STAN to COP: 'Don't you think you are overbounding your steps?'

Wednesday, June 07, 2006

‘Stan’ - a review

Neil Brand originally wrote this play for radio about Stan visiting his ailing partner Ollie as he lay close to death. I found it a very morbid affair on the airwaves. Therefore I had serious misgivings about it being developed into a television play.

My apprehensions proved unfounded when the TV play was screened yesterday on BBC 4. It was very touching and revealed the special bond, albeit layered with much artistic licence, that brought about the greatest ever film comedy partnership. With the advantage of the visual images of a young Stan and Ollie, there were flashbacks to scenes of their career from the first film, Lucky Dog and other events in their lives. The many marriages of Stan was cleverly covered in a sequence in which Stan, Ollie and the brides pulled the scenes across before our eyes just as The Boys did in Thicker Than Water.