1 00:00:01,000 --> 00:00:04,160 He was a unique showman. Cheeky! 2 00:00:06,200 --> 00:00:09,920 This is showbiz at its very, very, very, best. 3 00:00:11,400 --> 00:00:15,920 He'd make a better woman than a man, cos he had fantastic legs. 4 00:00:15,920 --> 00:00:18,400 (SCOTTISH ACCENT) 5 00:00:18,400 --> 00:00:22,040 He was a huge star. He was the star that everybody wanted. 6 00:00:22,040 --> 00:00:25,480 Nobody could do what he did as well as he did. He was a one-off. 7 00:00:25,480 --> 00:00:27,320 Hush up, here she comes now. 8 00:00:27,320 --> 00:00:30,320 He could conjure 100 characters and voices 9 00:00:30,320 --> 00:00:32,240 and play them all in the same scene. 10 00:00:32,240 --> 00:00:35,240 I like a man that grows his own lunch. 11 00:00:36,560 --> 00:00:38,840 He was the man and the woman 12 00:00:38,840 --> 00:00:42,200 who made the most extravagant shows on British television. 13 00:00:42,200 --> 00:00:46,080 And they kept saying, "He's our flagship, economise somewhere else." 14 00:00:46,080 --> 00:00:48,240 Good night, folks. 15 00:00:48,240 --> 00:00:50,560 Would I like to see The Stanley Baxter Big Picture Show 16 00:00:50,560 --> 00:00:52,520 tomorrow night, a new one? 17 00:00:52,520 --> 00:00:56,320 You bet I would, I'd cancel anything. He's a genius. 18 00:00:56,320 --> 00:01:01,200 These are The Many Faces Of Stanley Baxter. 19 00:01:11,920 --> 00:01:15,600 At their peak in the 1980s, Stanley Baxter's television epics 20 00:01:15,600 --> 00:01:18,440 were eagerly anticipated by millions. 21 00:01:18,440 --> 00:01:24,600 His jaw-dropping shows escalated in style, aspirations and cost. 22 00:01:24,600 --> 00:01:27,680 His mother coached him to be an entertainer. 23 00:01:27,680 --> 00:01:30,480 She likely dreamt of young Stanley realising her own 24 00:01:30,480 --> 00:01:35,240 ambitions for the stage, although not literally as a woman. 25 00:01:35,240 --> 00:01:40,840 # Life's a treat and Joy's complete in a state of grace 26 00:01:40,840 --> 00:01:45,680 # I'm setting the pace With my dancing feet... # 27 00:01:45,680 --> 00:01:50,040 Stanley Baxter was born in Glasgow in 1926. 28 00:01:51,280 --> 00:01:54,720 Called for National Service, Stanley Baxter joined the army's 29 00:01:54,720 --> 00:01:57,280 Combined Services Entertainment Unit 30 00:01:57,280 --> 00:02:00,320 and met Kenneth Williams in Singapore. 31 00:02:00,320 --> 00:02:02,800 Stanley, like a lot of comedians 32 00:02:02,800 --> 00:02:08,560 of his generation, had been through the war and has served as a soldier. 33 00:02:08,560 --> 00:02:13,080 And there was this tradition of entertainment for the troops, 34 00:02:13,080 --> 00:02:15,160 and troops entertaining themselves. 35 00:02:15,160 --> 00:02:18,960 And Stanley, like Spike Milligan, Eric Sykes and Peter Sellers 36 00:02:18,960 --> 00:02:23,040 and Tony Hancock, were all part of that tradition. 37 00:02:23,040 --> 00:02:26,720 And Stanley was in Combined Services Entertainment with 38 00:02:26,720 --> 00:02:28,560 Kenneth Williams and Peter Nichols. 39 00:02:28,560 --> 00:02:31,440 Stanley would have fun with his impersonations of Kenneth Williams 40 00:02:31,440 --> 00:02:32,880 for years to come. 41 00:02:34,040 --> 00:02:38,840 Good evening and welcome to another edition of International Camparet. 42 00:02:38,840 --> 00:02:42,280 'What looked like a boy of 15 with whitened hair 43 00:02:42,280 --> 00:02:44,600 'and a white moustache, made his way through. 44 00:02:44,600 --> 00:02:47,080 'I said, "What's going on here?" Ha-ha-ha. 45 00:02:47,080 --> 00:02:49,880 'Of course, it turned out to be Kenneth Williams.' 46 00:02:49,880 --> 00:02:52,920 They would be lifelong friends but Stanley continued 47 00:02:52,920 --> 00:02:56,840 his induction into show business back on the stages of Glasgow. 48 00:02:56,840 --> 00:02:59,520 On his first day at the Citizens Theatre, 49 00:02:59,520 --> 00:03:02,040 Stanley found himself in the company of a man 50 00:03:02,040 --> 00:03:04,720 who would in future years be a crucial link 51 00:03:04,720 --> 00:03:06,520 in his television career. 52 00:03:06,520 --> 00:03:09,280 We were both at the same stage in our careers, 53 00:03:09,280 --> 00:03:13,960 as far as coming into the theatre was concerned. 54 00:03:13,960 --> 00:03:19,360 I got the job as assistant stage manager the same time as he did. 55 00:03:19,360 --> 00:03:23,520 But he didn't stay that for very long, they saw what a good actor 56 00:03:23,520 --> 00:03:28,280 he was and he was a very funny comedy actor, as well. 57 00:03:28,280 --> 00:03:31,440 Stanley's breakthrough moment came when a Christmas show, 58 00:03:31,440 --> 00:03:35,680 written by the theatre founder, James Bridie, failed to entertain. 59 00:03:35,680 --> 00:03:38,040 They were sensible enough to realise that Stanley, 60 00:03:38,040 --> 00:03:43,760 who had a considerable experience in revue type material, 61 00:03:43,760 --> 00:03:48,640 was the perfect person to come and pull the whole show together. 62 00:03:48,640 --> 00:03:52,960 Stanley's success in the Tintock Cup led to bigger parts and through the 63 00:03:52,960 --> 00:03:56,760 1950s he became a familiar face on the stages of Glasgow and Edinburgh. 64 00:03:56,760 --> 00:04:00,680 He was an all-round entertainer in constantly changing revue shows 65 00:04:00,680 --> 00:04:02,640 and long-running pantomimes. 66 00:04:02,640 --> 00:04:05,320 All provide a welcome to Five Past Eight. 67 00:04:12,480 --> 00:04:15,440 # Turn us loose, set us free 68 00:04:15,440 --> 00:04:19,040 # We've no use for reason or rhyme 69 00:04:19,040 --> 00:04:21,960 # My slacks are slappy So what do we care? 70 00:04:21,960 --> 00:04:24,800 # Just relax I will have a good time. # 71 00:04:24,800 --> 00:04:28,200 But the characters go from, oh, from old men to young lasses, 72 00:04:28,200 --> 00:04:32,040 from young men to middle-aged men, and even an American. 73 00:04:38,640 --> 00:04:40,520 Got a fag? 74 00:04:40,520 --> 00:04:43,640 'Five Past Eight and that all sort of thing, these were big deals.' 75 00:04:43,640 --> 00:04:48,040 This is showbiz at its very, very, very best. 76 00:04:48,040 --> 00:04:52,960 So if you went to see a panto with Stanley in it, 77 00:04:52,960 --> 00:04:56,680 it was going to be spectacular. Yeah, it would be funny and all the 78 00:04:56,680 --> 00:04:59,440 rest of it and all the daft things that you'd expect, 79 00:04:59,440 --> 00:05:02,040 but there was spectacle. 80 00:05:02,040 --> 00:05:05,560 Stanley quickly became a star of the stage. 81 00:05:05,560 --> 00:05:08,400 Between pantomime seasons there were the Half Past Eight 82 00:05:08,400 --> 00:05:10,760 and Five Past Eight theatre revues - 83 00:05:10,760 --> 00:05:14,600 lavish variety shows that would be the testing ground and template 84 00:05:14,600 --> 00:05:18,040 for his own brand of television entertainment in years to come. 85 00:05:19,880 --> 00:05:23,040 He played the magnificent Howard and Wyndham chain of theatres, 86 00:05:23,040 --> 00:05:25,280 the best Scotland could offer. 87 00:05:25,280 --> 00:05:28,360 But Stanley had ambition. 88 00:05:28,360 --> 00:05:30,720 I was getting fed up with Howard and Wyndham. 89 00:05:30,720 --> 00:05:34,640 They had run into financial trouble. They'd sold the Alhambra, 90 00:05:34,640 --> 00:05:37,280 one of the best theatres in Britain, the Alhambra. 91 00:05:37,280 --> 00:05:39,920 I got really angry and I thought "I'm going to end up 92 00:05:39,920 --> 00:05:41,520 "playing number two theatres." 93 00:05:41,520 --> 00:05:43,560 Which is fine for a lot of people 94 00:05:43,560 --> 00:05:46,720 but I was used to the number ones, to be a wee bit snobby. 95 00:05:46,720 --> 00:05:48,720 So I decided to head south. 96 00:05:48,720 --> 00:05:52,880 And Stewart Cruickshank at that time was a honcho, the chief honcho 97 00:05:52,880 --> 00:05:59,080 at Howard and Wyndham, said, "You're planning to go south? 98 00:05:59,080 --> 00:06:01,280 "Anything planned?" 99 00:06:01,280 --> 00:06:06,120 I said, "No, I'm just going south and trying, really." 100 00:06:06,120 --> 00:06:09,840 "Well, I can't promise they'll be any work for you when you come back." 101 00:06:09,840 --> 00:06:15,120 Well, I'd been starring for him for ages - not a very kind remark. 102 00:06:15,120 --> 00:06:18,760 But it made me all the more determined to go south 103 00:06:18,760 --> 00:06:21,480 and make a go of it if I could. 104 00:06:21,480 --> 00:06:23,960 And so I went south and... 105 00:06:25,680 --> 00:06:28,840 ..who did I get a phone call from? 106 00:06:28,840 --> 00:06:30,600 Jimmy Gilbert, 107 00:06:30,600 --> 00:06:34,400 who said, "Is it true? You're coming south with no work?" 108 00:06:34,400 --> 00:06:36,320 I said, "Absolutely true." 109 00:06:36,320 --> 00:06:39,120 "Well, I've had an idea of doing Intimate Revue." 110 00:06:39,120 --> 00:06:42,960 Now that's always been a rather chichi kind of specialised thing 111 00:06:42,960 --> 00:06:45,680 at the Royal Court and stuff like that. 112 00:06:45,680 --> 00:06:47,320 But I thought it could be adapted, 113 00:06:47,320 --> 00:06:50,840 if it were broadened a bit, for television. 114 00:06:50,840 --> 00:06:54,480 He wasn't a well-known name down in England at all. 115 00:06:54,480 --> 00:07:00,200 And we got Betty Marsden to join him as his leading lady 116 00:07:00,200 --> 00:07:04,280 and, well, we made a television version of revue. 117 00:07:04,280 --> 00:07:09,120 We didn't try and just photograph a West End revue. 118 00:07:09,120 --> 00:07:13,320 I was obviously very excited to have this chance to get on television 119 00:07:13,320 --> 00:07:17,080 because I knew that the audience was a lot bigger than anything 120 00:07:17,080 --> 00:07:22,320 I could have played to in pantomime or in Five Past Eight shows. 121 00:07:23,720 --> 00:07:30,320 But then, when I started with BBC and there was no ITV at all, 122 00:07:30,320 --> 00:07:33,480 so it was a fairly small audience. 123 00:07:33,480 --> 00:07:39,080 But when I didn't work in dialect, quite deliberately, 124 00:07:39,080 --> 00:07:43,400 the Scottish press were not best pleased. 125 00:07:43,400 --> 00:07:47,880 And they tended to be a bit snide about, "What's the matter with you? 126 00:07:47,880 --> 00:07:50,520 "Given up doing your native accent?" 127 00:07:50,520 --> 00:07:52,920 I thought, "I haven't forgotten it, 128 00:07:52,920 --> 00:07:57,600 "I just choose to show that I can do, that I've got a wider range." 129 00:07:57,600 --> 00:07:59,480 In case there should be any confusion, 130 00:07:59,480 --> 00:08:03,800 since we rarely see Stanley Baxter as himself, this is Stanley Baxter. 131 00:08:04,960 --> 00:08:08,200 And this is the Television Guild Producers Award, which he received 132 00:08:08,200 --> 00:08:11,880 a month or two ago as the best light entertainment artist of the year. 133 00:08:11,880 --> 00:08:16,800 We only did two series, we were the first BBC light entertainment show 134 00:08:16,800 --> 00:08:19,760 to win what was the equivalent of a BAFTA. 135 00:08:19,760 --> 00:08:23,560 It was a CEFTA, and Stanley was exceedingly well-received. 136 00:08:25,480 --> 00:08:30,520 He's a good-looking guy and he was versatile, talented, 137 00:08:30,520 --> 00:08:33,400 he could do all this stuff and he just suddenly, you know, to spring 138 00:08:33,400 --> 00:08:38,560 out from Glasgow, whereas a lot of the other Glasgow comedians were 139 00:08:38,560 --> 00:08:44,520 so obviously Scottish, but Stanley had the Hollywood flavour. 140 00:08:45,800 --> 00:08:48,400 Stanley was a rising star. 141 00:08:48,400 --> 00:08:50,880 He was cast in a succession of cinema features with 142 00:08:50,880 --> 00:08:54,640 Julie Christie, James Robertson Justice and Leslie Phillips. 143 00:08:54,640 --> 00:08:57,920 I've got a feeling it's going to be just what they want, you know. 144 00:08:59,320 --> 00:09:04,040 One of the bosses of Independent Artists had seen me a lot 145 00:09:04,040 --> 00:09:09,320 and had met a fan that wanted me to be signed up for Independent Artists. 146 00:09:10,640 --> 00:09:13,200 And the first thing they wanted me 147 00:09:13,200 --> 00:09:17,480 to do was something to be called Very Important Person, in which 148 00:09:17,480 --> 00:09:20,600 James Robertson Justice was playing this boffin 149 00:09:20,600 --> 00:09:23,720 who was landed and had to be kept. 150 00:09:23,720 --> 00:09:26,000 Everybody in the hut that he was sent to be in, 151 00:09:26,000 --> 00:09:29,520 mustn't let the Jerrys know that he is this boffin. 152 00:09:29,520 --> 00:09:31,360 Right. 153 00:09:31,360 --> 00:09:33,120 Back to your bunks. 154 00:09:33,120 --> 00:09:35,120 'The director, I met the director' 155 00:09:35,120 --> 00:09:37,960 and he said something that interested me enormously, he said, 156 00:09:37,960 --> 00:09:41,440 "Now, the part we want you to play is this Scots boy 157 00:09:41,440 --> 00:09:44,520 "who is obsessed about digging his way out." 158 00:09:44,520 --> 00:09:47,760 That was his way of escaping. I said, "Sounds good." 159 00:09:47,760 --> 00:09:50,800 Wavy Navy, eh? Oh, if I'm not mistaken, 160 00:09:50,800 --> 00:09:54,840 the boys in dark blue are partial to a wee bit of gardening. 161 00:09:54,840 --> 00:09:56,920 I cordially detest gardening. 162 00:09:56,920 --> 00:10:00,280 You've done a wee bit of digging in your time. Certainly not. 163 00:10:00,280 --> 00:10:01,840 Pity. 164 00:10:01,840 --> 00:10:05,080 He said, "This Scots boy has to impersonate 165 00:10:05,080 --> 00:10:09,280 "the German Kommandant later on in the film." 166 00:10:09,280 --> 00:10:13,760 I had one idea, we just had the idea maybe it would be good to have 167 00:10:13,760 --> 00:10:16,600 the Scots boy not only play the Scots boy 168 00:10:16,600 --> 00:10:18,880 but play the German for real. 169 00:10:20,520 --> 00:10:24,920 I said, and this is really cheeky, because I'd never made a movie, 170 00:10:24,920 --> 00:10:28,760 I said, "Oh, I'd consider taking this film on 171 00:10:28,760 --> 00:10:32,840 "if I got the German, as well." Cheeky! 172 00:10:32,840 --> 00:10:35,760 'So they said, "All right." 173 00:10:35,760 --> 00:10:39,520 'But for the first three days, they had me as that German.' 174 00:10:39,520 --> 00:10:42,760 Just so they could look at the rush and say, "Dosnae work." 175 00:10:42,760 --> 00:10:44,520 Or, "It's working." 176 00:10:44,520 --> 00:10:46,640 It's me. 177 00:10:46,640 --> 00:10:49,000 Well, obviously, they said, "It's working," 178 00:10:49,000 --> 00:10:50,480 because I went on to do that. 179 00:10:50,480 --> 00:10:52,040 This is as far as I go. 180 00:10:52,040 --> 00:10:54,960 No doubt I'll be accused of striking a German officer this morning 181 00:10:54,960 --> 00:10:57,760 and be shot at dawn this afternoon. 182 00:10:57,760 --> 00:10:59,920 Nonsense, Everett, you've done very well. 183 00:10:59,920 --> 00:11:02,280 Don't spoil it all by getting caught now. 184 00:11:03,560 --> 00:11:04,920 Come on. 185 00:11:08,280 --> 00:11:13,080 And I got rave notices and that was my favourite film, really. 186 00:11:13,080 --> 00:11:17,320 Because in all the others I was playing a juvenile. 187 00:11:17,320 --> 00:11:19,040 CAR HORN 188 00:11:19,040 --> 00:11:21,160 'Scots juvenile was dyed here.' 189 00:11:22,840 --> 00:11:24,680 Get an ambulance! 190 00:11:24,680 --> 00:11:26,080 They made money, 191 00:11:26,080 --> 00:11:29,680 The Fast Lady made a hell of a lot of money for the studio. 192 00:11:29,680 --> 00:11:33,320 The film producers had Stanley play the stereotypical Scot. 193 00:11:33,320 --> 00:11:35,600 # The Highland hills They're not my land's hills 194 00:11:35,600 --> 00:11:39,000 # And fair as these green foreign hills may be 195 00:11:39,000 --> 00:11:42,280 # They are not the hills of old... # 196 00:11:42,280 --> 00:11:45,760 In Fast Lady, his charm wins the girl in the end 197 00:11:45,760 --> 00:11:49,560 against the smarmy English cad, Leslie Phillips. 198 00:11:49,560 --> 00:11:51,680 Why don't you turn that game in? 199 00:11:51,680 --> 00:11:54,600 I refuse to be driven off the road by you motorists! 200 00:11:56,920 --> 00:12:01,000 Buy yourself a decent car, get yourself a girl, 201 00:12:01,000 --> 00:12:02,440 this one's for sale! 202 00:12:03,560 --> 00:12:07,480 Possibly a bit on the fast side, but she's on very modern lines. 203 00:12:07,480 --> 00:12:10,080 Smashing upholstery. She's a real bargain. 204 00:12:10,080 --> 00:12:11,920 What a suggestion! 205 00:12:11,920 --> 00:12:15,920 Other sales points include, an ample rear boot... 206 00:12:15,920 --> 00:12:17,440 loose covers... 207 00:12:17,440 --> 00:12:19,720 and an automatic clutch, 208 00:12:19,720 --> 00:12:22,920 leaving plenty of room for fancy knee work. 209 00:12:22,920 --> 00:12:25,280 Dirty beast! 210 00:12:25,280 --> 00:12:28,320 Stanley, I believe you like to be known as a character actor, 211 00:12:28,320 --> 00:12:30,560 rather than a personality actor? 212 00:12:30,560 --> 00:12:32,720 I think that's because I don't have any choice, 213 00:12:32,720 --> 00:12:35,680 I think I am a character actor, rather than a personality actor. 214 00:12:35,680 --> 00:12:38,800 Certainly in all the films I've done, except for The Fast Lady, 215 00:12:38,800 --> 00:12:42,200 I've been doing character stuff. 216 00:12:42,200 --> 00:12:46,840 Stanley's story as a screen idol didn't have a happy ending. 217 00:12:46,840 --> 00:12:49,320 After just six titles, the failure of the studio 218 00:12:49,320 --> 00:12:51,800 brought his big screen career to a shuddering halt. 219 00:12:51,800 --> 00:12:55,680 Something's gone wrong! You've run out of petrol. 220 00:12:57,880 --> 00:13:00,160 Oh, blast! 221 00:13:00,160 --> 00:13:04,560 The people I was working for, Independent Artists, closed down, 222 00:13:04,560 --> 00:13:09,560 due to the illness of one of the partners. 223 00:13:09,560 --> 00:13:14,360 And so, as I hadn't had an offer from MGM or RKO, 224 00:13:14,360 --> 00:13:18,000 20th Century Fox, I just had to wait, 225 00:13:18,000 --> 00:13:22,680 like most actors have to do, wait till you're asked to do something. 226 00:13:22,680 --> 00:13:25,480 Stanley's Hollywood dreams were on hold. 227 00:13:25,480 --> 00:13:29,800 But he did still have the patronage of the BBC at least for a while. 228 00:13:29,800 --> 00:13:34,600 Once we won the first BAFTA for On The Bright Side, 229 00:13:34,600 --> 00:13:36,880 that was one thing, and I went on, 230 00:13:36,880 --> 00:13:42,080 under the aegis of Jimmy Gilbert, doing other shows like that. 231 00:13:42,080 --> 00:13:44,120 Oh, he did impersonations, 232 00:13:44,120 --> 00:13:47,040 we did a lot of that, we didn't have the same... 233 00:13:47,040 --> 00:13:51,440 technical help that you would get nowadays, 234 00:13:51,440 --> 00:13:54,120 it all had to be shot on film. 235 00:13:54,120 --> 00:14:00,040 But, those were the most successful stand-up equivalents, 236 00:14:00,040 --> 00:14:03,520 stand-ups that Stanley did in On The Bright Side. 237 00:14:03,520 --> 00:14:05,720 They were very funny. 238 00:14:05,720 --> 00:14:07,760 And here at last, the lovely pair... 239 00:14:07,760 --> 00:14:09,600 Stanley enjoyed filming in the studio 240 00:14:09,600 --> 00:14:12,160 and on location as was done for cinema. 241 00:14:12,160 --> 00:14:14,920 Sketches looked better than if they had been confined to a stage 242 00:14:14,920 --> 00:14:16,480 and live audience. 243 00:14:16,480 --> 00:14:20,040 But they were more expensive to produce. 244 00:14:21,320 --> 00:14:23,440 What they did at Ealing in the way of filming 245 00:14:23,440 --> 00:14:26,200 was outrageous financially. 246 00:14:26,200 --> 00:14:29,520 Any time we went for a cup of tea, everybody shut down, 247 00:14:29,520 --> 00:14:31,840 but it costs money to do that. 248 00:14:31,840 --> 00:14:33,920 Whereas we all went away to the canteen, 249 00:14:33,920 --> 00:14:35,840 then back - "Oh, lunch!" - 250 00:14:35,840 --> 00:14:38,560 we're on our way back to the canteen again... 251 00:14:38,560 --> 00:14:40,640 Well, in the end it was astronomic. 252 00:14:40,640 --> 00:14:45,320 And the powers that be said to Jimmy Gilbert, "I'm sorry. 253 00:14:45,320 --> 00:14:48,080 "You may think that he's very happy doing it, 254 00:14:48,080 --> 00:14:50,080 "but we can't afford it." 255 00:14:50,080 --> 00:14:53,320 So, that's the first time, but not the last 256 00:14:53,320 --> 00:14:55,920 that I was fired from television. 257 00:14:55,920 --> 00:14:58,440 Stanley retreated to Scotland. 258 00:14:58,440 --> 00:15:00,960 He still had a profile as an award-winning comic actor 259 00:15:00,960 --> 00:15:03,360 and his friendship with Kenneth Williams 260 00:15:03,360 --> 00:15:06,840 almost saw Stanley's career take a dramatic twist. 261 00:15:08,360 --> 00:15:12,760 I got us a half invitation from Kenneth Williams. 262 00:15:12,760 --> 00:15:17,200 IMPERSONATES KENNETH WILLIAMS: "Yes, would you like to do a Carry On?" 263 00:15:17,200 --> 00:15:21,480 I said, "No way." I was very snobby about it at that time. 264 00:15:21,480 --> 00:15:25,520 I still look at them and think, "Oh, my God, that is broad." 265 00:15:25,520 --> 00:15:29,000 These surgeons or all right for a quick slash and a fast grope round, 266 00:15:29,000 --> 00:15:31,040 but when it comes to cleaning up the mess, 267 00:15:31,040 --> 00:15:32,640 it's a doctor that's needed. 268 00:15:32,640 --> 00:15:35,280 I said, "No, I didn't want to do it." 269 00:15:35,280 --> 00:15:38,520 But, of course, he loved doing it because there wasn't 270 00:15:38,520 --> 00:15:43,200 a lot of work for him and it was like a great gang, his favourite people. 271 00:15:43,200 --> 00:15:46,840 Hattie Jakes, someone he loved. 272 00:15:46,840 --> 00:15:50,120 Stanley Baxter had been a stage sensation. 273 00:15:50,120 --> 00:15:52,440 He'd won awards for his first ever TV show, 274 00:15:52,440 --> 00:15:57,040 he'd starred in movies, but now, his career had reached a hiatus. 275 00:15:58,080 --> 00:16:03,320 Then, in 1966, he met a young, Scottish director, David Bell. 276 00:16:03,320 --> 00:16:06,920 It was a landmark, the start of a partnership that would ultimately 277 00:16:06,920 --> 00:16:09,600 see Stanley Baxter make some of Britain's 278 00:16:09,600 --> 00:16:12,040 most elaborate entertainment shows. 279 00:16:12,040 --> 00:16:15,440 He was spotted by a very brilliant, 280 00:16:15,440 --> 00:16:19,520 brilliant television director/producer, David Bell. 281 00:16:19,520 --> 00:16:23,600 And it was David who created the format in Scotland, 282 00:16:23,600 --> 00:16:26,520 the embryonic Stanley Baxter Big Picture Show. 283 00:16:26,520 --> 00:16:30,960 The Baxter and Bell partnership was perfect, but Glasgow seemed to 284 00:16:30,960 --> 00:16:34,800 lack the available studio facilities Stanley had enjoyed in London. 285 00:16:36,160 --> 00:16:39,800 I said, "I do miss all that kind of stuff I used to do at Ealing." 286 00:16:39,800 --> 00:16:44,680 "I've so many more ideas but we haven't got the facilities here." 287 00:16:44,680 --> 00:16:49,640 He said, "I've got news for you, dear, we have in a way." 288 00:16:49,640 --> 00:16:51,240 I said, "How do you mean?" 289 00:16:51,240 --> 00:16:58,760 "Well, the place the BBC were working from has now been vacated." 290 00:16:58,760 --> 00:17:01,800 "All the rigging is up there for the lighting," 291 00:17:01,800 --> 00:17:06,920 "we could go in there and create our own MGM." 292 00:17:06,920 --> 00:17:10,560 The Stanley Baxter Show, scene one, take one. 293 00:17:10,560 --> 00:17:11,960 Very revolutionary. 294 00:17:14,280 --> 00:17:17,160 Over the shoulder and using him as all the characters, 295 00:17:17,160 --> 00:17:19,080 a blue screen and all that. 296 00:17:19,080 --> 00:17:22,280 But Stanley used it for humour as the first person to do it. 297 00:17:23,960 --> 00:17:26,440 Stanley's TV shows from Glasgow developed 298 00:17:26,440 --> 00:17:30,040 and showcased his talents but he remained a regional act, 299 00:17:30,040 --> 00:17:33,440 on the periphery of the BBC network's vision. 300 00:17:33,440 --> 00:17:36,960 When David Bell left Scotland to join London Weekend in 1970, 301 00:17:36,960 --> 00:17:40,480 it looked like Stanley might be left on the shelf. 302 00:17:40,480 --> 00:17:43,560 But fate was to hand him a golden opportunity. 303 00:17:44,960 --> 00:17:52,240 He said, "I think you should go to LWT, they're interested there." 304 00:17:53,680 --> 00:17:56,840 "I'd like you to meet the boss, Cyril Bennett." 305 00:17:58,800 --> 00:18:02,440 I said, "OK, that would be fine." 306 00:18:02,440 --> 00:18:04,840 "You think he would be really interested?" 307 00:18:04,840 --> 00:18:07,040 "Yes, yes, he's very interested in you." 308 00:18:07,040 --> 00:18:10,280 It was Stanley's good fortune that David Bell moved 309 00:18:10,280 --> 00:18:14,240 to London Weekend and persuaded them to bring Stanley with them. 310 00:18:14,240 --> 00:18:17,600 Then money was no object by that point and so the shows got 311 00:18:17,600 --> 00:18:20,800 bigger and bigger, which was exactly what Stanley needed. 312 00:18:20,800 --> 00:18:22,040 A bigger canvas. 313 00:18:22,040 --> 00:18:27,000 I don't think the influence of David Bell can be underestimated 314 00:18:27,000 --> 00:18:31,200 and also David Bell's willingness to stretch budgets. 315 00:18:31,200 --> 00:18:34,760 David Bell's catchphrase was, "It's not your money, dear." 316 00:18:34,760 --> 00:18:36,920 If only accountants came and said, 317 00:18:36,920 --> 00:18:38,880 "Isn't this going a bit over budget, 318 00:18:38,880 --> 00:18:41,160 "isn't this getting a bit expensive?" 319 00:18:41,160 --> 00:18:43,280 He'd say, "It's not your money, dear." 320 00:18:53,160 --> 00:18:56,560 There was nothing to stop the BBC doing what London Weekend did 321 00:18:56,560 --> 00:18:59,680 with Stanley. I don't think they understood what they had. 322 00:18:59,680 --> 00:19:01,600 They couldn't see it. 323 00:19:01,600 --> 00:19:05,760 It was some regional token programme that came down from Scotland 324 00:19:05,760 --> 00:19:08,240 and was played at 10:30 at night. 325 00:19:08,240 --> 00:19:11,400 He wasn't loved and appreciated, 326 00:19:11,400 --> 00:19:16,480 where as Stanley was a big star at London Weekend 327 00:19:16,480 --> 00:19:18,920 and was given the star treatment. 328 00:19:21,560 --> 00:19:27,040 Stanley's career took off. ITV provided a star billing and money. 329 00:19:27,040 --> 00:19:28,680 Over the next 16 years, 330 00:19:28,680 --> 00:19:31,600 the appearance of a Stanley Baxter show 331 00:19:31,600 --> 00:19:33,560 could empty the streets. 332 00:19:33,560 --> 00:19:37,240 So what made Stanley Baxter special? 333 00:19:37,240 --> 00:19:39,920 It was the range of vivid characters, 334 00:19:39,920 --> 00:19:42,880 starting with well observed ordinary people and escalating to 335 00:19:42,880 --> 00:19:45,680 celebrity impersonations in elaborate parodies. 336 00:19:47,160 --> 00:19:49,640 Stanley had an appeal for everybody. 337 00:19:49,640 --> 00:19:51,400 In every one of his shows 338 00:19:51,400 --> 00:19:54,480 you will find some very low musical humour, 339 00:19:54,480 --> 00:19:57,640 you'll find some very camp humour, 340 00:19:57,640 --> 00:20:02,240 you'll find some very sophisticated, witty humour. 341 00:20:02,240 --> 00:20:04,640 He worked on many, many, many levels. 342 00:20:07,640 --> 00:20:12,080 You started by being amazed at him playing all the different characters 343 00:20:12,080 --> 00:20:13,840 and how it was put together, 344 00:20:13,840 --> 00:20:18,040 but you soon forgot that because it didn't rely on that. 345 00:20:18,040 --> 00:20:23,680 The humour was just so funny - the parodies, the silly sketches. 346 00:20:27,000 --> 00:20:31,160 Stanley was a talented mimic from an early age. 347 00:20:31,160 --> 00:20:34,640 I've always been terribly interested in dialect of all kinds. 348 00:20:34,640 --> 00:20:36,520 I think we went to Blackpool once 349 00:20:36,520 --> 00:20:39,280 and I started doing broader and broader. 350 00:20:39,280 --> 00:20:44,040 My mother, who was a bit ancient, 351 00:20:44,040 --> 00:20:48,080 was on to the fact that I could do this Lancashire accent. 352 00:20:48,080 --> 00:20:51,520 LANCASHIRE ACCENT: There's a famous seaside place called Blackpool 353 00:20:51,520 --> 00:20:54,000 that's noted for fresh air and fun. 354 00:20:54,000 --> 00:20:56,200 She said, "That's quite good." 355 00:20:56,200 --> 00:21:00,040 That was one thing I did, then I went for a holiday... 356 00:21:00,040 --> 00:21:04,160 The family went on holiday to Portrush in Northern Ireland. 357 00:21:04,160 --> 00:21:08,760 That accent so fascinated me, I started doing it in life all the time 358 00:21:08,760 --> 00:21:13,600 until even my mother, who adored me doing any kind of performance... 359 00:21:13,600 --> 00:21:17,320 "Oh, give over that. We're getting a bit fed up with that." I said, 360 00:21:17,320 --> 00:21:21,080 NORTHERN IRISH ACCENT: "I love doing it, because it's so different from anything." 361 00:21:21,080 --> 00:21:23,040 "Just forget it for a wee bit." 362 00:21:23,040 --> 00:21:25,520 But I've gone back to it in television. 363 00:21:28,160 --> 00:21:32,560 NORTHERN IRISH ACCENT: Are you waiting for the American plane too? No, Sydney. 364 00:21:32,560 --> 00:21:37,880 Oh, my daughter's called Nora. She'll be through any minute now. 365 00:21:37,880 --> 00:21:40,120 She's been in the States for four months. 366 00:21:40,120 --> 00:21:44,160 Oh here, listen, you'll die laughing. 367 00:21:44,160 --> 00:21:48,760 She sent me a wee box of six rejuvenating pills. 368 00:21:48,760 --> 00:21:51,880 I took one and you know, I think it did make a difference. 369 00:21:54,280 --> 00:21:59,840 Mother. Darling. You look marvellous. 370 00:21:59,840 --> 00:22:02,920 Well I took one of your rejuvenating pills. 371 00:22:05,800 --> 00:22:07,560 Don't tell me you've had a baby. 372 00:22:07,560 --> 00:22:11,560 No, that's your father, he took the other five. 373 00:22:11,560 --> 00:22:14,600 Stanley had always been most playful 374 00:22:14,600 --> 00:22:17,280 when sending up his own accent, Scots. 375 00:22:17,280 --> 00:22:20,960 When did you discover you had this great gift of languages? 376 00:22:20,960 --> 00:22:25,240 SCOTTISH ACCENT: I have knew it for many a year. 377 00:22:25,240 --> 00:22:28,880 As a diminutive wee'un, I was speaking French. 378 00:22:28,880 --> 00:22:32,280 I remember sucking a piece of fruit and saying to my parents, 379 00:22:32,280 --> 00:22:36,480 "Mere, Pere," which of course, as you know, 380 00:22:36,480 --> 00:22:39,400 is French for mother and father. 381 00:22:39,400 --> 00:22:42,720 So as I growed up, I felt it was incompetent upon me 382 00:22:42,720 --> 00:22:45,600 to make myself multi-bilingual. 383 00:22:45,600 --> 00:22:49,320 Parliamo Glasgow started as a germ of an idea in the '50s 384 00:22:49,320 --> 00:22:54,920 and became a cult classic when LWT gave it a peak time audience. 385 00:22:56,520 --> 00:22:57,880 Parliamo Glasgow 386 00:22:57,880 --> 00:22:59,600 was a tremendous success. 387 00:23:02,440 --> 00:23:06,920 Parliamo Glasgow took the form of a lecture by this don 388 00:23:06,920 --> 00:23:12,360 about Glasgow habits and dialects. 389 00:23:12,360 --> 00:23:17,520 Aye! Rat fat rats as blin' as a bloody bat! 390 00:23:19,000 --> 00:23:22,880 It is time, now, to examine some of the words and phrases used by 391 00:23:22,880 --> 00:23:27,760 the young lady and her fiance as they enjoy themselves at the football. 392 00:23:27,760 --> 00:23:29,960 As soon as the game commences, 393 00:23:29,960 --> 00:23:33,440 the young gentleman calls encouragement to the team he favours. 394 00:23:33,440 --> 00:23:36,880 He gives voice to a word borrowed from the aboriginal 395 00:23:36,880 --> 00:23:38,600 dwellers in New Zealand... 396 00:23:42,560 --> 00:23:47,760 But I thought I'd be limited to Glaswegians. Quite wrong. 397 00:23:47,760 --> 00:23:50,040 All of Scotland loved it 398 00:23:50,040 --> 00:23:53,640 because Glaswegian is really the lingua franca. 399 00:23:53,640 --> 00:23:57,200 The lingua franca of Scottish comedy. 400 00:23:57,200 --> 00:23:59,160 So we have... 401 00:24:00,680 --> 00:24:02,960 It's like turning 402 00:24:02,960 --> 00:24:05,560 a magnifying glass 403 00:24:05,560 --> 00:24:08,560 on something that you deal with every day of your life, 404 00:24:08,560 --> 00:24:11,000 that you walk past, you've not noticed before. 405 00:24:11,000 --> 00:24:15,360 And suddenly, you know, it becomes something. That's the genius of it. 406 00:24:19,560 --> 00:24:23,320 I think it should be up there with all of the Mr Previews 407 00:24:23,320 --> 00:24:26,280 and the Four Candles and all of those sketches, 408 00:24:26,280 --> 00:24:28,880 because it's an incredibly clever setup. 409 00:24:30,320 --> 00:24:33,760 It takes a Scottish in-joke 410 00:24:33,760 --> 00:24:37,560 and makes it accessible to the whole nation. 411 00:24:37,560 --> 00:24:40,520 The young gentleman does not relish having his singing interrupted 412 00:24:40,520 --> 00:24:44,080 and addresses his companion with the Spanish sounding word... 413 00:24:46,360 --> 00:24:49,080 Now, that does sound like a foreign language, doesn't it? 414 00:24:53,600 --> 00:24:57,120 It is one on the gob you need. 415 00:24:57,120 --> 00:24:58,560 It's a threat. 416 00:24:58,560 --> 00:25:02,920 You know, it's one on the gob you need, my man. 417 00:25:04,840 --> 00:25:08,320 That sounds vaguely Indian, doesn't it, some of these? 418 00:25:08,320 --> 00:25:11,800 With the suffix rem, we have the inspiring cry... 419 00:25:14,000 --> 00:25:17,360 That was the whole point of it, that he took something really, 420 00:25:17,360 --> 00:25:19,400 really ordinary and cranked it up. 421 00:25:19,400 --> 00:25:22,560 Parliamo Glasgow opened the door for comedy 422 00:25:22,560 --> 00:25:25,520 and Glasgow dialect for years to come. 423 00:25:30,280 --> 00:25:32,200 Oh, you know what, Rab? 424 00:25:32,200 --> 00:25:35,240 You're beginning to speak my language. Is he? 425 00:25:35,240 --> 00:25:36,720 Rab's with me. 426 00:25:36,720 --> 00:25:39,600 When you come fae Govan, you speak straight fae the heart. 427 00:25:39,600 --> 00:25:42,400 The reason we were able to take that where we took it 428 00:25:42,400 --> 00:25:44,520 wasn't part of what had gone before. 429 00:25:44,520 --> 00:25:49,400 If it hadn't been for the Parliamos and Stanley, 430 00:25:49,400 --> 00:25:52,760 if it hadn't been for the Billy Connollys, 431 00:25:52,760 --> 00:25:55,360 then we wouldn't have been able to 432 00:25:55,360 --> 00:25:58,760 inhabit that territory that we did inhabit. 433 00:25:58,760 --> 00:26:03,120 Hey, you're nothing but a waste of ozone! 434 00:26:03,120 --> 00:26:07,000 Leave me alone! It's only me, it's only me. 435 00:26:07,000 --> 00:26:11,720 Don't cough your lungs up onto the pavement, either. 436 00:26:11,720 --> 00:26:16,200 You know when one of your sort of boyhood heroes turns up on a set 437 00:26:16,200 --> 00:26:20,400 and essentially your set and you think, "Oh, God, 438 00:26:20,400 --> 00:26:23,680 "we better get it right this week," you know what I mean? 439 00:26:23,680 --> 00:26:28,280 Well, if you'll excuse me, some of us have some living to do. 440 00:26:28,280 --> 00:26:30,960 Taxi! 441 00:26:30,960 --> 00:26:33,120 It was great fun. Great fun. 442 00:26:33,120 --> 00:26:36,480 Stanley's Scotsman was compelling much earlier. 443 00:26:36,480 --> 00:26:39,720 In 1971, when The Goodies needed a stereotypical Scotsman 444 00:26:39,720 --> 00:26:42,360 for their hunt for the Loch Ness monster, 445 00:26:42,360 --> 00:26:45,720 Stanley was perfectly over the top. 446 00:26:45,720 --> 00:26:47,520 We had the three of us 447 00:26:47,520 --> 00:26:50,480 and then we would have a guest star 448 00:26:50,480 --> 00:26:52,760 and Stanley was... 449 00:26:54,600 --> 00:26:57,760 ..guess what, he was a Scotsman. 450 00:26:57,760 --> 00:26:59,000 Good morning. 451 00:26:59,000 --> 00:27:02,880 It's a braw brich moonlich nich tonich. 452 00:27:02,880 --> 00:27:04,200 'I don't know how,' 453 00:27:04,200 --> 00:27:08,800 there must have been a gap in my schedule. 454 00:27:08,800 --> 00:27:11,480 I've seen him quoted since as saying, you know, 455 00:27:11,480 --> 00:27:16,160 he had no idea what it was and hadn't seen it, you know? 456 00:27:16,160 --> 00:27:18,600 I still sense, slightly begrudgingly, 457 00:27:18,600 --> 00:27:20,680 he said he enjoyed it. 458 00:27:20,680 --> 00:27:22,720 # Oh, when the sun sinks in the west 459 00:27:22,720 --> 00:27:24,600 # That's the time that I love best 460 00:27:24,600 --> 00:27:28,840 # When the moon's a-roaming in the gloaming 461 00:27:28,840 --> 00:27:30,280 # McHoots! # 462 00:27:30,280 --> 00:27:33,960 You must be English tourists. That's right. 463 00:27:33,960 --> 00:27:36,080 And you'll be after the monster, eh? Yeah. 464 00:27:36,080 --> 00:27:39,280 Well, you've come to the right place and at just the right time. 465 00:27:39,280 --> 00:27:42,480 The monster season's just opened again. Oh, yes? 466 00:27:42,480 --> 00:27:45,640 Uh-huh. Now, you'll be needing your monster fishing permits. 467 00:27:45,640 --> 00:27:49,160 That will be five pounds for the week in advance, if you didnae mind? 468 00:27:50,480 --> 00:27:52,680 Thank you. 469 00:27:54,200 --> 00:27:56,720 # If I ruled the world... 470 00:27:56,720 --> 00:27:58,880 Stanley's career was flying. 471 00:27:58,880 --> 00:28:00,960 Whilst he was a master of dialects 472 00:28:00,960 --> 00:28:03,760 and audiences always loved his mimes of celebrities, 473 00:28:03,760 --> 00:28:06,040 at LWT the shows got bigger. 474 00:28:06,040 --> 00:28:09,120 The production team would match the characterisations with 475 00:28:09,120 --> 00:28:12,560 elaborate costume, make up, sets and props. 476 00:28:12,560 --> 00:28:14,760 # If I ruled the world 477 00:28:14,760 --> 00:28:17,240 # Every head would be... 478 00:28:17,240 --> 00:28:20,640 Seems to me that Harry has been singing those beautiful 479 00:28:20,640 --> 00:28:24,600 and inspiring words since time began. 480 00:28:24,600 --> 00:28:26,960 For all eternity, in fact, 481 00:28:26,960 --> 00:28:31,640 and that, I think, is where we ought to send him. 482 00:28:31,640 --> 00:28:33,920 # ..rule the... 483 00:28:33,920 --> 00:28:35,960 EXPLOSION 484 00:28:35,960 --> 00:28:39,960 # World. # 485 00:28:39,960 --> 00:28:42,600 Stanley would play real people, you know. 486 00:28:42,600 --> 00:28:46,680 He'd suddenly be Fred Astaire and also play Ginger Rogers. 487 00:28:46,680 --> 00:28:50,960 And he had the voices and the mannerisms of these people. 488 00:28:50,960 --> 00:28:53,240 The observation of the man, oh boy. 489 00:28:53,240 --> 00:28:54,480 Didn't they? 490 00:28:54,480 --> 00:28:56,480 AUDIENCE: Do well! 491 00:28:56,480 --> 00:28:58,080 I'm not very well. 492 00:28:58,080 --> 00:29:00,280 One of those winter colds, you know? All snuffly. 493 00:29:00,280 --> 00:29:03,120 Just this morning, I woke up early, turned to Anthea and said, 494 00:29:03,120 --> 00:29:06,160 "Don't you hate that stuffed up feeling in the morning?" 495 00:29:06,160 --> 00:29:08,240 She said, "I rather like it." 496 00:29:08,240 --> 00:29:10,520 # Christmas comes but once a year 497 00:29:10,520 --> 00:29:12,840 # And that is once too much, I fear 498 00:29:12,840 --> 00:29:16,720 # For someone who deplores The festive season... # 499 00:29:16,720 --> 00:29:18,800 COMPERE: Nana Missouri. 500 00:29:18,800 --> 00:29:20,960 APPLAUSE 501 00:29:25,680 --> 00:29:27,640 LAUGHTER 502 00:29:30,080 --> 00:29:33,200 You can link him to Ronnie Barker in the way that Stanley Baxter 503 00:29:33,200 --> 00:29:34,600 would change his appearance. 504 00:29:34,600 --> 00:29:36,840 You couldn't believe you were looking at him. 505 00:29:36,840 --> 00:29:39,760 And, you know, people go, "Oh, he was in drag." 506 00:29:39,760 --> 00:29:41,080 Yes, he did brilliant drag, 507 00:29:41,080 --> 00:29:44,160 but you'd see him play a load of other parts. 508 00:29:44,160 --> 00:29:47,600 It was all frightening. You thought, "How was he doing that?" 509 00:29:47,600 --> 00:29:52,000 I loved doing Arthur Negus. 510 00:29:53,800 --> 00:29:57,960 I thought it would be an idea if somebody brought in a human being 511 00:29:57,960 --> 00:30:00,000 and he examined them. 512 00:30:01,600 --> 00:30:05,080 Oh, you never knew you were worth so much, did you? 513 00:30:05,080 --> 00:30:08,080 Oh, my word, now. 514 00:30:08,080 --> 00:30:12,640 Isn't that a beauty, and aren't you a lucky lady there? 515 00:30:12,640 --> 00:30:16,800 I'd make a guess that it's a maiden aunt. 516 00:30:16,800 --> 00:30:18,400 Yes and I'm its niece. 517 00:30:18,400 --> 00:30:21,200 And Arthur Negus dutifully 518 00:30:21,200 --> 00:30:25,800 went round examining this postmistress, 519 00:30:25,800 --> 00:30:28,440 making all the kind of comments he made about 520 00:30:28,440 --> 00:30:30,440 a Chipperfield or something. 521 00:30:30,440 --> 00:30:35,480 Someone's gone to a lot of trouble to preserve this one. 522 00:30:35,480 --> 00:30:38,560 I like it because it's so simple. 523 00:30:38,560 --> 00:30:41,920 It just oozes simplicity, this thing. 524 00:30:41,920 --> 00:30:43,680 You know, at one time, 525 00:30:43,680 --> 00:30:46,200 you'd probably find it behind the counter. 526 00:30:46,200 --> 00:30:49,600 I'd say that it was a village postmistress. 527 00:30:49,600 --> 00:30:52,240 Just look at those beady eyes 528 00:30:52,240 --> 00:30:55,000 and that mean little mouth. 529 00:30:55,000 --> 00:30:59,760 It's got "position closed" written all over it. 530 00:30:59,760 --> 00:31:02,760 Now, everybody, funnily enough, 531 00:31:02,760 --> 00:31:07,680 remembers that aunt with those great earphones 532 00:31:07,680 --> 00:31:10,360 who didn't say anything. 533 00:31:10,360 --> 00:31:12,800 She just stood there and glowered. 534 00:31:12,800 --> 00:31:14,960 And they keep remembering that 535 00:31:14,960 --> 00:31:17,600 where as I remembered the Arthur Negus. 536 00:31:17,600 --> 00:31:21,840 It was one of the best impressions that I ever did of anybody. 537 00:31:21,840 --> 00:31:25,040 And if we're very lucky, 538 00:31:25,040 --> 00:31:28,960 we might be able to find a pair of old drawers in here. 539 00:31:30,600 --> 00:31:32,240 No. 540 00:31:32,240 --> 00:31:34,640 It was very well written by Ken Hoare. 541 00:31:34,640 --> 00:31:36,680 Any idea how much it's worth? 542 00:31:36,680 --> 00:31:40,760 Well, we're talking about a living, breathing antique. 543 00:31:40,760 --> 00:31:44,760 I think that it could be worth about £700. 544 00:31:46,000 --> 00:31:48,840 A most excellent postmistress. 545 00:31:48,840 --> 00:31:52,720 HE KNOCKS ON WOOD Oh dear. Oh, what a shame. 546 00:31:52,720 --> 00:31:56,480 I'm afraid it's absolutely valueless. 547 00:31:56,480 --> 00:31:59,920 This rather crude bit of restoration 548 00:31:59,920 --> 00:32:02,400 has totally ruined it. 549 00:32:02,400 --> 00:32:04,400 This isn't the original leg. 550 00:32:04,400 --> 00:32:06,800 It's a wooden one. 551 00:32:06,800 --> 00:32:09,800 LAUGHTER 552 00:32:09,800 --> 00:32:13,240 Nice bit of English oak, but oh dear, what a shame. 553 00:32:14,560 --> 00:32:17,920 No, I'm afraid if you wanted to raise money on this, 554 00:32:17,920 --> 00:32:20,760 you'd have very little to fall back on. 555 00:32:20,760 --> 00:32:23,400 Stanley targeted the celebrities of the day, 556 00:32:23,400 --> 00:32:25,800 but would never take off anyone he didn't like. 557 00:32:25,800 --> 00:32:30,360 In 1972, the Queen took a direct hit. 558 00:32:30,360 --> 00:32:33,480 I'm very big at the Palace, love. 559 00:32:33,480 --> 00:32:35,080 So am I. 560 00:32:36,840 --> 00:32:40,480 Yes, I got the idea that it would be wonderful to play 561 00:32:40,480 --> 00:32:43,920 the Queen for the first time on television. 562 00:32:43,920 --> 00:32:47,000 And we were all very, very nervous about it. 563 00:32:47,000 --> 00:32:51,040 And we decided that perhaps the first outing for it 564 00:32:51,040 --> 00:32:53,720 should be a royal film show. 565 00:32:53,720 --> 00:32:56,680 It was the Odeon in Holloway Road. 566 00:32:56,680 --> 00:33:00,240 They realised something was going to happen and a crowd had gathered. 567 00:33:00,240 --> 00:33:02,800 David Bell, brilliant as he was, 568 00:33:02,800 --> 00:33:04,200 he turned to them and said, 569 00:33:04,200 --> 00:33:08,480 "Stanley Baxter's coming down that hill in a coach as the Queen 570 00:33:08,480 --> 00:33:12,320 "and we don't mind you standing there as long as you don't shout out, 571 00:33:12,320 --> 00:33:15,000 " 'Hello, Stanley!' or anything like that. 572 00:33:15,000 --> 00:33:18,680 "If you behave exactly as the public would, 573 00:33:18,680 --> 00:33:20,080 "then you can stay." 574 00:33:21,400 --> 00:33:24,560 LAUGHTER 575 00:33:24,560 --> 00:33:27,080 The red carpet will have to follow too. 576 00:33:30,440 --> 00:33:32,360 50 extras for nothing. 577 00:33:34,120 --> 00:33:38,520 And so that went very, very well and became the talk of the town. 578 00:33:38,520 --> 00:33:42,640 And now, yes, the moment we've all been waiting for. 579 00:33:42,640 --> 00:33:46,520 Her Grace, the Duchess of Brenda has come out onto the balcony. 580 00:33:46,520 --> 00:33:48,640 One of the first people to impersonate 581 00:33:48,640 --> 00:33:50,560 the Queen in a comedy sketch on television. 582 00:33:50,560 --> 00:33:53,400 Sellers had done it on radio, 583 00:33:53,400 --> 00:33:56,800 but Stanley did it slightly in disguise. 584 00:33:56,800 --> 00:33:59,320 It wasn't stated as "The Queen". 585 00:33:59,320 --> 00:34:01,440 It was "The Duchess of Brenda" 586 00:34:01,440 --> 00:34:05,120 and of course, Brenda was the below-stairs nickname 587 00:34:05,120 --> 00:34:07,800 for the Queen at Buckingham Palace, 588 00:34:07,800 --> 00:34:10,520 which Private Eye caught up on as well 589 00:34:10,520 --> 00:34:13,480 but that was a knowing little nod there. 590 00:34:13,480 --> 00:34:18,160 Now she appears to be holding the end of a rope. 591 00:34:18,160 --> 00:34:20,080 She is, of course, a keen sailor 592 00:34:20,080 --> 00:34:23,960 and perhaps we're going to get a demonstration of her sailing skills. 593 00:34:25,520 --> 00:34:27,720 Well, this is truly remarkable. 594 00:34:27,720 --> 00:34:30,400 The human face of royalty. 595 00:34:30,400 --> 00:34:33,440 And though this is her special day, her ruby wedding, 596 00:34:33,440 --> 00:34:37,360 the Duchess has remembered that today is also Monday. 597 00:34:37,360 --> 00:34:40,920 I was getting one or two rather rude letters 598 00:34:40,920 --> 00:34:43,960 from Tunbridge Wells, and places like that. 599 00:34:43,960 --> 00:34:47,920 "How dare you do our monarch! You ought to be horsewhipped!" 600 00:34:47,920 --> 00:34:50,400 And that went on and on 601 00:34:50,400 --> 00:34:58,200 until Barbra Streisand had a royal show herself in Leicester Square. 602 00:34:59,440 --> 00:35:03,480 And they decided to have a line-up of some other personalities, 603 00:35:03,480 --> 00:35:09,760 and I was chosen, which must have been approved by Her Majesty, 604 00:35:09,760 --> 00:35:12,360 to be in the line-up, 605 00:35:12,360 --> 00:35:16,800 and when they saw this, all the horsewhippers thought, 606 00:35:16,800 --> 00:35:20,920 "She must have heard he's all right, or she didn't take exception to it." 607 00:35:23,480 --> 00:35:27,520 Having done royalty, the Mafia and the Pope seemed fair game. 608 00:35:32,040 --> 00:35:35,160 Godfather, this is the Holy Father. 609 00:35:35,160 --> 00:35:37,240 Ah-bless you, my son. 610 00:35:37,240 --> 00:35:38,520 Atchoo! 611 00:35:38,520 --> 00:35:40,240 Bless you. 612 00:35:41,520 --> 00:35:44,080 Ladies and gentlemen, Gilbert And. 613 00:35:44,080 --> 00:35:46,560 Stanley's audiences had always been fascinated 614 00:35:46,560 --> 00:35:50,400 by his seeming unlimited ability to gently mock celebrities. 615 00:35:50,400 --> 00:35:53,040 But it's one reason his shows are rarely repeated. 616 00:35:53,040 --> 00:35:55,560 It's only impressive if you know who they are. 617 00:35:55,560 --> 00:35:59,320 # Watching Hughie Green on the TV screen, he committed suicide... # 618 00:35:59,320 --> 00:36:03,360 That's why Stanley's sadly 619 00:36:03,360 --> 00:36:06,280 one of the forgotten greats of British comedy, 620 00:36:06,280 --> 00:36:10,880 simply because his comedy doesn't transcend to the modern era. 621 00:36:10,880 --> 00:36:14,280 Stanley had a chameleon-like ability to mimic accents 622 00:36:14,280 --> 00:36:16,400 and impersonate celebrities. 623 00:36:16,400 --> 00:36:20,760 But throughout his career, his most exotic impersonations were of women. 624 00:36:20,760 --> 00:36:24,400 But ladies and men are built differently, Tarzan. 625 00:36:24,400 --> 00:36:27,120 Jane's chest has to stay covered up 626 00:36:27,120 --> 00:36:30,720 because my chest is so much bigger than Tarz... 627 00:36:30,720 --> 00:36:32,800 Oh, I don't know, though. 628 00:36:32,800 --> 00:36:36,280 Well, Zsa Zsa, it's lovely to have you back in this country. 629 00:36:36,280 --> 00:36:38,680 I suppose as always, when you're visiting Europe, 630 00:36:38,680 --> 00:36:41,560 you'll be doing quite a lot of hobnobbing with royalty. 631 00:36:41,560 --> 00:36:43,640 My momma always says to me, 632 00:36:43,640 --> 00:36:47,680 "Zsa Zsa, when you're in Europe, try to make every second count. 633 00:36:47,680 --> 00:36:50,520 "And every third or fourth viscount." 634 00:36:51,720 --> 00:36:56,000 Well, you start in pantomime with male characters 635 00:36:56,000 --> 00:36:59,760 and then you sort of are promoted to drag. 636 00:36:59,760 --> 00:37:06,120 I mean, I began for Howard and Wyndham doing Aladdin, Wishy-Washy, 637 00:37:06,120 --> 00:37:11,360 and Buttons, and then they gave you a chance at doing dame, 638 00:37:11,360 --> 00:37:14,080 and of course, dame is the best part 639 00:37:14,080 --> 00:37:16,840 and so once you succeed at that, 640 00:37:16,840 --> 00:37:19,360 you're stuck with it, I'm afraid! 641 00:37:24,800 --> 00:37:28,320 He took the tradition of pantomime dame to the extreme. 642 00:37:28,320 --> 00:37:31,560 # Miss Measles is a dotty cute confection 643 00:37:31,560 --> 00:37:35,400 # If I spot you You should go to bed with me 644 00:37:35,400 --> 00:37:37,760 # I don't mean to sound erotic 645 00:37:37,760 --> 00:37:40,800 # But my hot spot's so exotic... # 646 00:37:40,800 --> 00:37:43,840 Never think that you're playing a woman. 647 00:37:43,840 --> 00:37:46,880 No matter how good the legs were, no matter... 648 00:37:46,880 --> 00:37:48,840 It was always Stanley, 649 00:37:48,840 --> 00:37:52,720 and it was always a man, obviously a man sending it up. 650 00:37:52,720 --> 00:37:54,960 But I think also, that comes through 651 00:37:54,960 --> 00:37:58,080 from the Combined Services Entertainment days, 652 00:37:58,080 --> 00:38:01,160 where it was a necessity, because they had no women, 653 00:38:01,160 --> 00:38:04,880 so they had to play the Betty Grables 654 00:38:04,880 --> 00:38:07,120 and the Hedy Lamarrs and whatever, 655 00:38:07,120 --> 00:38:10,760 so I think that's something that Stanley carried through. 656 00:38:10,760 --> 00:38:16,440 And he's one of the very few people who can do the full drag 657 00:38:16,440 --> 00:38:18,600 and if anything, convince you 658 00:38:18,600 --> 00:38:23,680 that he'd make a better woman than a man because he had fantastic legs. 659 00:38:23,680 --> 00:38:27,040 But people think I have feminine legs. I haven't. 660 00:38:27,040 --> 00:38:32,800 I've got the legs of a footballer, covered in hair. 661 00:38:32,800 --> 00:38:34,960 But the cycling that I did 662 00:38:34,960 --> 00:38:39,520 when I was evacuated to Millport in the Firth of Clyde 663 00:38:39,520 --> 00:38:42,480 made the legs like an athlete's. 664 00:38:42,480 --> 00:38:44,800 Now, if you have an athlete's leg... 665 00:38:46,520 --> 00:38:51,000 ..and you put on one thing to cover hair and everything, 666 00:38:51,000 --> 00:38:53,440 and then the silk stockings, 667 00:38:53,440 --> 00:38:57,720 you end up with pins that people say, "Oh! What pins!" 668 00:38:57,720 --> 00:39:00,000 But it's an illusion, like everything we do. 669 00:39:00,000 --> 00:39:02,560 # If patients holler for a bedpan 670 00:39:02,560 --> 00:39:04,360 # I just keep my head 671 00:39:04,360 --> 00:39:06,800 # And I ask them, kinda deadpan 672 00:39:06,800 --> 00:39:08,480 # Why cook in bed? 673 00:39:08,480 --> 00:39:10,280 # And at six the matron knocks off 674 00:39:10,280 --> 00:39:12,440 # That is when I get my rocks off 675 00:39:12,440 --> 00:39:14,120 # And I go lie down 676 00:39:16,840 --> 00:39:18,640 # With some new discovery 677 00:39:18,640 --> 00:39:20,520 # Speeding his recovery 678 00:39:29,000 --> 00:39:33,960 # I'm the hottest nurse in town! # 679 00:39:38,880 --> 00:39:42,360 I always preferred doing those male characters to the female, 680 00:39:42,360 --> 00:39:44,840 contrary to what many people think. 681 00:39:44,840 --> 00:39:49,160 Well, the verisimilitude was greater. I'm five foot ten and a half. 682 00:39:49,160 --> 00:39:53,520 Any woman I've played had to be a bit daft and strictly for comedy. 683 00:39:53,520 --> 00:39:58,200 Stanley Baxter's growing catalogue of faces captivated audiences. 684 00:39:58,200 --> 00:40:00,440 ITV was hungry for more shows 685 00:40:00,440 --> 00:40:03,160 but the preparation and production time involved 686 00:40:03,160 --> 00:40:05,720 in taking on so many characters and situations 687 00:40:05,720 --> 00:40:07,800 was almost overwhelming. 688 00:40:07,800 --> 00:40:09,800 The solution from his producer 689 00:40:09,800 --> 00:40:14,040 opened the door to a whole new chapter in Stanley's screen career. 690 00:40:14,040 --> 00:40:18,320 David Bell said, "Now, what are you willing to do? 691 00:40:18,320 --> 00:40:21,560 "They're desperate for you to go on doing these shows." 692 00:40:21,560 --> 00:40:23,960 I said, "Well, the four I did were all right 693 00:40:23,960 --> 00:40:26,400 "but I didn't think they were ambitious enough." 694 00:40:26,400 --> 00:40:30,360 He said, "They went very well." I said, "I know they went very well, 695 00:40:30,360 --> 00:40:33,480 "but I think I'd like to do... I don't know." 696 00:40:33,480 --> 00:40:37,440 "Well, they want six or more." I said, "No, impossible." 697 00:40:37,440 --> 00:40:41,600 Because just to do costume fittings alone for six shows 698 00:40:41,600 --> 00:40:46,600 with 12 characters in each one, I'd be hours just doing costume fittings 699 00:40:46,600 --> 00:40:49,840 and anyway, I can't dream up that number 700 00:40:49,840 --> 00:40:52,520 and then he said the thing that changed my life. 701 00:40:54,240 --> 00:40:57,120 "Supposing we just did one hour with you, 702 00:40:57,120 --> 00:40:59,480 "in which you did all the parts 703 00:40:59,480 --> 00:41:02,040 "with just dancers and singers behind you?" 704 00:41:02,040 --> 00:41:06,640 Hey, hi there. I'm your producer, Stu Bundy. Now, Mr Lobb... 705 00:41:06,640 --> 00:41:10,120 Actually, it's The Very Reverend C Lobb. 706 00:41:10,120 --> 00:41:14,080 Ready to go as soon as Quentin GETS HERE! I'm trying to be patient. 707 00:41:14,080 --> 00:41:15,960 Hello! Quentin? 708 00:41:18,080 --> 00:41:20,800 God almighty, you've been putting them away, haven't you? 709 00:41:23,320 --> 00:41:29,000 In 1974, the Stanley Baxter Moving Picture Show won a BAFTA. 710 00:41:29,000 --> 00:41:33,880 Stanley played all the parts but let his producer David Bell collect it. 711 00:41:33,880 --> 00:41:37,320 Playing more than one part had been part of Stanley's television shows 712 00:41:37,320 --> 00:41:39,080 since the early '60s. 713 00:41:39,080 --> 00:41:41,160 What started as a sequence of edits 714 00:41:41,160 --> 00:41:44,240 that allowed him to play more than one part in a scene 715 00:41:44,240 --> 00:41:46,200 evolved into early visual effects 716 00:41:46,200 --> 00:41:50,440 where layers of Stanleys would populate a picture. 717 00:41:50,440 --> 00:41:53,080 If you look at something like Mike Yarwood's show, 718 00:41:53,080 --> 00:41:55,600 Yarwood would do two characters at the same time. 719 00:41:55,600 --> 00:41:57,640 Maybe he'd do Harold and Albert Steptoe. 720 00:41:57,640 --> 00:41:59,600 And the way Yarwood would do it was, 721 00:41:59,600 --> 00:42:03,120 he'd put on a trilby hat for Old Man Steptoe 722 00:42:03,120 --> 00:42:05,560 and then a peak cap for Harold 723 00:42:05,560 --> 00:42:08,800 and he'd just swap the hats and go into the different characters. 724 00:42:08,800 --> 00:42:12,480 Stanley would take something like Upstairs Downstairs 725 00:42:12,480 --> 00:42:14,760 and he would play every single character. 726 00:42:14,760 --> 00:42:19,480 Potage a la bonne femme, le fruit de mer... 727 00:42:19,480 --> 00:42:22,600 What? Fruits of the sea. Whatever's that? 728 00:42:22,600 --> 00:42:24,160 Oh, scallops to you! 729 00:42:24,160 --> 00:42:26,320 And you and all, Mrs Bridges. 730 00:42:26,320 --> 00:42:30,080 He used trick photography in a time when that was very innovative. 731 00:42:30,080 --> 00:42:34,600 It was the combination of Stanley's brilliance as a performer 732 00:42:34,600 --> 00:42:37,440 and his good sense of material 733 00:42:37,440 --> 00:42:41,000 and David's technical genius about making things possible 734 00:42:41,000 --> 00:42:42,480 and pushing him all the time, 735 00:42:42,480 --> 00:42:45,080 you know, "Darling, you could play six parts in this, 736 00:42:45,080 --> 00:42:46,600 "you could play eight parts." 737 00:42:46,600 --> 00:42:49,600 And Stanley's, "What about playing ten?" "Yes, we can do it," 738 00:42:49,600 --> 00:42:53,840 and using the medium before special effects and digital and all that. 739 00:42:56,800 --> 00:42:59,440 Yes, sir. May I help you? 740 00:42:59,440 --> 00:43:00,920 # Silver bells... # 741 00:43:00,920 --> 00:43:04,320 In 1977, ITV joined with the American broadcaster CBS 742 00:43:04,320 --> 00:43:06,760 for a very special Christmas special. 743 00:43:06,760 --> 00:43:10,560 Stanley portrayed all the characters in Upstairs Downstairs 744 00:43:10,560 --> 00:43:14,080 as they welcomed Hollywood legend Bing Crosby. 745 00:43:14,080 --> 00:43:16,560 300 million Americans tuned in 746 00:43:16,560 --> 00:43:19,720 to what was Bing's last television appearance. 747 00:43:19,720 --> 00:43:22,480 This is Mrs Bridges, our esteemed cook. 748 00:43:22,480 --> 00:43:24,920 And this is Rose, our house parlour maid. 749 00:43:24,920 --> 00:43:27,240 She'll be in charge of all your personal needs, 750 00:43:27,240 --> 00:43:30,480 including your laundry, so if you have any special instructions, 751 00:43:30,480 --> 00:43:33,680 please let her know. Not too much starch in the sweat socks. 752 00:43:33,680 --> 00:43:36,320 Oh! Bear that in mind, Rose. 753 00:43:36,320 --> 00:43:38,200 And say hello to... 754 00:43:38,200 --> 00:43:40,560 Oh, I know who this is, Mr 'udson. 755 00:43:40,560 --> 00:43:45,120 What a thrill to meet one of Paul Whiteman's rhythm boys in the flesh. 756 00:43:45,120 --> 00:43:47,160 If you'll excuse the word. 757 00:43:47,160 --> 00:43:50,000 My auntie used to collect all of your gramophone records. 758 00:43:50,000 --> 00:43:52,000 Or was it Mr Sinatra? 759 00:43:52,000 --> 00:43:55,480 It was probably Frank. He was wild about my Whiteman period. 760 00:43:57,080 --> 00:43:59,560 Being part of the Bing Crosby Christmas Special 761 00:43:59,560 --> 00:44:04,400 was a huge accolade, and still the Stanley Baxter shows got bigger. 762 00:44:04,400 --> 00:44:07,280 He had started with traditional music hall entertainment. 763 00:44:07,280 --> 00:44:08,720 He played with accents 764 00:44:08,720 --> 00:44:11,920 and brought celebrities into sketches through impersonations. 765 00:44:11,920 --> 00:44:14,000 He was even a convincing woman. 766 00:44:14,000 --> 00:44:15,960 He didn't need anyone. 767 00:44:15,960 --> 00:44:18,200 He could play all the parts. 768 00:44:18,200 --> 00:44:21,080 # Side by side 769 00:44:21,080 --> 00:44:24,680 # By side 770 00:44:24,680 --> 00:44:30,000 # By side by side by side by side by side! # 771 00:44:30,000 --> 00:44:33,680 I find it all... 772 00:44:33,680 --> 00:44:35,880 all so incredible. 773 00:44:35,880 --> 00:44:38,240 All jungle is same. 774 00:44:38,240 --> 00:44:40,040 Is not incredible. 775 00:44:40,040 --> 00:44:44,240 It is in the middle of Wiltshire. 776 00:44:44,240 --> 00:44:47,600 But there was one final crucial element 777 00:44:47,600 --> 00:44:50,280 in the construction of a Stanley Baxter Show - 778 00:44:50,280 --> 00:44:51,400 the set. 779 00:44:54,560 --> 00:44:56,440 It's a disgrace. 780 00:44:56,440 --> 00:44:59,960 They come over here and carry on like they own the place. 781 00:44:59,960 --> 00:45:04,320 The physical staging had to grow to accommodate Stanley's ambitions. 782 00:45:04,320 --> 00:45:06,520 An eager crew of designers and craftsmen 783 00:45:06,520 --> 00:45:09,400 gave Stanley backgrounds of Hollywood proportions. 784 00:45:10,600 --> 00:45:14,840 I fear our brave boys will be pulling out of Atlanta before nightfall. 785 00:45:14,840 --> 00:45:19,680 I declare I'm sick and tired of this silly war. Why don't we leave Tara? 786 00:45:19,680 --> 00:45:22,040 Leave the plantation, Scarlett? 787 00:45:22,040 --> 00:45:25,240 Never. Land worth fighting for, worth dying for! 788 00:45:25,240 --> 00:45:28,880 Tara will be here long after you are lying under the sod. 789 00:45:28,880 --> 00:45:31,920 Which reminds me, I haven't seen Rhett Butler in days. 790 00:45:38,520 --> 00:45:41,720 Rhett Butler, take your hands off me! Go to your white trash! 791 00:45:41,720 --> 00:45:44,160 Cousin Lulabelle is waiting for you. 792 00:45:44,160 --> 00:45:46,200 Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn. 793 00:45:46,200 --> 00:45:49,200 You know what I'm going to do, Scarlett? Tear off that fancy dress 794 00:45:49,200 --> 00:45:52,240 and smother you all over with custard, sponge cakes and sherry. 795 00:45:52,240 --> 00:45:55,080 No, I won't be trifled with! 796 00:45:57,040 --> 00:46:00,240 He was a huge star. He was the star that everybody wanted. 797 00:46:01,560 --> 00:46:04,280 He actually said himself, I believe, 798 00:46:04,280 --> 00:46:08,320 that he didn't actually want to build some of the lavish sets. 799 00:46:08,320 --> 00:46:11,440 When he did Brideshead Revisited, he asked for a corridor. 800 00:46:11,440 --> 00:46:13,320 They built him an entire set. 801 00:46:13,320 --> 00:46:17,240 # What was the strange attraction I cannot comprehend 802 00:46:17,240 --> 00:46:20,680 # A woeful lack of action for weeks and weeks on end... # 803 00:46:20,680 --> 00:46:23,240 They threw huge pots of money at him 804 00:46:23,240 --> 00:46:26,320 and Stanley basically said, 805 00:46:26,320 --> 00:46:29,000 "OK, if you're going to give me this, I'll use it," 806 00:46:29,000 --> 00:46:33,280 but in many respects, that was perhaps part of his downfall. 807 00:46:39,760 --> 00:46:42,680 Well, you'd have to go back and ask them how much it all cost 808 00:46:42,680 --> 00:46:45,280 and what they did, but I know that when I turned up, 809 00:46:45,280 --> 00:46:47,400 it was as I had dreamt it up. 810 00:46:47,400 --> 00:46:49,280 There was the big building, 811 00:46:49,280 --> 00:46:52,400 there were the ladies loos, one of which I was coming out of. 812 00:47:05,400 --> 00:47:08,440 AMERICAN ACCENT: Oh, my God! I'm locked in the john! 813 00:47:08,440 --> 00:47:10,360 Don't panic, ladies! 814 00:47:10,360 --> 00:47:13,800 I'm going to try and ease my door open! 815 00:47:18,120 --> 00:47:20,240 It was brilliant, brilliant stuff, 816 00:47:20,240 --> 00:47:25,680 brilliant combination of technical wizardry and artistry. 817 00:47:37,720 --> 00:47:39,520 And there was a sense in some ways 818 00:47:39,520 --> 00:47:42,280 that in the end, it just got a little bit too big. 819 00:47:45,120 --> 00:47:46,400 Help! 820 00:47:48,360 --> 00:47:50,600 Harry, you are not going to believe this. 821 00:47:51,800 --> 00:47:54,120 We got a fire going up here! 822 00:47:55,320 --> 00:47:58,600 Like it's escalating to danger level! You know what I mean? 823 00:47:58,600 --> 00:47:59,920 Here's what you do. 824 00:47:59,920 --> 00:48:03,200 Get yourself a heavy object and break the door down. 825 00:48:03,200 --> 00:48:05,520 No, of course I won't go away. 826 00:48:05,520 --> 00:48:10,000 Something tells me that I'll never go very far away from you after today. 827 00:48:10,000 --> 00:48:13,240 There's something about you, Carol. I like your style. 828 00:48:13,240 --> 00:48:16,840 Hell, we've never even met, but I'd say that you were a warm person. 829 00:48:16,840 --> 00:48:19,920 Yes, that's because my dress is on fire. 830 00:48:24,000 --> 00:48:26,120 At his peak in the 1980s, 831 00:48:26,120 --> 00:48:29,680 Stanley Baxter's television shows were nothing short of epic. 832 00:48:29,680 --> 00:48:33,560 They delivered huge audiences, but they were expensive. 833 00:48:33,560 --> 00:48:37,040 Throughout his career, nobody questioned his talent. 834 00:48:37,040 --> 00:48:39,200 Everybody worried about paying for it. 835 00:48:41,560 --> 00:48:43,280 # Legs over the saddle 836 00:48:43,280 --> 00:48:45,080 # Thighs properly spread 837 00:48:45,080 --> 00:48:48,240 # I love to be mounted on some thoroughbred... # 838 00:48:48,240 --> 00:48:51,200 And of course, every time he did a show, Stanley, 839 00:48:51,200 --> 00:48:53,080 the bench got higher and higher 840 00:48:53,080 --> 00:48:55,680 because he had to top what he'd done last time, 841 00:48:55,680 --> 00:48:58,160 but we were...I was always happy to sign the cheques 842 00:48:58,160 --> 00:49:01,320 because he always delivered, you weren't wasting the money. 843 00:49:01,320 --> 00:49:04,640 # Some say my way looks a bit of a stunt 844 00:49:04,640 --> 00:49:08,280 # Legs over the saddle 845 00:49:08,280 --> 00:49:11,280 # Riding's the life for me. # 846 00:49:11,280 --> 00:49:14,880 And to give somebody that amount of money to make a show wasn't... 847 00:49:14,880 --> 00:49:17,320 Stanley was, you know... 848 00:49:17,320 --> 00:49:21,040 He charged a fee, but I mean, he was in it... 849 00:49:21,040 --> 00:49:23,600 He was a professional and needed to be paid, 850 00:49:23,600 --> 00:49:25,160 but that wasn't the problem. 851 00:49:25,160 --> 00:49:28,080 The problem was the ambitions had got greater and greater, 852 00:49:28,080 --> 00:49:30,480 which they needed to do, 853 00:49:30,480 --> 00:49:34,120 and in hard times, you know, you have to make cuts, 854 00:49:34,120 --> 00:49:36,520 but I certainly didn't cut Stanley. 855 00:49:36,520 --> 00:49:38,160 Whatever he wanted to do... 856 00:49:38,160 --> 00:49:41,800 If Stanley wanted to make a show, I was ready to sign the cheques. 857 00:49:41,800 --> 00:49:45,440 Miss Jones, has my 12 o'clock appointment arrived yet? 858 00:49:45,440 --> 00:49:47,520 'Waiting in reception, sir.' 859 00:49:47,520 --> 00:49:49,760 Do you think she suspects anything? 860 00:49:49,760 --> 00:49:55,960 Yes, as long as I had Michael Grade on my side... 861 00:49:57,800 --> 00:50:00,000 ..the shows went on 862 00:50:00,000 --> 00:50:04,000 and they kept saying, "He's our flagship! Economise somewhere else." 863 00:50:04,000 --> 00:50:09,200 MISS PIGGY VOICE: Let's discuss my television spectacular, shall we? 864 00:50:09,200 --> 00:50:12,120 I want the full star treatment. 865 00:50:12,120 --> 00:50:16,000 The dressing room I'm in now is a pigsty. 866 00:50:17,200 --> 00:50:22,080 But in 1981, Michael Grade left ITV for projects in America. 867 00:50:22,080 --> 00:50:26,960 The following executive, John Birt, was under more financial pressure. 868 00:50:26,960 --> 00:50:28,520 Budgets were re-evaluated 869 00:50:28,520 --> 00:50:34,800 and Stanley's epic spectaculars were cut from the ITV schedules in 1983. 870 00:50:34,800 --> 00:50:38,840 In the '80s, when he left London Weekend to go to the BBC, 871 00:50:38,840 --> 00:50:41,360 there was a sense that television was getting smaller. 872 00:50:41,360 --> 00:50:45,760 London Weekend, to fill its quota, was doing lots of people shows, 873 00:50:45,760 --> 00:50:47,480 things like Game For A Laugh, 874 00:50:47,480 --> 00:50:50,680 and doing lots of game shows like Punchlines with Lennie Bennett. 875 00:50:50,680 --> 00:50:53,080 Stanley never got sacked, really. 876 00:50:53,080 --> 00:50:58,920 He just wouldn't compromise his vision. You know, Stanley... 877 00:50:58,920 --> 00:51:03,040 TV got smaller. Stanley stayed the same... Stayed the same. 878 00:51:04,960 --> 00:51:07,640 But just a year later, in 1984, 879 00:51:07,640 --> 00:51:11,440 the television executive merry-go-round spun again. 880 00:51:11,440 --> 00:51:15,200 Suddenly, we got Michael Grade back from America, who phoned me up 881 00:51:15,200 --> 00:51:19,640 and said, "Is this true that you're not doing any more LWT?" 882 00:51:19,640 --> 00:51:21,520 I said, "No, I was fired." 883 00:51:21,520 --> 00:51:25,360 "Well," he said, "I've been invited to take over at BBC. 884 00:51:25,360 --> 00:51:27,840 "Would you come over and do them for me?" 885 00:51:27,840 --> 00:51:30,240 I said, "Will I ever! Of course I will." 886 00:51:31,880 --> 00:51:33,720 How do you do? Geoffrey Bainbridge. 887 00:51:33,720 --> 00:51:36,760 It's terribly naughty of me to come popping in like this, 888 00:51:36,760 --> 00:51:41,440 but I couldn't face cleaning up the West until I had a very dry martini. 889 00:51:41,440 --> 00:51:45,160 So I went and did two very successful ones. 890 00:51:45,160 --> 00:51:49,960 They also cost quite a lot of money, but they were very successful. 891 00:51:53,080 --> 00:51:56,560 This here's your ticket to paradise, Sheriff! Ain't you going to draw? 892 00:51:56,560 --> 00:51:59,440 When you say that, smile. 893 00:51:59,440 --> 00:52:00,760 Is that a threat? 894 00:52:00,760 --> 00:52:03,160 No, a compliment. You have lovely teeth. 895 00:52:03,160 --> 00:52:06,840 Have a care, Sheriff. This guy's robbed 22 stages. 896 00:52:06,840 --> 00:52:08,800 Even more than Peter Hall. 897 00:52:10,240 --> 00:52:12,840 Tomorrow I'll meet you at the railroad depot 898 00:52:12,840 --> 00:52:14,680 for a shootout at high noon. 899 00:52:14,680 --> 00:52:16,520 Impossible. I'm never up till one. 900 00:52:16,520 --> 00:52:18,800 And then what happened? 901 00:52:18,800 --> 00:52:23,040 John Birt left LWT to take over, 902 00:52:23,040 --> 00:52:27,760 senior this time, to Michael Grade. 903 00:52:27,760 --> 00:52:31,600 And he told the authorities 904 00:52:31,600 --> 00:52:36,280 that they had to lose £19 million in the coming year. 905 00:52:37,760 --> 00:52:40,440 And I was told very apologetically... 906 00:52:41,800 --> 00:52:46,080 "Well, there's no doubt that most of the money in light entertainment 907 00:52:46,080 --> 00:52:50,360 "went to your show, so I'm afraid we're going to have to let you go." 908 00:52:50,360 --> 00:52:54,960 I said, "Oh, third time! There's no surprise to me, 909 00:52:54,960 --> 00:52:58,040 "being fired all the time, costing too much." 910 00:52:59,520 --> 00:53:04,520 They had been an eagerly anticipated treat on our screens for 25 years. 911 00:53:04,520 --> 00:53:08,120 Now it was the final curtain for the Stanley Baxter shows. 912 00:53:08,120 --> 00:53:10,000 His spectaculars were luxuries 913 00:53:10,000 --> 00:53:12,840 British television just couldn't afford. 914 00:53:12,840 --> 00:53:16,520 But with so much talent and such a huge following, 915 00:53:16,520 --> 00:53:21,200 surely there was still a place for Stanley on our screens? 916 00:53:21,200 --> 00:53:23,720 Once you hit the heights that Stanley hit 917 00:53:23,720 --> 00:53:26,080 and when you look back at those shows 918 00:53:26,080 --> 00:53:28,640 and you see the scale of the ambition, 919 00:53:28,640 --> 00:53:32,120 the brilliance of the implementation and the realisation 920 00:53:32,120 --> 00:53:35,480 and the stunning crits, the great ratings, 921 00:53:35,480 --> 00:53:38,080 I mean, it was just amazing. 922 00:53:38,080 --> 00:53:40,800 That was his stock, that's what he did for a living, 923 00:53:40,800 --> 00:53:44,720 it was to do those big shows, playing all those parts, 924 00:53:44,720 --> 00:53:48,200 and once the money wasn't there to do it, 925 00:53:48,200 --> 00:53:50,240 what else would he want to do? 926 00:53:50,240 --> 00:53:53,040 He couldn't go back and do a sort of cheap sketch show. 927 00:53:53,040 --> 00:53:58,160 Everybody would have been so disappointed, so I think he made... 928 00:53:58,160 --> 00:54:02,760 The decision was made for him, but I think he was wise 929 00:54:02,760 --> 00:54:07,000 not to come back in a sort of bargain-basement-level type show. 930 00:54:07,000 --> 00:54:08,880 I think it would have been horrible. 931 00:54:08,880 --> 00:54:11,880 I thought when I was fired for the third time 932 00:54:11,880 --> 00:54:14,360 that really I should try and jack all this in. 933 00:54:15,920 --> 00:54:20,200 I said, "I just need to make a wee bit more money 934 00:54:20,200 --> 00:54:22,840 "before I can afford to get... 935 00:54:22,840 --> 00:54:25,560 "Afford a private pension." 936 00:54:25,560 --> 00:54:29,560 And again, fate intervened, 937 00:54:29,560 --> 00:54:35,440 and I got the offer of a very well-paid series 938 00:54:35,440 --> 00:54:39,440 of Mr Majeika, a children's programme. 939 00:54:39,440 --> 00:54:42,680 And that went on for three or four seasons. 940 00:54:46,480 --> 00:54:51,160 It was a completely new thing for me, to be honest, 941 00:54:51,160 --> 00:54:55,360 but I did think of one idea, that is that every time he did magic, 942 00:54:55,360 --> 00:54:57,880 he'd have a little tuft of hair that would wiggle. 943 00:54:57,880 --> 00:55:00,240 # A chest of drawers 944 00:55:00,240 --> 00:55:02,920 # A carpet, sofa, clock... # 945 00:55:02,920 --> 00:55:05,400 And that went down very well. 946 00:55:05,400 --> 00:55:07,560 Bats, boils... 947 00:55:07,560 --> 00:55:08,920 Ah! Boxes. 948 00:55:12,760 --> 00:55:15,440 It's time to get moving, Majeika. 949 00:55:15,440 --> 00:55:18,560 And that went on for three or four seasons 950 00:55:18,560 --> 00:55:20,200 and so the money... 951 00:55:20,200 --> 00:55:23,120 Because one fee for television, 952 00:55:23,120 --> 00:55:27,320 although the thing was glamorous, was not a lot of money, 953 00:55:27,320 --> 00:55:32,120 and so at last, I was getting a great wad of money, 954 00:55:32,120 --> 00:55:35,280 and so now I said, "If I just do one pantomime 955 00:55:35,280 --> 00:55:39,800 "and get a percentage of the box and that does well, 956 00:55:39,800 --> 00:55:42,200 "I think I will be able to retire!" 957 00:55:48,280 --> 00:55:51,480 "Urgent! Exit visa!" 958 00:55:51,480 --> 00:55:54,520 Oh, you couldn't possibly beam me up right now, sir? 959 00:55:54,520 --> 00:55:58,040 Majeika worked his magic on Stanley's pension fund, 960 00:55:58,040 --> 00:56:02,960 and Stanley was able to retire from mainstream television in 1990. 961 00:56:02,960 --> 00:56:06,720 I think Stanley showed immense dignity in retiring 962 00:56:06,720 --> 00:56:12,840 because there's nothing worse than someone who can't or won't let go. 963 00:56:12,840 --> 00:56:14,960 He realised... 964 00:56:16,720 --> 00:56:20,920 "This isn't the business that I started in." 965 00:56:20,920 --> 00:56:25,160 Sometimes people ask me why I didn't compromise more 966 00:56:25,160 --> 00:56:28,600 and it was simply that I was too anxious 967 00:56:28,600 --> 00:56:32,560 to get into an area that I wasn't completely familiar with. 968 00:56:32,560 --> 00:56:35,400 When people said, "Wouldn't you consider doing a sitcom?" 969 00:56:35,400 --> 00:56:37,600 I said, "Oh, no. All those lines to learn 970 00:56:37,600 --> 00:56:39,680 "and I hadn't dreamt it up myself 971 00:56:39,680 --> 00:56:42,680 "and I'd depend on a writer that I may not trust," 972 00:56:42,680 --> 00:56:45,880 and I was just over-anxious. 973 00:56:45,880 --> 00:56:48,160 APPLAUSE 974 00:56:48,160 --> 00:56:51,720 In 1997, Stanley's contribution to comedy was marked 975 00:56:51,720 --> 00:56:53,880 with a lifetime achievement award. 976 00:56:53,880 --> 00:56:58,360 A lifetime achievement award. I feel I'm much too young for this. 977 00:56:58,360 --> 00:57:00,440 LAUGHTER 978 00:57:00,440 --> 00:57:03,800 Thank you very much, judges. It's so much appreciated. 979 00:57:05,320 --> 00:57:09,080 Stanley's reign as master of extravagant light entertainment 980 00:57:09,080 --> 00:57:12,040 had lasted for a generation of television. 981 00:57:12,040 --> 00:57:15,720 From the '60s through to the '80s, he starred in unique spectacles, 982 00:57:15,720 --> 00:57:20,280 the likes of which British television might never see again. 983 00:57:20,280 --> 00:57:23,080 I mean, take this hebburn here. Look at it. 984 00:57:23,080 --> 00:57:25,440 Eh? Old shovel-arse here. 985 00:57:27,520 --> 00:57:29,160 Scotland's finest. 986 00:57:29,160 --> 00:57:32,320 But there is only one Stanley Baxter, and there is really 987 00:57:32,320 --> 00:57:35,880 only one person who's done the sort of shows that he did. 988 00:57:35,880 --> 00:57:38,040 BIG BAND MUSIC 989 00:57:41,520 --> 00:57:46,160 Would I like to see the Stanley Baxter Big Picture Show tomorrow night, a new one? 990 00:57:46,160 --> 00:57:49,920 You bet I would. I'd cancel anything. He is a genius. 991 00:57:51,160 --> 00:57:55,520 It was showbiz, and he does showbiz very, very well. 992 00:57:56,600 --> 00:58:01,280 # With our dancing feet! # 993 00:58:01,280 --> 00:58:05,040 But you know, when I look at those shows now, I'm still quite proud. 994 00:58:05,040 --> 00:58:09,200 They hold up, and they're still glamorous, which is what matters. 995 00:58:09,200 --> 00:58:12,400 APPLAUSE 996 00:58:34,400 --> 00:58:37,360 Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd