Carry On films: Dame Barbara Windsor’s funniest appearances - and who were the other cast members?

One of Windsor’s most memorable moments was as Babs in Carry On Camping

Tributes have poured in for actress and dementia campaigner Dame Barbara Windsor following news of her death on Thursday night.

Though she is best known by a younger generation as the country’s most beloved landlord Peggy Mitchell, the actress has been a staple on UK TV screens since the 1960s.

It was her roles in the raunchy and raucous Carry On films that Windsor would win the hearts of the British public, invariably starring as a saucy, hapless blonde.

Dame Barbara Windsor in Carry On Spying (Getty Images)

Over a ten year span Dame Barbara would appear in nine Carry On films, as well as three Christmas specials, starting with Carry On Spying in 1964 and concluding with Carry On Dick in 1974.

What are the Carry On films?

A series of 31 films running from 1958 to 1978 – plus a one-off revival in 1994 – the Carry On films are regarded as a national institution by some.

Drawing on the racy content of British seaside postcards the films would delight viewers with their slapstick and saucy innuendo. Films would invariably focus on an aspect of British culture or history, from the British Raj in Carry On Up The Khyber, to the humble camping trip in Carry On Camping.

Typically the films were made on a tight budget and over a course of a few weeks.

Who was in the cast of the Carry On films?

Kenneth Williams appeared in more films than any other actor, typically as the main character. He is perhaps best known for his role as Julius Caesar in Carry On Cleo.

Sid James was also regularly front and centre in the Carry On films, with his characters typically working class womanisers.

Joan Sims was omnipresent in an uninterrupted run of 20 Carry On films from Carry On Celo to Carry On Emmannuelle.

Jim Dale, Leslie Phillips, Charles Hawtrey, Kenneth Connor, Peter Butterworth and Hattie Jacques were also regulars in the Carry On franchise.

Which Carry On films did Dame Barbara Windsor appear in?

Dame Barbara made her debut in the franchise in Carry On Spying (1964) as Daphne Honeybutt, a voluptuous secret agent. Her role as a buxom blonde would become a common theme in her future appearances, next appearing as the impressionable Nurse Sandra May in Carry On Doctor (1967)

In 1968 Dame Barbara would appear in a run of three Carry On films: Carry On Again Doctor, Carry On Christmas and Carry On Camping. Arguably her most popular role was in Carry On Camping which featured one of the show’s most memorable scenes when her bikini top flew off in the middle of an exercise class.

Christmas specials would become an annual tradition, with Dame Barbara appearing in Carry On Again Christmas (1970), Carry on Christmas Stuffing (1971) and Carry On Christmas (1973).

In 1971, the Carry On franchise turned to the Tudors for comic inspiration with Carry On Henry, Dame Barbara appearing as Bettina. A year later she would turn out as Dr Susan Ball in Carry On Matron, followed swiftly by an appearance as Sadie Tomkins in Carry On Abroad.

As Hope Springs in Carry On Girls, Dame Barbara would famously fight with bikini-clad co-star Margaret Nolan.

Dame Barbara’s final appearance was in Carry On Dick (1974) as Dick Turpin’s sidekick Harriet.

The franchise would last for five more films ending with Carry On Columbus in 1992.

Dame Barbara meanwhile would go onto work in theatre, appearing in Twelfth Night and Entertaining Mr Sloane, before earning the role of Peggy Mitchell in 1994.