Nine things we learned from 65 years of Carry On

Remembering Joan Sims, who appeared in an incredible 24 Carry On films, Jacki Piper recalls sitting with her on set of Carry On Up the Jungle, as Joan watched ‘herself’ shower.

Joan Sims performing alongside Kenneth Williams in his BBC TV series.

They had to carry Joan Sims out of the studio laughing her head off.

Jim Dale

“She was supposed to be having a shower naked in the jungle, with little bits of her being seen,” she says. “Of course, she wasn’t. She had a body stand-in. She sat next to me saying, ‘Ooooh haven’t I got a lovely body… Nice bum.’ She was making me scream with laughter.”

5. And Sims often made herself laugh too

“Sometimes she couldn’t keep a straight face,” says Jim Dale of Sims. He remembers a scene she shot in a film with Dick Emery, in which Emery’s character was talking about birds called ‘big bustards’ while eating a salad.

“Joan started to laugh and the director said, ‘Cut. Now Joan, cut it out. It’s not funny.’ She said, ‘Well it is funny, that’s why I’m laughing.’ Take two, she burst into laughter again. Take three, she started to become hysterical. Take four, they actually carried Joan out of the studio laughing her head off.”

6. Kenneth Williams never spoke in his own voice

The late, great Kenneth Williams was the lynchpin of the Carry On series, appearing in 26 films – more than any other actor. And according to Jacki Piper, he loved his position as chief-entertainer.

“He used to tell me all these stories,” she says. “[The director] would be saying, ‘Kenneth, please come and do this scene.’ And he’d say, ‘Oh no, I’m in the middle of telling Miss Piper this lovely story.'” And he was endlessly performing.

“He never really spoke in voice that wasn’t ‘a voice’. He never spoke in a voice that wasn’t something [put on].”

7. Improvisation was forbidden

The Carry On cast included some of the greatest British comic actors of the past century, but that didn’t mean they were permitted to go off-script.

“Everyone had to be word perfect for that script,” says Jim Dale. “That script had been edited, edited, edited – and you were not allowed to improvise, as they often are today. It was very disciplined on that set.”

Discipline was essential because they’d rarely shoot more than one take. “They were very reluctant to do more than one due to the cost of real film in those days,” says Dale.