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.
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.
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.
When I was 19 years old, I made the ill-advised decision to move to the city of Hull. Famous for cream phone boxes and having a massive drag community (seriously, I still have the feather boa to prove it), I lasted three whole weeks. When I think back to this time of my life, my overriding memory is of the amount of people, who on finding out I was from Glasgow, asked me to say "THERE'S BEEN A MURDER" in my accent.
Original Inspector Taggart Mark McManus in 1983, outside the city's Mitchell Library.
That phrase has been synonymous with Glasgow ever since it was first heard in crime drama Taggart almost 30 years ago. Initially the show followed veteran DCI Jim Taggart, played by Mark McManus, attempting to solve numerous and puzzling murders around the city. When the show was first broadcast in 1983, Glasgow was under the constrained grip of Thatcher's government. The city was post-industrial, holding connotations of a dangerous, dirty place, ravaged with knife-wielding gangs, to which tourists didn't visit. In many ways, this created the perfect setting for a crime drama.
In 1994 the show suffered the ultimate television tribulation; lead actor Mark McManus died whilst filming. What could have been the grizzly demise of the entire show, actually proved to be the kiss of life, and the maverick cop format which had been growing stale was replaced. As the city of Glasgow modernised throughout the 1990's, the show moved with it, introducing younger characters and more dramatic storylines. In its current format, Taggart showcases Glasgow to be the vibrant, multi-cultural place it is today. Numerous cast members have came, and went. But the only constant has been the city of Glasgow
The shows current murder-solving team - Blythe Duff, Alex Norton, John Michie.
Sadly Taggart's coat seems to be on a shaky hook, with national broadcaster ITV stating it would no longer be showing the drama to viewers in England & Wales. ITV blame falling ratings south of the border, but many see this axing as a retaliation to STV's decision not to broadcast a number of high-profile ITV shows in Scotland. Almost 30 years, and over 100 episodes later, the show has become ingrained in the Scottish psyche; as much a part of Glaswegian culture as Billy Connolly or the Duke of Wellington statue, complete with traffic cone.
RUN:- 1983-present STARRING:- Blythe Duff, Mark McManus, Colin McCredie WEEGIE RATING:- *****
