''The Stanley Baxter Series'' is a British

comedy Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...

television show A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed b ...

which was originally broadcast on the

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...

in 1981. It was Baxter's first weekly

sketch show Sketch comedy comprises a series of short, amusing scenes or vignettes, called "sketches", commonly between one and ten minutes long, performed by a group of comic actors or comedians. The form developed and became popular in vaudeville, and i ...

for nine years since the first series of his ''

The Stanley Baxter Picture Show ''The Stanley Baxter Picture Show'' is a British comedy television show which was originally broadcast on ITV. It featured an initial series of four episodes in 1972, followed by one-off specials in each of the successive years. A sketch show it ...

'', as he had concentrated on producing one-off specials since then.Barfe p.268 Baxter was nominated for the

British Academy Television Award for Best Entertainment Performance The British Academy Television Award for Best Entertainment Performance is an award given out by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts at their annual BAFTA Television Awards ceremony. This category has had minor name changes: *From 195 ...

losing out to

Nigel Hawthorne Sir Nigel Barnard Hawthorne (5 April 1929 – 26 December 2001) was an English actor. He is most known for his stage acting and his portrayal of Sir Humphrey Appleby, the permanent secretary in the 1980s sitcom '' Yes Minister'' and the Cabi ...

for ''

Yes Minister ''Yes Minister'' is a British political satire sitcom written by Antony Jay and Jonathan Lynn. Comprising three seven-episode series, it was first transmitted on BBC2 from 1980 to 1984. A sequel, ''Yes, Prime Minister'', ran for 16 episodes fr ...

''.

References

Bibliography

* Barfe, Louis. ''Turned Out Nice Again: The Story of British Light Entertainment''. Atlantic Books, 2013. * Vahimagi, Tise . ''British Television: An Illustrated Guide''. Oxford University Press, 1996.

External links

The Stanley Baxter Series at the British Comedy Guide
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stanley Baxter Series, The 1981 British television series debuts 1981 British television series endings 1980s British comedy television series ITV sketch shows English-language television shows 1980s British television sketch shows London Weekend Television shows