He battles back after Sauchiehall Street blaze to get venue re-opened

Eighties until he brought in bands and hypnotist Robert Halpern – and millions to the box office. When Halpern vanished forever, the theatre boss found a replacement in Peter Powers. When his ‘fluence on the punters began to wane, Gordon found Brendan O’Carroll, who packed the place to the rafters. And when Mrs Brown pulled off her Pavilion pinny and took off to the Hydro, Gordon began to write his own comedy adventure shows, such as Real Hoosewives of Glesga. The tills have never stopped ringing.

So why the temper tantrums? You’ve had fun at the Pavilion, including the night spent with the female mud wrestlers after hours in the mud pit. Where does the pique emulate from? Growing up with a shock of red hair doesn’t entirely excuse the rancour which has on occasion necessitated the arrival of law enforcement officers.

“I was an a ****** growing up in Johnstone,” he admits. “I was part of the gang culture. Then we moved to Beith, which I thought would be a quiet town in Ayrshire, but in terms of fighting it was worse. Fighting was a necessity. We’d go on bus journeys to Dalry and Kilbirnie to fight.

“And yes, the polis were involved. But you seldom got locked up. Most often, a big sergeant would just give you a skelp.”

What of family life? Did he have reason to feel animus? Seems Gordon loves his mammy to bits, but on the subject of his father he’s non-committal. All he will says is he has two sisters, and reveals he spent “a lot of time” looking after the youngest.

The schoolboy anger was more about sport, he says, having been the school sports champ three years in a row.

“I didn’t really get so angry until I came in here,” he maintains. “It was always a fight to keep this place going. Was I right? I probably went over the top.” A little bit of an inferiority complex, again having to prove himself? “Probably.”

Iain Gordon is happy to be back in his world, a theatre he practically lives in; (any free time he allows himself is spent in his motor home in the North of Scotland.)

And these days, he smiles as he says he’s working hard to control the temper – not out of a developing love for the artistic community. “It causes my blood pressure to soar,” he laughs.

But what of that big high school fight back in the day? Did the hard man back down? “Did he f***,” he says, grinning. “He said to me; ‘You’re claimed. Four O’clock, you’re dead.’ And at four we had our fight. And he beat the absolute s **** of me. But to me that was job done. Afterwards, he shook my hand and said: “Well done, wee man. At least you had the guts to stand up to me.’ I never had another fight in school after that.”

Iain Gordon adds, smiling; “I learned from that. You can’t back down in life. You have to be seen to be capable.”

• Celtic The Musical: September 5-29.

‘‘ We do in-your-face delivery which harks back to the days of variety