BE BEAR AWARE..
Scots Squad top cop’s charity call as the BBC’s Rickshaw Challenge hits Shieldinch
SCOT Squad cops will have their work cut out as they join the cast of River City for a mega mash-up in aid of BBC’s Children In Need.
Well-known faces from both shows have filmed an exclusive sketch for this year’s appeal, to be broadcast on Sunday’s Scottish highlights show.
The shenanigans centre around The One Show Rickshaw Challenge riders’ arrival in Glasgow as they finish their mammoth fundraising marathon.
In Shieldinch, the Tall Ship regulars are looking forward to the spectacle.
But Chief Commissioner Cameron Miekelson (Jack Docherty) knows his team have to be on high alert to stop would-be bams from ruining the event.
And, of course, they have a very special seven-foot furry yellow VIP to protect.
Miekelson said: “The Scottish Police Force is Pro Pudsey. We are Bear Aware.
“This cause is so important to me personally, I would even leave my Edinburgh office to journey to an unfamiliar Glasgow ghetto called Shieldinch to be involved.”
River City’s Scarlett Mullen (Sally Howitt) and mum Molly O’Hara (Una McLean) can’t resist having a nosey at all the commotion.
Molly said: “We’re no strangers to the polis in Shieldinch but it’s nice to see them doing some good for a change. Yon big handsome fella with the hat – I think he must be the big polis boss, swanning about like he owns the place.
“Talking into they cameras like he’s Jackie Bird or something. It’s no’ about him. It’s about all of us giving haunners to that big yellow bear to help the weans. That’s what matters.”
The unique BBC Children in Need sketch also features River City stars Stephen Purdon (Bob Adams) and Scott Fletcher (Angus Lindsay) as well as Scot Squad favourites Manjot Sumal (PC Surgit Singh), Karen Bartke (Sergeant Karen Ann Millar) and Darren Connell (Bobby Muir). Pudsey Bear will, of course, be playing himself.
Paul Liddell, interim national head of BBC Children in Need, said: “We know fans of these two iconic shows will love seeing their favourite characters meet up on the streets of Shieldinch, all with hilarious consequences and in the name of a very good cause.
“We’re delighted that teams at Scot Squad and River City could come together to make this happen and we’re really grateful to everyone involved – and to the people of Scotland, who always go the extra mile to raise millions for deserving children and young people across the UK.”