Producer/director David Bell left the B.B.C. to move to L.W.T. in 1972, and Stanley Baxter followed suit. 'Picture Show' only ran to four episodes, but gave the popular Scottish comedian the launching pad for those one-hour spectaculars for which he is best remembered. It comprised spoofs of popular shows of the day such as 'Whicker's World', 'Braden's Week', 'Cinema' and 'The Benny Hill Show'. 'Scars On Sunday', to give an example, had Stanley as 'Jest Fate', a lampoon of the late Jess 'Bishop' Yates. The same sketch featured Stanley as Eartha Kitt and Harry Secombe! 'Elfin Nolan - Supertramp' was an effective mickey-take of portentous rock documentaries such as those directed by Tony Palmer. Any resemblance between the character and the late Marc Bolan was presumably intentional. 'Peculiar Girl' had Stanley as Barbra Streisand from the film 'Funny Girl'. Miming to 'Don't Rain On My Parade', he was to be seen hijacking a bus, riding various forms of transport ( such as a penny farthing bicycle, tricycle and roller skates ) and zooming over London on a broomstick.
Stanley did not just take off politicians and D-list celebrities, but went for big-name stars such as Joan Crawford, Bette Davis, Clark Gable and Katherine Hepburn. He was also the first comedian to impersonate The Queen! Admittedly, they cheated slightly by calling her the 'Duchess Of Brendagh', but only a twit would have failed to spot the connection. Rich Little? Not in the same class. Stanley had a brilliant writer in the shape of the late Ken Hoare. Of course some sketches no longer seem terribly funny on account of the target fading from public memory ( the parody of Ken Russell's 'The Music Lovers' comes to mind ). But Stanley's genius remains undiminished. Watch and marvel that comedy of this calibre ever got made, much less transmitted.
Stanley did not just take off politicians and D-list celebrities, but went for big-name stars such as Joan Crawford, Bette Davis, Clark Gable and Katherine Hepburn. He was also the first comedian to impersonate The Queen! Admittedly, they cheated slightly by calling her the 'Duchess Of Brendagh', but only a twit would have failed to spot the connection. Rich Little? Not in the same class. Stanley had a brilliant writer in the shape of the late Ken Hoare. Of course some sketches no longer seem terribly funny on account of the target fading from public memory ( the parody of Ken Russell's 'The Music Lovers' comes to mind ). But Stanley's genius remains undiminished. Watch and marvel that comedy of this calibre ever got made, much less transmitted.