The Carry On franchise is utterly huge, and I remember when I was younger seeing DVDs scattered all over the shelves, but (unsurprisingly) it wasn’t quite deemed a film for young eyes, so I never watched it — until now. I wouldn’t say I’m sensitive to TV shows or films, but when I tuned into one of the most popular films, Carry On Camping, I was incredibly aware at how many things aired that they just wouldn’t put on TV now. This film was released in 1969 and every part of it would just raise red flags today. 

Before they even headed to the campsite, there were homophobic slurs thrown around without the bat of an eyelid, but this would be entirely censored nowadays; in fact there were multiple slurs that took place throughout the film, and it was consistent throughout the multiple films.

Another thing that would go against the show is a constant influx of sexual harassment for laughs; again before they’d even left for camp there was a scene with a man and woman in a tent, and the woman really didn’t appear to want to be there and was “rescued” by her male colleague who took over. Throughout, women are constantly leered at or groped, while women saying no is typically treated as being flirty. In a culture of no means no, this wouldn’t fly in this decade and there would be an influx of complaints.

Similarly, the scene in particular where Babs’ bra flies off and lands on Bernard Bresslaw’s head wouldn’t pass because her body is considered the punchline, the way her body is objectified and she’s humiliated likely would spark controversy.

The fourth point is the men who are spying on the women changing, there is no way this would ever get the green light to air now. In 2026, any kind of voyeurism is illegal, putting it under to ruse of “accidental” invasion of privacy doesn’t suddenly make it acceptable. It’s an age-old “boys will be boys” claim, but let’s be honest, it’s just downright disgusting and having it on TV certainly doesn’t make it any better, especially when it’s not considered creepy, but instead something to laugh at.

Finally, throughout there are constant digs at Bernard Bresslaw’s character for being “childlike, and slow”, with humour focusing on him not being very clever at all, he’s regularly mocked and made fun of, this wouldn’t typically be something that is a running gag throughout these days, the audience would feel sorry for the character and most likely uncomfortable, rather than joining on the laughs.