Carry On Laughing which - by contrast - are broadcast regularly on British television. It is also considered much less successful at transferring the established formula to the small screen than the "Carry On Christmas specials". The series was conceived after the departures of two long-serving "Carry On" contributors: writer Talbot Rothwell and actor Charles Hawtrey. Furthermore, Kenneth Williams declined to appear in the series. Other "Carry On" regulars only appeared in a minority of episodes: Sid James in only the first four, Hattie Jacques in only one; and Bernard Bresslaw appeared only in the second series. In the absence of Rothwell, other
Carry On (franchise) original actors Barbara Windsor, Jack Douglas, Kenneth Williams, Charles Hawtrey, Kenneth Connor and Joan Sims, with Sims filling in the role of matron that was previously held by Hattie Jacques. The end of the film was going to be a tribute to Jacques, with Sims turning around a photograph of the actress and asking "Well, did I do alright?" (the script is included in the book "The Lost Carry Ons"). Production was scheduled to begin in June 1988, but the deaths of Williams and Hawtrey (in April and October 1988 respectively), combined with a budget of £1.5 million which was