STILL GAME
Compston starstruck as he joins Jack and Victor for final series
MARTIN Compston is the star of a smash-hit TV cop series and has worked alongside Hollywood A-listers Keira Knightley and Margot Robbie.
But now he has finally landed his dream gig – taking on Jack and Victor in Still Game.
The Line of Duty and Mary Queen of Scots actor is a guest star in the final series of the legendary sitcom, playing a mobile phone salesman the pensioner pals meet in the first episode when they try to join the smartphone generation.
The ninth series of the comedy show premieres on Sunday, on the new BBC Scotland channel’s opening night.
Martin, 34, who was born and bred in Greenock but now lives in the US, said: “It’s something I’ve grown up with. It is an institution and one of the best Scottish TV shows of all time.
“I spend a lot of time on the road and I’m always sticking it on to watch as it reminds me of home.
“It’s a show you can watch with your mum and dad, and whenever I was away on bus trips with the football teams, we’d put it on and watch for hours and everybody would be happy.
“Anytime I feel a wee bit homesick in Las Vegas, I stick Still Game on.”
Martin’s acting career has been going from strength to strength.
Apart from cop drama Line of Duty, he’s had starring TV roles in Victoria and as serial killer Peter Manuel in the mini-series In Plain Sight.
On the big screen, he’s following his role in Mary Queen of Scots with a part in the hotly tipped drama The Aftermath, which is premiering at the Glasgow Film Festival next week.
But he was delighted to get the chance to fit a visit to Craiglang into his busy schedule.
Martin said: “Luckily, I was filming Line of Duty at the same time, so I was able to pop over from Belfast and shoot my scenes.
“It was an epic day. To see the boys do their thing was immense.
“I come across Jack and Victor when they’re trying to buy themselves a couple of mobile phones and they come into my shop.
“It was surreal standing across from the two of them as Jack and Victor. I know the boys as Ford and Greg, but when they put on the make-up and start becoming the characters it really is a very surreal moment.”
Still Game creators Greg Hemphill and Ford Kiernan have said the cast will gather at the Hydro in Glasgow for a third stage show later this year that will properly say goodbye to the muchloved characters.
But they’ve insisted that this is the last hurray for the telly show.
Martin is as emotional as the rest of Scotland to be bidding farewell to the cult comedy.
He said: “I’m gutted but it’s the same with all good things – it’s better you go out on a high.
“It’s better the boys taking the decision to end it rather than it being forced upon
They could literally bring this show back in 30 years’ time – just using less make-up MARTIN COMPSTON
them. This way, they can actually write an ending.
“I was on a show called Monarch of the Glen and it was great for us to actually have a last episode. It was really emotional and every character got a proper send-off.”
However, he added: “I know the boys are saying it’s done – but the fact that they’re playing old guys, 20, 30, 40 years older than them, means that there’s so much scope for them in the future.
“It depends on the ending but they could literally bring this show back in 30 years’ time – just using less make-up.”
Greg and Ford have been paying tribute to the stellar guest stars who are joining them on screen in the final series.
Ford said: “It was great having Martin Compston around.
“He came to visit us on set a couple of years ago, so it was wonderful to have him filming with us this time.
“Amy Macdonald is also a fan of the show and even had Still Game as her specialist subject on Celebrity Mastermind.
“And then you get someone like Midge Ure and you think, ‘Wow! It’s Midge Ure’, and then suddenly he’s standing in front of you and you think, ‘That is outstanding.’”
Greg added: “Over the years, we’ve had people like Robbie Coltrane and Billy Boyd, so it’s nice to meet and work with actors you wouldn’t always cross paths with.
“We had Martin in the first episode, which was good fun. He’s one of the biggest stars in the UK at the moment, so for him to come in and spend a bit of time with us was fun.”
As they prepare to say farewell to a show that’s been part of their lives since a 1997 Fringe performance became a TV sensation and a Chewin’ the Fat spin-off in 2002, both men hope people will remember Jack and Victor fondly.
Ford said: “I think in the memories of people, it will live on. The flats featured as Craiglang have become iconic now. People come from as far afield as Canada and Australia to get their pictures taken outside the flats, so in people’s minds, Craiglang is a real place.”
Greg added: “It really is strange, because we’re saying goodbye to characters we created but we feel like they now live on and also they don’t belong to us any more – they belong to the audience.
“It would be an honour if people are still talking about the show in 10 years’ time, laughing at it and enjoying the shows. Time will tell.”
Still Game starts on BBC Scotland on Sunday, February 24, at 9pm. The second episode will follow on Thursday, Feb 28, at 10pm.