Gozo Adventures – 2008?

Here's something you can watch for free! Robin narrates a little promotional travel video for his beloved adopted country of Gozo, an island near Malta in the Mediterranean.



At first I didn't think it sounded like him, but what do you expect? His voice has deepened and matured. It has the quality of a distinguished English gentleman now. The more I listened, the more I found the familiar inflections of his old self, though! He helps paint an impressive picture of Gozo (well, the video helps too!) as a historical, adventurous but relaxing escape. Looks beautiful there, I would love to visit. We’ve long been talking about a family cruise vacation in the Mediterranean, and I saw where Disney cruises offer a shore excursion to Gozo, so who knows? Maybe we’ll make it there one day. I see myself hopping off the boat, seeing Robin lazily lying on the beach….in skimpy 1970s swim trunks of course….mmmmm…. ;) OK, not to worry, Robin, my husband and son definitely won’t be letting me out unchaperoned!

Oh! Something else Gozo/Robin related I found recently:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/property/article-1263711/Confessions-Gozo-Robin-Askwith-selling-flat-Maltas-peaceful-rural-neighbour.html?ITO=1490

Nice photo! Nice peek inside his home! His decorating style is too modern for my liking though.

Carry On Girls - 1973

Not too hard to find, I found an old VHS copy on Amazon for cheap. They also carry it on DVD for American systems for around $11. It was watchable, and gave me a few laughs. Kind of a cross between “Benny Hill” (which I loathe) and “Fawlty Towers” (which I love). Apparently there’s a whole slew of these Carry On movies in England, but thank goodness Robin is only in this one so I need not see any more.

The story is about a gloomy English seaside tourist town (which I could relate to, as I currently live in gloomy coastal Oregon) whose mayor decides to drum up business by holding a beauty contest. Needless to say, a women’s lib group organizes protests and sabotages. Lots of busty women running around in bikinis and dirty old men leering at them. (See what I mean about Benny Hill?) Robin is adorable as the photographer Larry Prodworthy who is hired to take publicity photos. He also inexplicably happens to be the son of the leader of the women’s group protesting the event. It’s not a huge role, but still gets a lot of screen time…always seems to be there flashing away with his camera. His character is pretty benign, unfortunately doesn’t get naked or have any love scenes. There is one scene where he must take photos of one of the contestants who is riding a donkey into a hotel lobby (don’t ask!) and he gets that “Oh my god, I’m in love!” look on his face when he sees her. I thought that may lead to something good between him and her later on, but nope, sorry, that bit of foreshadowing is forgotten.

Benidorm - 2009

There’s a TV series in England right now that will be soon going into its 4th season. When I heard that Robin made an appearance in season 3 I knew I had to get ahold of it. If you go to their website, they meanly do not let anyone outside of the U.K. view its clips, interviews, or anything. So, what’s an American to do? Go underground, of course. I found someone online who converts current British shows to DVRs for Americans to watch. Pretty cool. I bought the entire season 3 for $20. Even though Robin is only in episode 4, I didn’t mind watching the complete season. It wasn’t hard to get into, even if you haven’t seen the prior seasons. It’s about a group of English vacationers who for some reason travel to a Benidorm, Spain resort area every summer. It is absolutely hilarious! The characters are a scream. And oh, so horrible looking! Overweight, tackily dressed, brash personalities, makes me feel a little bit better about being an American – ha ha, those Brits aren’t as dignified as everyone thinks! They’re just as boorish on vacation to foreign lands as we are! Hmmm. Could that be the reason they don’t make it easy for us to view this show? ;)

So…Robin’s role. He plays Gary, a conman who appears at the resort and fast-talks people out of their money. And plays the role so well! He talks so quickly and convincingly you have a hard time figuring out what hit you until he’s gone. All the while still with the same mannerisms he had in his 20s, so cool to watch.

Although…I must admit, he’s looking rather weathered in this. I’m not quite sure I understand that –remember how young he looked in the “Evil Calls” interview from just 3 years ago. Did he really age that fast in such a short time? Or did the Benidorm people try to make him look older for the role? He does have a makeout scene worthy of his ‘70s self, though! In the elevator with one of the main characters who had been in cahoots with him from the start.

Fun show, and I do hope he'll be back on next season!

Evil Calls: The Raven – 2007

Wonderful, just wonderful (said sarcastically). I find that Robin is back to making horror movies in modern times and am thrilled that finally there’ll be something that’ll be easy to just rent off of Netflix, rather than hunting down and purchasing in the back alleys of the internet. Wrong. When it comes to Robin Askwith, apparently nothing is just that simple. Despite coming out 3 years ago, Netflix doesn’t carry it. Neither does Amazon. Someone online mentions you have to buy the DVD through the production company’s website, http://www.houseoffear.co.uk/films/evilcalls/index.htm So I head over, prepared to shell out some money, but am unable to find where it is I’m supposed to buy it. I email someone on the site about it, but they never get back to me. Does anyone WANT this movie to be seen?? Unfortunately, as they’ve been this wildly successful with this one, they’re doing a sequel, this year, 2010, titled “Back2Hell”. Goodness, what exactly do I need to do to SEE these things?

On a “I’ll take what I can get” note: On the website I mentioned above, there are clips from the film, which looks like it could be pretty interesting. AND! An interview with Robin! Who looks absolutely amazing for his 57 (at that point) years. Still his sparkling blond hair, charming wit and dazzling grin. Sigh.

Hopefully coming some day…an update of this “review”.

April 22, 2011 UPDATE!!! Finally saw it! See the review here!

LOOKING FOR…ITV Saturday Night Theatre “The Full Cheddar” – 1969? 1971? (Season 2, Episode 12)

Occasionally I’ll post some movie or TV show I’m having a tough time finding! From my research it seems that the “ITV Saturday Night Theater” was a kind of “movie of the week” type thing. I don’t know if these even exist anymore, or were just played once and erased? One discrepancy is that the IMBD lists this episode as broadcast in 1969, yet Robin, in his autobiography, had it scheduled in his 1971 diary: he has it down to be filmed from May 30 – June 14 of that year! Odd.

The few details IMBD lists: the plot:

“A teacher's concentration frequently wanders as he fantasizes about living a different life.”

And the character Robin plays: “Bassett”. An actor named Daniel Massey plays the teacher character of Fred Instance.

Sorry, that’s it! Can someone help me track this one down?