The Specials
This is the first of two releases celebrating the work of that master of Character Comedy, Stanley Baxter, recently issued by Network as a 2-disc collection, and is the first time his work has appeared on DVD, and is the first time that 5 of the specials have ever been released in any format.
In the early 1970's Baxter, along with his Producer, David Bell and writer Kenneth Hoare, moved from the BBC to Commercial Television where, between them, they created some of the most enduring must-see television of the 70's and 80's. During the time that Baxter worked with London Weekend Television his tour-de-force performances and the breathtakingly lavish production values of his shows won countless awards (including the BAFTA Award for Best Light Entertainment Programme for two consecutive years in 1973 and 1974 and the BAFTA Award for Best Light Entertainment Performance for Baxter himself).
As well as being highly entertaining, Baxter's shows continuously extended the boundaries of television further than they had ever been. His use of split-screen filming allowed him to appear in scenes as different characters interacting with each other. This became one of the most intriguing hallmarks of his productions with him playing all the characters in pastiches covering everything from Hollywood extravaganzas such as Gone With The Wind and Ben Hur to some of the era's favourite television shows such as Upstairs Downstairs and The Generation Game.
Baxter's highly risqué sense of humour was very near the knuckle for the time and, although it was adored by his audiences, it constantly incited the wrath of 'The Queen of Clean', Mary Whitehouse. His faultless impressions of both men and women, young and old, famous and unknown were also loved by his hordes of fans and included, among others, Sir John Gielguid, Carole Channing, Bruce Forsythe, Carmen Miranda and Charlton Heston. Notoriously, he was also the first person to impersonate Her Majesty, The Queen on television. At the time this was an act that could, quite feasibly have been regarded as a treasonable offence.
This 2-disc set is available now priced just £24.99 and I am looking forward to receiving check discs of this title so that I can bring a full review at a later stage.