Kenny Everett was quite simply one of those talents that could never be pigeonholed anywhere. A brilliant radio performer who carved out a successful career in pirate radio before joining Radio One on its creation in 1967, he later transferred to ITV and the BBC with a television style that could only be described as idiosyncratic. Never happy with a script, Everett was a superb improviser who created worlds of his own through mimicry and a collective appeal to past television and radio traditions.
Born Maurice Cole in Liverpool, Everett had an ordinary lower middle-class background; but could not admit to himself his true sexuality. In James Strong's production, it was this handicap that was to prove the bugbear of his subsequent life. As portrayed by Oliver Lansley (in a remarkable impersonation), he came across as someone who used lunacy to cover up his sexual inadequacies. Heavily reliant on his wife Dee (Katherine Kelly) for moral as well as physical support, he led something of a sexual double life until the late Eighties when he finally came out.
Stylistically speaking, this production followed the style of Everett's television series in combining psychedelic color, inserts from some of Everett's most memorable characters as well as re- enactments of some of the major episodes of his life. The only element missing was Hot Gossip; but there were enough "naughty bits" to remind us of his unique style. Unable to accept the dictates of authority, he was regularly sacked from the BBC, from pirate radio and from Capital Radio for speaking out of turn, yet achieved sufficient reputation to receive a Sony Lifetime Achievement for Radio in 1994, a year before his death from AIDS.
Aside from the two main performances, the production contained some cameos, some of which were good, others execrable. Simon Callow made a good Richard Attenborough, even down to the regular use of the term of endearment "Darling!". On the other hand Andrew Greenough's Michael Winner was perfectly appalling - a combination of Mel Smith and Albert Steptoe.
Nonetheless BEST POSSIBLE TASTE remained an entertaining piece, especially for those who remember this unique talent in his prime.
