Christmas Box

Easily the best of Stanley Baxter's legendary Christmas shows. Many items, such as 'The Last Noel', with Stanley as Noel Coward, went on to become much-repeated classics. 'Farewell My Cinders' is 'Cinderella' as it might have been written by Raymond Chandler. It contained the memorable line: "People from my past flashed before my eyes. Until they got booked for indecent exposure.". 'The Undersea World Of Jacques Cousteau' featured Stanley as the intrepid Gallic submariner in Brighton! Some sketches, particularly the Jewish newsreader, are overlong while 'The Bruce Fosdyke Show' doesn't work as well as it might, but any shortcomings are compensated by the stupendous 'Girl On The Cover'. Stanley's Edward Everett Horton is an absolute knock-out! It tells the story of a grotesquely obese woman called Lois Latnuk, who undergoes beauty treatments to become the cover girl for 'Harpies Bizarre' magazine. Of course it all goes horribly wrong. Great songs, sets and choreography help to make this a tasty Yuletide treat!