Carry on Again Doctor

Fans of the original CARRY ON DOCTOR might well be forgiven for assuming that this rushed-out sequel offers more of exactly the same, and indeed for the first half of the production that's exactly the case. Once more, the setting of the film is a hospital, with Hattie Jacques as Matron and Kenneth Williams as a pompous doctor. It's all very warm and familiar, with most of the Carry On team present and correct. Once again, Jim Dale is the focus of the slapstick comedy, and there's also a meatier role for Charles Hawtrey who gets probably the most screen time of his Carry On career.

So far, so predictable and yet so amusing - fans will be in their element with another assured, confident piece of film-making, packed with seaside postcard-style humour. And then at the halfway point things change; there are exotic locales and a surprisingly densely-plotted narrative involving a magical weight loss elixir. This all builds to an unpredictable climax with multiple factions attempting to get one over on each other; it's the most complex script-writing of the series since the early 1960s, and proved to be a great and welcome surprise for this fan.

I love a vast majority of the Carry On films such as Screaming, Cleo and Up the Khyber, and this entry is no exception. Sidney James is underused but still has fun as Gladstone Screwer, admittedly an odd name,and the film does feel a little short but Carry on Again Doctor is still very funny and entertaining. Jim Dale does an above decent job taking centre stage as Doctor Nookey, with excellent comic timing. Kenneth Williams is great as always, and Charles Hawtrey has one of his better outings as Dr Stoppidge, allowing to hiss vehemently and bitterly. The locations of the Bautific Islands are very nice, and the script is filled with one liners that are witty and hilarious. Plus the slapstick finale is genuinely funny, quite possibly one of the funnier finales in the franchise. 8/10 Bethany Cox

Carry on Again Doctor fits a lot of different plot features into a short amount of time, there's also a lot of regulars here, in fact too many regulars to give enough screen time to each of them. One odd fact here is that Jim Dale broke his arm on set whilst doing one of his own stunts.

The plot is very odd, involving a magic (?) formula found in a jungle that gives everyone who drinks it incredible weight loss. And then they open a clinic to sell the stuff.

6/10: Jim Dale is lovable but the plot is just too bizarre for words. It's like three films put into one

The Carry On troupe takes on the medical profession in Carry On Again Doctor. Of course Carry On is exactly what at least one doctor is doing.

In fact Jim Dale is the bane of the existence of Doctors Kenneth Williams and Charles Hawtrey who run a clinic in London. The Dickensian named Dale as Dr. Nookey has little trouble getting plenty of that at the clinic and he keeps Williams and Hawtrey constantly agitated.

But an accidental and I do mean accidental indiscretion with a female patient brings Dale an assignment to a south seas island clinic run by the cheerfully hedonistic Sid James. James has invented a weight loss remedy and the shapely shape of some of the south sea native female population is proof it works. Funny how everyone seems interested in only seeing how it works on women.

Lots of typical Carry On bawdy humor in Carry On Again Doctor. I do so love seeing Hawtrey in drag on an industrial espionage mission so to speak.

Carry On Again Doctor returns to the well-tilled field of bedpans, undressed patients, and discussions about symptoms, from wind to bowels being regular dialogue fodder. The third of the medical-themed adventures tackled by the team, this time the focus is on the hospital staff rather than the patients who are mostly just cameos; it features a rare, slightly nasty and cynical streak for the series, essentially a film about people being selfish, lying, manipulating and cheating to get ahead in the profession. I was at first concerned this was where the series stopped being fun but the fast-moving plot and changing locations keep the show moving and, like so many others in the series has great performances, a wonderful script, and some genuinely funny lines. Offset by Jim Dale's accident-prone pratfalls, Carry On Again Doctor is an assured and confident piece of filmmaking even if the focus has waned, it doesn't hang about and provides a lot of visual dynamism to any otherwise crazy film.