Cllr Sidney Fiddler with the Miss Fircombe contestants. Credit: Rank Organisation, ITV
A new attempt at reviving the iconic Carry On film series has been mooted.
Nigel Gordon-Stewart, one of the executives and investors behind other attempts to renew the series over the past decade, talking to the Daily Star Sunday this weekend, said: “We want Carry On to be a family entertainment brand with the only intention of making people laugh and enjoy themselves.”
He told the publication that they are currently working on a film – and accompanying West End stage show – about a beauty pageant, titled Carry On Beside The Sea.
In what sounds to be a remake of writer Talbot Rothwell‘s 1973 picture Carry On Girls in all but name, it would focus on a pageant taking place in a British seaside resort.
Of his team’s ambitions, Gordon-Stewart said: “Ask yourself the question: what makes you laugh?
“Chances are it’s lots of different things – a bit of slapstick, a bit of innuendo, a farcical situation, a misunderstanding, some physical comedy, a naughty, witty or cheeky line or a full-on, well told joke. We have no intention of making jokes, plots or scripts deliberately in bad taste or with intent to offend anyone, but we can’t guarantee that we won’t, because you just can’t do that anymore.
Carry On Girls. Copyright: Peter Rogers Productions / ITV Studios
“People can take offence, even if it’s not intentionally given. We want Carry On to be a family entertainment brand with the only intention of making people laugh and enjoy themselves.”
“We don’t see any need for gratuitous nudity, or what they used to call deliberate vulgarity. We struggle with talk of objectification when you see current television or even social media which is full of sexualised content of both guys and girls.
“We don’t need to make unkind jokes out of nudity, although I’m sure we can all think of some extremely awkward situations in our own lives which, looking back, were pretty funny, so those are fair game! Objectification is not on our radar – family entertainment is. We want to be a trusted brand for entertainment and a good laugh for the whole family.
“In these stressful times, let’s just get the family together for a good laugh, from granny and grandad right down to the grandkids.”
The most notable recent attempt to restart the Carry On series with new feature films was launched at the Cannes Film Festival in 2016. A script for Carry On Doctors was completed but internal, legal wrangling brought an end to the plans.
Three films were announced in 2019 to be shot back to back the following year, but nothing came of those plans either.
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