Carry on Laughing (TV Series) Lamp-Posts of the Empire (1975) User Reviews

Carry On Laughing: Lamp-posts Of The Empire (TV) (Alan Tarrant, 1975) **1/2

[Bunuel1976 · 6/10 · 9 February 2008]

This above-average episode, which utilizes a flashback structure, has a nice Victorian feeling – though the majority of the action reverts to a studio-bound African setting. It's a parody of the celebrated Stanley and Livingstone adventure story – with Kenneth Connor and Bernard Bresslaw, respectively, in those roles (even if the latter is actually called Pavingstone; there's a running-gag tied up to the equally famous line "Dr. Livingstone, I presume?"). Peter Butterworth is the ancient leader of the geographical society (of whom Barbara Windsor is the only female member), Jack Douglas is a guide nicknamed "Elephant Dick" (his trademark twitching eventually causes him to literally lose the expedition's bearing!) and Oscar James appears as the native witch doctor (whose sorcery results in various gorilla mutations, which has the unfortunate effect of arousing the real jungle apes!).