Smallworld..
IAIN Robertson made his name with cult Glasgow gang film Small Faces when he was 13.
About to turn 36, and having just joined River City, the benefits of starting so young are evident almost everywhere he looks.
Forget Small Faces, Shieldinch is all about familiar faces as the set of the BBC Scotland soap is populated by people he has worked with over the years. This goes right back to the 1996 film, which also launched the careers of Kevin McKidd, Joe McFadden and Laura Fraser.
Iain, who plays Stevie Adams in the soap, the long-lost son of series stalwart Scarlett, said: “One of the first scenes I shot was with Andy Gray who drops my sister Madonna, played by young Sienna Glackin, on me to try and con me into reuniting with my family.
“I said to Andy, ‘The first time you and I did a scene together, I was only three years older than she is’. Andy was in Small Faces as a friend of the family.
“Sally Howitt plays Scarlett and we did Rab C Nesbitt together when I was 14. I was in youth theatre with Stephen Purdon, who plays my brother. Una McLean plays my granny and we go way back, and I was in Sea of Souls with Dawn Steele.
“It goes on and on. Pat Harkins, who is directing me in River City, cast me in Small Faces and one producer also produced Small Faces.
“I was asked to bring in photos and I found some of the Slab Boys trilogy, which I toured with Dawn and Una. I felt at ease right away, especially in those relationships of mother, grandmother and brother with Sally, Una and Purdy. Those histories, those relationships are established so we were able to just get on with it.”
It’s perhaps as well as he a lot to get on with. The last time the audience saw Stevie in 2005, he had