Birmingham Winter Memorabilia Show 2010

Robin made an appearance at this on Nov 20-21. Sadly, no, I didn't attend. I guess it looks like some sort of film memorabilia convention type thing. Not that interesting to me otherwise, but I would have loved to go meet Robin :( Sadness and woe, being half a world away! Anyhow, next best thing, another fan out there DID get to go and posted a bunch of nice photos of Robin on his flickr account at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/stfphotoagency/5196226128/ so check them out! Robin looks good for his age, glad to see he still has his long hair. Can you believe how shiny it is???

Please, Sir! - 1971

This was a popular sitcom in Britain in the late 60s/early 70s. Robin is listed as only having appeared in one episode from 1971. I found someone on an online marketplace selling bootleg copies of the entire series PLUS a spinoff movie. Did I really want to puchase all that for one small glimpse of Robin playing some minor character? No. So I politely asked the guy if he’d be willing to sell me JUST that episode, plus a couple other Robin episodes from other series he was selling. Um, sorry, no can do. Really? You’re already bootlegging stuff and can’t push a button and re-copy 3 shows onto one disc for me? Sigh. But I held my tongue, who knows, this guy might be my only source. So I made an offer for the whole series PLUS another whole series that had just one Robin episode. Offer accepted.

Well, as I paid for the whole 4-season series plus its spin-off movie (where the class goes to camp), I might as well get my money’s worth and watch it. Actually, it’s not too bad. Kinda funny. Enjoyable. First season is filmed in black and white and is a cross between the movie “To Sir With Love” and “Welcome Back Kotter” A new teacher in a high school located in a working class section of London is given the school’s most unruly class of seniors: 5C. In England, at least at that time, not sure of now, grades were known as “Forms”. The 5 in 5C means 5th Form, roughly equal to our Senior class in High school. But if you want to go on to university it seems that there is a 6th form as well, but these kids certainly won’t be doing that. The C may stand for the not as smart group? “A” may be the smart group? I’m assuming that part.

So….of course the kids give the new teacher a hard time at first but also of course he quickly wins them over even though all their previous teachers have quit in disgust. And the viewers find out that these kids, underneath their smart mouths, have hearts of gold.

Robin originally tried out for the role of “Duffy” but lost it to the worst looking “teenager” imaginable. When the series starts in 1968 Peter Cleall, who plays him, is 24 years old! But looks much, much, older, despite his long shaggy blond hair. An 18 year old Robin would have been a lot more believable as a high school student. Funny enough, he is also the guy who played the aging Gary Glitter-esque rocker in “Confessions of a Pop Performer”!

Most of the other main characters also probably are not played by teenagers. There’s the “sexy” one, Sharon, who looks like a voluptuious woman in her mid-20s. I am amazed by her beautiful thick hair though! There’s the dowdy religious girl, Maureen, who has a schoolgirl crush on Sir. There’s the learning-disabled one who is abused at home. The streetwise one who boasts about how tough he is but has an overprotective Mum at home (played by the same actress who plays the nosy neighbor in “Beryl’s Lot”). And the one I like, the sharply dressed blond guy, who looks the youngest of the lot.

Despite Robin officially being in only one episode, in his autobiography he mentions he appeared in a few episodes in 1971 as a character named “Eric”. After wading through the first 3 seasons I finally come to season 4’s episode 6 titled “A.W.O.L.” He is playing a character named “Eddie”, not “Eric”. Faulty memory on the part of Robin? He is also not in ANY other episodes. Hmphs.

By the 4th season, the original class has graduated and it’s a big changeover at Fenn Street School. The show no longer focuses on just one class or teacher. Nor does it focus on a just few main students. But the kids are all really kids now, and definitely look like it. Each episode brings in different kids for the stories to revolve around. New teachers are introduced as well.

In “A.W.O.L” two boys in their late teens have been ditching class and hanging out at the local billiard hall. Robin plays an apathetic young man, none too smart, who also hangs out there. They are involved in mischievous petty theivery. A popular new teacher comes down to have words with him and to talk the kids into coming back.

It isn’t the best display of acting talent I’ve seen, but Robin sure looks hot with his long fluffy hair and groovy jacket!

On a side note, the actor that plays the energetic and dynamic young new teacher is Richard Warwick, who was in a few of Robin’s other works, including “If….” And went on to become good friends with him in real life, according to his book. He’s fun to watch in “Please Sir”, very flamboyant and cheerful. I looked him up on the web to see what he’s been doing lately and unfortunately, he died of AIDS in 1997. Too bad.

Season 4 was the last season of the show, and I can see why. Characters come and go which leaves the viewer confused. Richard Warwick’s character, who comes to the school with much fanfare, disappears all of a sudden without explanation. There’s so many different kids you can’t keep track of who’s who. The last few episodes focus on the core staff of elderly teachers who’ve been there since the beginning and get on your nerves after awhile. Why the show just couldn’t have continued to follow the original characters instead of spinning them off into a new show “The Fenn Street Gang” is puzzling.

Stand Up Virgin Soldiers – 1977

Like in 1978’s “Let’s Get Laid”, Robin plays a short-haired soldier. His character is a lot more appealing in this one though, for some reason. He acts more like himself. And even with the short hair, he’s really hot! Maybe it’s because he made this one straight after “Queen Kong” and his glowing tan hasn’t faded yet.

The setting is 1950, Malaya, Singapore. The British army are there fighting some war – Korean, maybe? Robin is a likeable young soldier who pals around with a fellow soldier. They visit the local brothel, put on a talent show, play tennis, date nurses, get invited to a fancy dinner given by the officers…. Um, is this a war they’re in, or are they on vacation? There’s a tiny bit of a toned-down Timmy Lea in him, in a couple incidents where he either is bumping into a wheelchair-bound patient in the hospital or knocking something over at fancy luncheons or dinner. But it’s so much more subtle and nicely done in this than in the Confessions films.

This more serious-than-usual role again demonstrates the range he’s capable of . To go from a wacky hippie in Queen Kong to a believable 1950s era soldier is quite a shift!

I think anyone would find this film enjoyable. Although some of the dangers of war are touched upon, it is basically a lighthearted look at the fun and comradarie of life as a soldier. It was filmed in England, yet still you still get a realistic feel of them being in a hot, humid jungle environment. Everyone must have had to be continuously spray-bottled for them to have that “always perspiring” look!

Menace – “Trespasser” - Nov 17, 1970, season 1, episode 8

This week I’m treating you to yet another appearance that I cannot find to watch. There were two seasons of 23 episodes put out in the years 1970 and 1973. Wikipedia says that 21 of these are “lost”, but who knows. The originals may be stored somewhere.

It was a BBC drama described as “series of thrillers designed to keep the audience on the edge of their seats.” In his episode, Robin plays a character named “Robbie Clay”. Man, it sounds like an interesting show!

Found a nice write up about the series in general on an informative website called “Action TV”. Here’s what they have to say:

“Jordan Lawrence was the creative force behind Menace, a series of twenty-three plays running to seventy-five-minutes which found their basis in the aspects, perceptions and representations of menace in various settings in and around the villages, townships and cities of the United Kingdom. The stories, whilst thematically linked, approached the essential premise from a wide variety of different directions, some subtle and some far less opaque. The nature of menace could either be reflected through a particular act, the body language of a particular character, the environment in which an episode was set, or a set of circumstances under which a character or characters was placed. The success of the series was firmly rooted in the changing nature of menace from episode to episode, and this became a potent allure for audiences ensuring healthy ratings figures and commanding attention from the popular press. The programme drew from the creative well of a fine combination of writers (amongst whom the most notable were Alun Richards, Roy Clarke, Hugh Whitemore, Fay Weldon and James MacTaggart) who were able to inject menace into darkly comic situations, and heighten darkly menacing situations to make a viewing pleasure transform itself into an uncomfortable time for the audience. The first series proved more popular than the second, probably because of the novelty value of the programme and, perhaps, by virtue of the fact that it was originally transmitted on BBC 2, the risk-taking arm of the corporation. When the programme shifted its home to BBC 1 for the second, shorter season, audiences were more accustomed as to what to expect from the series. Also, in part, the emphasis shifted more towards action rather than menace and thus, the original premise became somewhat watered down so its popularity somewhat waned…Menace was never commercially exploited, but with the announcement that Thriller is soon to be released on DVD in the United Kingdom, perhaps a raid on the BBC archives may now be warranted.”
-Text © Matthew Lee, 2004


I also found a cast listing at “Action TV” where they have summaries of a lot of the episodes but not this one!

Cast : Moira Redmond (Laurie), Gordon Jackson (Lander), Thorley Walters (Thatcher), Geraldine Newman (Pauline), Robin Askwith (Robbie Clay), Gerald Rowland (John Clay), Roberta Tovey (Annie Clay), Barbara Lott (Mrs Clay), Nick Brimble (The Locksmith) and David Quilter (The Doctor)

Well, I’ll keep track of it and see if it is indeed ever released!

Confessions of a Driving Instructor – 1976

The third in the “Confessions” series of movies Like, the “Window Cleaner” one, I’d previously just seen an edited version of it on the TNT channel. Now, thanks to my DVD player hacker code, I have finally seen the original, PAL format British release! Robin is still Timmy Lea, who again follows his brother -in-law Sid into business…this time buying an out-of-business driving school to run. The usual hanky-panky ensues. Robin’s love interest this time around is a somewhat mannish woman who is the daughter of the rival driving school’s owner. Not sure why she was chosen, as she looked way too old to play a “daughter” type role and didn’t blend in well with Robin. Unsure why they couldn’t’ve found him a nice, pretty, petite girl like in “Window Cleaner” and “Horror Hospital”!

After the “Pop Performer” fiasco this one goes back and more fits the mold of “Window Cleaner”. The story is a little more interesting, the jokes a little more clever, and the pointless sex seems to be turned down. I think Timmy only shags something like 5 women? Robin looks a little better in this one too, but still not quite his best. What is it during this time period? Maybe the hairstyle. Still looks like it has a weird cut growing out. OH. I think I know too…sideburns. I loved the sideburns in Horror Hospital and other appearances around that time. He’s too clean shaven in this! Ha ha. But at least you can definitely tell he’s gotten some sun recently – his tan lines are VERY evident in quite a few scenes, if you know what I mean!

Confessions of a Pop Performer – 1975

I’d been dying to see this one for years due to my love for anything concerning the early ‘70s British pop scene! Unfortunately, it turns out the band in this film attended the “Gary Glitter School of Pop” and are butt-ugly! They couldn’t somehow scrape up some hot looking guys in the vein of Sweet or T.Rex?? I’ll admit that the songs were catchy though, very glam-inspired. But wasn’t glam on its way out by 1975?

The movie itself was a disaster. With “Window Cleaner” you got a decent story and characters with some depth and feeling. This one is a charactature of it. Robin’s character Timmy has been made way too one-dimensional and doesn’t seem to have a thought in his head. They amped up the sex and thus this one does fall more into the “softcore” realm. The writers don’t bother with much of a clever story for each woman like in Window Cleaner, nope, it’s pretty much New Woman Meets Timmy and Starts Attacking Him. Without any rhyme or reason. And Timmy is stupider and clumsier than ever! I know it’s all for laughs but jeez. The joke gets a little old when EVERY single time a woman comes onto him Timmy acts like he has NO idea what she wants from him until his clothes are off. Um, he hasn’t figured it out by the 50th time this happens to him?

Plus, Robin just doesn’t look his best in this one. His hair isn’t as shiny and full and blond as it sometimes is, and is cut in somewhat of a bad shag. His skin pallor is sorta pasty, like it’s been a long winter in England that year!

The story: lamely put together. Timmy and brother in law Sid, still window cleaning, decide at the spur of the moment to manage a pop group they’ve barely heard. After that, they spend the rest of the time trying to get them booked in clubs and a record made and played. Their drummer suffers a hand injury so Timmy steps in. Robin’s drumming is the highlight of the whole film. He looks adorable in those scenes! And it’s a chance for him to show off his drumming skills, as he did used to play them in a band he was a part of in high school. If you don’t want to see the movie, at least you can watch those clips on You Tube!

Sigh. This one could’ve had so much potential!

The Journey – 1982

Going through Robin’s film listings, I found this one that really doesn’t “fit in” with the rest of his body of work. Its synopsis: “Christmas story told through animation and 16th century Flemish drawings, with carols and extracts from the Bible.” And Robin is credited with doing the “music”. Interesting. I was not aware he dabbled in music composition. It is just 30 minutes long and was shown on Dec 24, 1982 in Britain. Would be interesting to hear how he got involved with something like this, but it is not mentioned in his book. Wonder if it’s trotted out every year over there or is instead stuck on a back shelf somewhere and long forgotten. Nevertheless, I’ll file this one away under “Will never get to see”.

Confessions of a Window Cleaner – 1974

Yes, yes, I know I did this one already. But…guess what? Remember, before I only had access to the heavily edited version I’d copied off cable TV years ago. I recently threw all caution to the wind and bought a PAL-format boxed set of all four “Confessions” movies! If I could figure out how to make my DVD player region free, perfect! If not, at least I’d have a cool collectible boxed set. But, using codes from a handy DVD hacking website I successfully changed all 3 of my DVD players into region free ones! Wow! It was super easy, too. This is one of those rare times I’m glad I’m living in the modern age where you can literally make anything work for you! The world of British DVDs is now open to me and no one can stand in my way!!!!

It was nice to watch a clean, sharp version of this! My old one on VHS had that deteriorating tape quality to it, plus all the cut aways to commercials. And now I see what a bad editing job they did as well. Many scenes were just cut off so short that the following dialog didn’t even make sense! Now as I watched this one I was thinking to myself, “Ah….so that’s what he meant when he mentions fetishes!” hehe

And right from the beginning you see how much had been taken out! Lots of scenes of Robin looking in windows and seeing naked women. Lots of Robin running around in bedrooms stark naked. With all that, though, I still can’t classify it as soft porn or anything though. You pretty much see all this in any R rated film of today. Absolutely no full-frontal guy action. He’s pretty discrete in keeping a leg or knee in front of what us female fans are curious about seeing! Even the infamous “soapsuds on the kitchen floor” scene I kept reading about being so shocking wasn’t really that shocking, as soapsuds covered every part of their bodies! It was also filmed in a madcap, fast motion way to make it silly rather than sexy!

Nothing really to review that I’ve not said in the previous review. A few extra thoughts: So many of these British movies/TV shows seem to center around families where adult children are still living at home, and when they get married, the new husband/wife just moves on in the family home! Does this reflect reality? Does it reflect reality in the ‘70s? Are taxes just too high over there to make a living where you can afford your own home?

Beryl’s Lot – “Dancing Lessons” – Season 1, episode 4 - 1973

Back to this series. I’m trying to make them last, as I only have 6 episodes of them! This 4th episode, though, is getting to be somewhat tedious and formulaic. Again the story is about aging housewife Beryl, now fully enrolled in night school classes at the local college. Her husband again feeling pushed aside in their relationship. Robin’s character Fred again bickering with their teenaged daughter Rosie. Nice part of this episode is you get to see Robin’s nicely shaped, somewhat tanned shoulders as he lounges around the kitchen in a tight wifebeater style undershirt! Main theme of this one is that the college is giving a dance and she wants to go. Husband does not…she does anyway….followed by Rosie, some nosy neighbors, and Robin’s Fred so as to keep an eye on her!

The Last Bus – 10 Oct 1968

Robin says this is his very first speaking part, which places it before “If….” Amazingly, I found it on YouTube! I knew beforehand it was something about “bus violence put out by the BBC for the schools" so I was assuming it was something about bullying on a schoolbus with Robin playing a character similar to what he played in “The Double Deckers”. But no. This interesting little half hour black and white dramatization takes a look at a late night double decker London bus with a few passengers on it, on their way home. On comes a group of 4 longhaired troublemaking youths, the leader of whom is Robin, playing “Robbo”. Another of them I noticed at the end was named Arthur Wild – could that be the brother of my beloved H.R. Pufnstuf’s Jack Wild???

The bus conductor comes around to take their fare. Funny how this is done! You don’t have to pay when you get on? The conductor walks around and asks where you’re going and lets you know the price! Seems like a big confusing hassle if there are a lot of people! Robin and his gang start giving him a hard time and don’t want to pay the full fare. Lighthearted arguing soon turn into angry accusations and racial insults (the conductor is Irish, the driver is black). The boys angrily leave the bus. But at the last moment grab the conductor and beat him up. The people on the bus sit in shocked silence, no one daring to go help out. The scene ends there and we are shown a man who talks to us a bit about what we have just seen. Then he starts to “interview” some of the characters from the film – ask them why they did nothing to help the bus conductor. Fascinating to hear their explanations and rationalizations. One older lady brings up a lot of issues you hear about today in America! And probably in Britain too. How she doesn’t know why, with all society does for underprivileged kids like these (free schooling, public housing, job training, etc) they still run around getting into trouble. I felt the interviewer’s comments back to her were a bit harsh, as she did have a point! What else is society to do about problem youths? Sheesh. The other people talked about fear for their own safety and worry for their families if something happened to them. They had a point too, and I’m sure most people could relate. How could the interviewer really expect these riders to go up against 4 strong violent young men? I suppose the 3 men on the bus could’ve gone out as a group but honestly, the older lady and the young girl would’ve been helpless (because, as you know from a lot of Robin's movies, all girls are good for is standing around and screaming a lot! ;-) )

I see the point the show was trying to make – how we should be involved and help each other but it would’ve made more sense to have put a few more people – stronger people! – on there.

Also, the “gang of toughs” looked more like a clean-cut mod pop group that a gang of serious street thugs that would act this way. It was hard to watch Robin be so mean and violent, he just doesn’t look like he SHOULD be! Was bus violence really a big problem back in 1967 London? I have to laugh just a little bit about this premise, me, who had to endure riding packed L.A. city buses full of gang members cursing, spitting, throwing things, carving graffiti into the seats and blasting rap music on my way to and from my private high school as a teen – as it went by the public high school on its way there. “Public school” has a WHOLE OTHER MEANING here in the US than it does in Britain! Give me a busload of troublemaking young Robin Askwiths any day!

As a sequel to this there was:

Sentence of the Court – 17 Oct 1968

But I can’t find it, so I’ll just give you this:

From the BFI website: “A sequel to 'LAST BUS', this semi-dramatised documentary looks at what the subsequent history might have been of the boys in the gang that attacked the conductor in Last Bus, what might have caused the boys to behave in the way they did, and what the nature of their punishment will be.”
Anyone have it? Could you YouTube it for me? Please?



2011 UPDATE:

Cool page I found which tells all about these shows: www.broadcastforschools.co.uk
And here's the YouTube of "Last Bus" - I meant to come back and put it on then just forgot about it, sorry!