I managed to go of the heap and
With theatres closed and TV productions cancelled, thousands of actors have been left questioning when they’ll work again.
Colin Mccredie found the answer – in his daughter’s bedroom.
The Perth performer, best known for playing policeman Stuart Fraser in Taggart for 15 years, spent two weeks “on set” in the family home on a project that saw him realise one of his childhood dreams.
From his home in the west end of Glasgow, Colin told The Sunday Post: “The location for my character was to be a child’s bedroom. So I more or less kicked Betsy out of hers for two weeks and set it up as a studio.”
Former River City actor Colin was performing with fellow former Shieldinchers Tam Dean Burn and Sarah Mccardie in a unique adaptation of author David F Ross’s novel The Rise And Fall Of The Miraculous Vespas.
He said: “I had to be the set designer, the costume department, the lighting and sound guy. It gave me an appreciation of all the work they do. And I got to fulfil my life’s ambition of being an ’80s Scottish pop star who had a No 1 and was on Top Of The Pops.”
Colin plays faded pop singer Grant Delgado in the adaptation of the story, which also features a cameo from Radio Scotland DJ Billy Sloan and original music from Bobby Bluebell.
“In normal circumstances it would have been developed as a play, but because of the nature of lockdown it has been developed as a film,” said Colin.
“Every day we’d meet via Zoom and batter through it. It turned out to be a really good way of working. There was no standing around gossiping. It was all really focused. And, as much as it was made this way because of lockdown, it’s not about lockdown at all.”
Colin added: “Like most people in my industry sitting around for weeks with no prospect of work, suddenly to get two weeks’ employment was pretty good.”
Viewers can watch the story on Ayr Gaiety Theatre’s lockdown channel fromtuesday.
The project comes just weeks after Colin suffered the loss of his
My ultimate dinner party guests father Norman, who passed away in Northern Ireland, aged 90, after a stroke. “He died on his own, and that was the worst part of it,” said Colin. “We got him home, for a funeral that wasn’t a funeral, with us standing in five separate groups at the graveside, not even able to give your sister a cuddle or go for a cup of tea afterwards.
“But we all stood by his grave and spoke about him, two of my nieces read poems and a piper played. So, in some ways, it was lovely. We’d