsFunny: In many of the films.

* EuropeansAreKinky: European characters in the series that were outside the British Isles were often portrayed as this. In ''Carry On Henry'', Henry VIII marries a French woman after his fourth "prudish" wife is executed, but then becomes horny and frustrated when he finds out that his new Queen eats garlic. Meanwhile, ''Carry On Emmannuelle'' stars a French woman that cheats on her prudish husband with several men, and is even a member of the Mile High club.

* EuropeansAreKinky: European characters in the series that were outside the British Isles were often portrayed as this. In ''Carry On Henry'', Henry VIII marries a French woman after his fourth "prudish" wife is executed, but then becomes horny and frustrated when he finds out that his new Queen eats garlic.