Andy Murray sings the praises of Still Game

In a recent edition of her column, Radio Times TV editor Alison Graham was predicting the death of the great British sitcom. Again. It’s a notion that’s forever doing the rounds. But in naming some honourable exceptions to this downward spiral, Graham neglected to mention the one sitcom that some genuinely rate as the very finest of its day. A show that has, in fact, never been heralded in the Radio Times, or indeed the London-centric media at large, whatsoever. Especially sad this, in the circumstances, as the show in question appears to have been quietly put to sleep behind the scenes in recent months.

On paper, Still Game might not sound like much. It follows the misadventures of a group of roguish Glaswegian pensioners filling up their twilight years, headed up by Jack Jarvis (played by Ford Kiernan) and Victor McDade (Greg Hemphill, who also scripts the show with Kiernan). To the uninitiated this might sound like some ghastly Scottish cousin to Last of the Summer Wine, but nothing could be further from the truth. Jack and Victor are far more likely to be seen cursing full-strength down their local than careering down hills in tin baths.

In execution Still Game is a thing of beauty, boasting elegant, well-honed writing and performances to cherish. Broad? Yes, it can be. Crude? At times, certainly. But it’s all so nimbly done.

It’s not a show you could describe as innovative or formally daring, but it is, crucially, howlingly, genuinely, laugh-out loud funny, with an uncommonly developed flair for almost slapstick visual gags.

Most often its plots take the familiar form of two narrative strands that knit together by the end, all handled with an clockwork precision that’s a joy to behold. For the most part the show restricts itself to one setting, a fictional estate called Craigland, and the same small band of regulars. In many ways it’s an old-fashioned sort of sitcom, anchored in character, realised by a number of Scots actors who don’t usually appear on network television outside of children’s shows or the occasional Taggart. (Virtually none of them, incidentally, are anywhere near pensionable age in real-life.)

And those characters! Regular viewers will have their own favourites, but it’s hard to resist the eternally immature Winston (Paul Riley), Craiglang’s gossip overlord Isa (Jane McCarry) and, perhaps most especially, Sanjeev Kohli’s Navid Harrid, the impish owner of Jack and Victor’s local shop. Each one beautifully drawn, and each performance capable of moments of tremendous, gloop-free tenderness in amongst the comedy.

It’s a cast of proper characters, as opposed to mere grotesque caricatures. As viewers, over time, you genuinely come to care about them, and vitally, for all the vivid blue insults, they evidently care about each other too.

The theme tune, incidentally, is great as well: bizarrely, it’s an excerpt from a tune by one-time John Peel favourites The Cuban Boys. Regrettably it’s missing from the official DVD releases, presumably for some rights reason, replaced with a very vague sound-alike.

For all its old-school qualities, Still Game isn’t a sitcom you could watch with your Gran. Jack and Victor first began life as sketch characters and were launched in their own stage show in 1999. This bleak, dry piece deployed choice language that could strip wallpaper. Think Waiting for Godot pebble-dashed with four-letter words. Kiernan and Hemphill then installed the characters within their Scottish sketch show Chewin’ the Fat. In due course the twosome’s burgeoning popularity lead to the first full TV series of Still Game in 2002, transmitted on BBC One Scotland only.

The show built up a large, admiring following, and prior to a fourth run in 2005, there was much public lobbying for it to be broadcast nationally. Actor Sylvester McCoy, who once guest starred in the show, even declared his willingness to chain himself to the gates of Broadcasting House if it’d help the cause.

Sure enough, BBC Two screened a select handful of older episodes prior to the national debut of Series 4 as part of the channel’s weekly Comedy Zone slot. Wider exposure gained the show a whole host of new admirers, and its steadily increasing audience figures left schedule-mates Saxondale and The Catherine Tate Show for dustPeter Kay declared himself to be a fan, and even offered to make a cameo appearance, but couldn’t fit in into his schedule.

Nevertheless, crucially, the show has never been deemed worthy of much media attention or concerted publicity. It’s never suffered in terms of quality, though, remaining remarkably fresh throughout. In that respect, Still Game did what it said on the tin. It’s never jumped the proverbial shark, although the climax of Series Six – in which two regulars, Tam and Frances, become the oldest parents in the country – was probably pushing it a wee bit.

Now, sadly, after six series, it looks as though Still Game might have shuffled off this mortal coil entirely. Just last year, the leads had been talking confidently of at least three more series of the show. A film version was said to be in the works too, as was a brand new Kiernan / Hemphill project concerning young Scottish ‘neds’ being inadvertently launched into space.

In the meantime though rumours have circulated of a personal rift between Kiernan and Hemphill. Previously, the pair had confessed to earlier fallings-out, and have played down the seriousness of this turn of events. However, all the evidence points to the fact that Still Game’s main players appear to have moved on.

In 2004, Paul Riley (Winston) launched his own sitcom, park keeper saga Dear Green Place, co-starring none other than Ford Kiernan and co-written, for the second series, by Mark Cox (Tam). Yet to be broadcast nationally, the show has been going down very nicely with Scottish viewers.

Late last year, Kiernan and Riley announced their formal departure from Effingee, the production company behind Still Game. Since then, Kiernan’s revealed plans for another new show, Happy Hollidays, about an ineffectual caravan park owner. Assorted Still Game luminaries are to be involved, but not Hemphill. Meanwhile Sanjeev Kholi has been making an award-winning radio sitcom, Fags Mags and Bags, in which he plays a Glasgow shopkeeper not so very different from Navid. Jane McCarry (Isa) is now appearing as Granny Murray, the main character in Scottish CBeebies show Me, Too!, a virtual clone of Balamory. (Hey, small world: Miss Hoolie, the beaming anchor of Balamory, is played by one Julie Wilson-Nimmo - otherwise known as Mrs Greg Hemphill.) .

A Still Game special, which had become something of a festive tradition, was originally scheduled for Hogmanay 2008, only to be cancelled. Officially, nothing final has been said, but it definitely doesn’t look good. Ominously, the BBC website lists the show as ‘no longer on air’.

If we really have seen the last of Still Game – and that’s in the hands of Kiernan and Hemphill, of course – well, so be it. It certainly had a good innings. But it would be an awful shame if its passing went unmourned. Huge swathes of British sitcom fans, who would be rights adore it, are simply unaware of the show’s existence.

The suspicion remains that, had Still Game been made a lot nearer the M25, it would be openly lauded as a comedy classic, garlanded with awards, and Kiernan and Hemphill embraced as the comic geniuses they surely are. This it isn’t must have been hellishly frustrating for all concerned. For now though – if, hopefully, not for good – it seems we must bid Jack and Victor cheery-bye.

Published: 12 Feb 2009