Darren's own carry on!

Mar 26 2008 by David Himelfield, Huddersfield Daily Examiner

DARREN’S OWN CARRY ON

A CARRY On fan’s ambition came true when he met the stars of his favourite film series.

Darren Senior, 42, of Rastrick, rubbed shoulders with the likes of Leslie Phillips, Kenneth Cope, Jacki Piper, Valerie Leon and others at the 50th Anniversary of Carry On at Pinewood Studios, Buckinghamshire.

The event was to celebrate the 1958 release of Carry On Sergeant – the first of 31 Carry On films.

Darren, and his friends David Coates and Tim Roper, both of Rastrick, also met 94-year-old producer Peter Rogers and actor Frank Thornton, whose grandfather was born in Brighouse.

Thornton, of course, is one of the stars of the long-running TV comedy series Last of the summer Wine.

Mr Senior, a schools business manager, said: “It was an ambition and a last hurrah for some of them because some of them are very old. I don’t think they’ll be around for the next time.

“They were all more than happy to sign autographs. Meeting Kenneth Cope meant the most.

“We got to meet people who knew Kenneth Williams and it was nice to see Pinewood Studios. It has such a history.”

Super-fan Darren has around 250 pieces of Carry On memorabilia and has seen his favourite film, Carry On Screaming, around 25 times.

He says: “Some people have seen the films hundreds of times. There are people worse than me!

“You can really identify with the humour. The team itself of Kenneth Williams, Hattie Jacques and others seemed to work. There were like a family.”

Many of the stars of the films have long since died.

The biggest names included Sid James, Hattie Jacques and Charles Hawtrey.