Arctic Patrol - 1972

Impossible to find ANY reference to this movie online. Go ahead, I dare you! For this entry I’m going to have to rely on the paragraph Robin writes about it in his book. Before filming “Carry On Girls” he spent a month in Lapland doing this documentary about Arctic survival with fellow actor Jeremy Bulloch. They joined the 42 Commando Unit stationed in Bardufoss in the Arctic Circle, north of Norway. He had a lot of fun and enjoyed it very much. Now…how do you SEE this thing????? And where was it originally shown??

2/3/11 update: Well, as it's impossible to contact Robin over the internet, I attempted to contact the other actor in this film, Jeremy Bulloch, who runs his own website. And he responded! His words:
"The only film that I can remember with a name similar to
Arctic Patrol was a documentary I filmed in Norway.
I wish I had a copy of it as it was the coldest weather I
have ever known. I have no photos of this
apart from a still which I used in my book.
Sadly I can't find it.I remember it was one of a number of armed forces documentaries I did in the seventies. I think all copies would have been lost"

So cool he actually responded, wasn't it!?!

Otley – 1968

This is one of those times where Robin’s role is so small I almost wish I hadn’t bothered with tracking this appearance down! He’s not on screen for more than 10 seconds and has one short sentence to say.

But oh well. It’s a pretty hard film to find, so it’s nice to know that I actually have a copy. Bootlegged of course, from someone I found on the internet. I paid about $10.

It’s about a young guy, Otley, unemployed and evicted from his apartment. He couch-surfs at the homes of various acquaintances until one of the guys he stays with is murdered as he snoozes on the couch. Only he has no idea, since the murderer also knocks HIM out and leaves him to wake up a day later in the middle of an airfield. He then finds himself entangled in a world of espionage! Not to mention also being pursued by the police, who think he’s the murderer!

Robin I think did this film right after “If….” So in my opinion, should’ve really been given a more substantial role. In his book, he mentions he plays a “drug addict”. Which is a bit of a stretch. In reality, he is one of a group of mod-dressed boys being questioned by the police about what is probably pot they have found on them. In the credits he is listed as “The Kid” and his friends listed as “Kid #2” and “Kid #3”. During this time, Otley is trying to get the police’s attention to tell them about a bomb that just blew up down in the subway.

Some humorous parts…the part where Otley takes his driving test was a bit “Confessions of a Driving Instructor”! And the best part of the film was that you get to see a LOT of London! Cool old architecture, Portobello Road: I saw the very stretch of buildings that I took a picture of when I went there in 1990!

Hollyoaks - Jan 5, 2011

STOP THE PRESSES! I actually have a CURRENT Robin appearance to blog about! Hehe. Occasionally I will check into the Twitter website and punch in his name to see if anyone in the world is talking about him. WELL, last time I did that, someone was on saying “Is that Robin Askwith on Hollyoaks?” WTH is Hollyoaks?? I thought, and got to work on searching. Some current UK soap opera revolving around the lives of high schoolers. Hmm! Dashed over to their official website. Typical, they don’t let people outside the UK watch the episodes there. Next stop, YouTube. And some ANGEL of a person actually posts each episode there!

So, quick as that, I got to see the episode with Robin in it! I was never one for soap operas, too overacted and wallowing in heavy drama for my liking. This one seems as dumb as any. But, the kids do wear really cool, super-British school uniforms! Can’t get more British than maroon blazers, gray sweater vests and cute little striped ties. Unfortunately, it doesn’t help me tolerate the modern-day teenaged angst though. Please, I’ll take the Bless This House kids back! Now we have to deal with transgender storylines? OK, back on track: One of the teen girls, Texas, has a mom that had promised to hook up one of her friends (who has some sort of band) with her “old agent friend, Earl”. Bingo, Robin! He comes in, leather jacket and shades clad, all smiles and hair. Lookin’ good! (I dragged my husband over to see and asked, “What do you think?” to which he replied, “Can’t tell, with him hiding behind all that hair!” hehe)

So he meets up with the characters at a pub and after the young guy talks about his band, we find out that the mom and “Earl” had a fling in Texas back around the time the daughter, Texas, was conceived. Daughter gets worried, thinking this may be her…dad? “Earl” makes a joke about it, telling her he can really see himself in her. Which is obviously ridiculous…she has very dark hair and features. Actually, she resembles “Carol” in “Cool it Carol”! At the end of the episode, he comes to their apartment to suggest the mom make her comeback as a singer, then they fall into each others’ arms, much to the girl’s dismay.

I watched the episode after this one and no reappearance of Robin yet. It feels like his part should be back, though. As of this writing, no new episodes have been posted. I will keep checking back there and edit this entry if needed!

GREAT to see something current from him!!!!

1/21/11 Update: Just watched the Jan 7 episode. No more Robin yet. The "Texas" character is busy with her friend's wedding, and her mom wasn't there.

Asylum – 2000

Some force out there did not want me to see this film! It is one of those rare Robin movies available on Netflix – so I ordered it. It arrived cracked. Which almost never happens. Maybe 4 previous discs arrived damaged in the 8+ years we’ve been subscribers. So I login to the site and tried to report it damaged, but they had this quirk in their system where, as it arrived at my house before it was actually DUE to arrive, they didn’t allow me to report it yet…thus slowing down their delivery of a replacement disc. Sneaky. I sent it back and reported it a couple days later. Finally my replacement arrives. ALSO cracked! What the …? Repeat process. 3rd disc arrives. Before I open it I joke to my husband that if this one is also cracked there is something weird going on here trying to prevent me from seeing this movie. Guess what? Yep. I sighed and gave up. I sent it back, but did not report it, worrying Netflix would start suspecting ME of something! I did not re-order it, deciding to lay low a few months and hope my luck will turn next time.

What was it with this movie? Put out on cheaply made discs? I looked through the member reviews and one other person had put down a complaint about how this was the 2nd time they received this disc cracked. Hmmm. Maybe it’s not just me. I wonder if at least a little bit of good will come out of it and Robin will make a few extra cents from each new disc Netlfix has to buy!

But wait….now Netflix has stopped carrying the physical disc altogether. Figures. But they do have it on their “Play it Now” feature! Which is definitely a handy thing for me!


The story: A young couple visit the abandoned mental hospital where the woman’s father used to work as a psychiatrist. Her family had lived in a house on the premises. Now she’s having nightmares of her time there and must go back to investigate. Lots of long scenes of them wandering around the halls, etc. Shades of Horror Hospital! But alas, the young guy is not Robin and thus the first half is pretty dull. Robin makes a mysterious appearance 18 minutes in to the film, but it is not explained who his character exactly is.
He’s a junkie who wakes up, realizes something, and goes out to do something.
Where exactly is he? On the grounds of the Asylum? It was very confusing. Anyway, once the young couple arrive, the murder starts. The old caretaker is killed, then the young man. We don’t see Robin again until an hour and 5 minutes into the film,
then he happily gets quite a bit of screentime.
Turns out 3 former hospital inmates (of whom he is one) have all been inexplicably drawn back there this night as well. They have been having the same nightmares as the daughter their whole lives, nightmares in which they have killed the daughter’s mom so long ago. Only we find out that these memories have been planted…by the girl’s father…the doctor! Who shows up himself at this point to explain…but goes on to say that he is NOT the killer either, and doesn’t know who is. Until….one more person shows up…could they be the killer? Hmmm…


Nice psychological thriller. Like I said, the first part is slow-going, but the end really has you thinking and re-thinking after you think you have it figured out. Robin does well in the role of a haggard mental patient-turned-heroin addict.
The other characters were pretty dull but he was fun to watch, brought a little bit of humor to his otherwise dark role.