Carry On's Cut for TV?

[OABJYU]

I'm sure there were a few odd edits in a at least a couple of the films on ITV3 over Christmas. Like everyone I've seen them all many times and I'm sure there were edits made and dialogue tweaked?

[Darren75]

Of course they were. It's 2024.

You can't have Barbara Windsor bending over to the sound of a slide whistle these days.

[CV19]

Originally Posted by OABJYU

I'm sure there were a few odd edits in a at least a couple of the films on ITV3 over Christmas. Like everyone I've seen them all many times and I'm sure there were edits made and dialogue tweaked?

Just for interest, I googled "carry on films cut on itv3" and it came up with a couple of websites which indicate that this is a regular practice on ITV. I do remember years back when ITV used to cut entire scenes so they could fit the film's running time into a shorter time slot and accommodate the adverts. However this butchering used to happen with a lot of films on ITV, not just the Carry On's.

[Doomhunter]

Originally Posted by Darren75

Of course they were. It's 2024.

You can't have Barbara Windsor bending over to the sound of a slide whistle these days.

Oh I don’t know, I carry around a slide whistle for just that purpose. Works at convenience stores, libraries, grocery stores, colleges, banks, workplaces and any and all other coed locations

[figrin_dan]

Originally Posted by CV19

Just for interest, I googled "carry on films cut on itv3" and it came up with a couple of websites which indicate that this is a regular practice on ITV. I do remember years back when ITV used to cut entire scenes so they could fit the film's running time into a shorter time slot and accommodate the adverts. However this butchering used to happen with a lot of films on ITV, not just the Carry On's.

I'll never forget the day ITV put Airplane in a 1 hour slot (with adverts!)

[GreatUncleBaal]

I remember people 'noticing' this in the early 80's,
it's nothing new.

[CompleteCount]

The Carry Ons have always been trimmed here and there, but the last few years have seen them really hacked about. A couple of days ago, I was flipping through channels and saw ITV playing the last minute of Carry On Behind (one of my favourites...) and I said to my Missus - also a Carry On enthusiast - "Bet they censor the final shot".

Sure enough, when Elke Sommer playfully pulls up her skirt to flash some cheek at the Mynah bird's call of "show us your knickers", they zoomed in the image to obscure any flesh. It's not as though she's doing an Anne Heche, and showing a bit of bumhole!

[grahams76]

Originally Posted by GreatUncleBaal

I remember people 'noticing' this in the early 80's,
it's nothing new.

Right. As a child, I recorded Carry On Abroad off the TV in the late 80s and watched it many times so knew it by heart. Maybe 20 years later I caught it on another TV screening and there were a few scenes that had been cut from the original broadcast I taped.

[CompleteCount]

Originally Posted by grahams76

Right. As a child, I recorded Carry On Abroad off the TV in the late 80s and watched it many times so knew it by heart. Maybe 20 years later I caught it on another TV screening and there were a few scenes that had been cut from the original broadcast I taped.

One piece they always cut these days centres on the line:

"You haven't got any soap on that bit..."

[CV19]

Originally Posted by figrin_dan

I'll never forget the day ITV put Airplane in a 1 hour slot (with adverts!)

That is a disgrace. You'd think they'd just find something with an appropriate running time, but that's ITV for you!

Back in the 80's and 90's, I remember ITV cutting many scenes from the Carry On films to fit them into a 90 minute slot, which would include at least 4 advert breaks (including the break at the end of the film before the next programme started). As the films had a running time of around 85 minutes, give or take, this amounted to quite a lot cut out of the film.

I even recall when they screened the On The Buses films and these were also butchered to fit them into the same time slot. With Holiday, they cut out the entire scene where Blakey was rehearsing some dance routines with Arthur Mullard and the other cast members - which for me was probably the funniest part of the whole film.

[CompleteCount]

Originally Posted by CV19

That is a disgrace. You'd think they'd just find something with an appropriate running time, but that's ITV for you!

I even recall when they screened the On The Buses films and these were also butchered to fit them into the same time slot. With Holiday, they cut out the entire scene where Blackey was rehearsing some dance routines with Arthur Mullard and the other cast members - which for me was probably the funniest part of the whole film.

That might have been around the time when the revelations about Arthur Mullard and his daughter became public. If an extended scene needed to be axed to fit a timeslot, then that would have provided the perfect opportunity.

[CV19]

Originally Posted by CompleteCount

That might have been around the time when the revelations about Arthur Mullard and his daughter became public. If an extended scene needed to be axed to fit a timeslot, then that would have provided the perfect opportunity.

To be honest I wasn't aware of that, so thank you. As far as I can recall, all the other scenes with Mullard were intact, only that rehearsal scene was missing. It ran for a few minutes in total so was probably just enough to squeeze in a couple of ad breaks.

[figrin_dan]

I always considered tv showings really as an advert to buy the film. I only really watched/recorded BBC and film4 (when they didn't have adverts).
I don't even bother buying the Christmas Radio Times and circling the good films anymore.

[BluBonnet]

Originally Posted by figrin_dan

I always considered tv showings really as an advert to buy the film. I only really watched/recorded BBC and film4 (when they didn't have adverts).
I don't even bother buying the Christmas Radio Times and circling the good films anymore.

Here in the US I think the only option is to watch them on blu-rays or DVDs from the UK, I hope those versions aren't edited.

[CompleteCount]

It was only two weeks ago that I was flipping channels, and saw that Carry On Cleo had just started on ITV3, so watched for a couple of minutes....

...right up until Kenneth Williams' first scene, where they cut his opening line. Soaking his feet to combat a heavy cold, he sneezes and bemoans: "Oh, I do feel queer...".

It's double-entendre from a comedy actor who was gay, very much known for being gay and at ease with being so. Williams was openly gay at a time when homosexuality was still illegal over here, so he was in many respects a frontrunner.

The word itself is a "reclaimed" one these days, and almost as commonplace as the word "gay" itself.

I'm hardly straight myself, and have no problem with this particular scene.

[figrin_dan]

Although now it's a single entendre is doesn't work so well as a joke. I'm not sure what's worse, cutting jokes to appease people's prejudices or their senses of humour.

[ZombieTwin2]

I looked at some of Carry On Girls a while back, and the scene where Bernie Bresslaw (in drag) is hiding and Peter Butterworth rats him out to the irate mob was cut; Butterworth’s line of “She… IT’S in there!” was removed.

Hmm. Wonder why…?

Kev W