OLD FAVOURITES
AS JACK AND VICTOR RETURN, GREG HEMPHILL TELLS US WHY THE OLD ONES ARE THE BEST…
In 2016, Scots comedy Still Game made its debut on network BBC1 – and we imagine the reaction in Scotland was: “What took you so long?”. After the sitcom about two Glaswegian pensioners first broadcast in Scotland back in 2002, it took the rest of the UK the best part of 14 years to catch up. But as far as co-creator and star Greg Hemphill is concerned, it’s better late than never.
“It’s the strangest thing,” says Greg, who plays Victor Mcdade in the show. “We performed these characters for the first time in 1997, and the show has continued all through that time. It went from being a stage show to a radio show, to a sketch show, then its own sitcom in Scotland, and that sitcom is now on all over the country. We’re getting mail from people everywhere – it’s quite gratifying that you can perform something for as long as that and it hasn’t become stale. It’s still growing and finding new audiences – I find that exciting.”
The opening episode of the new series sees Jack and Victor deeply alarmed when their local pub, The Clansman, is given a makeover to attract a more upmarket clientele, while their pal Winston is looking for somewhere to stay.
“Winston gets moved out of his flat, and in typical Winston style, nobody wants to have him,” explains Greg. “So he ends up staying in an unusual spot and almost becomes a bit of a squatter – but I won’t say more than that…”
The new series has attracted even more attention than usual following the revelation that a regular character will be killed off – although Greg is remaining tight-lipped about the identity of the Craiglang resident whose days are numbered.
“There’s a new undertaker in town who has them all on edge,” he reveals. “A friend of ours called Bruce Morton plays him – he actually introduced
THERE’S A NEW UNDERTAKER WHO HAS THEM ALL ON EDGE”
myself and Ford [Kiernan, who plays Jack] to each other in the 90s, and we’ve always wanted to have him in the show.
“People have been calling me up and saying, ‘Oh, tell me who it is and I won’t put a bet on, but I’ll get a friend of a friend to put a bet on’,” adds Greg. “And I’m like, ‘This is how footballers end up in jail!’. It’s been fun, but quite bewildering.”
If there’s a downside to the series receiving the attention it’s due across the UK, it’s that Greg and his co-stars might no longer be able to enjoy the secret signal that allowed them to spot a fellow Scot wherever they might be in the world.
“You could be in Paris or Vienna or anywhere and you could always spot a Scottish person coming towards you. Everywhere that you looked there were people ignoring you, and then there would be one face grinning at you through the crowd!”