A heinously self-indulgent love letter to herself from Barbara Windsor, penned by her long-time friend and collaborator, Tony Jordan, with heavy input from herself including far too many cameo appearances speckled throughout.If the subject matter wasn't so self-serving, and if it hadn't already been done better previously (also with Ms Windsor in a cameo as herself), this might have been a little less vomit-worthy, since technically it is a pretty well-made film with excellent cinematography, production design, and editing. There are also some very good performances.However, the structure of this piece is annoyingly self-conscious, with a middle-aged Babs (and occasionally the elderly one played by herself) interacting with younger incarnations of herself and other characters from her past, all backstage at a seedy theatre, as she narrates, converses, and analyses her way through a history of daddy-issues and gangster boyfriends, with occasional shrill renditions of "Sunny Side of the Street" to alleviate the tedium.Essentially this is written and structured like a stage play, and it would probably have worked much better in that medium. On film, however, it comes off as tacky, forced, and muddled.As well as having far too many actresses playing Ms Windsor, including herself - often all at the same time - there are also archive film clips of her, giving us in the end a rather unpleasant case of too-much-Babs-itus!The final embarrassing self indulgence occurs at the very end when the real Barbara Windsor steps into a spotlight and sings "Sunny Side of the Street" to an audience of her friends and family, including Tony Jordan.All in all, then, a cinematic circle-jerk. Sometimes it's a good selling point for a movie to recommend that you bring plenty of Kleenex. Not in this case!

"On the sunny side of the street" isn't a particularly difficult song to sing but it was noticeable that the only one of the several Barbara Windsors who had a go at it actually managed to get the whole melody right and that was the real one right at the end who gave it the full Bette Midler pzazz. And as in Ms Midler's "Beaches" where"The Glory of Love" was used as a leitmotif from from tinkling piano accompaniment to the full plush orchestral score at the end to note the journey the divine Miss M had been on,so in "Babs" - a much more modest affair I must own - "Sunny side" defined the subject's life. I'm sure that was just a coincidence. There was a lot of Chas'n'Dave type dialogue that spoke of lazy writing and "Up the apples and pears" accents that weren't very convincing and many of the stories told were too well - known to stand much repetition but overall because Miss Windsor is now a Grande Dame of showbiz and loved all across the social spectrum,"Babs" is well worth checking out on the i - player. For me the best performance was the wonderful Miss Z.Wanamaker as the eccentric Joan Littlewood who cast Miss Windsor in "Fings ain't what they used to be" written by ex - villain Mr Frank Norman and given music and lyrics by Mr Lionel Bart. One more little gripe;Ronnie Scott played the tenor saxophone but was repeatedly shown playing the alto - an error that would have made an excellent subject for one of his caustic jokes. Despite my misgivings I thoroughly enjoyed "Babs",the whole being more than the sum of its parts.

The BBC have produced some incredible biopic dramas in the past. The brilliant telling of the get-together of Britain's greatest double act 'Eric & Ernie', 'Fantabulosa' which was based on the diaries of entertainer Kenneth Williams, the superb portrayal by Ruth Jones of 'Carry On…' favourite Hattie Jacques in 'Hattie' and of course the story another comedy great, Frankie Howerd in 'Rather You Than Me'. I have to say though, they have excelled themselves with this recently screened drama on the life of another 'Carry On….' regular, and much-loved actress Barbara Windsor in 'Babs'. Beginning in the '90s we see Barbara in her end-of-the-pier dressing room, played at this point by Samantha Spiro, as she takes a rest between shows and starts to think back on her life and the decisions and situations that shaped her life. Almost along the similar vein of the Ghost Of Christmas Past from 'A Christmas Carol', the ghost of her deceased father guides her through the various stages of her life from her childhood to her rise to stardom. Honor Kneafsey plays the very young Barbara Deeks as she goes through auditions, choice of stage name 'Windsor', the trauma of being evacuated during the war, the heart-breaking divorce of her parents and the resulting distance she felt from a father who seemingly decided to ignore her. As the drama moves to Barbara's 20's, actress Jamie Winstone takes over the role, and is close to perfect as we see the rise of Barbara's stage career, her continued strained relationship with her parents, her troubled love and marriage to Ronnie Knight and, of course, her introduction to the 'Carry On…' movies. This drama seriously impressed me, and contained some very funny moments and some real poignant scenes, as we are guided through both the good, and bad times of Barbara's life. There are some genuinely incredible performances from the cast, including Nick Moran as Barbara's father John Deeks, Zoe Wanamaker as renowned theatre director Joan Littlewood and Luke Allen-Gale as Ronnie Knight. The real Barbara Windsor also makes a couple of appearances during the drama and a there's a wonderful finale with her too.So much praise though must go to the three actresses portraying Barbara. Young Honor Kneafsey, Jamie Winstone and of course Samantha Spiro (who has actually played Barbara before both on stage and in the TV drama 'Cor Blimey' which told of her time during the 'Carry On…'s and her affair with co-star Sid James).It's unfortunate that it has been broadcast too late for this year's BAFTA awards but if it doesn't win anything in next year's honours then there is something seriously wrong. This is a stunning drama, superbly written, well-acted and gives us so much more of the life of an actress we all know and love.

Seriously, someone decided a film about a vacuous irritating blonde with a penchant for flashing her boobs was a good idea? I was given the choice between watching this movie or soaking my feet in petrol and walking across hot coal.Does anyone have a handy fire extinguisher, the flames are starting to get pretty high :-)