Just watching this now and loving it. They say truth is stranger than fiction and if this show is to be taken as fact then it certainly is!
I loved it but wondered if the performance of Sid james wasn't as good as the other leads (Bab Windsor was played perfectly in my opinion!)
I'm interested to know if any one else agrees or disagrees. 'Carry on' is an institution in the UK so I hope we all have a view! Good or bad, feel free!
"Opinions are like a**holes. Everyone's got one." - The People V Larry Flynt
Only prob i thought was that it looked like that Geoffrey Hutchings who played Sid was squinting too hard to maintain his craggy features. Alan Sugar would have been perfect as Sid :)
Brilliant. I saw this when it was first released, and was delighted to catch it again this evening.
The actor who played Sid was a doppleganger looks-wise, but am I the only one who thought he sounded like more Jack Regan from 'The Sweeney'?
And yes, the actress who played Babs was utterly perfect! She couldn't have been any more like her-voice, looks, mannerisms and so on. Excellent!
Those cast as Joan Sims, Bernard Bresslaw and even Charles Hawtrey's mum were all fantastic as well-great attention to detail. Plus I always thought that the actor playing Kenneth Williams couldn't have been surpassed until I watched Michael Sheen's interpretation in 'Fantabulosa'.
When I started watching this my first impression after a few minutes and seeing who played Sid was it's going to be crap.
My feelings were totally turned around and watched it till the end loving every minute of it.
The actors did a 1st class job, especially the girl who played Babs, who, near the end, when the REAL Babs took over her role, I didn’t even realize for a minute, Now that’s acting!
Oh and I quite agree with merlotnoir about Michael Sheen.
An amazing cast - Sid's accent wasn't quite 100% but otherwise I thought he nailed it. Don't forget he was playing Sid the person, not lecherous Sid the character (though Sid the person was quite lecherous too).
I thought Spiro was brilliant as Windsor, and similarly I didn't notice the change at the end. When I DID notice it, I thought Spiro was a better actor than Windsor, even at playing herself! I thought maybe the script was very kind to Windsor, both in the way the affair was depicted (she was reluctant and plagued with guilt - I doubt that, it was an affair and you can't polish a turd) and also in the sophisticated dialogue it put in her mouth. Barbara Windsor is an attractive and no doubt very nice woman but I don't think she's capable of the type of wisdom and aphorism she was credited with here.
My body makes no moan But sings on: All things remain in God.
Is Barbara Windsor a nice woman? Anything I've ever read about her led me to think otherwise. I agree that the leads in this were fantastic, however, I wasn't overly convinced by the script. I don't claim to be an expert on the carry on actors but something tells me Barbara Windsor was not the love of Sid Jame's life & he didn't die of a broken heart because she rejected him. The script seemed completely biased, maybe that was why Barbara decided to make a personal appearance, which I agree was unecessary as the actress playing her did such an amazing job it was difficult to tell the difference.
Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail-R.W Emerson
Well, I was just saying she was probably nice because I was afraid of people turning on me! However, now that I've got you on my side I can say it - I can't stand her, she seems like a common cockney and consort of gangsters, and this script was sugar-coated in her favour, even including a little vanity appearance for her (a la Tina Turner at the end of What's Love Got To Do With It).
My personal opinion, based on nothing at all, is that it was just a convenient affair (ie shag) for both of them without any of the mystical or romantic overtones depicted here.
My body makes no moan But sings on: All things remain in God.
Maybe, but maybe not, we can't really know what went on, but their affair did go on for several years so maybe they loved each other more than was or is believed today. It's cetainly true that Sid didn't live for long after the relationship ended.
Also in anything I've ever seen of Barbara Windsor, she's never come across as anything other than a really pleasant person. Yes she knew gangsters and yes her husband was one of them, but that was in part I think why she left him. Anyway it was a great piece of drama here.
This was a great film and the actors did the real people justice in their portrayals, especially the two who played James and Windsor. I have to admit every single time I see Sid James and Barbara in a film I always wonder what in the world she saw in him. And I don't mean just his appearance but his total personality. We will never know but it was an amazing romance and happy to see it well dramatized.