The 10 best Carry On films, ranked

19 November 2025, 10:50

Carry On Cleo and Carry On Doctor — What a Carry On. Picture: Alamy

By Mayer Nissim

Carry On Ranking.

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The Carry On films weren't always beloved by critics, but audiences lapped up their bawdy humour.

The franchise didn't take things slow, chucking out 30 films in 20 years, from Carry On Sergeant in 1958 to Carry On Emmannuelle in 1978 (plus the belated coda of Carry On Columbus in 1992), which meant the the quality control definitely varied.

But when they were good, they were very very good, with hilarious one-liners and fantastic comedy turns from some of the best of British talent.

It made enduring stars of figures like Sid James, Kenneth Williams, Charles Hawtrey, Hattie Jacques and Barbara 'Babs' Windsor.

Barbara Windsor in Carry on Camping. Picture: Alamy

If you're looking for laughs, you could do much worse than queue up the very best Carry On movies for your film club.

To help you along, we've picked our top ten Carry On films and ranked them all the way up to the very best.

Don't Lose Your Head (1967)

Carry On... Don't Lose Your Head [Original Trailer]

One of only two Carry On films that didn't have the Carry On... title (along with the same year's Follow That Camel), but that decision was reversed later on and they're now both very much part of the series.
And that's a good thing, as Don't Lose Your Head is full of laughs, having some great fun with The Scarlet Pimpernel
The film was the first in the series after The Rank Organisation snaffled the films from Anglo-Amalgamated and saw a sole appearance for French star Dany Robin alongside regulars Sid James, Kenneth Williams, Jim Dale, Charles Hawtrey, and Joan Sims.
Carry On At Your Convenience (1971)

Carry On... At Your Convenience [Original Trailer]

This 1971 satire of trade union set in bathroom ceramics factory W.C. Boggs & Son was something of a flop on its release – the first Carry On film that didn't really hit – but eventually made its money back thanks to foreign telly sales.
It starred Sid James as Sid Plummer, Kenneth Williams as WC Bogg alongside fellow regulars and Charles Hawtrey, Joan Sims, Hattie Jacques and Bernard Bresslaw.
Kenneth Cope made his bow as Vic Spanner, and the actor would return in the even better Carry On Matron the following year.
Carry On Henry (1971)

Carry On... Henry [Original Trailer]

"This film is based on a recently discovered manuscript by one William Cobbler, which reveals that Henry VIII did in fact have two more wives," read the trail at the start of the film.
"Although it was first thought that Cromwell originated the story, it is now known to be definitely all Cobbler's... from beginning to end."
You can keep your Wolf Hall, quite frankly. We're sticking with Sid James as King Henry, Kenneth Williams as Thomas Cromwell, and Babs as Bettina. Daughter of the Earl of (ahem) Bristol.
Carry On Abroad (1972)

Carry On Abroad (1972) | Classic Film Trailer

Abroad was a very special Carry On, as it was the final appearance of Charles Hawtrey. Hawtrey had starred in 22 of the previous 23 films, only skipping 1962's Carry On Cruising.
June Whitfield was a returnee, popping back 13 years after her turn in Carry on Nurse.
Carry On always had form for amazing character names, and the sexed up package holiday silliness of A Carry On Abroad starred Sid James as Vic Flange and Kenneth Williams as Stuart Farquhar. Heavens.
Carry On Doctor (1967)

Carry On... Doctor [Original Trailer]

After the second Carry On took a closer look at Nurses (oh my), a decade and 13 films later we got Carry On Doctor, and it's even better than the first meditation on medical malpractice.
As well as most of our faves (James, Williams, Dale, Hawtrey, Sims, Butterworth and Bresslaw), we got a returning Hattie Jaques, who had been AWOL since Carry on Cabby four years and eight films earlier, and Barbara Windsor, who had made her debut in Carry on Spying in 1964.
We also got the series bow of Frankie Howerd, who played dodgy faith healer Francis Bigger.
Carry On Matron (1972)

Carry On... Matron [Original Trailer]

Sticking with the medical theme, Carry on Matron gave Hattie Jaques the title role, trying to manage Finisham Maternity Hospital.
She has to cope with the likes of Mrs Tidey (Joan Sims), hypochondriac registrar Sir Bernard Cutting (Kenneth Williams) and reluctant criminal disguised as a nurse Cyril Carter (Kenneth Cope).
Matron was packed with series regulars, and was at the last of Terry Scott's seven Carry On movies, and the BFI has suggest that it's the last truly great film in the series.
Carry On Up The Khyber (1968)

Carry On... Up the Khyber [Original Trailer]

Okay, yes, that is some classic Cockney rhyming slang in the title. Khyber Pass... yes, well. Moving on!
Roy Castle made his sole appearance in the series in this absolute classic, bang in the middle of the golden era for the Carry On films.
Castle played Captain Keene, the object of affection of Princess Jehli (Angela Douglas) in this wildly inappropriate but always hilarious film set in British India that's based around the whole question of whether or not regiment soldiers wear pants under their kilts.
Carry On Cleo (1964)

Carry on Cleo (1964) Original Trailer [FHD]

The film hosts one of the all-time great lines in cinema "Infamy, infamy, they've all got it in for me", which was actually borrowed from Take It From Here, the light entertainment radio show written by Frank Muir and Dennis Norden.
After first appearing in Carry On Cabby, future Coronation Street, legend Amanda Barrie this time took star billing as Cleo (Cleopatra) in what is many people's favourite Carry On (and truthfully it's hard to separate this stunning top three).
Most of our favourites were present and correct, with Sid James as Mark Antony, Kenneth Williams as Julias Caesar and Charles Hawtrey as Seneca.
The production values were top notch and better than most Carry Ons, because they used the costumes and sets originally made for Joseph L. Mankiewicz's 1963 Cleopatra, which starred Liz Taylor and Richard Burton. And while Mank's epic is decent cinema, it's no Carry On Cleo.
Carry On Screaming! (1966)

Carry On Screaming! (1966) Trailer | Kenneth Williams | Jim Dale

Horror films are absolutely ripe for satire (these days you get the Scary Movie franchise, Shaun of the Dead and the rest), but one of the very best was Carry On Screaming!, the last Carry On made by Anglo-Amalgamated before the series moved to The Rank Organisation.
In truth, the Hammer movies being sent up in the film were only half a step away from parody themselves, but Screaming! gave the idea that little bit more of a nudge to go full hilarity.
Harry H. Corbett (the son from Steptoe & Son) made his only Carry On appearance, leading the film as Detective Sergeant Sidney Bung while, after making her bow in Carry On Regardless, five years earlier, England's first lady of the double entendre Fenella Fielding made her second and final appearance in the series.
Carry On Camping (1969)

Carry On Camping - UK Trailer

Best known for that scene when Babs (Barbara Windsor) has a mishap during an outdoor aerobics session, it wouldn't be right for that bit of naughtiness to overshadow what is, from beginning to end of its 88 minute runtime, a constantly hilarious holiday romp.
Plumbing partners Sid Boggle (Sid James) and Bernie Lugg (Bernard Bresslaw) want to take their girlfriends Joan Fussey (Joan Sims) and Anthea Meeks (Dilys Laye) on a camping trip to... relax them. Enter some young women from a nearby finishing school, camping hater Petter Potter (Terry Scott), and first timer Charlie Muggins (Charles Hawtrey).
Sauciness, silliness and plenty of of laughs ensue, and the movie was the biggest film at the UK box office in 1969 - this in a year when Oliver! and On Her Majesty's Secret Service were released.