Joan Sims was without doubt one of the best loved members of the Carry On team. Her contribution to the series was enormous - 24 films, numerous TV appearances and a string of unforgettable performances, from the beguiling Miss Allcock to the gloriously unpleasant Emily Bung. Away from the Carry Ons, Joan has enjoyed a long and successful career on stage and film and become a regular fixture on TV screens around the world with her performances in the likes of On the Up, As Time Goes By, Til Death us do Part, Martin Chuzzlewit, the list goes on.

Unlike many of her co-stars, Joan's has succeeded in keeping her private life out of the public eye. She was never subject to the same scandals as Sid James, Kenneth Williams et al and succeeded in remaining something of a mysterious figure away from the screen. To compound the situation further, there was an extended period during the 1980s and 90s where Joan seemed to shun the limelight altogether. In short, for such a well loved member of the Carry On team and a famous entertainer in her own right, relatively little is known about the life and times of Ms Sims.

All that is set to change with the long-awaited release of "High Spirits", a candid look at Joan's life and career, from her early days entertaining the passengers at Laindon railway station, through the obligatory stint in repertory theatre, up to the present day and her recent appearances in Martin Chuzzlewit and the Canterville Ghost.

Joan Sims was born Irene Joan Marion Sims on 9 May 1930, the daughter of an Essex railway station master. An only child, the remote location of her parents' home meant that Joan didn't have many friends. Other amusements, however, were on hand and she spent much of her childhood entertaining passengers with impromptu stage routines on the station platform and befriending any poor soul who missed their train and became stranded there. Such diversions sparked an interest in pursuing showbusiness and Joan soon became a familiar face in a growing number of amateur productions.

When, in 1946, Joan first applied to RADA, her audition was less than successful; one of the adjudicators apparently not overly keen on a rendition from Winnie the Pooh!. Joan did, however, succeed in being admitted to PARADA, the academy's preparatory school, and finally, on her fourth attempt, Joan graduated and trained at RADA alongside the likes of Ian Holm, Brian Matthew and Shaw Taylor..

Joan graduated from RADA in 1950 at the age of nineteen. She was spotted shortly thereafter by a young theatrical agent, Peter Eade, who at the time was starting to establish himself in the business (Eade also represented Kenneth Williams and Ronnie Barker) and began the slow struggle through rep and a string of cameo appearances in film, usually playing the buxom sexpot. A cameo appearance in Doctor in the House as the sexually repressed Nurse Rigor Mortis led to Joan being first spotted by Peter Rogers; Rogers' wife Betty Box was producer of what went on to become the Doctor... series, in which Joan herself became a regular. Rogers offered Joan a part in his 1954 movie, To Dorothy a Son. A few years later, in 1958, Joan received another script from Peter Rogers. Carry On Sergeant had been a huge success at the box office and in the autumn of that year Rogers and Gerald Thomas began planning a follow up.

Of course, the reason many readers of this site will be buying the book is get a fresh look at the making of the Carry Ons through the eyes of one of the team. Joan appeared in 24 of the films, making her the longest serving female member of the team. She first starred in Carry On Nurse, then Teacher, Constable and Regardless before taking a break from the next four films to concentrate on stage work. She rejoined the team with Carry On Cleo and remained all the way through to Carry On Emmannuelle. Joan recounts the making of the films in chronological order, observing (as so many others have done) the gradual decline of the series from the innocent rebels battling the establishment of the early Hudis films to the soft sub-porn of the late 70s entries.

The story behind the Carry Ons has been well documented in a number of other books, so some of the stories recounted here are already well known. There is, however, a great deal of material that's sure to please even the most knowledgeable Carry On fan; the three chapters that deal with this period of Joan's life are overflowing with behind the scenes reminiscences and personal tributes to those she worked with. Those expecting to read yet more scandalous revelations about the stars are going to be disappointed. Unlike the shamefully inaccurate portrayal of her in Cor Blimey!, the real Joan Sims is not given to the gossipmongering and bitterness we saw on screen.