Titter ye lots

choice: three to see in the next seven days

Oooh! Matron! The rehabilitation of innuendo continues apace. From today to 31 August, London's Barbican cinema shows Peter Rogers and Gerald Thomas's Carry On series in its entirety, from the 1958 Carry On Sergeant to 1992's revival, Carry On Columbus.

The series was killed off in 1978 by a combination of a lapsing sense of humour all round and the ever-increasing abundance of naked, rather than hoisted, bosoms on celluloid. The PC movement changed all that. Suddenly anyone who wanted to make a stand against authoritarianism was standing around parties saying "Infamy! Infamy! They've all got it in for me!" and "I do not object to jiggery but I do take exception to pokery".

And there's more good news. The cinema is also offering a free packet of KP Nuts with every ticket. And really sad people can see all 30 films for pounds 30 by purchasing a season ticket specially called the Khyber Pass for the occasion.

The Carry On series will never be able to make claims to being High Art, but it's an essential part of the British character, as, at the very least, the films convince the Americans that we are all puerile.

SERENA MACKESY

'Carry On Up The Barbican', Barbican Cinema, Silk St, London EC2 (0171- 382 7000) today to 31 Aug