Carry on, Carry On! Film producer and fan hoping to revive film franchise after he wins nine year legal battle with ITV over trademark rights
- Man has spent £500,000 fighting for the rights to sell branded Carry On product
- Mr Brian Baker, a film producer, now hopes to launch a range of Carry On items
- The 72-year-old already has the rights to make three new films
Ooh, matron! It’s 27 years since we last tittered at the camp innuendoes in a Carry On film.
Now the beloved movie franchise could finally return after a devotee of the series won a nine-year legal battle.
Brian Baker has spent close to £500,000 fighting ITV for the rights to sell branded Carry On products. He can now do so, after a series of the broadcaster’s trademark rights were invalidated by the Intellectual Property Office last week because it was not using the brand.
The beloved movie franchise could finally return after a devotee of the series won a nine-year legal battle. Sid James is pictured here with Barbara Windsor in the movie franchise’s heyday
Mr Baker, a film producer, now hopes to launch a range of Carry On items that he hopes will raise money to help revive the franchise – which last hit the screens in 1992’s Carry on Columbus.
The 72-year-old, who already has the right to make three new films, said he will use scripts produced by Carry On founder Peter Rogers before he died – including Carry On London, written in 2006. He said: ‘This ruling means we can carry out Peter Rogers’s legacy and get everything into gear.
‘We’ll be bringing together a new team of actors with their own idiosyncrasies and personalities for the films.’ He said of the proposed movies: ‘They will be adapted to bring it up to modern times. We’ll have to be a bit more politically correct today.’
The Carry On franchise ran from 1958 to 1978 – with a reprise in 1992. Some 31 films were released in total. In its heyday the series starred a regular group of actors including Kenneth Williams, Sid James and Barbara Windsor.
However, several revival attempts have been thwarted by financial and legal difficulties. ITV Studios said: ‘We know the British public love Carry On and we welcome working with anyone interested in keeping this much-loved brand alive.’