Carry On Camping

Sid Boggle and his friend Bernie Lugg are partners in a plumbing business. They take their girlfriends, prudish Joan Fussey and meek Anthea Meeks, to the cinema to see a film about a nudist camp called Paradise. Sid has the idea of the four of them holidaying there, reasoning that in that environment their chaste girlfriends will relax their strict moral standards. Sid easily gains Bernie's co-operation in the scheme, which they attempt to keep secret from the girls.

They travel to a campsite named Paradise. After paying the membership fees to the owner, money-grabbing farmer Josh Fiddler, Sid realises it is not the camp seen in the film, but merely a standard family campsite. To add to their disappointment, it is no paradise but instead a damp field; the only facilities being a very basic toilet and a washing block. They reluctantly agree to stay there after the girls approve of the place and Fiddler refuses a refund. There is further disappointment when the girls will not share a tent with the boys.

Meanwhile, a group of young ladies on holiday from the Chayste Place finishing school stay overnight at Ballsworth Youth Hostel. The ringleader of the girls is blonde and bouncy Babs. In charge of the girls is Dr. Soaper, who is fervently pursued by his lovelorn colleague, the school's matron, Miss Haggard. Babs and her friend Fanny change the room numbers on Dr. Soaper's and Miss Haggard's doors and convince Dr. Soaper that the female washroom, where Miss Haggard is, is the male washroom. The room number changes also causes Dr. Soaper to mistake Miss Haggard’s room for his and to Miss Haggard’s horror get into bed beside her. The party arrives at the campsite the next day, where Sid and Bernie are only too happy to assist the girls in setting up their tents. The following morning, Dr Soaper leads an outdoor aerobics session, during which Babs' bikini top flies off; he catches it.

Other campers are Peter Potter, who loathes camping but must endure his jolly yet domineering wife Harriet, with her irritating laugh, whose overnight camping en-route to Paradise campsite is interrupted by naïve first-time camper Charlie Muggins. They manage to sneak away from him the following morning and arrive at the campsite, only to discover him already there.

Chaos ensues when a group of hippies shows up and take over the neighbouring field for a noisy all-night rave led by the band "The Flowerbuds". The campers club together and successfully drive the partygoers away, but all the girls leave with them. However, there is a happy ending for Bernie and Sid when their girlfriends finally agree to move into their tent. Their joy is short-lived when Joan's mother turns up, but Anthea lets loose a goat that chases Mrs Fussey away. Meanwhile, Peter vows to Harriet that this camping holiday will most definitely be their last.

• Screenplay – Talbot Rothwell
• Music – Eric Rogers
• Production Manager – Jack Swinburne
• Art Director – Lionel Couch
• Editor – Alfred Roome
• Director of Photography – Ernest Steward
• Assistant Editor – Jack Gardner
• Camera Operator – James Bawden
• Assistant Director – Jack Causey
• Continuity – Doreen Dernley
• Sound Recordists – Bill Daniels & Ken Barker
• Make-up – Geoffrey Rodway
• Hairdresser – Stella Rivers
• Costume Designer – Yvonne Caffin
• Dubbing Editor – Colin Miller
• Title Sketches – Larry
• Producer – Peter Rogers
• Director – Gerald Thomas

• Filming dates – 7 October–22 November 1968

Interiors:

• Pinewood Studios, Buckinghamshire

Exteriors:

• Pinewood Studios, Buckinghamshire. The studios' orchard doubled for Paradise Camp. Chayste Place school is the management block at Pinewood Studios, better known as Heatherden Hall and featured in Carry On Nurse, Carry On Up the Khyber, Carry On Again Doctor, Carry On at Your Convenience, Carry On Behind and Carry On England.
• Pinewood Green, Iver Heath housing estate, Buckinghamshire
• Everyman Cinema, Gerrards Cross, Buckinghamshire
• Maidenhead High Street
• Black Park, Buckinghamshire

The film was the most popular movie at the UK box office in 1969.[1] It was voted the nation's favourite Carry On film in a survey conducted by the Daily Mirror in 2008.[2]

• Davidson, Andy (2012). Carry On Confidential. London: Miwk. ISBN 978-1-908630-01-8.
• Sheridan, Simon (2011). Keeping the British End Up – Four Decades of Saucy Cinema. London: Titan Books. ISBN 978-0-85768-279-6.
• Webber, Richard (2009). 50 Years of Carry On. London: Arrow. ISBN 978-0-09-949007-4.
• Hudis, Norman (2008). No Laughing Matter. London: Apex. ISBN 978-1-906358-15-0.
• Keeping the British End Up: Four Decades of Saucy Cinema by Simon Sheridan (third edition) (2007) (Reynolds & Hearn Books)
• Ross, Robert (2002). The Carry On Companion. London: Batsford. ISBN 978-0-7134-8771-8.
• Bright, Morris; Ross, Robert (2000). Mr Carry On – The Life & Work of Peter Rogers. London: BBC Books. ISBN 978-0-563-55183-6.
• Rigelsford, Adrian (1996). Carry On Laughing – a celebration. London: Virgin. ISBN 1-85227-554-5.
• Hibbin, Sally & Nina (1988). What a Carry On. London: Hamlyn. ISBN 978-0-600-55819-4.
• Eastaugh, Kenneth (1978). The Carry On Book. London: David & Charles. ISBN 978-0-7153-7403-0.

• Carry On Camping at IMDb
• Carry On Camping at Rotten Tomatoes
• Carry On Camping Location Guide at The Whippit Inn
• Carry on Camping at BFI Screenonline