The Complete A–Z of Everything Carry On

AMANDA BARRIE – from her autobiography, It’s Not A Rehearsal

BARRON, MR

Played by Charles Hawtrey

Seen in Doctor, Mr Barron spends much of his time asleep on Fosdick Ward. When his wife, Mildred, told him she was expecting, he went into deep shock and was admitted to Borough County Hospital suffering a phantom pregnancy. Deciding to play along with his nonsense, Dr Tinkle sends him to pre-natal classes, which he finds humiliating, but by the end of his spell in hospital his wife gives birth and he becomes the proud father of a little boy.

BARRON, MRS

Played by Gwendolyn Watts

Mildred Barron is the pregnant wife of Mr Barron. When she told her husband they were expecting, he went into shock and was admitted to Borough County Hospital suffering a phantom pregnancy. Seen in Doctor visiting her hubby.

BARRY, HILDA

Role: Grandma Grubb in Loving

Born in California in 1896, Hilda Barry spent her early career in the theatre before becoming a regular face on the screen from the mid-1950s.

On television she made several appearances in Dixon of Dock Green as well as The Flying Doctor, The Prisoner, Special Branch, Quatermass and, latterly, Angels. Her film credits included The Drayton Case, John of the Fair, Never Back Losers, Poor Cow, On the Buses, Steptoe and Son Ride Again and her last picture, The Confessional.

She died in 1977, aged eighty.

BARRY, MR & MRS

Unseen characters in Constable, the Barries live at 35 Nathaniel Road. While they’re away visiting their first grandchild in Canada, their neighbour, Miss Horton, reports an intruder entering their property, but it’s a false alarm because it’s only their daughter, Sally, returning early from a trip to Cornwall.

BARRY, SALLY

Played by Shirley Eaton

Befriended by PC Potter in Constable, Sally is an attractive blonde whom Potter encounters while investigating a possible break-in at 35 Nathaniel Road. Upset, Sally had been visiting her fiancé’s family in Cornwall when she rowed with her beloved Eric.

BARTLETT, RICHARD

Role: Gunner Drury in England

Richard Bartlett, who’s semi-retired from the industry, spent many years performing on stage, while appearing sporadically on television and in films during the 1970s.

On the small screen he was seen in Robin’s Nest and Minder, as well as playing Nigel in 1977’s Follow Me and General Vishishmou in The Tomorrow People. Other film credits include Loving Feeling and The Pink Panther Strikes Again.

BASIC JAPANESE

The book, written by R. Morrison, is read by Francis Courtenay during an idle moment in Regardless.

BATT, BERT

Assistant Director on Teacher and Matron

Born in Islington, London, in 1930, Bert Batt entered the film industry straight from elementary school. Taking the advice of his father, he wrote to Gainsborough Studios, two miles down the road from where he lived, and within weeks was hired as a gofer, earning twenty-five shillings a week.

In 1946 he became a third assistant but his career was interrupted two years later by National Service. Back in civvies in 1950, he joined Pinewood Studios and completed ten years’ service under contract before going freelance. His long career has encompassed over seventy films, including True As A Turtle, Rockets Galore!, Make Mine Mink, Zulu, The Dirty Dozen, The Spiral Staircase, The Man Who Would Be King, The Sea Wolves and, in 1998, Les Misérables.

Batt has also worked in television, including the 1990 Jeeves and Wooster comedy series.

BATTLEAXE

Played by Judith Furse

Seen in Cabby, this aggressive woman – who’s a widow – is picked up by Charlie Hawkins in his taxi. As Charlie piles her suitcases into the car, it looks like she’s taking everything but the kitchen sink.

BAWDEN, JAMES

Camera Operator on Doctor, Up The Khyber, Camping, Again Doctor, Up the Jungle, Loving, At Your Convenience and Matron

James Bawden, who was born in the Scottish town of Motherwell in 1920, began working as a camera operator in the early 1950s on films such as The Long Memory, Desperate Moment and The Million Pound Note.

Apart from a period working on the popular cult television series The Avengers, he’s worked primarily in films with other credits including The Square Peg, Doctor in Love, Crooks Anonymous, Quest for Love, The Eagle Has Landed, The Wild Geese and, in 1982, Witness for the Prosecution.

BAXTER, JOE

Played by Ian Lavender

Goes on holiday to the Riverside Caravan Site with his wife, Norma, and her huge pet dog, Ollie, which is the bane of his life. Seen in Behind.

BAXTER, NORMA

Played by Adrienne Posta

With her frizzy blonde hairdo, Norma is the wife of Joe Baxter. Seen in Behind holidaying at the Riverside Caravan Site with her spouse and their huge pet dog, Ollie, who seems more important to her than Joe.

MEMORIES

‘First and foremost for me was Peter Rogers and Gerry Thomas, two of the nicest men you could wish to meet. The shooting was tough, a rigid budget and a six-week shoot with no overtime. It was non-stop but a continual laugh and some of the days were hysterical.

‘The cast were great. Kenneth Williams never stopped talking, much of it deliciously outrageous. One day, on Matron, he slipped off a rostrum and fell to the floor. Gladys Goldsmith, the continuity girl, sat puce at her typewriter as he regaled her, loudly as ever, with the pain he was suffering from his sexual organs that had found contact with the rostrum on his descent and what the consequences might be. It was utter rubbish, of course.

‘There were so many funny moments that they all blur into each other and it’s difficult after all these years to remember them. One other I recall was on Teacher. Ken Connor had to walk down a corridor, enter the science class, take the stopper off a large glass jar, sniff it and make a face. It was a tracking shot with a low camera, awkward for the camera operator, Alan Hume. We put a stink bomb in the jar and on the first take Alan was shaking so much with anticipatory laughter in his hunched position that he fell off the dolly. I think all of us who saw that can still see Ken’s face as he sniffed the jar.

‘I worked on so many films that unless you keep a list, which I never did, some of them get forgotten, but the one thing you don’t forget is having worked on the Carry Ons with the crazy cast.’

BERT BATT

BAYNTUN, AMELIA

Roles: Mrs Fussey in Camping, Corset Lady in Loving, Mrs Spragg in At Your Convenience, Mrs Jenkins in Matron and Mrs Tuttle in Abroad

A busy stage actress, Amelia Bayntun, born in 1919, also occasionally appeared on the screen. On television, her credits included Dixon of Dock Green, Adamant Lives!, On the Buses and her biggest role, two series as Ada Bissel in Thames Television’s Dear Mother … Love Albert.

She died in 1988, aged sixty-eight.

BBC NEWSCASTER

Played by Tim Brinton

During Emmannuelle he’s seen on the box reporting on the numerous affairs of Emmannuelle, the French Ambassador’s sex-mad wife.

BEACH PHOTOGRAPHER

Played by Alec Bregonzi

On Brighton Pier in At Your Convenience, the Beach Photographer is earning a living taking photos of happy tourists. (Note: the scene was cut.)

WHAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN

EXT. PHOTOGRAPHIC BOOTH. DAY

It has several of those stands with cut-outs to put the face through. Start with a C.S. of Vic, with his eye to a small camera, Myrtle standing bored beside him.

VIC: Hold it!

(And now we see his shot. The stand has a garish painting of a Caveman and a Cavewoman, the latter with large bare breasts. Bernie has his face above the Cavewoman and Popsy has hers above the Caveman.)

VIC: (OVER.) Lovely!

(A click. Bernie and Popsy come out from behind the cut-out, giggling. Bernie points over.)

BERNIE: Here, get a load of them.

(They look that way. This time the painting is of a man and woman in profile, holding hands with their face-slots placed close together. The woman has ridiculously large pert breasts sticking straight out and straining her bikini top. She also has a very pert bottom in a pair of tight red shorts. The man is ridiculously skinny and dressed in a bright blue striped blazer with a pair of shorts down to his knees. A man and a woman have their faces through the holes, and are smiling at the photographer.)

PHOTOGRAPHER: Thank you.

(The man and the woman come out from behind the screens and the joke is that they are dressed like and have exactly the same figures as the cartoon painting. Bernie, Vic and Popsy roar with laughter and even Myrtle has to smile.)

BEALE, JACK

The script for Nurse was based on an idea supplied by Jack Beale and Patrick Cargill, stemming from their stage play, Ring for Catty.

BEAMISH, LEONARD

Played by Ian Curry

Mr Beamish phones Togetherness Marriage Agency in Regardless. He wants a wife in time for a tea party he’s giving his aunt in two weeks so asks the agency for help. But a mix-up finds Delia King arriving at his doorstep, believing she’s been hired to do some housekeeping.

BEAN, MICHAEL

Played by Charles Hawtrey

The French and music teacher at Maudlin Street Secondary Modern School, Mr Bean is seen in Teacher. His other duties include organising and conducting the school orchestra, as well as writing the mournful tunes heard at the school’s annual play.

BEAN, MR

Played by Donald Bisset

A patient at the Long Hampton Hospital, Mr Bean, who’s hospitalised with a kidney stone, is seen in Again Doctor, talking to Dr Carver about his condition.

BEAR CREEK

When Big Heap announces inside Rumpo’s Place that there has been a gold strike at Bear Creek, the hostelry clears within seconds, which is just what the Indian wanted because he aims to pinch some liquor without being shot. It’s not long, though, before the would-be gold diggers realise there isn’t such a place as Bear Creek and head back to the bar. The fictitious place is mentioned in Cowboy.

BEAR PASS

The pass is mentioned in Cowboy and is situated near Stodge City and Sam Houston’s ranch.

BEARDED MAN IN AUDIENCE

Played by Ron Tarr

Seen in Girls this uncredited character is spotted laughing uncontrollably while watching the beauty contest fiasco.

BEASLEY, MRS

Played by Patricia Hayes

In Again Doctor this chatty, loud-speaking woman sees Dr Nookey in the outpatients department about constant ringing in her ears. Mrs Beasley, who’s a hypochondriac, is a regular at the hospital.

BEATIFIC ISLANDS

Sounds like a tropical paradise but far from it, as Dr Nookey and Dr Carver find out in Again Doctor. These far-flung islands are battered by hurricanes for three months of the year and drenched by rain for the remaining nine. Locals call their islands, ‘All rain and wind’. The rich widow, Ellen Moore, established a medical mission there in memory of her husband, who was cared for by the islanders.

BEAUMONT, SUSAN

Role: Frances James in Nurse

Born in London in 1936, Susan Beaumont, daughter of musical comedy actress Roma Beaumont and theatre producer Alfred Black, enrolled at RADA but left after just one term. She soon found employment in pantomime before going on to dance in a Norman Wisdom show at the London Palladium and in a Limelight show on television.

Upon being offered a Rank contract, aged nineteen, she became a leading lady in the 1950s, appearing in a clutch of films, such as Man of the Moment, Simon and Laura, Jumping for Joy, On the Run, No Safety Ahead, Innocent Sinners and The Man Who Liked Funerals.

BECK, JAMES

Role: Mr Roxby in Loving (Note: the scene was cut.)

Born in Islington, London, in 1929, James Beck – who’ll forever be remembered for playing the spiv, Private Walker, in Dad’s Army – graduated from art school and worked as a commercial artist until being called up for National Service.

Upon leaving military life, he pursued a career in the theatre, beginning as a student actor on one pound a week with a small repertory company in Ramsgate. Stints at various reps followed before he moved to London to further his career.

Soon he was appearing on stage and screen, with television credits including Fabian of the Yard, Coronation Street, Romany Jones (playing the lead role), Z Cars, The Troubleshooters, Counterstrike, Beggar My Neighbour, The Motorway Men, Here’s Harry and Taxi.

He died in 1973, aged forty-four.

‘BED OF THE CENTURY’

In Regardless, Sam Twist demonstrates the ‘Bed of the Century’ at the Ideal House Exhibition. Unfortunately it has a few teething problems and Twist gets into a right mess.

BED OF NAILS NATIVE

Played by Hugh Futcher

Seen in Algiers during Spying, he chides Simkins for treading on his bed of nails.

BEDSOP, JAMES

Played by Charles Hawtrey

A private enquiry agent hired in Loving by Sophie Bliss to keep an eye on Sidney, whom she suspects of having affairs with many of the female clients registered with the Wedded Bliss Agency.

Mr Bedsop begins his surveillance in the cocktail bar of the Parkway Hotel where Sophie believes Sidney is planning to meet Esme Crowfoot; he’s hardly subtle in his methods of work, though, making it blatantly obvious later that he’s following Sidney up the road.

He eventually finds himself under arrest: after donning an artificial beard as disguise, he follows Bliss into a public lavatory and begins acting suspiciously by getting down on his hands and knees and peeping under the cubicle doors. Chased out by the attendant, he tells a waiting policeman that he’s looking for a man, which doesn’t go down too well with the bobby.

BEEVERS, DIANA

Role: Penny Lee in Teacher

Born in London in 1944, Diana Beevers joined the Corona Academy at the age of eleven and was soon appearing in the BBC children’s television serial, The Thompson Family, as Susan Thompson, in the late 1950s. She enjoyed other screen work while at the Academy, lastly in Venture, an Associated Rediffusion production.

Upon leaving the Corona at fifteen she went straight into The Visit in the West End; in addition to furthering her acting career, she began studying for O and A-levels and finally, in the 1980s, earning a degree with the Open University.

During the 1960s and ’70s, Beevers appeared in a handful of television and film productions, including Public Eye, Within These Walls and Rumpole of the Bailey. She also had a running part in the ’60s series, Compact, playing Michelle Donnelly. On the big screen, she was seen as a WRNS officer in 1968’s Submarine X-1 and Disney’s Escape to the Dark.

Her last theatre appearance was in the Noël Coward trilogy, Tonight at Eight, in 1971, after which she left the profession to raise her daughter, thereafter only making the occasional television appearance. She returned in the 1980s and directed in various London fringe theatres.

In recent years she ran her own mail order company, selling classical CDs, but has since closed the business and returned to directing professional, amateur and youth theatre groups on the Isle of Wight, where she now resides.

BEHIND, CARRY ON

see feature box here.

BELCHER, BROTHER

Played by Peter Butterworth

Seen in Up The Khyber, Brother Belcher, a missionary, arrives in India’s Himalayan region to preach, claiming, ‘Sinners welcome with open arms’. When a guide is needed for a military operation across the border in Afghanistan, Belcher is blackmailed into taking the job.

BELL, JACK

Played by Leslie Phillips

In Nurse the likeable Jack Bell is admitted to Haven Hospital for a bunion operation. His admission couldn’t have come at a worse time because he was hoping to sneak away for a few days with his girlfriend, Meg, staying at private hotels along the coast. After his operation is cancelled, Jack – while under the influence of champagne his girlfriend sneaked in – asks fellow patient Oliver Reckitt to perform the op, but soon changes his mind when Reckitt and other patients play along with his request and he nearly ends up being put under the knife by a student studying nuclear physics.

BELLA VISTA

The name of the schooner in Again Doctor which sank off the Beatific Islands during a terrible storm. As reported by the Long Hampton Advertiser, one of the schooner’s passengers was Dr Carver, who was returning from the islands at the time. He was a lucky survivor.

BELLE

Played by Joan Sims

Belle, whose intimate friends call her ‘Ding-Dong’, is the respectable owner of Belle’s Place in Stodge City. Seen in Cowboy, she loses her establishment to the ruthless Rumpo Kid when he swaggers into town.

BELLE’S PLACE

A saloon-cum-hotel in Stodge City that is run by Belle until the Rumpo Kid saunters into town and gains control, turning it from a respectable meeting place into a gambling den where the beer flows, fights break out and dancing girls entertain. Seen in Cowboy.

BELLE PARISIENNE

The magazine Professor Tinkle reads in his tent during Up the Jungle while his assistant, Claude Chumley, goes birdwatching.

BELTON, PETE

A corn dealer in Stodge City. He’s not seen in Cowboy but his establishment is.

BENHAM, JOAN

Role: Cynical Lady in Emmannuelle

Born in London in 1918, Joan Benham is probably best known for playing Lady Prudence in the period drama, Upstairs, Downstairs, despite experiencing all media during her long career.

Other television credits included The Troubleshooters, Doctor On the Go, Doctor in Charge, The Duchess of Duke Street, The Sun Trap and Terry and June. On the big screen she was seen in, among others, The Man Who Loved Redheads, It’s Great to be Young, Child in the House, The Bridal Path and Murder Ahoy.

She died in 1981, aged sixty-two.

BENNETT, PETER

Role: Thief in Constable

Born in London in 1917, Peter Bennett appeared in small roles in several films, including Quatermass and the Pit and Lady Chatterley’s Lover, as well as the occasional meatier part, such as the Master of the Otter Hounds in Tarka the Otter.

His television credits ranged from Man in a Suitcase and The Buccaneers to William Tell and several appearances in the 1950s series, The Adventures of Robin Hood. He died in 1989, aged seventy-two.

BENNISON, BILL

Assistant Art Director on Abroad

Other productions Bill Bennison has worked on in the capacity of assistant art director are the films Cromwell and Bless This House, both during the 1970s, as well as The Man in the Iron Mask, a production for the small screen. Promoted to art director, his credits include 1982’s The Hunchback of Notre Dame.

BENNY

Played by Davy Kaye

The diminutive, cigar-puffing bookmaker has to restrict Sid Plummer’s bets when – with the help of his little budgie, Joey – he nearly bankrupts the bookie. Appears in At Your Convenience.

BENSON, PC STANLEY

Played by Kenneth Williams

A snooty young policeman who’s just graduated from police college when sent to help out at a station where the workforce is severely affected by the ravages of flu. A former Boy Scout, he regards himself as intellectual and an expert in criminology. Believing he can spot a criminal a mile off, he’s embarrassed on more than one occasion, including being taken in by Herbert Hall, the confidence trickster, and accusing a detective-sergeant in the CID of attempting to steal a car.

BENTLEY, MRS

Played by Juliet Harmer

In Matron, Mrs Bentley is informed by Dr Prodd that she’s pregnant before she admits that her husband isn’t the father. (Note: the scene was cut.)

WHAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN

INT. EXAMINATION ROOM. DAY

The doors open and another YOUNG WOMAN comes in.

PRODD: Ah, Mrs Bentley, isn’t it?

WOMAN: That’s right.

PRODD: Well, Mrs Bentley. (He now has her card.) Our suspicions have been confirmed. You are definitely and there’s no doubt about it, you are definitely a teeny, weeny bit pregnant.

WOMAN: Oh, dear.

PRODD: Aren’t you pleased?

WOMAN: I don’t know.

PRODD: It’s nothing to worry about, you know. And you don’t need to feel alone. We’re all with you, you know. We’re all in the same boat in this place. Like peas in a pod. All in the same pod, as you might say.

WOMAN: It’s not that. You’re all very kind, I’m sure. But …

PRODD: Why, if it will make you feel better you can have the father with you during the birth.

WOMAN: Oh, I don’t think that would be very wise.

PRODD: Why not?

WOMAN: I don’t think my husband would like him to be there.

PRODD: What? Oh.

WOMAN: Well thank you, Doctor. When do you want to see me again?

PRODD: Some time next week suit you?

WOMAN: Yes, fine.

PRODD: See you then. And … good luck.

WOMAN: Thanks.

(She goes. PRODD again speaks to the intercom.)

PRODD: Next, please.

BERKELEY NURSING HOME

Mentioned in Again Doctor, the wealthy Mrs Moore, a private patient of Dr Carver’s, convalesces at the nursing home after having her appendix removed.

BERKELEY NURSING HOME MATRON

Played by Faith Kent

Seen briefly in Again Doctor, the Matron employed at the Berkeley Nursing Home ushers Dr Carver along to Ellen Moore’s private room.

BERNARD, BROTHER

Played by Bernard Bresslaw

In Abroad, Bernard has just joined an Order, which was founded by St Cecilia, when he heads off to the Mediterranean resort of Elsbels with Wundatours. The Order he belongs to comprises missionaries, travelling the world doing good deeds, but Bernard realises it’s not the life for him when he falls in love with Marge while on the trip.

BESPECTACLED BUSINESS MAN