   #copyright

Still Game

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Television

                     Still Game
               Still Game title card
         Genre       Sitcom
     Running time    30 minutes
       Starring      Greg Hemphill,
                     Ford Kiernan
   Country of origin Scotland
   Original channel  BBC Two
                     (originally BBC One Scotland)
     Original run    September 1, 2002–present
                  Official website
                    IMDb profile
                   TV.com summary

   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 four episodes, including the Christmas 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 national broadcast on BBC
   Two. Since then, the show has gained favourable critical reviews and
   attracted many fans.

History

   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 singing in the pub, usually accompanied with
   another sketch featuring just Jack and Victor. 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.

Cast

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 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 Findley, 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, Frances' sister who develops a crush on Tam.
       She appeared in the series finale ("Saucy") of series five.

Filming locations

   Although Still Game is set in the fictional Craiglang, Glasgow has been
   used for filming purposes, specifically the Maryhill area. The Forth
   and Clyde Canal and its locks are used in background shots, as are the
   high-rise tower blocks. 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 find
   Winston, a wide panning shot reveals the famous Nardini ice-cream
   building and the Caledonian MacBrayne ferry to Millport.

Series summaries

   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, the first three series have not been shown
   nationally.

   In the first three series, the episode titles were all Scots 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.

   Note: Each series is not set one year after the previous one. Like The
   Simpsons, the events of Still Game are 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 2003

                              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

                              2005 Xmas special

                             December 28th 2005

                                   BBC One

                                  Series 5

                         June 19th - July 24th 2006

                                   BBC Two

                                  Series 6

                                    2007

                                   BBC Two

Series 1 (2002)

   Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

   In the first episode ("Flittin'"), we see Jack escaping his neighbours
   from hell to relocate to a flat near Victor. The second episode
   ("Faimly") sees Victor awaiting a visit from his son, John who stays in
   Johannesburg. Disturbed by a garbled answer machine message from him,
   Jack and Victor set out to discover what it says and when he's due to
   arrive. The third episode ("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. In the
   next episode ("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. It's the wedding of the year in the fifth episode
   ("Waddin'") and both Jack and Victor still haven't received an invite;
   they decide to do something about it. In the last of the first series
   ("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.

Series 2 (2003)

   The second series begins ("Gairden") with the residents of Craiglang
   being terrorised by the local hooligans ( Neds) but the pensioners have
   had enough and decide to make their own haven they can escape to. The
   second episode ("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). The
   third in the series ("Doacters") involves Jack and Victor 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. In the next episode ("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. The next two episodes ("Tappin'" and
   "Scran", respectively) involves a money-lender in Craiglang and Jack
   and Victor taking control of Navid's shop. The seventh episode
   ("Shooglies") revolves around Jack and Victor celebrating their
   sixtieth year as friends. The eighth ("Buntin'") involves Craiglang's
   suspicion about the local alcoholic (Pete the Jakey) acquiring a job at
   the council's new "facility". The series finale ("Dug") sees Jack
   making 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.

Series 3 (2004)

   Series three kicks off ("Hoaliday") with Jack and Victor arriving in
   Canada to visit Fiona. Just like in Scotland, the two get up to more
   mischief than the usual pensioners. The second episode ("Swottin'")
   sees Jack and Victor back home and on the hunt for more adventures; in
   this case, enrolling in a night class for first-aid. The next episode
   ("Cairds") involves the pensioners of Craiglang attempting to win back
   a crippled man's electric scooter from Tam. The fourth episode ("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. "Oot" sees a recluse being 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. The third
   series ends with "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.

Series 4 (2005)

   "Kill Wullie" starts the fourth series of Still Game, showing Jack and
   Victor's friend of the title dating a younger woman. Rumours abound in
   Craiglang that his mistress is trying to bump him off. The second
   episode ("Wireless") involves the two friends taking up the local
   hospital's radio station and gaining quite a fanbase in the process.
   "Dial-A-Bus", the third episode, sends Jack and Victor on a crazed bus
   journey driven by Davie, guest star Robbie Coltrane. The fourth episode
   ("Ring") sees Tam wedding Frances, his sweetheart from the second
   series. As always in Craiglang, things never go to plan. The
   penultimate episode of series four, "Hatch" involves Jack and Victor
   trying to stop neighbour Isa's constant prying. In the series finale
   ("Who's The Daddy?"), Jack, Victor and Winston fear they may have
   fathered a child in their teenage years.

2005 Christmas Special

   In the 2005 Christmas special, "Cold Turkey", Jack and Victor fear for
   their Christmas dinner after being nasty to Isa and Winston gets to
   grips with his.

Series 5 (2006)

   Series five starts with ("Drama"), the episode in which Jack and Victor
   visit a whisky distillery. Winston also faces an old rival. The second
   episode, ("A Fresh Lick"), sees the pensioners putting on their
   decorator's overalls to redesign Isa's flat. In their usual style, the
   two have trouble adjusting to the job at hand. ("Smoke On The Water"),
   the third episode, sets 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. The fourth episode ("Hard Nuts") sees Boaby the
   Barman's chance to be on television. Unbeknownst to him at first, the
   programme is "Blighty's Hardest Boozers". ("All The Best") is series
   five's fifth episode and the sad farewell to Winston as he leaves
   Craiglang for the seaside resort of Finport. The series finale,
   ("Saucy"), stars entertainer Dorothy Paul in a guest role as Tam's
   sister-in-law, Molly who 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.

Series 6 and future series (2007-)

   The Internet Movie Database currently have Still Game listed for a
   sixth series, scheduled to be shown in May 2007. In July, 2006,
   Scotland on Sunday exclusively revealed that the BBC have commissioned
   a new series and that it would be six episodes long, like the previous
   two series. 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".

   In April 2006, Ford Kiernan and Greg Hemphill, in an interview with The
   Scotsman, revealed that Jack and Victor would be killed off at the end
   of the last ever series of the show. They said: "We have an ending,
   definitely. We know what's going to happen to them." but refused to
   divulge how the pair would meet their maker. In October 2006, Jane
   McCarry (Isa) said that they hope to do another Christmas special and
   another series next year (2007).

Critical response

   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.

   Once again, Still Game has been nominated for a BAFTA Scotland award
   for the "Most Popular Television" category. Other contenders include
   Rebus and Taggart.

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 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.

     * 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.

     * 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
       infact just seventy-two years old. However, Victor could be
       referring to his own birthdate.

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 series is made by the Comedy Unit production company who also
       made Chewin' the Fat and Rab C. Nesbitt.
     * 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.

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