British Comedy Guide
The Stanley Baxter Story. Stanley Baxter. Copyright: Above The Title Productions
The Stanley Baxter Story

The Stanley Baxter Story

  • Radio documentary
  • BBC Radio 2
  • 2009
  • 1 episode

Eddie Izzard presents a rare profile of comedy actor Stanley Baxter in this Radio 2 documentary. Features Eddie Izzard, Stanley Baxter, Maureen Lipman, Julia McKenzie, Denise Coffey and more.

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Key details

Genre
Documentary
Broadcast
2009
Channel
BBC Radio 2
Episodes
1
Features
Eddie Izzard, Stanley Baxter, Maureen Lipman, Julia McKenzie, Denise Coffey, James Gilbert, Tom Gutteridge, John Kaye Cooper and more
Producers
Neil Rosser
Company

Stanley Baxter began his career during the war on the BBC Scottish Home Service, after making a name for himself doing impressions in Glasgow church halls. After a spell of National Service in the army, Stanley joined the Glasgow Citizens' Theatre, where he learnt his craft under the highly respected director Tyrone Guthrie. Another member of the Citizens' was BBC television prodcuer Jimmy Gilbert, who moved to London and invited Stanley to take part in a television revue series he was putting together in 1959. On The Bright Side was a success and Stanley was on his way.

He did several sketch series for the BBC in the years that followed but, by the mid Seventies, he was down to one minutely crafted Christmas show a year, working with the same writer, Ken Hoare, and the same director, David Bell, every time. His most recent outing was an archive Christmas special last year on ITV with one or two new sketches.

Interviewees for this documentary include Barry Cryer, Jim Moir and Stanley Baxter himself, along with many of his character creations.

Additional details

Part of

Radio 2 Comedy Greats Documentaries

Production
Studio

Broadcast details

First broadcast
Tuesday 22nd September 2009 at 10:30pm on BBC Radio 2
Episode length
1 hour
All previous repeats
  • Thursday 5th July 2012 at 10:00pm on Radio 2

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