Anthony Baxter is a journalist and BAFTA-winning documentary film maker who started his career in radio before moving to the BBC where he worked in factual programming. He is best known as the director of You’ve Been Trumped, the 2011 documentary which follows the construction of Donald Trump’s luxury golf course and hotel complex on a site of special scientific interest at Balmedie in Aberdeenshire. In the teeth of legal action from Trump’s lawyers he took aim at the same subject and at Big Golf in general in a 2014 follow-up, A Dangerous Game, and once more in You’ve Been Trumped Too, released to coincide with the 2016 American election He has now turned the entire of saga of Trump’s business association with Scotland into a new BBC podcast, Trumped, featuring updates alongside archive material.
What’s the last film you saw in a cinema?
A Q&A screening I hosted with writer and broadcaster Lesley Riddoch at the Montrose Playhouse of which I am proud patron. Denmark: The State Of Happiness has been playing to packed houses across Scotland and in the film, Lesley inspires Scots to think differently about how a small country can be run. The Montrose Playhouse is the perfect venue for lively Q&A screening events like this, and we’re now making plans for our second LandxSea Film Festival, Scotland’s first environmental film festival, from 13th September 2024.
Favourite actor?
I thoroughly enjoyed Brian Cox as Logan Roy in the award-winning HBO series Succession and particularly the episode Dundee – a homecoming for the character, and actor, with much of it shot at the Dundee V&A. Perhaps it’s the parallels the Roy family has with the Trumps that struck a particular chord with me.
What music are you currently listening to a lot?
Tathajam, Laura Marling and Harry Bird
Vinyl or MP3?
I’m back on my CD collection, having recently replaced a worn-out old player I bought three decades ago. I like the tangible aspect of CDs and vinyl, but I am a Spotify user also.
What has been your most formative cultural experience?
Ever since I went to see Star Wars as an eight-year-old at the Nottingham Odeon in 1977 I’ve been hooked on cinemas – the design of classics – and the atmosphere and pleasure of seeing films in a movie theatre. It doesn't matter how big a TV screen is, it’s never the same as sitting in a pitch-black room and sharing the experience of a powerful film with no distractions.
Recommend a novel …
I’m late to The Testament Of Gideon Mack by James Robertson but it’s a terrific read. James has an extraordinary ability to immerse us in his characters’ world and he is undoubtedly one of Scotland’s finest writers.
Favourite film?
Tough, but as I write I’m travelling by train to Berlin from Amsterdam, so today I’m going to land on Alfred Hitchcock’s North By Northwest. For me, it has everything that I look for in a classic thriller. The crop-dusting scene is one of the most atmospheric in cinema history and as a railway fan, Cary Grant and Eva Marie Saint’s flirtations on a sleeper train across the US are perfectly performed and directed by Hitchcock. Bernard Herrmann’s score and Saul Bass’s title sequence set new standards when the film was released in 1959 and continue to influence film-makers and composers today.
What haven’t you managed to get around to yet but will when you have the time?
I walked from Land’s End to John O’Groats in the year 2000 and I’ve been craving for a long-distance hike which takes weeks to complete ever since – and first on my list will be the Camino de Santiago when I can make the time to complete it.
What was the most memorable recent theatre show you saw?
Two Sisters at the Lyceum in Edinburgh, which combines the writing talents of David Greig with accomplished director Wils Wilson – who also brilliantly directed another of Greig’s stand out plays, The Strange Undoing of Prudencia Hart, which I was fortunate to see at the Fringe in 2022. The performances by Shauna Macdonald as Amy, and Jess Hardwick as Emma in Two Sisters are superb, and it was a privilege to be present to witness this marvellous piece of theatre on its opening night in Edinburgh.
Irvine Welsh or Robert Louis Stevenson?
Robert Louis Stevenson for me, despite being a fan of Irvine Welsh’s work.
What do you always turn off?
Wherever possible, a TV showing news that no one is interested in watching in a pub – when I can find the off switch! I don’t understand why bars have intrusive screens on when nobody’s watching them.
Favourite song?
Strawberry Fields Forever by the Beatles. It was the first song I attempted to play on the guitar and when I first heard it, I loved the chords, mysterious lyrics and the orchestral arrangement.
Recommend a TV box set …
As a box set it’s hard to beat Fawlty Towers for brilliant writing and timeless performances. I’ve recently booked tickets to see the West End play version adapted for the stage by John Cleese; in part because I’m fascinated to see how the classic set is recreated and inhabited by fresh actors playing these classic roles.
Tetris or Call of Duty?
Classic arcade games Space Invaders or Galaxian for me – too many 10 pence pieces sunk into those two in amusement arcades.
You’re in a station or airport. What magazine do you grab?
Ever since I was a transport producer and reporter at the BBC, I’ve found myself buying a copy of Rail magazine and that habit continues when I’m travelling today, as columnist Christian Wolmar continues to shine a light on Britain’s ‘nobody gives a damn’ railway.
Favourite comedian?
Graham Fellows’s character John Shuttleworth is a gem. I’ve seen Graham a few times on tour and at the Edinburgh Fringe and loved his BBC Radio 4 series.
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