Still Game gets big screen debut
THE premiere of the first episode of the new series of Still Game took place in Glasgow last night.
Around 400 fans and specially invited guests, including the stars Greg Hemphill and Ford Kiernan, attended the first public showing of the episode at Cineworld in Renfield Street.
BBC Scotland received more than 25,000 applications for tickets to the event proving that public demand for Still Game is still as high as ever.
Greg Hemphill, who plays Victor in the show, told the audience that more work was put into the new series.
He said: “We wanted to make sure the scripts were bang on so we spent a lot longer on the scripts.”
The show returns after a nine-year hiatus with new episode Gadgets, and it’s safe to say the BBC comedy is Still Game in the laughter stakes.
In this episode, which is the first of six i n the new series, Craiglang’s pensioners can’t resist the temptation of the Futuroo catalogue and its innovations to “make life that wee bit easier”.
And it quickly becomes apparent these gadgets aren’t as reliable as they appear to be.
The softer side of the BBC comedy also comes through in a parallel storyline which focuses on Winston’s brother returning.
Anyone watching the new episode when it returns to the BBC next Friday will not be disappointed.
It’s hilarious, the banter is better and the characters seem to have got funnier. Or maybe we have just missed Still Game?
After the premiere, the cast took part in a Q&A and seemed to be in their element to be back.
Sanjeev Kohli, who plays Navid, said: “People say is it as good as it was.
“It’s actually better and that is just from the two episodes I’ve seen.”
He added: “I feel like the show never went away.”
Ford Kiernan, who writes the show and plays Jack, added: “Everybody was desperate to get back.
“It sounds like a cliche but it’s a cracking vibe.”
Demand for the return of Still Game increased after the cast took to the stage at the SSE Hydro for a mammoth run of 21 shows.
Greg admitted that the live shows gave the Still Game team the confidence to come back.
He said: “I think it would have been worse if we hadn’t done the show at the SSE Hydro.
“We would have been much more nervous. That was like a buffer.
“Even when we were writing that show, we went into the BBC and said we felt like we had some more stories to tell.”
The cast were also asked by a member of the audience if Still Game: The Movie is a possibility.
But Ford dismissed any hope of a big screen debut saying, “It’s a difficult area, films. It’s a big worry and you don’t want to get it wrong.”