Nigel Edward Buxton (29 May 1924 – 30 November 2015) was a British

travel writer The genre of travel literature or travelogue encompasses outdoor literature, guide books, nature writing, and travel memoirs. History Early examples of travel literature include the '' Periplus of the Erythraean Sea'' (generally considered ...

and

wine critic A wine critic is a person who evaluates wine and describes it either with a numerical rating, a tasting note, or a combination of both. Their critiques, found in books, newspapers, magazines, newsletters, online, or in sales materials for wine, ar ...

, also known for appearing as in the

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

comedy series ''

The Adam and Joe Show ''The Adam and Joe Show'' is a British television sketch comedy show that originally ran from 6 December 1996 to 28 May 1999 on Channel 4 for the first three series and then moved to E4 from 13 March to 17 April 2001 for the fourth and final ...

''.

Early life

Buxton was born at

Cowfold Cowfold is a village and civil parish between Billingshurst and Haywards Heath in the Horsham District of West Sussex, England. The village is at the intersection of the A272 and A281 roads. The parish has a land area of . In the 2001 census ...

Sussex Sussex (Help:IPA/English, /ˈsʌsɪks/; from the Old English ''Sūþseaxe''; lit. 'South Saxons'; 'Sussex') is an area within South East England that was historically a kingdom of Sussex, kingdom and, later, a Historic counties of England, ...

, where his father, Gordon Offord Buxton, worked as a 'general factotum' at Brook Hill House, owned by Lt-Col Edward William ('Robert') Hermon of the 1st King Edward's Horse, to whom the elder Buxton had been a servant since 1908, accompanying him as his

batman Batman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. Batman was created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on M ...

during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

Career

Travel writer

After education at Collyer's Grammar School,

Horsham Horsham () is a market town on the upper reaches of the River Arun on the fringe of the Weald in West Sussex, England. The town is south south-west of London, north-west of Brighton and north-east of the county town of Chichester. Nearby to ...

and the

Imperial Service College The Imperial Service College (ISC) was an English independent school based in Windsor, originally known as St. Mark's School when it was founded in 1845. In 1906, St Mark’s School absorbed boys from the former United Services College, which ...

, Windsor, followed by the

University of Glasgow The University of Glasgow (abbreviated as ''Glas.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals; ) is a Public university, public research university in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded by papal bull in , it is the List of oldest universities in continuous ...

and Worcester College, University of Oxford. at the latter of which he read Modern History, graduating in 1954, Buxton became travel columnist – later travel editor – of ''

The Sunday Telegraph ''The Sunday Telegraph'' is a British broadsheet newspaper, first published on 5 February 1961 and published by the Telegraph Media Group, a division of Press Holdings. It is the sister paper of ''The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Tele ...

'' in 1961.

BaaadDad

In the 1990s, Buxton appeared as "BaaadDad" on ''

'' on

, which was written and presented by his son

Adam Buxton Adam Offord Buxton (born 7 June 1969) is an English actor, comedian and podcaster. With the filmmaker Joe Cornish, he is part of the comedy duo Adam and Joe. They presented the Channel 4 television series '' The Adam and Joe Show'' (1996–200 ...

along with Adam's friend

Joe Cornish Joseph Murray Cornish (born 20 December 1968) is an English comedian and filmmaker. With Adam Buxton, he forms the comedy duo Adam and Joe. In 2011, Cornish released his directorial debut ''Attack the Block''. He also co-wrote ''The Adventures ...

. The comedy behind the character of BaaadDad was the juxtaposition of the fact that he was clearly an

elderly Old age is the range of ages for people nearing and surpassing life expectancy. People who are of old age are also referred to as: old people, elderly, elders, senior citizens, seniors or older adults. Old age is not a definite biological sta ...

and

upper middle class In sociology, the upper middle class is the social group constituted by higher status members of the middle class. This is in contrast to the term '' lower middle class'', which is used for the group at the opposite end of the middle-class stra ...

man with the topics that he discusses, which relate to

youth culture Youth culture refers to the societal norms of children, adolescents, and young adults. Specifically, it comprises the processes and symbolic systems that are shared by the youth and are distinct from those of adults in the community. An emphasis ...

– clubbing, drug use, and so on. As this character, he featured in the video for

Frank Black Charles Michael Kittridge Thompson IV (born April 6, 1965), better known by the stage name Black Francis, is an American singer, guitarist, and songwriter. He is the frontman of the alternative rock band Pixies. Following the band's break ...

's single "Dog Gone".

Personal life and death

During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, having been commissioned in the

Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

in 1943, Buxton served in France and Germany. Prior to his journalistic career, Buxton also served as assistant adjutant in India during the last days of the

British Raj The British Raj ( ; from Hindustani language, Hindustani , 'reign', 'rule' or 'government') was the colonial rule of the British The Crown, Crown on the Indian subcontinent, * * lasting from 1858 to 1947. * * It is also called Crown rule ...

. In 1966, Buxton married Valerie Buxton, née Birrell, and had a daughter and two sons. Buxton wrote several books, including ''A Penguin Guide to Travel in Europe'', published by Penguin in 1965, ''Travel '67'', published by Follett in 1967,World's Press News and Advertisers' Review, vol. 77, 1967, pg 5 ,''Walking in Wine Country'', published by

Weidenfeld & Nicolson Weidenfeld & Nicolson Ltd (established 1949), often shortened to W&N or Weidenfeld, is a British publisher of fiction and reference books. It has been a division of the French-owned Orion Publishing Group since 1991. History George Weidenfeld ...

in 1993, ‘Proving Ground’ in 2009, ‘The Fading Margin - A sort of autobiography’ in 2010 and ‘The Road to Fleet Street - An autobiography’ in 2015 all published by New Barn Books. Buxton died from complications arising from lung cancer at his son

's Norfolk home on 30 November 2015.

References

1924 births 2015 deaths British travel writers Royal Artillery officers Writers from London People from Cowfold British Army personnel of World War II {{UK-tv-actor-stub