I came across this television special 'Stanley Baxter In Reel Terms' when it was repeated on Granada Plus in 1998. By Baxter's standards, this was not bad. It was a mixture of some of his better vintage sketches interspersed with newly filmed linking material.
One such linking sketch featured an elderly, wheelchair bound old man ( Baxter ) dozing in front of his television set. When he wakens, he sees Baxter performing a comedy sketch. Filled with dread, the old man says to himself: ''Oh god, is he back on again?''.
'Towering Quake '75' was a segment taken from his 1975 show 'The Stanley Baxter Picture Show Part III' in which Baxter played a damsel in distress who is trapped inside a ladies toilet atop a high building following an earthquake.
Another sketch had Stanley as Dawn French's make up artist. She asks the make-up artist: ''Was Stanley Baxter fun to work with?''. Shuddering, the make-up artist says rhetorically: ''Was Robert Maxwell a good swimmer?''.
The best item item though was a spoof advertisment featuring Baxter as an elderly woman taking a blackout whilst walking down the stairs. When she comes to, she says to the camera whilst holding a panic button - ''these help-a-gran pagers are wonderful. This means I can send for my grandson to come round and switch off that Stanley Baxter programme!''.
Not outstanding comedy but very funny, even if much of it has not aged well.
One such linking sketch featured an elderly, wheelchair bound old man ( Baxter ) dozing in front of his television set. When he wakens, he sees Baxter performing a comedy sketch. Filled with dread, the old man says to himself: ''Oh god, is he back on again?''.
'Towering Quake '75' was a segment taken from his 1975 show 'The Stanley Baxter Picture Show Part III' in which Baxter played a damsel in distress who is trapped inside a ladies toilet atop a high building following an earthquake.
Another sketch had Stanley as Dawn French's make up artist. She asks the make-up artist: ''Was Stanley Baxter fun to work with?''. Shuddering, the make-up artist says rhetorically: ''Was Robert Maxwell a good swimmer?''.
The best item item though was a spoof advertisment featuring Baxter as an elderly woman taking a blackout whilst walking down the stairs. When she comes to, she says to the camera whilst holding a panic button - ''these help-a-gran pagers are wonderful. This means I can send for my grandson to come round and switch off that Stanley Baxter programme!''.
Not outstanding comedy but very funny, even if much of it has not aged well.
