Wm C. Bogg and Son is a toilet and bathroom ceramics firm. Vic Spanner, the trade union rep organises strikes at the drop of a hat and is a permanent thorn in the side of management.

Carry On At Your Convenience was made at the start of the 70’s and is quite prophetic as this would be a decade marked significantly by strikes and trade union action that would disrupt the whole country on occasion.

The film is either loved or hated by fans of the series. Some feel that the series shouldn’t have veered into social commentary and should have just stuck to smutty comedy. It was also the first Carry On film that was a relative flop at the box office and only made its budget back in 1976 (to be fair, that’s only 5 years later).

I honestly don’t understand how anyone could not like this film however. I thought it was a hoot. The storyline involving the trade union was not laid on too thick and was still very funny.

I loved the factory and domestic settings for the film’s characters. The movie acts as a time capsule for the era, all gaudy fashion choices (check out Charles Hawtrey’s matching floral shirt and tie and Joan Sims’ kinky boots) and kitsch home furnishings.

Every actor from the troupe are in their element with these characters here whether it’s Kenneth Williams as factory owner Mr Bogg with his plummy nasal accent or Hattie Jacques as the lovably dippy wife of Sid James (those scenes of her talking to her budgie are beyond surreal).

But we also get performances from new arrivals such as Bill Maynard, Kenneth Cope and even Geoffrey ‘Onslow’ Hughes. But it’s Renee Houston as Vic’s mother that steals the show. She’s a fierce matriarch and looks like Diana Dors in Queenie’s Castle but with the temperament of a pitbull. That is until Charles Hawtrey’s designer character, Charles Coote is around. She then acts all posh and lady-like. We learn that they play strip card games together (!)

Every character in the film has their own peculiar quirks and are all brilliantly realised. To see them all go out on a works outing to Brighton is an absolute blast.

In fact, that’s how I’d describe the whole film. It’s a joy from start to finish and is one of my favourite films from the whole series.

4.5 out of 5 stars