2023 marked the 65th anniversary of Carry On Sergeant (Peter Rogers, 1958), the first instalment of the Carry On film franchise (1958-1978; 1992). Between 1958 and 1978 the series was a mainstay of British box offices, and remains among the most prolific British film series. During this twenty-year period, thirty feature-length titles were produced and released in cinemas, as well as various iterations on stage and television. The series has become emblematic of a particular brand of British humour characterised by slapstick, farce, and innuendo, drawing on traditions and strategies from earlier forms of popular entertainment (Medhurst 1992; 2007). Despite its enduring popularity and status in the national cultural imagination, the series has received very little sustained scholarly attention. Much of the popular discourse around the series tends towards either the celebratory or the outright disdainful. This event provides a forum for consideration of the franchise from various scholarly perspectives, with the intention of showcasing more nuanced and complex understandings of the series and its significance in histories of film, television, and popular entertainment, and in broader social and cultural histories.

The provisional programme is available here: https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/arts/scapvc/film/staff/dhillon/carry_on_conferencing/programme/Link opens in a new window