Benjamin and Baxter (2013)

Anyone who has been a big fan of the Jago and Litefoot will have been looking forward to this release since it was announced. This is basically one of those sort of interviews that you would see on Sky Arts where actors talk about their life stories. Nicholas Briggs sits down with Christopher Benjamin and Trevor Baxter and they discuss how they met and how their lives ended up with them reuniting some decades later for Big Finish after only appearing in two episodes together.

The interview starts off with a nice introduction with Benjamin and Baxter showing how much fun they have together and its impossible to not find them complete charming. We also know what sort of interviewer Nicholas Briggs would be and its a good one. He allows Benjamin and Baxter to say what they wanted and asks interesting and direct questions. After the introductory section the dynamic duo are split up and we get a lovely opportunity to hear both actors without letting the humour get in the way. The first to be interviewed solo was Christopher Benjamin. Benjamin's story is lovely to listen to and he talks about it with the sort of style hat most interviewers would dream of. He talks about growing p during the Second World War and the early stages of his careers in the latter stages of the 1940s. He is quite frank when he talking, at one point he considers himself a poor father for being on tour so much. His whole story is very interesting and its a shame when his section was over.  When we get to Trevor Baxter's part I think this release goes from being good to excellent. I thought that not only did Trevor Baxter tell his story very well but his life story has been crammed full with a rich tapestry of theatre work. I knew nothing of his life (or Christopher's). We get a nice bit of plolitical discussion from Baxter which does come as a bit of a shock but its a nice moment as its clear that Baxter knows what he's talking about and hasn't got his ideas from a group of idiots in a pub. Baxtern then talks about how there are things in his life that he is disappointed about but he doesnt grumble and instead seems to have enjoyed his life and thatnrefreshing to hear someone talk about their life and not have any bitterness. Like Benjamin's story, I was sad when it ended as he could have carried on talking and I wouldn't have minded.

When they are reunited we get them talking about their time returning to the roles of Jago and Litefoot and whilst they enjoy doing the stories they could tell you one story from the other which normally would be a big snub but to be fair Baxter is 80 and Benjamin is 78 and so they can be forgiven for not being hot on what the have done. We get a nice bit of a wish list from Benjamin about looking into Jago's life before he met Litefoot. 

Nicholas Briggs is fantastic in this story and does a great job as the interviewer. He shows interest in their stories and asks interesting questions whilst allowing Baxter and Benjamin to answer the questions in full. He doesn't inteript them and instead of being Jeremy Paxman he is more like Michael Parkinson and that's a great thing. Benjamin and Baxter is one of my favourite releases of the year. I was hoping that this release was going to be a good release and that it would keep my interest and not only did it do that but I found myself totally engaged in their stories and wanting to spend more time in their company. I genuinely can't find any fault in this release and that's a rare thing in any release these days. Benjamin, Baxter and Briggs are a credit to Big Finish and I loved this release.