A book worth having would be a gazetteer of our great and generally unsung character actors, supporting players, comic turns – stalwarts such as Richard Wattis, Raymond Huntley, Colin Gordon, Eric Barker, Julian Orchard, Jonathan Cecil and, of course, from the Carry Ons, Charles Hawtrey.
Hawtrey, like those others, was never the centre of attention. He had little to do with plot development. He wasn’t required for romantic interludes. He simply stood there, as Private Widdle, Tonka the Great or the Duc de Pommfrit, smirking slightly and glancing from side to side, unmistakably his eccentric self.
Whenever he appeared (‘Oh, hello!’), the scenes would be given a reliable boost, a dependable bounce. Audiences immediately relaxed and knew they were about to enjoy themselves.
Barbara Windsor said, ‘He was my favourite actor in the team,’ and Hawtrey is
