From IMDB- ‘A gang of thieves plans to make their fortune by stealing a shipment of contraceptive pills from Finisham maternity hospital. They assume disguises and infiltrate the hospital, but everything doesn’t go according to plan.’

There’s a real emphasis on gender and swapping genders within Carry On Matron which is very interesting and portrayed what was going on in wider society with glam rock emerging. Kenneth Cope and Bernard Bresslaw as women though reminded me less of David Bowie or Marc Bolan and more of the blokes in frocks from Mud and Sweet.

The fact that the characters in the film actually think that Cope is a female nurse lends more of a surreal air to proceedings. The 70’s were a decade where extremes were being examined and envelopes pushed and Carry On Matron is no exception.

We have another selection of eccentric and very well written and acted characters also such as Joan Sims who is having a lovely time in hospital and could stay there as long as possible, Charles Hawtrey as the hospital shrink (his first scene is of him trying to hypnotise himself), Hattie Jacques as, you’ve guessed it, Matron, Kenneth Williams as hypochondriac consultant Dr Bernard Cutting who, at one point, is contemplating a s*x change…

This feels different to the other hospital-based Carry Ons and it’s almost as if each one depicts the era it was made in. It’s no less funny than the others though and feels more racy, explicit and daring.

Highly recommended.

4 out of 5 stars