Still Game

Still Game
File:Stillgametitlescreen2.JPG Victor McDade (left), and Jack Jarvis
Genre	Sitcom
Created by	Greg Hemphill Ford Kiernan
Developed by	Greg Hemphill Ford Kiernan
Directed by	Michael Hines
Starring	Greg Hemphill Ford Kiernan Paul Riley Jane McCarry Mark Cox Sanjeev Kohli
Theme music composer	Cuban Boys
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language	English
No. of seasons	6
No. of episodes	35 (6 Unaired Episodes) (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers	Greg Hemphill Ford Kiernan
Producers	Colin Gilbert Michael Hines Ewan Angus
Production locations	Glasgow, Scotland
Running time	30 minutes
Original release
Network	BBC Two (originally BBC One Scotland)
Release	September 1, 2002 – present
Related
Chewin' the Fat

Still Game is a Scottish sitcom, a spin-off from the sketch show series Chewin' the Fat. Originally beginning as a stage play, it was created by Chewin' The Fat's Ford Kiernan and Greg Hemphill, who also play the lead characters. Since it debuted on September 1st, 2002, Still Game has shown thirty five episodes, including a Christmas and Hogmanay special.

The title refers to the antics of two Glaswegian pensioners named Jack Jarvis and Victor McDade. Set in Craiglang, a fictional district of Glasgow, the show follows the lives of Jack, Victor and their various friends. The show started its first series being broadcast on BBC One Scotland; the further two series followed suit. It was not until the fourth series that Still Game was given a UK-wide broadcast on BBC Two. Since then, the show has gained favourable critical reviews and attracted many fans, achieving higher ratings than the following comedy shows broadcast during the BBC Two Comedy Zone.

History

The stage play of Still Game

Still Game was originally a stage play featuring the characters of Jack Jarvis, Victor McDade and Winston Ingram; the three were retained for the show. In this version, due to a broken lift, the three old men are stranded in Victor's flat, where they discuss a variety of subjects ranging from death to sex. The stage play toured Scotland, England, Ireland and Canada before returning to Glasgow, where it was filmed and released on VHS.

Many changes occurred when the play made its transition to television. Gavin Mitchell, who originally played Winston (and was replaced with Paul Riley for later performances), now plays the part of Boaby the Barman in the television series. Later television characters Tam Mullen and Isa Drennan are also mentioned in the play but with differences to their counterparts. Notably, Winston refers to his home help catching him dancing in the bookies, a scene that would later be re-used for series two of the show.

In 1998, characters Jack and Victor appeared in a tongue-in-cheek documentary about Scottish pop music called Och Around the Clock, presented by Dougie Vipond. They appeared in a number of skits spread throughout the show, in which they were shown to be watching the show in Victor's flat. In a similar manner to the Muppet characters of Statler and Waldorf, the skit centred on them making disparaging comments about the performers.

The characters were then featured in Kiernan and Hemphill's sketch show Chewin' the Fat. Nearly every episode of Chewin' The Fat featured Jack, Victor, Tam and Winston (although until the 4th series they looked different from their Still Game appearance) singing in the pub, usually accompanied with another sketch featuring just Jack and Victor. However, Winston also features in two other sketches with Tam appearing in one, where he is introduced by Winston as a thief. By the time Still Game was thought of as its own show, Winston's appearance had been drastically changed but was still played by Paul Riley. As the show progressed into later series, characters such as Winston, Isa and the local shopkeeper, Navid Harrid have become more popular.

A sixth series starts on July 12, 2007 on BBC Two, and wil run for six weeks. A 2007 Christmas Special will be aired at Christmas.

Cast

File:Stillgamepromopic.JPG

The main cast of Still Game (from left to right) Sanjeev Kohli, Jane McCarry, Ford Kiernan, Gavin Mitchell, Greg Hemphill, Mark Cox and Paul Riley

Main article: List of Still Game characters

Regulars

• Ford Kiernan as Jack Jarvis
• Greg Hemphill as Victor McDade
• Paul Riley as Winston Ingram
• Gavin Mitchell as Boaby the Barman
• Sanjeev Kohli as Navid Harrid
• Mark Cox as Tam Mullen
• Jane McCarry as Isa Drennan

Guest stars

• Sylvester McCoy as Archie, a recluse in the episode "Oot".
• Billy Boyd as a young man in the train station in the episode "Faimly".
• Celia Imrie as Mrs Begg, a woman who worked as Winston's home help in the episode "Wummin'".
• Tom Urie as Martin, who argued with his mother over Snowball cakes in the episode "Brief".
• Clive Russell played the part of "Big Innes", an old friend of Jack and Victor's who helps to sort out the local hooligans as a favour to them. He featured in the episode "Big Yin".
• Brian Pettifer as Bert Finlay, a depressed widower in the episode "Wummin'".
• Robbie Coltrane as Davie, a disturbed Dial-A-Bus driver in the episode "Dial-A-Bus".
• John McCririck as himself in the episode "Drama", appearing on Winston's television.
• Bill Torrance as himself, presenting a mock-up edition of BBC Scotland's long-running gardening programme Beechgrove Garden. This featured in the episode "Hard Nuts".
• Dorothy Paul as Molly Drummond, Frances' sister who develops a crush on Tam. She appeared in the series five finale "Saucy".
• Eileen McCallum as Barbara, a charity shop worker with whom Jack develops a relationship in the episode "Courtin'".

Filming locations

File:Theclansmanjennys.JPG

The local pub, Jenny's, as seen in "Hard Nuts".

Although Still Game is set in the fictional Craiglang area of Glasgow, the Maryhill district of the city is one of the most common filming locations. The Forth and Clyde Canal and its locks are used in background shots, as are the high-rise tower blocks, including the one in which Jack and Victor live called "Osprey Heights". For the first three series of the show, a real pub ("The Gimlet") was used to film the exterior shots of the pub Jenny's, previously The Clansman. However, between series three and four, the owner of the pub tore the building down, causing the fourth series production team to build an exterior in a set in Dumbarton, the same lot where River City is filmed.

Finport, as mentioned and seen in the fifth series, was actually filmed on location in Largs and Saltcoats, North Ayrshire, both of which were once popular seaside resorts with Glaswegians. The shots of the promenade and the sea wall is that of Saltcoats' harbour area. The pub scene is set in the Royal Oak pub in Largs, while the bed and breakfast, where Jack and Victor stay the night in, is located in the north end of Largs promenade. In the scene where Jack and Victor arrive on the bus from the right in Finport this actually leads from the sea, there is no road there. In the scene where Jack and Victor find Winston, a wide panning shot reveals the famous Nardini ice-cream building and the Caledonian MacBrayne ferry to Millport.

Series summaries

Main article: List of Still Game episodes

For the show's first two series, the broadcast of Still Game was limited to BBC One Scotland. The show was then moved to BBC Two for the fourth series and shown throughout Great Britain. On December 28 2005, Still Game's first Christmas special was shown on BBC One, the first national broadcast of the show on the channel. A fifth series of the show started filming in February 2006 and was shown the following June on BBC Two. As of 2006, series three had not been shown nationally, and only five episodes from the first two series were shown on national BBC Two from 17 January to 14 February 2004.

In the first three series, the episode titles were all Scots language words that were related to the episode. Starting from season four, the episodes were titled using standard English so that national audiences could understand them.

The events of Still Game take place in a floating timeline where the characters remain the same age from series to series. One of the most prominent examples of this is that Victor reveals that he is 74 years old in Scran, an episode of the second series, but it is not until the fifth series (Smoke On The Water) that he celebrates his 75th birthday.

Series	Still Game Airdates	Channel
Series 1	1st September - 7th October 2002	BBC One Scotland
Series 2	March 29th - May 24th 2003	BBC One Scotland
Series 3	January 17th - February 21st 2004	BBC One Scotland
Series 4	July 22nd - August 26th 2005	BBC Two
Cold Turkey (2005 Christmas Special)	December 28th 2005	BBC One
Series 5	June 19th - July 24th 2006	BBC Two
The Party (2006 Hogmanay Special)	December 31st 2006 January 1st 2007	BBC One Scotland BBC Two
Series 6	July 12th - August 23rd 2007	BBC Two

Series 1 (2002)

Flittin' - Jack escapes his neighbours from hell to relocate to a flat near Victor. Meanwhile, Winston trains his grandson for a boxing match. Faimly - Victor is awaiting a visit from his son John, who now lives in Johannesburg. Disturbed by a garbled answer machine message from him, Jack and Victor set out to discover what it says and when he is due to arrive. Meanwhile Winston gets injured in a fight with Peggy over who gets the Gigot Chops. Cauld - shows the residents of Craiglang experiencing one of the coldest winters in years but are helped, in the end, by Winston who gives them a sly solution to their problem. Victor, however, wants nothing to do with this solution. Courtin' - Jack develops a crush on Barbara, the woman from the charity shop, leaving Victor feeling left out due to his friend's new romance. Meanwhile Winston gets barred from the clansman and tries to find new places to drink. Waddin' - It's the wedding of the year and both Jack and Victor still haven't received an invite; they decide to do something about it. Meanwhile Wullie MacIntosh appears to have passed away and Winston plans to rake through his house to find something that will get him an invite. Scones - Jack and Victor are tired of their friend Tam Mullen being lucky all the time and attempt to win a competition involving scones. This leads to them creating jingles of their own, complete with their own humour. Meanwhile Winston is having problems with the DHSS and has his money stopped. Isa's estranged husband, Harry also returns.

Series 2 (2003)

Gairden - The residents of Craiglang are being terrorised by the local hooligans (Neds) but the pensioners have had enough and decide to make their own haven they can escape to. Meanwhile Jack and Victor check on old Ronnie who has been recently committed to the sanitorium for dancing in George Square in his underwear. Wummin' - sees Jack and Victor trying to help their friend Bert Findley after the loss of his wife. Winston is also having troubles with a suspicious home help (guest star Celia Imrie). Doacters - Jack and Victor are experimenting with a new "yankee pill" to try and make them feel young again. Meanwhile both Tam and Winston are smitten with the new librarian, Frances. Brief - Victor buys a new car, hoping it will give him the freedom he always wanted but it ends up that he is the one being taken for a ride. Meanwhile Winston tries his hardest to encourage Tam not to be tight-fisted. Tappin' - There is a money lender in Craiglang and everyone starts borrowing when Isa thinks Jack and Victor are lending when in fact their are spending some extra money they had saved. Scran - Navid's Brother has died and he chooses Jack and Victor to run the shop while he's away. Winston however decides to set up catering in Navid's shop, much to the dismay of the local snack van owner who Winston has a grudge against. Shooglies - Jack and Victor celebrate their sixtieth year as friends and decide to have a day out in which they encounter a face from the past. Buntin' - Craiglang is suspicious about the local alcoholic (Pete the Jakey) acquiring a job at the council's new "facility", Jack and Victor decide to follow him to find the truth of the rumours. Dug - Jack makes arrangements to visit his daughter, Fiona in Canada. Asked to come, Victor initially refuses but in the end, goes with his friend on the holiday. Meanwhile Winston ends up having to pretend to be Isa's "Pumpkin" to see off her estranged husband Harry.

Series 3 (2004)

Hoaliday - Jack and Victor arrive in Canada to visit Fiona. Just like in Scotland, the two get up to more mischief than the usual pensioners. Meanwhile back home, Winston tries to avoid Isa's gossip while still getting fed by her as he continues seeing her even though Harry has left. Swottin' - Jack and Victor are back home and on the hunt for more adventures; in this case, enrolling in a night class for first-aid. They intend to use this new knowledge to win the Clansman quiz. Cairds - The pensioners of Craiglang attempt to win back a crippled man's electric scooter from Tam. Meanwhile Winston wins time and time again at the bookies. Big Yin - Guest stars Clive Russell as Jack and Victor's old friend, "Big Innes". He hopes to rid the town of hooligans; that is, if he can stay away from Midori long enough. Winston also has troubles of his own when he joins the staff of "Food-Fare". Oot - A recluse is tempted out of his home due to it being demolished. Scared by the inventions over the years, Jack and Victor try to encourage him into a new world. Meanwhile Winston plans to build a telly. Aff - Isa is told by a psychic in the pub that she will be ran over by a silver car. Terrified at the notion, the episode follows her struggle with destiny. Winston also has is own problems with his sore leg caused by years of smoking, this encourages Jack to give up his pipe. Meanwhile Victor gets a surprise visit from his son when he fakes illness.

Series 4 (2005)

Kill Wullie - Jack and Victor's friend , Wullie, is dating a younger woman. Rumours abound in Craiglang that his mistress is trying to bump him off. Meanwhile Winston struggles with his new leg and a young hooligan is conning pensioners out of money. Wireless - Jack and Victor take up the job of the local hospital's radio station, from Tam who is away on holiday, gaining quite a fanbase in the process. Navid also ends up in hospital with a very personal problem. Dial-A-Bus - Jack and Victor are set on a crazed bus journey driven by Davie, guest star Robbie Coltrane. Meanwhile Tam decides to tag along while Navid goes to get stock and Bobby decides to leave the clansman to do some cycling. Winston takes advantage of Bobby's absensce by pretending to be the real owner of the clansman. Ring - Tam decides to marry Frances, his sweetheart from the second series. As always in Craiglang, things never go to plan. Meanwhile Navid's shop is part of a big business take-over. Hatch - Jack has got Sky, Victor hasn't, they solve this problem by getting a "hatch" put inbetween their rooms so that they can both watch. But things go terribly wrong when Isa suspects them to be Gay. Who's The Daddy? - Jack, Victor and Winston fear they may have fathered a child in their teenage years, but they are unsure who it may be. The child in question is also part of the plan to pull down the clansman.

Christmas special (2005)

Cold Turkey - Jack and Victor fear for their Christmas dinner after being nasty to Isa and Winston gets to grips with his turkey. Meanwhile Frances gives Tam a ton of Christmas cards for him to deliver.

Series 5 (2006)

Drama - Jack and Victor visit a whisky distillery. Winston also faces an old rival. A Fresh Lick" - The pensioners put on their decorator's overalls to redesign Isa's flat. In their usual style, the two have trouble adjusting to the job at hand. Meanwhile a video is discovered featuring Bobby and some scantilly clad women. Smoke On The Water - Jack and Victor sail in celebration of Victor's 75th birthday. The two decide, along with Winston, to take a sail down the local river. Hard Nuts - Boaby the Barman has a chance to be on television. Unbeknownst to him at first, the programme is "Blighty's Hardest Boozers". All The Best - A sad farewell to Winston as he leaves Craiglang for the seaside resort of Finport. Saucy - Dorothy Paul in a guest role as Tam's sister-in-law, Molly, whom he develops a crush on. Meanwhile, Jack and Victor arrange to visit Winston in Finport but when they arrive, they see his life isn't all it's said to be.

Hogmanay special (2006)

File:Stillgamehogmanayspecial.jpg

The 1970s version of the gang

On December 31 2006, a Hogmanay special of Still Game aired on BBC One Scotland - the show's first Scotland-only broadcast since Series 3. This was the first year that a Hogmanay special of Still Game was shown, as in previous years only Chewin' The Fat have been shown; the producers have now stopped working on Chewin' The Fat. The plot, which is similar to the previous stage play (see History) in which Jack, Victor and Winston (also Isa in this version) are stuck in the Osprey Heights' flats on their way to a Hogmanay party. The episode, called "The Party", involved flashbacks to Hogmanay 1975. Jack and Victor's wives, Jean and Betty, respectively, appeared in the episode.

The episode aired the next day on 1 January 2007 on BBC Two for UK viewers outside Scotland.

Series 6 (2007)

Series 6 of Still Game will start on July 12, 2007 on BBC Two. Shooting locations include the Tunnock's factory in Uddingston, South Lanarkshire. One of the show's characters will be killed off (as rumoured in 2006) in one episode entitled "One In, One Out". The series will have cameo appearances by Lorraine Kelly, Michelle McManus and boxing champion Jim Watt. Although the series was originally planned for six episodes (like the previous two), it was revealed that another episode had been added, bringing the count up to seven.

When questioned about any further series (after the sixth), creator Ford Kiernan said he believed there was at least "three more series" worth of ideas for the show and that they are "not finished with Jack and Victor's story by a long shot".

Hot Seat - Craiglang is in the grip of a hot spell. Jack and Victor have found the perfect place to relax in the park on the ultimate bench, but unfortunately Tam and Winston have the same idea. Isa receives news about her ex husband Harry that changes her life.

One In, One Out - An episode in the sixth series which will show the death of one of Craiglangs major characters and the debut of a new one

Note: The British Sitcom Guide have plot synopses on their site. They are also reporting a 2007 Christmas special has been filmed. The BBC website for Still Game now also lists the episodes, with realplayer previews.

Critical response

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2004 Radio Times cover of Still Game

Referring to the fifth series' finale, the Daily Record heralded for Still Game to be added to the ranks of the "greatest sitcoms ever". They called the episode "classic comedy" and said it was " a perfect mix of empathetic friendship, laugh-out-loud gags, real feeling in the acting and genuine warmth and chemistry between the characters". The Daily Record also revealed Still Game was trouncing rivals The Catherine Tate Show and Steve Coogan's Saxondale with 300,000 and 700,000 more viewers respectively. Creator and star Ford Kiernan said of the ratings: "I am absolutely delighted. The figures have gradually increased - episode after episode."

Still Game was criticised for its "reliance on expletives" by Teddy Jamieson, television critic for The Herald. He also commented that the sitcom "paints [Scotland] in broad strokes", through its use of stereotypes. TV Today praised the show for being "refreshing" in the age of dying sitcoms. It said the show was funny in a "straight down the line way". Still Game has attracted interest from known screen legends, such as Sean Connery (who even requested a role in the show). Actor Bill Nighy is also reported to be a fan, calling upon the distinct Glaswegian accent for a role. The show has won awards in both the 2004 and 2005 BAFTA Scotland awards and was named as the winner in the Best Broadcast category at the 2004 Glenfiddich Spirit of Scotland Awards.

In 2006, Still Game was once again nominated for a BAFTA Scotland award for the "Most Popular Television" category. Other contenders included Rebus and Taggart. Paul Riley, who plays Winston, was also awarded for his role in the show.

Errors and inconsistencies

• In the credits of series one to three, Navid was listed as Navid Ingram; Ingram being Winston's surname. The error was removed for series four and subsequent DVD releases.

• In the episode, "Courtin'", Jack and Victor tell the charity shop worker, Barbara, that they are from Craigbank, a real area in Glasgow. They were meant to say Craiglang, the fictional district where the show is set.

• In the episode "Big Yin", when Jack and Victor mention "Big Innes" to Navid, they say that Innes was before Navid's time, meaning that Navid would not know who he was, and that he lived in Craiglang up until about fifteen years ago. Yet in the episode "Oot", when Isa is giving a rundown of past events, when the year 1974 appears, there is a man obviously meant to be a young Navid. This error is repeated in the Hogmanay special when Navid is introduced as having just taken over the shop.

• In "Flittin'", Victor says that his son who lives in Johannesburg is called Jamie. He's actually called John. The names John and Jack are often used by the older generation in Scotland to address someone whose first name is James, so it could be said that Victor was correct to call his son Jamie. Jack also points out that he is thirty years old in "Flittin". When we actually see him later on in the series in "Aff", he is closer to fifty.

• In the episode, "Shooglies", Jack and Victor spend a day in Glasgow City Centre. When returning on the bus, they decide to pay a visit to the Glasgow Transport Museum. However, the shot of Jack and Victor getting off the bus indicates that it's actually heading from Partick into the City Centre, rather than away from it.

• In the same episode when Jack and Victor get off the bus at the Transport Museum, you can clearly see that in the background it is a pleasant dry day but in the scene on the museum steps, it is dull and raining. The ground is also very wet looking, indicating that it has been raining for some time.

• Series one was not aired in the same order that it was originally intended to be. This led to a continuity error in "Scones" in which Navid owns a painting of the Taj Mahal. This is the exact same as the one Winston gives to him in the following episode "Waddin'". This error was fixed in the DVD release.

• In the very first episode ("Flittin'"), when Jack is moving house, he and Victor are sitting on Jack's sofa. Victor comments to Jack, "Seventy-four years on the planet and this is all you have amassed." It later emerges, in the episode "Scran", that Jack is in fact just seventy-two years old. However, Victor could be referring to his own birthdate.

• In the episode "Cauld" Jack and Victor tell Isa in the lift in Osprey Heights that they are going to the eighth floor. This is the same as Manky Frankie. However, when Tam and Winston are heading towards the same floor in the episode "Brief" they announce that they are heading up to the ninth floor. This also contradicts with "Flittin", in which Jack instructs the removal van driver that their residence is on the eighteenth floor.

• In the Hogmany Special, which the flashbacks are set in 1975 Victor does not know Isa. But in "Whose the Daddy" a flashback shows Victor did indeed know Isa during the fifties as they were born in sometime in the thrirties and Winston says that they were twenty during the fifties.

Trivia

• Just before the fifth series started filming, a pest control team had to be called in to the set when it was discovered that rats had infested Navid's shop and were eating their way through the stock. The alarm was raised after Jane McCarry (Isa) found a dead rat on the set.
• The first 5 series were made by the Comedy Unit production company who also made Chewin' the Fat and Rab C. Nesbitt, but after the Comedy Unit was sold, Greg and Ford decided to leave and go independent.
• In the episode "A Fresh Lick", Navid is distracted with the videotape in the back of the shop. The customer he is meant to be serving eventually says she will go to "Kohli's". This is a nod to Sanjeev Kohli, who plays the part of Navid.
• Scotland's under-nineteen football team were noted to have watched Still Game before going on to win against the Czech Republic in the 2006 European Under-19 Football Championship.
• The theme tune is a shortened version of a track by the Cuban Boys entitled: "Cuban Boy (Cuban Boys Go Boom! mix), which features on their debut album Blueprint from Modernisation. The full length version can be downloaded from their official website. This theme has been replaced with a different theme in the DVD release to avoid copyright restrictions. However, the DVDs of the first three series released in Scotland between 2002 and 2004 have the original theme.

See also

• List of Still Game episodes
• List of Still Game characters
• Chewin' The Fat

External links

• Still Game at bbc.co.uk
• Still Game at The Comedy Unit
• Still Game at IMDb
• Still Game [Fansite]
• Still Game at the British Sitcom Guide