Carry On Dick

I wouldn't fancy a poke with that.

The 26th film of the series, Carry on Dick marked the end of an era for a number of reasons. It would be the last appearance of Sid James, Hattie Jaques and Barbara Windsor, and the last to be scripted by Talbot Rothwell. As the title suggests, by this time the series had gone fully into innuendo mode, here they take the Dick Turpin legend and cloak it with sexual nudge nudges and wink winks. Character names are a riot, Reverend Flasher - Big Dick - Desmond Fancey (AKA: Dandy Desmond), Jock Strapp and Constable (ooh-err, it's all about the pronunciation - the rascals), thus it's all very low-brow for sure.

It's great to have Sid James in a period set dual role again (as in Don't Lose Your Head), he's...

To be honest, I struggled with this a bit. It all centres on "Capt. Fancey" (Kenneth Williams) on the hunt for the legendary highwayman "Dick Turpin" - aka "Big Dick". Sadly, that's about the level of the rather crass and banal humour that pervades the rest of this pretty mediocre costume drama. The more "Carry On" films I watch, the more I do realise just how much Joan Sims contributed and here she shines as "Madame Desirée", but the rest of the cast seem content to take us down a rather childishly written path of stereotypes and slapstick and through a story that is a poor relation of "Doctor Syn" (1937). This franchise is reaching it's end now, the originality and playful humour of those made ten years ago has been replaced by an almost ...