An eclectic bunch of wayfarers arrive at a campsite in Devon run by the moneygrabbing Mr Fiddler. Later, when a hippie music festival takes place in the field next to the camp, the campers must team together to remedy the problem.

Carry On Camping is the series entry that I’m sure was the first Carry On movie I ever saw. During the school holidays in the 80’s, almost all of the films were shown on ITV and this is how I got to see the films. I remember absolutely adoring Carry On Camping back in the day. Would I feel the same on rewatching the film after so many years?

You bet I did. If anything, I loved it even more this time around as the film has aged like a fine wine.

One aspect I loved were the characters. Each one is perfectly written and realised. Each one is also absolutely perfect for the actor or acctress who plays them. And this isn’t a Carry On in which one or two actors steal the show- they all do. The different groups of campers are all fantastic, as separate entities and then when they interact on the campsite whether it’s Sid and Bernie and their other halves, the girls from Chayste Place led by Dr Soaper and Miss Haggard, the suburban couple The Potters and their adopted waiv and stray, Charlie Muggins, all are brilliantly fleshed out and realised. There are no weak links here or sequences that make the smile disappear from your face.

Another thing I loved is seeing a bygone era and how Britain was in the late 60’s. Its beautiful and something to behold. Quinessentially British and utterly awe-inspiring- such as the shop Sid and Bernie go to for their tents, the Potter’s surburban abode, the kitchen Joan Sims and Dilys Laye are having breakfast in to name but a few. Carry On Camping also captures the trends of the day as well, whether it’s the vogue for nudist films (this was a ploy to show nudity on the cinema screen whilst presenting it as educational and in documentary form but without it having to be shown at some dodgy ‘members-only’ venue) and also the hippie open-air gig by The Flowerbuds showing what the counterculture was up to.

Another aspect of the film that I loved was that every gag works! That takes some doing. Carry On Camping is that rare thing- a comedy film in which every line is gold and every bullseye that is aimed at is hit perfectly. Even the scene in which the campers get rid of the hippie revellers (by threading a cord through their beads) still works and it fantastic whereas it would have looked absurd carried out by anoyone else.

It also felt like visiting an old friend. There comes a point when you come to the scene in which Kenneth Williams is taking an exercise class for his girls including the bikini clad Barbara Windsor. You know what’s going to happen. Iconic and still hilarious.

Carry On Camping is a masterpiece. How much did I love it? I kept thinking how this wasn’t in my list of Top 10 favourite films of all time. This will be amended.

5 out of 5 stars