Frankie Howerd

Five oddball criminals planning a bank robbery rent rooms on a cul-de-sac from an octogenarian widow under the pretext that they are classical musicians.

A small town band makes it big, but loses track of their roots, as they get caught up into the big-time machinations of the music biz. Now, they must thwart a plot to destroy their home town. Built around the music of The Beatles, this musical uses some big name groups like Peter Frampton and Aerosmith.

Francis Bigger, a notorious charlatan who tours the country lecturing on the subject of mind over matter, slips off the platform in the middle of his performance and ends up in hospital under the care of Dr Tinkle. The hospital is about to enter a period of total chaos.

Celebrating twenty years of classic Carry On films, two of the films’ best-loved stars, Kenneth Williams and Barbara Windsor return to Pinewood film studios to unwrap some rib-tickling moments from the series. From the original, military mayhem of Carry On Sergeant, through to the really ancient archaeological gags of Carry On Behind, our saucy hosts get their titters out for this laugh-a-second gallop through the most successful series of British comedy films ever made.

A funny thing happens to Lurcio on the way to the rent-a-vestal-virgin market stall. A mysterious scroll falls into his hands, listing the names of all the conspirators plotting to murder Emperor Nero. And when the upstart slave is elected to infiltrate the ringleader's den, the comical ups-and-downs lead to total uproar.

The Carry On team send up the Tarzan tradition in great style. Lady Evelyn Bagley mounts an expedition to find her long-lost baby. Bill Boosey is the fearless hunter and guide. Prof. Tinkle is searching for the rare Oozalum bird. Everything is going swimmingly until a gorilla enters the camp, and then the party is captured by an all female tribe from Aphrodisia...

Returning from a cricket match in Ireland, Peter Weston gains a pet alligator from another passenger who abandons it with him. He is horrified and while his first instinct is to get rid of it he develops a relationship with a young Irishwoman who appears to be entwined with the reptile. He soon discovers that Daisy is tame and seems to be the way to Moira's heart.

A naïve Scottish civil servant must learn how to drive a Bentley to impress his girlfriend's tycoon father.

The all-girl school foil an attempt by train robbers to recover £2.5 million hidden in their school.

A funny thing happened to Lurkalot, serf to Sir Coward de Custard, on the way to Custard Castle. Lurkalot sells lusty love potions and rusty chastity belts in the market place, but on this day Sir Graggart de Bombast arrives to sack the castle, and to get the lovely Lobelia Custard in the sack! Lurkalot must help Custard cream the knight in pining armour...

On his death bed, The King orders his kingdom divided into two halves, the Kingdom of Jelly and the Kingdom of Cucumbers. Before the king even dies, Prince Frederick declares himself "King of Cucumbers" and Prince Marmaduke becomes the “King of Jelly”.

In Frankie Howerd's third Up... film it's World War I and he plays Lurk, an absolute cowerd, er coward. He's evading the call-up for all he's worth. But one evening he's hypnotised by a drunken hypnotist (Stanley Holloway) into being brave, but he fails to be released from it. So with his yellow streak gone Lurk is down that army office before you can say "titter ye not." Off to war he goes, mingling with sexy spies like Zsa Zsa Gabor and before long, the spellbound recruit is heading hot-foot back to Blighty with the Germans' plan of attack tattooed on his bum, and the Germans are bringing up the rear...! Full of sauce, knowing real-life references and witty remarks to camera, this is a cheeky incorrigible final instalment.

Captain's daughter Josephine and common sailor Ralph Rackstraw are in love. However, their relationship is complicated by her arranged marriage to the high-ranking Sir Joseph Porter. A secret about the characters' true identities revealed by Little Buttercup, which leads to a farcical resolution.

Comedy legend Frankie Howerd stars as the victim of sinister shenanigans in this hilarious spoof of British horror films of the early ‘70s. Starring Hugh Burden and Oscar winner Ray Milland, and written by Terry Nation. Foster Twelvetrees, a struggling tragedian who scrapes a living by giving hammy performances from the classics, can hardly believe his luck when he’s invited to give a dramatic reading at the country home of a well-off family. Joy soon turns to outraged horror when he discovers dead bodies, foul intentions, lots of snakes and a madwoman in the attic. Can he uncover the hidden family secret before he comes to a sticky end..?

Sailor Albert gets a message from the Navy saying he can't marry for certain unexplained legal reasons. Everyone, including his domineering mother-in-law to be, jumps to the conclusion that there must be another woman involved.

The sequel to 'Up The Creek' sees David Tomlinson return as bumbling navy boffin Lieutenant Humphrey Fairweather. This time he is skipper of the ship Aristotle and, together with his second-in-command, Fairweather wreaks havoc when he is ordered to deliver the Aristotle to its new owners in a mythical Middle-Eastern country.

In this musical, the Gilbert and Sullivan classic is updated and set in post-war Japan. This time, the trouble begins when a soldier, the son of a Yankee judge, falls in love with a Japanese girl. This enrages her Yakuza fiancé who kidnaps him.

A BBC TV comedy movie about the people living in Pompeii prior to its destruction by volcano, focusing on the life of a house slave (played by Frankie Howerd). A sort of prequel to the 1971 movie "Up Pompeii"

When heavy fog prevents any flights from leaving London Airport, a group of passengers are put on a bus driven by Percy Lamb to drive to another airport. The fog is that heavy Percy doesn't know where he is going or that he is carrying stolen gold bullion that the robbers and police are relentlessly pursuing.

A hotel porter is left a fortune but after living it up for a while he returns to his old place of work which is in financial difficulties.

Classic short British comedy, full of stars, about two workmen delivering planks to a building site. This is done with music and a sort of "wordless dialogue" which consists of a few mumbled sounds to convey the appropriate emotion. TV remake of the 1967 short.

Documentary commemorating the 40th anniversary of the 'Carry On' comedy film series. Archive clips and out-takes are mixed with interviews with the cast.

Craig Ferguson's 1990 comedy special

Ebenezer Scrooge is a misery on Christmas, not allowing people money or doing anything to share Christmas cheer around his employees or acquaintances. While Scrooge is visited by three ghosts we see how his penny pinching has affected those around him.

The Word was a 1990s Channel 4 television programme in the United Kingdom. The show pushed forward the boundaries of youth TV, always coming close to going too far.

Up Pompeii! is a British television comedy series broadcast between 1969 and 1970, starring Frankie Howerd. The first series was written by Talbot Rothwell, a scriptwriter for the Carry On films, and the second series by Rothwell and Sid Colin. Two further specials were transmitted in 1975 and 1991. In ancient Pompeii, much-put-upon slave Lurcio navigates the chaotic lives of his owner's family

Whoops Baghdad is a BBC television comedy programme first broadcast from 25 January to 1 March 1973. The series stars Frankie Howerd, and was similar to his earlier programme Up Pompeii!, with the setting moved from Ancient Rome to mediaeval Baghdad. However, it was significantly less successful than its predecessor, only running for six episodes and is little remembered, although all episodes survive. The original proposed title, Up Baghdad, was rejected because it was felt that it might have been seen as supportive of the then-current Iraqi regime.

Beginning in 1959 as Bruce's Show, mixing music, dancing and comedy in the time honoured tradition, this series focused on laughter, glamour and big name guests.

Sitcom set in the government's secret underground headquarters during the Second World War.

A series profiling comedians via their chat show appearances. Features Dawn French and Tamsin Greig.

A BBC light entertainment holiday series, following on from the success of their Seaside Special shows, featuring comedy, music and variety guest stars.

A pilot for a Frankie Howerd sitcom that was eventually never made. A Touch of the Casanovas follows the same formula as Howerd's other sitcoms.

Frankie Howerd became one of the nation's best-loved comics as a result of a roller-coaster career with many sharp turns, exhilarating highs and sudden dizzying drops. As early as his first television series, The Howerd Crowd, in 1952, he had developed the act that would last the rest of his career: rolled eyes, asides to the audience, the sudden switch to a high-pitched voice and exaggerated "ooohs" and "aaahs". Howerd's famous catchphrases have become part of the national vocabulary ("Ooh er missus!", "Titter ye not", "Oooh no!") and his cosy but risque rapport with the audience in stand-up, cabaret and sit-com is often emulated but never surpassed. This compilation draws together the very finest Howerd moments from his numerous stand-up and sketch shows (Nuts in May, An Evening with Francis Howerd, Howerd’s History of England) as well as classic moments from the Carry On inspired sit-com Up Pompeii!