"Actor: Kenneth Williams"

• Carry On - Holiday Collection - Digi Stack 3 | DVD | (14/03/2005) from £47.23   |  Saving you £-12.24 (N/A%)   |  RRP £34.99

  Carry On Doctor (1967): Frankie Howerd is the guest star in this classic 'Carry On..' He plays Francis Bigger a charlatan faith healer who ends up in hospital and what a hospital it is! Dr. Kilmore (Jim Dale) seems more interested in the staff nurses and Dr. Tinkle (Kenneth Williams) dismisses all ill health as a weakness. The Matron (Hattie Jaques) can cure any medical problem with a frosty glance and the nurses are always raising the blood pressure of the patients in the male ward.... much to their delight of course. Carry On Matron (1972): Carry On Matron is one of the most loved of all Carry On films - largely because of Hattie Jacques' marvellous performance in the title role. If your funny bone is in need of tickling this is the prescription you need! Carry On Matron finds the team in top form in Finisham Maternity Hospital. Sid James leads a team of less than professional crooks intent on stealing a huge hoard of birth control pills. Carry On Again Doctor (1969): If you are seriously ill and need to go to hospital just make sure it isn't the Long Hampton Hospital as this is where the Carry On team have taken up malpractice. If it's laughter you're after join eminent surgeon Frederick Carver orderly Screwer and Doctors Stoppidge and Nookey for a prescription of smutty smiles. It's the perfect tonic you should take as regularly as your funny bone allows. Where there's a pill there's a way! That's Carry On (1977): Celebrating twenty years of classic Carry On films two of the film's best loved stars Kenneth Williams and Barbara Windsor return to Pinewood Film Studios to unwrap some rib-tickling moments to the series. From the original military mayhem of 'Carry On Sergeant' through to the really ancient archaeological gags of 'Carry On Behind' our saucy hosts get their titters out for this laugh-a-second gallop through the most successful series of British comedy films ever made. With a cast of thousands including legendary Sid James Charles Hawtry Joan Sims Peter Butterworth Bernard Breeslaw and Hattie Jacques everyone is in it..... right in it! Carry On Loving (1970): Number 19 in this famous series. Sid James and Hattie Jacques run The Wedding Bliss computer dating agency and guess what? Chaos follows! Carry On Emmannuelle (1978): The Carry On team are back with this their 30th film and the laughs are filthier and funnier than ever before! Emmanuelle Pervert (Suzanne Danielle) Is the fascinating delectable young wife of Emile (Kenneth Williams) the French ambassador for Great Britain. With his sexual prowess damaged in a freak parachuting accident Emmanuelle happily proves her charms are irresistable to all members of the opposite sex. Even the servants are not immune: With the chauffeur Leyland (Kenneth Connor) the butler Lyons (Jack Douglas) and the elderly bootboy Richmond (Peter Butterworth) falling helplessly under her spell...

• Carry On Jack | DVD | (29/01/2007) from £4.52   |  Saving you £8.47 (187.39%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Tenth entry in the Carry On series. Able seaman Poop-Decker (Bernard Cribbins) signs up for adventure on the high seas with the wicked Captain Fearless (Kenneth Williams). Those swabbing the decks include Juliet Mills Charles Hawtrey and Donald Houston. The film was originally to be entitled Up the Armada but the British Board of Film Censors objected to such a rude title.

• Carry On Spying | DVD | (27/08/2001) from £7.98   |  Saving you £6.01 (75.31%)   |  RRP £13.99

  While the later chapters of the Carry On series have received fairly constant exposure, some earlier examples such as 1964's Spying remain relatively unseen. Given the brash production and ensemble playing of the more well-known films, this black and white version of the Carry On world seems oddly low-key in comparison. Four of the soon-to-be-regular cast are in attendance--Barbara Windsor, Kenneth Williams, Jim Dale, Charles Hawtrey--and there are many signs of a formula in development (the double entrendres, bad puns, Windsor's ill-fitting clothing). Of course, with its obsession with sex and bodily functions it's all very English and parts have dated horribly, not least the casual racism of some of the secondary characters, but fans of this most unique of genres will find much to tickle their fancy. And don't they look so young?On the DVD: Given the long history and colourful characters of the series, there must be scope for much behind the scenes and documentary footage, but this disc is totally bereft of any extras bar scene selection. There is also little to add to the original black and white film stock, although the soundtrack, chock full of humorous instrumentation, sounds pretty good. --Phil Udell

• Carry On Teacher | DVD | (27/08/2001) from £6.66   |  Saving you £10.33 (155.11%)   |  RRP £16.99

  When Carry On Teacher was released in 1959, the series was still in its infancy but all the familiar constituent parts were already in place. Innuendo, naturally, reigns supreme and on the brink of the permissive 1960s it's surprising what Peter Rodgers and the gang were able to get away with. "Are you satisfied with your equipment, Miss Allcock?", child psychologist Leslie Phillips asks gym mistress Joan Sims. Naturally, it isn't five minutes before Miss Allcock's shorts have split, leading to a series of pants gags. And we're off. For Carry On fans, Teacher contains many of the funniest lines and certainly some of the best performances from the whole series. Kenneth Williams is still acting rather than giving his mannerisms a good work out. Hattie Jacques is establishing her gorgon-with-a-soft-centre-for-the-right-man persona and Charles Hawtrey's birdlike twitching makes him ideal as the precious music teacher. A youthful Carol White and Richard O'Sullivan are among the scheming pupils. But you don't have to be a diehard Carry On fan to appreciate the boisterous, sub-St Trinians comedy. And thanks to Ted Ray's poignant acting as the headmaster, there's a real moment of Mr Chips-style bathos at the very end. On the DVD: Carry On Teacher doesn't gain much from being presented in widescreen. Much of its appeal lies in its familiarity. All we ask for is a clear print--and in black and white this is diamond sharp--and decent sound quality. The whole thing fits like a comfortable old shoe. But apart from the scene index there are no extras on the disc. Given the cult status of the Carry On films, and the wealth of documentary material which has been made about them and their stars, you'd think something extra could have been offered with the DVD releases to make them a more worthwhile alternative to the video. --Piers Ford

• Carry On Dick | DVD | (27/08/2001) from £14.26   |  Saving you £-4.27 (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  The 18th century, with its frills and bawds, was ideal territory for the Carry On movies: Carry On Dick is one of the few of the series where one notices the quality of the art direction in intervals between terrible old Talbot Rothwell jokes and the creaking of standard farce moments. Captain Fancy (Kenneth Williams) is sent to the remote village of Upper Denture to arrest Big Dick Turpin (Sid James) and makes the mistake of confiding in the local Rector, the Reverend Flasher (who is Big Dick's secret alter-ego). Dick has troubles of his own: his liaison with his housemaid and henchperson Harriet (Barbara Windsor) is perpetually interrupted by his amorous housekeeper Hattie Jacques). Meanwhile, Joan Sims struts around the plot as the proprietor of a touring show of scantily clad young women. This is not one of the best of the series--a certain mean-spiritedness creeps in to the humour as does the self-conscious awareness that 1974 was a date a little late for some of the more sexist jokes--but any film with Kenneth Williams discussing satin coats with his tailor has something going for it. On the DVD: Sadly, the DVD has no frills: it is presented in mono and 4:3 screen ratio.--Roz Kaveney

• Ghostbusters (2016): Extended Edition 2 Disc Blu-Ray Steelbook with Magnet | Blu Ray | (21/11/2016) from £26.59   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Ghostbusters makes its long-awaited return with Director Paul Feig's unique and hilarious take on the classic, supernatural comedy, led by the freshest minds in comedy today, Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, Kate McKinnon, Leslie Jones, and Chris Hemsworth. Together they team-up to save Manhattan from a sudden invasion of spirits, spooks and slime that engulfs the city. Robert Abele of TheWrap says, this new A-team of ghostbusters are fresh and funny. Special Features: Disc 1 - Blu-ray with both theatrical and extended cut + 1 hour of bonus features including filmmaker commentary Disc 2 - Bonus disc featuring over 2 hours of content exclusive to Blu-ray including deleted scenes, featurettes and more Packed with even more laughs and fun scares Two filmmaker commentaries Over 15 minutes of hilarious bloopers 30 minutes of laugh out loud alternate takes Four deleted scenes Slime time featurette Bonus disc includes 30 extended and alternate scenes More alternate takes Supernatural featurettes Photo gallery

• Terry Wogan: One On One | DVD | (20/09/2004) from £19.99   |  Saving you £-4.00 (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

  A fascinating look back at the career of one of the nation's most prolific TV and radio presenters. Includes archive footage from 'Wogan' 'Blankety Blank' and the Eurovision events. With a loyal army of fans Terry Wogan won the 1994 Sony Radio Award for Best Breakfast Show and was awarded an honorary OBE in 1997.

• Carry On Sergeant | DVD | (27/08/2001) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £13.99

  The first of the Carry On movies, 1958's Sergeant is rather different from its successors, much more a film of its time (the latter days of National Service) and rather less a bawdy picture postcard. Sergeant Grimshaw (William Hartnell long before Doctor Who) is about to retire and hopes that he can get his last platoon into shape as Champion Platoon of its intake. Unfortunately, the new recruits include the clumsy Golightly (Charles Hawtrey), the barrack-room lawyer Bailey (Kenneth Williams) and the hypochondriac Horace Strong (Kenneth Connor). Love interest is provided by Bob Monkhouse and Shirley Eaton--newlyweds separated by the call-up and reunited by her taking a job in the canteen--and by the pursuit of Horace by Dora Bryan's Nora. The film relies heavily on a mixture of slapstick and paradoxical revelations of character complexity--the obnoxious Bailey nonetheless takes the trouble to coach the incorrigibly dense Herbert (Norman Rossington); the series' later obsession with low comedy only really emerges in the scenes between Horace and the medic Captain Clark (Hattie Jacques). The platoon's eventual coming together as other than total incompetents is predictable, but likable.On the DVD: The DVD has no frills whatever except for a widescreen picture and chapter selections; it has been cleaned up however so that we get a remarkably crisp mono picture and mono sound, which brings out the quality of the military-band score by Bruce Montgomery, who was also the writer Edmund Crispin. --Roz Kaveney

• Carry On Cabby | DVD | (29/01/2007) from £7.44   |  Saving you £8.55 (114.92%)   |  RRP £15.99

  The seventh entry in the Carry On series and the first not to feature Kenneth Williams. Charlie (Sid James) owner of the Speedee Cabs company finds he has some serious competition when his wife Peggy (Hattie Jacques) sets up a rival firm consisting only of glamorous female drivers. Cabbies driven to distraction include Charles Hawtrey Kenneth Connor and Jim Dale (in his first Carry On appearance).

• Carry On Jack | DVD | (27/08/2001) from £4.50   |  Saving you £11.49 (255.33%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Carry On Jack was the 1963 offering from a team which had, by then, become a repertory company with special guests dropping in for a dose of innuendo. "What's all this jigging in the rigging?" demands Kenneth Williams, this time playing a ship's captain, and the scene is set for 90 minutes of ribaldry involving cross-dressing, press-ganging and plank walking. The plot scarcely matters. It's set after the Battle of Trafalgar and the sea is awash with Spanish galleons and pirates as the British navy sets about defending its shores with as much incompetence as possible. Sally, a barmaid at the Dirty Duck (Juliet Mills in feisty principal boy mode), knocks Bernard Cribbins on the head and steals his uniform so that she can go in search of her childhood sweetheart. He is promptly press-ganged and they end up on the same ship. Williams, on the brink of his ascendancy as a star turn, just about keeps the mannerisms under control enough to build the character of the naïve and neurotic captain. Familiar Carry On faces on top form include Charles Hawtrey and Jim Dale, while Peter Gilmore--in his pre-Onedin Line days--appears as a pirate. Peter Rodgers' script is not quite vintage Carry On but the jokes keep coming and it's all good, clean fun. On the DVD: This was one of the first Carry On films to be made in colour. The print is in reasonable condition. The picture quality, apart from a couple of scratchy scenes of sailing ships that were probably drafted in from stock footage, is fair, as is the sound. But apart from the scene index there are no extras on the disc. Given the cult status of the Carry On films, and the wealth of documentary material which has been made about them and their stars, you'd think something extra could have been offered with the DVD releases to make them a more worthwhile alternative to the video. --Piers Ford

• Carry on | DVD | (20/11/2006) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £199.99

  This box set features a veritable campsite of bawdy comedic treats from the Carry On crew! Includes: 1. Carry On Abroad (1972) 2. Carry On Again Doctor (1972) 3. Carry On Doctor (1967) 4. Carry On Don't Lose Your Head (1966) 5. Carry On England (1976) 6. Carry On Follow That Camel (1967) 7. Carry On Matron (1972) 8. Carry On at Your Convenience (1971) 9. Carry On Behind (1975) 10. Carry On Camping (1969) 11. Carry On Dick (1974) 12. Carry On Emmanuelle (1978) 13. Carry On Girls (1973) 14. Carry On Henry (1971) 15. Carry On Holiday 16. Carry On Loving (1970) 17. Carry On Up The Jungle (1970) 18. Carry On up the Khyber (1968) 19. Carry On Sergeant (1958) 20. Carry On Nurse (1959) 21. Carry On Teacher (1959) 22. Carry On Constable (1960) 23. Carry On Regardless (1961) 24. Carry On Cruising (1962) 25. Carry On Cabby (1963) 26. Carry On Jack (1963) 27. Carry On Spying (1964) 28. Carry On Cleo (1964) 29. Carry On Cowboy (1965) 30. Carry On Screaming! (1966)

• Carry On Follow That Camel | DVD | (27/08/2001) from £5.60   |  Saving you £4.39 (78.39%)   |  RRP £9.99

  In Carry On Follow That Camel, Sergeant Bilko himself, Phil Silvers, lends lustre and trademark spectacles to this 1967 desert spectacle following the adventures of a group of foreign legionnaires who find themselves besieged by a bloodthirsty band of Bedouins. Silvers plays Sergeant Nocker, a rogue cast firmly in the Bilko mould, who takes a dislike to new recruit Jim Dale, a young upper class gent forced to join the legion following disgrace at a cricket match. He's accompanied, naturally, by his faithful manservant (Peter Butterworth), with the pair showing a fine disregard for the austere requirements of the Foreign Legion. However, once they reach an agreement with Sergeant Nocker, they can join forces to repel the Bedouins, led, not unpredictably, by Bernard Bresslaw. This is vintage Carry On, in spite of Sid James' absence. Kenneth Williams' performance is subdued by having to deliver the usual puns ("zere are a couple of points I still need to go over", he informs busty Joan Sims) in a mangled French accent but Silvers gets into the right mode of delivering broad comedy with subtle inflections. Peter Butterworth draws the short straw this time and must feature in the obligatory cross-dressing scene, while Charles Hawtrey is a splendidly unconvincing hardened legionnaire. As for Bresslaw, can any other British actor, with the exception of Sir Alec Guinness, have distinguished himself in such a variety of multi-ethnic roles? On the DVD: Sadly, there are no extra features except scene selection. The picture ratio is 4:3. --David Stubbs

• Carry On Doctor | DVD | (04/05/2001) from £6.22   |  Saving you £3.77 (60.61%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Bedpan humour rules in Carry On Doctor, the vintage 1968 offering from the familiar gang, assisted by guest star Frankie Howerd as bogus faith healer Francis Bigger. Hospitals, of course, always provided the Carry On producers with plenty of material. Today, these comedies induce a twinge of serious nostalgia for the great days of the National Health Service when Matron (Hattie Jacques, naturally) ran the hospital as if it was a house of correction, medical professionals were idolised as if they were all Doctor Kildare and Accident and Emergency Departments were deserted oases of calm. But even if you aren't interested in a history lesson, Talbot Rothwell's script contains some immortal dialogue, particularly when Matron loosens her stays. "You may not realise it but I was once a weak man", says Kenneth Williams' terrified Doctor Tinkle to Hattie Jacques. "Once a week's enough for any man", she purrs back, undaunted. Other highlights include Joan Sims, excellent as Frankie Howerd's deaf, bespectacled sidekick, Charles Hawtrey suffering from a phantom pregnancy, 1960s singer Anita Harris in a rare film role, and Barbara Windsor at her most irrepressible as nurse Sandra May. This is one of the best. On the DVD: Presented in 1.77:1 format for a pseudo-widescreen effect, the picture quality is good and sharp, accompanied by a standard mono soundtrack. The same no-frills approach is taken with the packaging; a functional scene index and no extras. Yet again, a missed opportunity to use the DVD release to provide some context. At their best, the Carry On films are rightly seen as classic comedies of their type. They really deserve to be better celebrated. --Piers Ford

• Carry On Again Doctor | DVD | (27/08/2001) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  The title of Carry On Again Doctor (1969) says it all; almost the same cast playing similar characters to their previous year's outing in Carry On Doctor. This one rejoices in the alternative title "Bowels are Ringing". But the enduring popularity of these films owes almost everything to their basic formula and if this one occasionally seems a bit cobbled together, all the old favourites are still there, working away. This time, the setting moves from the National Health Service to the private sector and even stretches as far as the "Beatific Islands" when Jim Dale is exiled to a missionary clinic for his overzealous attention to the female patients, who include Barbara Windsor of course. There, orderly Sid James rules the roost of the clinic with his harem of local women. Trivia addicts can spot Mrs Michael Caine in a brief role as a token dusky maiden. The second half of the Talbot Rothwell script picks up nicely as the characters converge on the private hospital back in England where Dale rakes in the money with a bogus weight loss treatment. Hattie Jacques is in fine form as Matron, Kenneth Williams fascinates with his usual mass of mannerisms and Joan Sims is stately as the Lady Bountiful figure financing most of the shenanigans. It's a tribute to their professionalism that we can still lose ourselves in some of the creakiest old jokes around. On the DVD: Bog standard 4:3 picture format and mono soundtrack provide an adequate viewing experience, especially as today most people will be more familiar with these films from television transmissions than from their cinema release. However, the lack of extras is a shame. Apart from the scene index, there is nothing to distinguish the DVD from its video equivalent. At the very least, a cast list or star biographies would add a little value. --Piers Ford

• Carry On Vol.3 | DVD | (01/09/2008) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  This Carry On collection includes the following films: Carry On Loving: Sid James and Hattie Jacques run The Wedding Bliss computer dating agency and guess what? Chaos follows! Carry On At Your Convenience: Kenneth Williams is WC Boggs the troubled owner of a small company trying to manufacture fine toiletware. Incompetent management and a bolshy union are just about the least of Bogg's problems as you'll soon discover in this hysterical comedy that tells you everything you always wanted to know about your home's most vital convenience. Carry On Matron: Carry On Matron finds the team in top form in Finisham Maternity Hospital. Sid James leads a team of less than professional crooks intent on stealing a huge hoard of birth control pills. If your funny bone is in need of tickling this is the prescription you need! Carry On Abroad: The Carry On team take a package holiday that starts disastrously and rapidly goes downhill. The paradise island of Elsbels is not all it's cracked up to be.... The hotel isn't finished the staff are abit thin on the ground - in fact Pepe (Peter Butterworth) is the staff - and the locals are far from friendly! It's the holiday of a laughtime as Sid James Barbara Windsor Charles Hawtrey Joan Sims and the gang go on the razzle in the Med!

• Masters Of British Comedy: Volume 1 | DVD | (19/08/2013) from £19.97   |  Saving you £10.02 (50.18%)   |  RRP £29.99

  For years they made the nation laugh and whatever your sense of humour they are still amongst the funniest men - ever! This unique DVD set provides an unrivalled insight into the wonderful performances given by three of the greatest British comedians. With a huge array of clips and rare interviews these films give a delightful overview of the careers that have brought laughter to homes across the country for the last 50 years and give us a chance to enjoy once more moments from the Carry Ons to Rising Damp.

• Carry On - The Ultimate Carry On | DVD | (08/10/2001) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £109.99

  Twelve classic titles in one box set

• Carry On Henry | DVD | (27/08/2001) from £13.97   |  Saving you £-3.98 (-39.80%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Shot in the bright postal colours of a seaside postcard, Carry on Henry applies the usual Carry On sniggering to the married life of Henry VIII. Talbot Rothwell's script is standard bedroom farce and full of jokes about choppers, while the threat of beheading and the actuality of torture are constantly present but only as the terrible things that happen to cartoon characters who will be back next time. Sid James turns in one of his better performances as the endlessly lecherous and fickle Henry, married to Joan Sims and lusting after Barbara Windsor. There is a genuine sexual chemistry between James and Windsor which at times almost breaks open the farce formula. The usual regulars--Kenneth Williams as Thomas Cromwell, Terry Scott as Cardinal Wolsey, Charles Hawtrey as Sir Roger--do their usual turns; Williams is more subdued than usual, while Hawtrey hugely enjoys playing the Queen's secret lover. This was not one of the high points of the series, but it has its own curious charm. On the DVD: The DVD has no extras whatever, but is a good clean print in 1.77:1 ratio with crisp mono sound. --Roz Kaveney

• Carry On Don't Lose Your Head | DVD | (27/08/2001) from £6.66   |  Saving you £3.33 (50.00%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Carry On Don't Lose Your Head parodies the adventures of the Scarlet Pimpernel, with crinkly, cackling Sid James as master of disguise the Black Fingernail and Jim Dale as his assistant Lord Darcy. He must rescue preposterously effete aristo Charles Hawtrey from the clutches of Kenneth Williams' fiendish Citizen Camembert and his sidekick Citizen Bidet (Peter Butterworth). The Black Fingernail is assisted in his efforts to thwart the birth of the burgeoning republic by the almost supernatural stupidity of his opponents, who fail to recognise the frankly undisguisable Sid James even when dressed as a flirty young woman. What with an executioner who is tricked into beheading himself in order to prove the efficacy of his own guillotine, it's all a little too easy. As usual, no groan-worthy pun is left unturned, nor unheralded by the soundtrack strains of a long whistle or wah-wah trumpet. This is pretty silly stuff even by Carry On standards, with most of the cast barely required to come out of first gear and an overlong climactic swordfight sequence hardly raising the dramatic stakes. Most of the humour here resides neither in the script nor the characterisation but in the endlessly watchable Williams' whooping, nasal delivery (occasionally lapsing into broad Cockney) and the jowl movements of the always-underrated Butterworth. On the DVD: There are no extra features except scene selection. The picture is 4:3 full screen ratio.--David Stubbs

• Carry On Emmannuelle | DVD | (18/03/2002) from £9.66   |  Saving you £0.33 (3.42%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Made in 1978, Carry On Emmannuelle was really the last gasp of the most fondly regarded series of British comedy films. In most respects, it hardly does justice to the many truly funny and brilliantly played previous scripts. But it does feature a curiously vulnerable, even touching, performance from Kenneth Williams as a French diplomat with a wife of insatiable physical appetites. In theory, of course, it aims to be a pastiche of the hugely popular Emmanuelle, which had marked the transition of soft-core erotic cinema into the art house. But it's too crudely scripted and lacking in the belly laugh inducing innuendo of the best Carry On films to succeed on that level. "Are you hungry, Loins?" Emmannuelle asks the chauffeur. "I think I could manage a little nibble," he replies. You get the idea. In the title role, Suzanne Danielle, who would go on to be the best of the Princess Diana impersonators, isn't a good enough comic actress to raise such lines above the ordinary. And the few stalwarts who returned for this outing--Joan Sims, Kenneth Connor and Peter Butterworth--just about emerge with their dignity intact. This was a Carry On too far. But fans will want it for their collection because it shows Kenneth Williams at his most professionally committed--his diaries reveal his real thoughts on the matter--and to remind themselves of the high quality of so much of the work which had gone before.On the DVD: presented in 4:3 format and with a standard mono soundtrack, this release of Carry On Emmannuelle starts off with a print of such ropey quality that you seem to be watching through a dust storm. The sound quality is little better, although on both counts things improve as the film progresses. The lack of extras is disappointing, adding to the rather sad, low-budget feel of the film itself. --Piers Ford