Hylda Baker

This three part series sees the Carry On actress look at three different female comedians. However, the first she has profiled is one that I had never heard of until now: Hylda Baker.

For those like me who were ignorant of her work, Lancashire-born comedian Baker was most famous for starring in the sitcom Nearest and Dearest alongside Jimmy Jewel (they played a bickering brother and sister), and for her stage act in which she played a Northern gossip, accompanied by stooge Cynthia, who was always played by a man in drag much bigger than her (one version of Cynthia was played by Matthew Kelly).

Amongst the things I learned about Baker was that she seemed to be quite egotistical. For example, she never allowed any of her Cynthias to do interview or talk to the public. When Baker appeared on This is Your Life, the Cynthia at the time revealed himself. Baker was furious at him and had him sacked. Also, like many sitcom stories, in Nearest and Dearest the main actors were arguing both on and off the camera. Baker and Jewel were constantly insulting each other. Jewel thought that Baker was unfunny and Baker thought she deserved top billing.

However, there was a fair bit of tragedy in her comic life as well. Her marriages failed, she had two entopic pregnancies after which it was discovered that she could not have children, so adopted two pet monkeys as pets (one of which ate all her tax info). Her memory began to fail so she had to use cue cards, and in her later life she suffered from Alzheimer's, eventually dying of pneumonia at the age of 81. The biggest tragedy of course is that she is no longer remembered.

This documentary certain shone a light on someone I had never heard of before and made me more curious to find out more info, which for me is the ultimate sign of any good documentary.

Ian Wolf, Giggle Beats, 12th July 2011

My most vivid memory of Hylda Baker is that bizarre 1978 Top of the Pops appearance with Arthur Mullard, but there was so much more to the comedy actress, as Barbara Windsor finds out. She was a diminutive Lancashire lass with a booming voice who soon became a music hall regular, before starring in sketches and sitcoms (most notably Nearest and Dearest). Baker was often labelled loud and vulgar at a time when funny men overshadowed their female counterparts, yet is now considered by many to be an influential figure. Her silent stooge Cynthia was surely a prototype for Dame Edna Everage's Madge, and her performances brimmed with catchphrases - "She knows, y'know!", "You big girl's blouse!" - long before Little Britain and Catherine Tate cornered the market. About time, then, that her unique talent was reappraised.

Chris Gardner, Radio Times, 5th July 2011

It could have been one of those dry, worthy, predictable tributes. Instead, comedian Jason Manford injects this lively look at the lugubrious-faced Northern comic Jimmy Jewel with tremendous verve, and a few dreadful jokes. For those who don't know, Jewel was a hero of the music hall, was one half of a double act with his cousin Ben Warriss, made Hylda Baker look good in the TV sitcom Nearest and Dearest and ended up a remarkable character actor, as his stage role in Neil Simon's The Sunshine Boys attests. By the end of the programme, you can't fail to agree with Manford: Jewel was one of comedy's true greats.

Frances Lass, Radio Times, 1st December 2009