On the 16th March 2025 we ‘carried on’ again with another exclusive event, hosted and produced by Retroboy.
The event was held at the newly renovated Drayton Court Hotel in Ealing, London.
I wanted to produce another event dedicated to the Carry On series as ultimately my love and fascination with the Carry On series is what sparked the origin and purpose of Retroboy some years ago, the main ambition being to create a repository and space for likeminded fans and enthusiasts to celebrate all things Carry On. I am however all too aware that with the passage of time we have lost even more of those wonderful actors, actresses and the team behind the lens who created the wonderful world of Carry On for us all those decades ago
As the years pass, we lose more and whilst it is very sad, we must remember that these films were from a very long time ago. For example, 2025 marks the 50th anniversary of Carry On Behind (1975) - one of the last Carry On films to be made.
However, whilst we may have lost the majority of the core cast now it is clear that there is still so much more to learn about these films from those who may only had minor roles, or a minor contribution, but were still on set, working and part of not only the production but making films in a very different era. Often those with minor contributions have a wealth of stories and anecdotes of interest. Having worked on film and TV sets, albeit briefly, those ‘extras’ and those with smaller roles were often actually around the sets a lot longer than some of the core cast. This is because they are often required for continuity purposes, particularly on location shoots and so are often sat around for hours, sometimes not even being used.
Another reason is that often although their Carry On contribution may not have been on the scale of Burton in Cleopatra, they went onto have roles in many other classic TV and films of the era. Take Barbara Wise for example; I had tried to trace Barbara for years to no avail. Then in summer 2024 I finally managed to make contact with her. Our initial call really was interesting as her acting career actually spanned a much larger portfolio than what was available online. She had some wonderful memories of working with Benny Hill, receiving gifts from Michael Winner and working with some big names. She also tried to sell me a car. I mean, who can say that this hobby isn’t interesting?!
The event planning started in early Autumn 2024. Six months sounds like a long time, but it isn’t. There is a lot more to it than most people realise, from the logistics of the venue, securing the guests, marketing, ticketing, room furnishing, technical support – the list goes on. I also want to make each event different, at least with the variety of guests. That becomes harder every time and the core purpose of the event is to bring fans together in a friendly and welcoming space to celebrate all things Carry On, you can’t simply hand out a cup of tea and a digestive.
Although creating and hosting these events is a lot of work, the payoff is uniting the fans with the special guests, some of whom have never done anything like this before. Out of the eight guests who joined us, four of those had never done an event like this and really didn’t know what to expect. Although my priority is to ensure that all my special guests are very well looked after you also want to it to work for them and for them to have a great afternoon too. Essentially it is not only a celebration of the Carry On series but technically is also a celebration and a reflection of their careers. Many are still working professionals of course and for them to give up their spare time to support these events is both humbling and incredibly generous.
Despite these guests having worked in the industry for years, some are incredibly nervous about the Q&A panel. This has been the case for all the events I have been involved with. Their anxieties are often born out of the fact that speaking to an audience is a world away from appearing in front of a camera for a scripted scene. Those that have done stage work are generally more relaxed but even then, the passage of time can often erode memories and confidence, which is why robust research is needed for the questions. It is even more incredible that some suffer from ‘imposter syndrome’ feeling that their contributions to the series and the industry are not notable enough to justify them being labelled as ‘special guests’. Often some informal chats and gentle persuasion helps to make them more relaxed and really understand why they are just as important in so many ways.
There have also been some nice surprises with our guests. There have been many instances where some had worked together on a production but have never been reunited since, some for decades. Again, in the case of Barbara Wise, she casually mentioned that she still had the dress that she wore in the beauty contestant scenes from Carry On Girls (1973). Costumes and props from the Carry On films are rare, particularly because they were actually hired most of the time (or nicked from other productions, as legend goes!). In more recent years there have been some key costumes that have surfaced and have been auctioned off; most notably the yellow bikini worn by the late Barbara Windsor in that scene in Carry On Camping (1969) and also the toga worn by Kenneth Williams as 'Caesar' in Carry On Cleo (1964). Barbara was more than happy to bring it along as a special bonus and it was quite surreal to see it on the day. She had been frantically sewing some of the loose sequins back on prior to the event! It still looked exactly the same as in the film and I think the fans really appreciated seeing something a bit different, I certainly did.
I was privileged to have the wonderful Gareth Tandy join us this time. I had been in contact with Gareth for some time and I had undertaken an interview with him a few months prior. Gareth truly is one of the nicest gents you will ever meet. His contribution to Carry On started way back when he was a child actor and had a small uncredited role in Carry On Regardless (1961). Gareth eventually went into a career on the other side of the camera, becoming an assistant director. He has worked on some major films, including Superman (1978), Moonraker (1979), Little Shop of Horrors (1986) Willow (1988) and Nanny McPhee (2005) to name only a few. His Carry On contributions extended to Carry On Dick (1974) and Carry On Columbus (1992), both as assistant director. Most of the other guests in attendance knew Gareth and it was wonderful to reunite all of them after many years.
An added bonus guest was the equally lovely Terry Bamber dropping in briefly to help Gareth remember more about Carry On Columbus by bringing the original call sheets with him! Terry also has very impressive assistant director credits to his name including Jeeves and Wooster (1991 – 1992), Carry On Columbus (1992), The Jungle Book (1994), 101 Dalmatians (1996)…the list goes on. He is also the son of Richard ‘Dickie’ Bamber who had also worked in many roles on the Carry On films from props and the art department on Carry On Sergeant (1958), Carry On Nurse (1959), Carry On Teacher (1959), Carry On Cabby (1963), Carry On Cruising (1962) & Carry On Spying (1964) to second assistant director on Carry On Camping (1969). Dickie also worked in the art department on the iconic Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968). A very impressive CV and a true stalwart of Pinewood crew over several decades. His book, co-written with his son Terry, Props to Producing is absolutely captivating and a fantastic read if you can get hold of a copy.
Another golden gossamer thread from Carry On comes from the wonderful Greg Dark. Greg worked as assistant director on That’s Carry On (1977) and Carry On Emmannuelle (1978), He was also associate producer on Clockwise (1986), still one of my favourite films. Greg was truly amazed that fans were interested in meeting him and he made for an interesting guest on our panel Q&A with his association with the final entries into the Carry On cannon. There will be an extended interview with Greg in a future publication – watch this space.
We had my fabulous friend Gail Grainger join us for only her second public Carry On event in over 50 years. Of course, fans will remember her from her singular but memorable role as 'Moira Plunkett' in Carry On Abroad (1972). Her scenes alongside the late Kenneth Williams are both memorable and a firm favourite between fans. Although a very private person I am delighted to have been able to bring Gail to the world of Carry On fandom after so many years. Her stories and anecdotes helped to fill in a lot of gaps, both about her career and working on Carry On Abroad. Having been the ‘Holy Gail’ for so long, due to the mystery around her whereabouts over the last few decades, she inadvertently commands a great deal of respect from fans who always eagerly listen to her memories and are totally engrossed.
Laraine Humphrys joined our star guest line up and although I have known Laraine for many years now it was a joy to be sat with her as her companion during the day and having a long awaited catch up and giggle. It was very special to reunite Laraine with her co-star from Carry On Girls (1973), Barbara Wise. The original intention was to try and reunite more of the beauty contestants from Carry On Girls but my lovely chum Pauline Peart was unfortunately busy with another project on the day. We also had the beautiful Zena Clifton in our thoughts and although Zena was sadly too unwell to be able to join us, she was very much in our thoughts as we discussed the making of Carry On Girls. What we didn’t know is that sadly Zena passed away the same month, her family confirming this to me in April. Her funeral was on the 25th April 2025 (I will be producing a special feature on Zena later this year with the support of her family).
It was also a joy to welcome Hugh Futcher to the star guest line up.
A natural raconteur with a lot of stories and insights into not only the Carry On films but also having worked with the core team for over 10 years (1964 – 1975). Hugh is very recognisable in all his scenes, and it seems strange that despite speaking roles in entries such as Carry On Don’t Lose Your Head (1966), he is in fact uncredited in several of the films.
Hugh told me after the event how much he had enjoyed the afternoon and the overall feedback from all our star guests was incredibly positive and complimentary. This is the most important thing, that everyone enjoys themselves and is totally immersed in the joyous productions of yesteryear and that we celebrate their careers; perhaps also feeling like a star again if only for a few hours.
On that note I wanted to share some of the feedback from all our star guests:
“Thank you so much for yesterday. Organised excellent. It was a delight.” – Hugh Futcher.
“The whole thing was great, thank you so much!” – Laraine Humphrys.
“What an interesting day. It was fun meeting everyone and I was so happy to see so many people that are still interested in showbusiness! A fun day.” – Valerie Walsh
“Thank you for the invite to the event and congratulations on a gig organised and managed so well. I hope you and the entire team feel very proud of yourselves. You deserve to. I think Gerald (Thomas) and the whole team would have been enormously flattered by the attention you gave them and by the recognition of the pleasure that they gave to so many” – Greg Dark.
This generous and kind feedback is always so very much appreciated, and it really does make the months of hard work very worth it. The ambition of Retroboy has always been very simple; to create and host special events of quality, for the fans, by a fan.
Despite the fun and laughter on the day I would just like to take a moment to pay tribute to those other great stars who were due to join us on the day but sadly passed away shortly before the event.
The late Tony Slattery and the late Julian Holloway had happily accepted an invitation to join us. Having known Tony’s friends for some time I know how much he was looking forward to the event and how much he had hoped to join us for a Carry On event at some point over the last couple of years. Having met Tony a few years ago his love and warmth towards people, and fans, never wavered despite his own challenges and health problems over many years. He will be sorely missed. By way of a tribute we made a donation from the ticket sales for the event towards his funeral fund to help support his partner and family.
Julian was also very much looking forwards to joining us and was due to attend with his daughter. I had been in contact with Julian for many years and he was always a huge supporter of the projects that Retroboy was working on, showing genuine and sincere interest. Latterly Julian and I had some very interesting chats over video call about his career and his time on the Carry On films. Never one to shy away from speaking his thoughts and his mind, this made for some very in depth and interesting conversations. Julian completed a new extended interview with me about a year before he passed away and this will be featured as part of another planned project over the coming months.
I had been in contact with Julian only a couple of weeks before he unexpectedly passed away. We had also planned to reunite Julian with his late father’s (actor and comedian Stanley Holloway), OBE. One of the last big names of Carry On I will miss our chats and conversations. He was a true gentleman and a wonderful storyteller. I remember one such wonderful anecdote was about the late Charles Hawtrey, whilst filming scenes for Carry On Up the Khyber (1967). Charlie, well known for wearing a toupee. He hadn’t realised that during a particular scene where he removed his helmet, that his toupee had unfortunately become unattached from his head and was sat on the side of his head – “As the scene went on, the further this thing started slipping down his head. We were all stifling laughs so much that eventually even Gerry (Thomas) was laughing and had to shout cut!”.
God bless you gentleman and thank you for all the laughs.
A million thanks to everyone who made the day so special, particularly those who helped out on the day and behind the scenes. Special thanks must go to Matt Fleming, Sam Bessant, Paul Stephen, Dean Barker, Ciaran Brown and my longstanding chum, Morris Bright MBE.
My thanks and gratitude to all those who purchased a ticket and supported the event – we would have no event without your support.
Long may we all carry on laughing!
Callum Phoenix
June 2025