You can’t keep a good nan down
Super Gran’s back and flying off the shelves
Heather Greenaway She was the tartan wearing, skateboarding pensioner with super powers – and now she is making a comeback.
Everyone who grew up in the 80s remembers Super Gran – the cult series about a crime-fighting Scots granny, who wore an oversized tam o’shanter and rode a flying bike.
With its catchy Billy Connolly theme tune, bad special effects and lovable superhero, played by actress Gudrun Ure, the show became an overnight success.
Three decades after Super Gran first hit our screens, the book the series was based on is being rereleased to inspire a new generation.
Author For rest Wilson is surprised and delighted his super senior citizen is being given another outing and hopes kids will love her as much as he does.
The 81-year-old said :“I never thought Super Gran would be given another lease of life. It’s nearly 40 years since it was out in hardback and 30 since the series was on television.
“Andersen Press published it in 1978 and they asked if they could bring it out again. I made a few tweaks to bring it up to date but nothing else has changed.
“All children love their granny and secretly wish they had super powers, which is why I think Super Gran will never lose her appeal.”
His story follows the adventures of Granny Smith, who is accidentally hit by a magic ray machine and gains super-human powers, which she uses to protect the citizens of her town.
Forrest’s book was adapted for TV by Jenny McDade and starred actor Ian Cuthbertson as Super Gran’s arch- enemy Scunner Campbell.
Guest stars who appeared in the series included Spike Milligan, George Best, Geoff Capes, Lulu and Barbara Windsor.
There were 26 episodes as well as a Christmas special and the Big Yin’s catchy theme tune reached No32 in the UK singles chart.
Dad- of- one Forrest, who lives in Ayr with his wife Jean, admits he was not a fan of the TV series and never saw it being filmed.
He said: “I don’t know many writers who are ever happy with a TV adaptation. I think they just wanted my concept.”
The former crossword compiler admits he based his character on his mother- in- law Mar ion Anderson, who lived in a tenement in Glasgow’s Maryhill.
He said: “Granny Smith is based on my wife’s mother Marion, who everyone called Granny Min. She had no fear. One day her neighbour one-up had locked herself out.
“Min climbed out of her window and shimmied along the ledge and in through her neighbour’s window to open the door.”
The show made star Gudrun, from Campsie, Stirlingshire, a household name. She is now 90 and lives in London.
All kids love their granny and secretly wish they had super powers