Mr Carry On: The Life and Work of Peter Rogers, by Morris Bright and Robert Ross

(BBC Worldwide, £15.99)

THEY became an institution as British as roast beef, warm beer and cricket on the village green.

The snooty intelligentsia may have mocked and rebuked the rest of us for our lack of taste but there was something compelling about those unforgettable 31 films.

These mini-epics contained more-or-less the same characters every time. You could see the gags coming from a mile off, and if it was possible to exploit the punning potential or innuendo of a situation, then bet your bottom dollar (ooo-er missus) that it would be milked for all it was worth.

The Carry On films were the most successful and longest-running series of comedies in the history of cinema. And they were the brainchild of one of this country's most admired, gifted and enigmatic producers, Peter Rogers.

Now, for the first time, Peter breaks his silence about what really went on when the cameras weren't rolling in this fascinating biography. For this is a warts-and-all no-punches-pulled peep behind the scenes.

He reveals the truth behind some of the rumours, myths and legends that have grown up around the Carry Ons, including the hysterical practical jokes played on each other by cast and crew, with exclusive reminiscences from the stars themselves.

Mr Carry On charts the entire and distinguished career of a man who tapped into a vein of British humour - crassly sexual and lavatorial - and watched success after success come rolling in. His roster of actors all became household names and many are still instantly recognisable to a generation unfamiliar with the genre.

But there was more to it than that. For he mined that rich seam of native humour based around self-mockery and a penchant for ridiculing the puffed-up and pompous.

And in these dreary, puritanical days of political correctness it is indeed worth recalling a time when we were all that little more relaxed and laid-back about life.

John Phillpott