Hogmanay

If there is one country famous for its New Year celebrations, it's Scotland. The role television played in cementing our Hogmanay traditions not only to ourselves, but worldwide has been pivotal through the medium's history.

A copy of the Radio Times from 1984, showing Hogmanay listings.

STV's first Hogmanay show was on the eve of 1958. It was a spectacular event, broadcast live from the Theatre Royal in Glasgow. What I found startling upon watching it was how very little seems to have changed. No, back in 1958 there was no Jackie Bird in an outfit that screamed mutton dressed as lamb, but many of the integral features of our Hogmanay are clearly visible - Highland dancing, pipers, tartan and shortbread. Maybe that's why Hogmanay television has captured a special place in the heart of Scots; despite the ever changing world, the core Scottishness many of us seem to digress from on a day to day basis reminds us of.... It's also one of the few times when people of all ages can watch television together. STV have an amazing archive system, available through Youtube. The Hogmanay video can be located here.

Whilst STV have focused on variety programmes, BBC Scotland have always had a greater focus on comedy. Iconic stars such as Stanley Baxter and Dorothy Paul drew crowds of millions as the lamented about the previous year, and welcomed in the next. Arguably Scotland's leading comedy star throughout the 1970's was Rikki Fulton. His dry as a bone performance as the impossibly dour Reverend I.M. Jolly is etched in the mind of almost all Scots over a certain age.

Never has there been a dryer line delivered than Jolly's "I am joking, of course"

Without dwelling on the negative for too long, there have been times over its history when Scotland has felt marginalised. I would hazard a guess that the annual Hogmanay shows did as much for nation-binding as any SNP policy could muster. . I certainly never feel more Scottish than at Hogmanay. And I think it says a lot about the Scottish nation, that at the most reflective time of the year, there is an unquenchable thirst for comedy.

LIP SERVICE

Glasgow. Famous for ship building, The Barras and lesbians. Apparently.
In 2009 the BBC announced plans for a big, shiny drama about lesbians. Long overdue many have said; British lesbians have had to settle for reminiscing about Tipping the Velvet for far too long. In a most surprising twist of events however, the BBC announced that this new big, shiny Lesbian drama would be set in, um, our fair city of Glasgow. Strange choice?



Cat & Frankie in the city.

Well, no, not really actually. Glasgow has long been known to all of us who live here to be a diverse and tolerant city, and it was just a matter of time before people from elsewhere discovered that. The three main characters Frankie, Cat and Tess lived fairly normal lives, with fairly standard problems, which a much wider audience could empathise with. Sometimes with "gay" drama, it can look like a nature documentary as they show us the peculiar mating habits and rituals of these, gasp, strange creatures! Luckily, Lip Service was the complete opposite, and made great strides in showing functional,non-stereotypical gay people in the UK today.

The central plotline was the not so triumphant homecoming of Frankie, who had fled Glasgow in a hurry, leaving girlfriend Cat behind to mourn her departure.Cat moves on, finds herself a nice, if very serious, new girlfriend in the form of policewoman Sam. But Frankie wants Cat back... Throw in some mystery, some comedy and some tantalising images of Glasgow by night, and voila, one brandspanking, lesbian drama!

Sam & Cat go public.

Because there are so few television shows specifically aimed at the LGBT community, the ones that are broadcast tend to get massive support from the community. These shows tend to have far greater reach than other British drama, as the gay and lesbian communities across the worlda support any decent LGBT output.

Lip Service was at home on the BBC3 schedule. It gathered large audiences for a minority channel, showing that the viewers looked beyond the lesbian tag, and focused on the strong storylines. The role of Glasgow was an important one for the show. Sex & the City famously viewed New York City as the 5th character of the show, and in a sense the same could be said for Glasgow in Lip Service. The city looks sleek and modern. I live here and it makes me want to visit...

Keep your eyes peeled for Series 2 of Lip Service, showing on BBC3 this spring.

BROADCAST:- 2010-present.

STARRING:- Ruta Gedmintas, Fiona Button, Laura Fraser.

WEEGIE RATING:- Ya dancer!

Chewin' the Fat.

On doing the research for my post about Ford Kiernan & Greg Hemphill a few weeks back, I ended up embarking on a youtube voyage of discovery. Or should that be re-discovery? Here for your viewing pleasure, are a number of my favourite Chewin' the Fat sketches.

Schoolteacher.

We've all been there, those awkward reproduction classes. Karen Dunbar is a legend, managing to be both farcical and a bitingly realistic awkward schoolteacher, complete with East-Coast accent. Sadly for me, my Biology teacher was a mad Irish woman obsessed with sex. But that's a story for another day...

Ronald Villiers.

Ronald Villiers was the definition of terrible acting. His monotone voice, and apparent inability to take even the most basic of direction ruined many a take. My favourite thing about these scenes is the build-up - watching as everyone else slowly loses their cool amidst Ronald's incompetence.

Taxi Controller

Ever phoned for a taxi and wondered why they're so miserable? Wonder no longer. Helicopters, glass eyes - it would be enough to tip anyone over the edge. And if you've ever waited a particularly long time for a taxi, it's very possible that it's because they've parked up to have a good cry.

Rab C. Nesbitt

If you seen Rab C. Nesbitt walking towards you on the street, you'd be liable to cross the road just to avoid him. His string vest and filthy headband would be enough to put anyone off. In spite of this, Scotland's most famous scrounger has, over the years, become Glasgow's most iconic television character.

Rab & wife Mary Doll.

The character of Rab C. Nesbitt, played expertly by Gregor Fisher, first appeared in sketch show Naked Video in 1986. Rab strived for an easy life, based on the principles of unemployment and alcohol, and his antics were commissioned for a full series by the BBC, when Naked Video finished in 1990.  Beginning at the tail end of the Thatcher government, the show was often a direct attack on Tory policy, and the antithesis of the yuppie culture which had permeated throughout the 1980's. Despite Rab's shambolic appearance, he remained remarkably switched on about current affairs. Every episode would result in him ranting about one of the prominent social issues of the day, be it sectarianism, drug abuse or immigration.

Relive some of Rab's finest moments, from the beginning.

Actress Elaine C. Smith, who played Mary Doll felt Rab C. Nesbitt helped redefine Scottish caricatures. In a recent interview, she explained that drunks and lay-abouts were almost always played by Scottish actors. But Rab C. Nesbitt was seen as Scotland taking back that stereotype and using it for their own devices. Ever since the show first aired in 1990, Scottish people are far less likely to turn up as the drunk, as it's viewed as being cliched. Plus, it would be professional suicide to challenge Rab to a drinking game, so to speak.

When series 8 finished in 1999, it was thought that Rab, Mary Doll and co. had been consigned to the archives for good. But against all odds, like the character himself, Rab C. Nesbitt made a triumphant return to our screens for a special in 2008. Two further series' have introduced the show to a new generation of fans, as we see Rab getting older, and finding religion. And yet, through the years, Rab's charm, and vest, are the same as they were almost 30 years ago.

BROADCAST: 1990-1999. 2008-present.
STARRING: Gregor Fisher, Elaine C.Smith.
WEEGIE RATING:- Belter.

Almost Angelic.

Following on from our post about Ford Kiernan & Greg Hemphill, here's something to make you laugh on a Monday morning. After Chewin' the Fat ended in 2002, Karen Dunbar struck out with her own, eponymous sketch show. The East-coast singing duo Almost Angelic was my favourite skit.

So hilarious! We need to petition the extremely Ms. Dunbar to bring Almost Angelic back to the masses! I can just imagine her take on Rihanna....

Greg Hemphill & Ford Kiernan

Okay, confession time. Back in the late 1990's, everyone in Scotland seemed to be obsessed with Chewin' the Fat. Everyone except me. I watched the sketches, I "got" them, but I never felt I was laughing quite as hard as everyone else.

At this point of my life, as a precocious 10 year-old, all I could think about was the shiny sensation from across the pond, Friends. I had absolutely no time for Chewin' the Fat, with its homegrown catchphrases and seemingly mundane settings. It wasn't until I was bit older, and stumbled upon some of the sketches on Youtube, that it finally clicked. It was us.

Greg & Ford as The Neds.

During the early noughties, there was no hotter property in Scottish television, nay, the entire Scottish entertainment industry than comedy duo Ford Kiernan and Greg Hemphill. First teaming up in the largely unseen sketch show Pulp Video back in 1995, the pair entertained that nation with classic characters and sketches, first in Chewin' the Fat - alongside Karen Dunbar - and then in spin-off Still Game.

Characters such a hopeless actor Ronald Villiers and The Ned who interpreted the news quickly gained a mass following. Hemphill himself puts the success of the show down to the fact that it was made for Scots, and insists the more Scottish the sketches became, the funnier they were. Indeed, a number of classic catchphrases permeated Scottish culture. For about 3 years, it was almost impossible for a day to go by without hearing either "Ya couple a fannies!", "You've taken that too far", "We're just hear for the banter" or the acclaimed "Gonnae no dae that".

Indeed the characters who would prove the most enduring were the miserable pensioners Jack and Victor. Their spin-off sitcom, Still Game was broadcast across the UK, and was a hit with critics and the public alike. Spawning 6 series' and a number of specials, the show ranks as one of Scotland's top television exports of recent times.

Sadly, this is where the Greg and Ford love-in ends, for now at least. After a widely reported business disagreement, the duo have split up, with no intention of working together any time soon. Both have been working on separate projects, but neither has achieved the level of success that either Chewin' the Fat or Still Game brought.

RIVER CITY

In many ways, River City is the juggernaut of Glaswegian television shows. Sure, some have been running for longer, others have caused a somewhat sparkier zeitgeist, but River City has been the Scottish television's industry beacon of bright light for the last decade.

Initially River City was viewed, by the public and the media, as a bit of an embarrassment. Scots cringed as they heard their own broad accents being banded about the screen. Looking back, this was no surprise. All major British soaps started badly. When Eastenders began in 1985, there were immediate calls for it to be axed. Within two years it gained the biggest ever audience in British broadcasting history. Now River City doesn't quite have a phoenix rising from the ashes story to rival its London counterpart, but over the last decade, it's gained a steady, and determined following.

In the early years, the show was plagued by constant rumours that the BBC were eager to show it across all their networks. Thus far, that has turned out not to be the case. In hindsight, it's probably lucky that national stardom has never come knocking. The show was built by Scots, for Scots, and amidst the glamour of the network, would have been demands for higher ratings, and necessary changes, to make it palatable for the Home Counties. And at that point it would have lost its little spark of Scottishness that sets it apart, and makes it ours.

Shellsuit Bob, minus the shellsuit.

In its 10 years, it's showcased both established stars - Johnny Beattie and Eileen McCallum to name a few - and nurtured new talent. Characters such as Shellsuit Bob and Scarlett Mullen have become ingrained in the national psyche, and echo the Glaswegian tone - neither character could appear in any other television show, never mind any other soap.

BBC Scotland, in an effort to save money mooted an idea a few years back to only broadcast River City for 40 weeks of the years, but a public outcry ensued. Lead by The Scottish Sun, and supported by the likes of Lorraine Kelly (who was a guest star on the soap in 2007), and Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, the campaign uncovered the high level of support the show had amongst its devotees, and it was saved.

Scarlett. Someone not to be trifled with.

On a personal level, it's the show I hear about most regularly. I've lost count of the amount of Facebook statuses I've seen from people who seem to have found their 15 minutes of fame, moonlighting as an extra, starring as "Girl sitting in cafe", or "Man walking past flats". Apparently extra work pays quite well, and lunch is provided. A definite plus for any cash-strapped students out there!

River City isn't just a hit at home. Scottish expat communities as far away as Canada, Australia and New Zealand manage to keep up with the goings-on in Shieldinch. Interestingly, this differs from the Brits who live abroad and regularly catch-up on Coronation Street. For much of the Scottish diaspora, River City wasn't broadcast until after they left our shores, but somehow they've found it. And like very few other TV shows, it connects them to home.

River City is shown on Tuesday evenings at 8pm on BBC1 Scotland.

BROADCAST:- 2002-present.
WEEGIE RATING:- Brull-yant. Of the pure dead variety.