Darrell Buxton has been kind enough to post his 2005 interview with Robin on YouTube! It was held at the Festival of Fantastic Films in Manchester. I've been dying to see this one, which up until now could only be seen as an "extra" on the German DVD of Horror Hospital (which I've mentioned here before but still have not bought).
This is really fun to watch! I've never seen this much of Robin just talking as himself and not acting before.
Robin seems like a lot of fun, very outgoing and enthusiastic. Darrell does a good interview, keeps things flowing nicely, asks good questions that are different than the usual I keep hearing over and over again. In this segment, he gets Robin reflecting on "what an interesting way some people think of his career...shagging his way through show business" and how his intent really was to be a classical actor. He has good humor as he describes this, but you can tell he enjoys talking about his earlier, non sex-comedy days.
Funny how he dares anyone in the audience to have a copy of Hans Brinker! Is it still that rare in the UK to get ahold of? Probably not, I would guess? I got my VHS copy in some bargain bin some time ago.
Robin is just SO sharp and quick with everything! You can tell by just watching this he has a brilliant mind and memory! And so full of life and energy! He really is quite a unique person.
Has it really been two months since I last posted? Wow. Time really does go by too fast. I've been pretty busy with a lot of other things and haven't had much time to devote to searching for Robin appearances. However, it has just come to my attention he now has his own website! http://www.robinaskwith.com/ It seems to be dedicated to his favorite charity "Our Disappearing Planet" and is selling autographed items to benefit that. What a nice thing to do! I'm proud that I seem to like nice, unselfish celebrities...I kind of remember my other fave actor Rutger Hauer also having supported an animal charity, dolphins or something like that.
The memoribilia show I mentioned last time apparently went well. So far the only review I can find that mentions Robin is on one of our fave blogs: The Geek Shall Inherit the Earth and a nice picture as well, so go over and check it out! He mentions that Robin was sitting right next to Linda Hayden and they were quite friendly with each other. He also teases us with a hint that there may be something new Robin will be appearing in soon! I'm dying to know!
Anyway, I browsed through YouTube trying to find any video but after sitting though a few which were nothing but shots of Dr. Who and Star Trek characters I'm wondering how Robin even fit in with what seemed to be a hardcore sci-fi convention!
Well, it looks like Robin will be making an appearance at another one of those TV/Film memoribilia shows tomorrow, May 12, The Greatest Show in the Galaxy, along with some of his female co-stars in various movies! Wow! Including ex-girlfriend Linda Hayden! Wonder if this is the first time they've seen each other since the olden days? Are they on good terms? Hope a fan will be able to be there to let us know how he and any of these co-stars interact, and maybe take some photos for us to see!
Nice interview with Robin from the NEC Birmingham March 31- April 1, 2012 show I mentioned a few weeks ago. Read it here: BHF Blog There's a photo too!
I’m going to get sidetracked this week and do a “recommendation” post.
Ten to twelve years ago I went through a major, Robin-esque obsession with Dutch actor Rutger Hauer.
If there was such a thing as a blog back then, perhaps I would have done one on his movies. I went crazy for awhile and started buying up all his movies on VHS. At least most of them were pretty easy to find! He was hottest in the early ‘70s, with his long blond hair and piercing blue eyes.
Anyway, I decided to watch this one again for old time’s sake. And I noticed quite a few things in it that reminded me of some of the Robin movies. Besides his hair and nakedness and doing bunches of naked girls, I mean. If you’re not familiar with it, you should check it out.
The story: Rutger plays Erik, a sculptor who takes home girl after girl to sexually torment. He seems bitter, angry, and cruel. Then we flash back two years to when he was happy-go-lucky. He meets the woman of his dreams, a carefree teenaged Olga. They marry and have a passionate relationship that soon turns tumultuous. A turn of events soon show why Erik has become bitter and angry at the world. This is probably simultaneously the raunchiest and tenderest, saddest movie I’ve ever seen.
I can’t say I can see Robin playing this part. Rutger has a type of brooding and darkness that Robin does not. When Rutger gets angry, you do get scared. When Robin gets angry, he more often has the appearance of a scowling child, ready to burst into giggles again.
But there were some nice silly moments in this that are reminiscent of a Confessions film. And others too:
1.The driving scene. When Erik first meets Olga, she has picked him up hitchhiking. He tells her to pull over, and what happens next is straight out of “Confessions of a Driving Instructor”!
2.Meeting the parents. Erik is making out with Olga on her parents’ couch and they come home and interrupt. Reminded me of Timmy and Liz on the couch in “Window Cleaner”.
3.The Wedding Scene – all the running around, trying to get to the wedding on time…didn’t quite turn out the same as in “Window Cleaner” but the hectic rush still made me think of it.
4.Bicycle riding - Erik riding recklessly around the busy narrow European streets was just SO Timmy Lea!
5.Sculptor - Wasn’t Robin’s character a sculptor in the movie “Bless This House”? I’m already forgetting!
6. Queen visiting the hospital - Erik sells a sculpture to be placed outside a hospital, and the Queen is coming for the unveiling. Hospital staff are rushing around in a panic to make sure things look proper for her. Just like in “Britannia Hospital”!!
7.Erik and Olga standing out in the rain, hair drenched. They look SO much like Jason and Judy in “Horror Hospital”, don’t they?
8.Seeing his girl make out with another man – Erik sees this from a distance when she thinks he’s not watching, similarly Timmy sees Liz making out with his brother in law. In this one, he throws up on her as revenge….in Timmy’s case, he turns the hose on her.
9. And….the good ol’ Bubbles scene! This one Erik is simply taking a bath. But, he’s enveloped in bubbles, and who can NOT be reminded of that infamous “Window Cleaner” Bubbles scene??? Wonder if Rutger complained about it as much as Robin does!!!
A lot of Rutger’s later movies are action-packed and really stray far away from what he did in the early ‘70s, so don’t worry, I’m not going to flood this with Rutger movies now. Perhaps one more. We’ll see.
Rutger is about 7 years older than Robin and still looks absolutely fantastic these days! He keeps a very professional website that’s fun and informative (hint, hint, Robin!) Back when I was more into him I’d visit his chatroom, not sure if that’s there anymore, but it was funny how possessive his fans were. Middle-aged ladies, talking jealously about his wife and stuff like that. Really weird. Robin’s fans seem saner and nicer.
Anyway, the videoclips I put on above are from my copy, which I had to watch with its bad dubbed in English which makes Rutger's voice sound dorky. Here's more scenes I found on YouTube with their real voices:
Wish I could say that I didn't post to this blog last week because I was away at the NEC Birmingham Memoribilia Show where Robin was a guest.
Wish also that was ME in that photo above, but no such luck.
I just found it here at "StantheFan's Photostream" on Flickr because it looks like he was lucky enough to be there! Check out his collection, there's more of Robin as well!
Boy, the U.K. sure holds a lot of these memoribilia events! And Robin seems to like appearing at them!
Trying to search out hard-to-find appearances but am having no luck. Anyone have this one? Anyone even see this one when it aired and could maybe write in a description of Robin’s role? Here’s really all I could find.
From Wikipedia: Doctors is a British daytime television soap opera, set in the fictional Midland town of Letherbridge, defined as being close to the City of Birmingham. Its storylines deal with the lives of staff and patients at the fictional Mill Health Centre and its offshoot, Letherbridge University's Campus Surgery, although earlier episodes were set at the Riverside Surgery and, later in the storyline, The Best Practice was regularly featured as well.
From TV.com: (In Lion or a Sheep) Kate spends an emotional final day in Letherbridge, and a record shop owner finds himself struggling to face up to an uncertain future. Robin Askwith plays David Cordman
From Locatetv.com: Kate says goodbye to Letherbridge and a record shop owner suffering from a serious illness refuses to accept the results of his diagnosis. Robin Askwith guest stars.
I originally reviewed this movie a couple years ago here. I just added some better pictures to it, as well as a videoclip I just uploaded to YouTube. Here's some extra stuff I found as well: Isn't that way too cute???
I can't remember this scene actually being in the movie! Where was it?
No Robin in this one...sortof a "Robin once removed" post this week. But enjoyable and humorous to watch. I guess these "Pans People" dancers on the UK show "Top of the Pops" are similar to the "Solid Gold Dancers" here in '70s US.
