Package Holiday Piffery.

The 24th film in the Carry On series finds the cast partaking in a package holiday to Els Bels. Once arriving they find their hotel still under construction and nobody much likes the company they are in!

This is actually one film that boasted the most regular Carry On cast members, something which carries the pic up above and through some choppy waters. Leaning heavily towards the more bawdy side of the franchise, it obviously couldn't appeal to everyone. This is the 1970s in Britain and it was becoming a place of decadent sexuality, which sees the makers earnest in their attempts to capture the zeitgeist of the time. Also one tends to think they had to be aware of the more openly sexual nature of some other comedy films of the era, thus they had to compete.

This is great fun for series fans, an absolute ramshackle holiday experience, the very definition of a cheap deal that "WAS" too good to be true. The makers bombard us purposely with stereotypes - the Brits abroad crassness, the bad food and excessive drinking, the undersexed and the oversexed clientèle, bad weather, nudity, a raucous set to at a red light establishment, sexual stimulants and on it goes - no sand pebble is left unturned.

Cast are great, reliable sorts with such cheeky material to work from. Peter Buterworth takes the leading honours as the hotel manager trying to convince everyone this hotel from hell is a paradise! and he is well supported by June Whitfield who makes of her more expansive ventures into the series. The double entendre's flow, the chaotic scenes stack up and the corn is well and truly laid on a plate. Suffice to say this is not about pathos or intelligent meanings!

The finale is two-fold and great for fans, the drunken party on the last night at the hotel literally is crash bang and wallop, while the collective character closure at Sid and Joan's English bar has a warmness to it that fans can relate to. Charles Hawtrey, the legendary skeleton on legs, left the series here, playing an alcoholic rogue, the makers accepting his real life issues and incorporating it into his farewell performance for some poignant reflection. 7/10

So this time, our gang of double-entendre specialists head to the resort of "Elsbels" on the Costa somewhere for a long weekend. Of course the hotel isn't finished, and that's not the only thing that isn't. Though at times it is quite amusing, for the most part the script just plays to the talent and they are not really on best form. We are frequently left with some overly contrived stereotypes and a humour that is just a bit too coarse. Not that there isn't smut a-plenty in the others of this franchise, but that is usually a little more subtle. To be fair, it doesn't hang about - the gags come thick and fast, and are delivered by a well-oiled machine that knows exactly what it is doing. Sadly, though, it has aged badly and though I reckon the female characters fare slightly better than the men on the humour front, nobody here can say this is their finest work - not even the donkey.