Carry On Christmas Specials

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The Carry On Christmas Specials were four one-off sitcoms produced for Thames Television made between 1969-1970 and 1972-1973, and were an attempt to bring the formula of the long running series of Carry On films to the small screen.

The first, Carry On Christmas, was broadcast in 1969, and featured several familiar faces from the film series: Sid James, Terry Scott, Charles Hawtrey, Hattie Jacques, Barbara Windsor, Peter Butterworth, Bernard Bresslaw and Frankie Howerd. It was scripted by long-term Carry On author Talbot Rothwell. The story was an irreverent take on Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, featuring Sid James as Scrooge.

The second special, Carry On Again Christmas, which shown the following year. Rothwell did not script this episode, but Sid Colin, who had co-written Carry On Spying with Rothwell, wrote the episode with Dave Freeman, who would go on to script Carry On Behind, several episodes of the Carry On Laughing television series, and the ill-fated 1992 film, Carry On Columbus. Based on the Robert Louis Stephenson story Treasure Island, this episode featured Carry On regulars Sid James, Terry Scott, Charles Hawtrey, Kenneth Connor, Barbara Windsor and Bernard Bresslaw. It also featured a young Wendy Richard, who would go on to have small roles in Carry On Matron and Carry On Girls.

Strangely, although the 1969 special was broadcast in colour, the 1970 special was shown in black and white. This is thought to be due to the technicians' strikes that plagued British television at the time.

Ironically, it was due to unions that there was no 1971 Carry On Christmas special. That year the film Carry On At Your Convenience had mocked the union system in Britain, alienating many working-class fans. The poor box-office takings could not justify a television special.

In 1972 a new Christmas special was produced, entitled Carry On Christmas (or Carry On Stuffing). Unfortunately, two unforseen problems meant that many fans consider this the weakest Christmas special. Firstly, Talbot Rothwell became ill whilst writing the script, and was unable to finish it. Dave Freeman had to be brought in to complete the script, but the two men did not work together. As a result, the script does not flow as easily as the earlier offerings. Secondly, and perhaps most crucially, Charles Hawtrey pulled out of the special at short notice. Having taken third billing to Sid James and Terry Scott in the previous two shows, and knowing they would both be absent, Hawtrey demanded top billing. But Carry On producer Peter Rogers refused, giving top billing to Hattie Jacques instead. Hawtrey's role had to be hastily recast, and was split between Norman Rossington and Brian Oulton, both of whom had played cameo roles in several Carry On films. The special also starred Joan Sims, Barbara Windsor, Kenneth Connor, Peter Butterworth and - in his first Carry On starring role, Jack Douglas. The episode featured a collection of historical sketches.

1973 saw the final original Christmas special, Carry On Christmas. Talbot Rothwell made a return, as did Sid James, joined by Joan Sims, Barbara Windsor, Kenneth Connor, Bernard Bresslaw, Jack Douglas and Peter Butterworth, joined by Julian Holloway, who had made occasional appearances in the film series. This was the only special to have a modern-day setting, featuring Sid James as a department store Father Christmas, although it did feature historical sketches.

It would be ten years before the next Christmas special. Carry On Laughing's Christmas Classics saw Kenneth Williams and Barbara Windsor introduce some of the funniest moments from the later Carry On films, in a format very similar to the film That's Carry On. Although people would see this as a fifth special, as it is a compilation of film clips from the "carry on" films, it is not officially counted as a Christmas special.

In 2005, all four specials were released on DVD, featuring special interviews with producer Peter Rogers and stars Jack Douglas and Wendy Richard.

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