BBC pressured over Glasgow sitcom

The BBC is coming under pressure to air Scottish sitcom Still Game across the whole country.

Creators Ford Kiernan and Greg Hemphill have gone as far as branding executives ‘anti-Scottish arseholes’ for refusing to air the comedy south of the border.

The programme, featuring irascible pensioners Jack and Victor from sketch show Chewin The Fat in their own spin-off series, is a huge success in Scotland, attracting audiences of up to 1.5million.

But Kiernan and Hemphill say the corporation fears the characters’ strong Glaswegian accents would be a turn-off in England and Wales.

Now former Doctor Who Sylvester McCoy has joined fans pushing for the show to be screened nationwide. He appears in an episode to be aired in Scotland tonight, but won’t be able to see it as he lives in London.

He told the Daily Record: “I find it completely incomprehensible why this series has not been shown down here. It is very well written and visually very funny.

“There's no excuse. 'he BBC are desperately looking for good stuff and there is not one ounce of doubt that this is brilliant comedy. Still Game should be on BBC2 primetime, if not BBC1.

“I will chain myself to the BBC gates. I think there should be a campaign to ask why the BBC is not spending our television tax on wonderful programmes like this.”

Keirnan said: “We’ve been told in no uncertain terms about our accents. We’ve been absolutely blown away that there’s a belief that they won’t understand the accent, which is utter nonsense."

But BBC bosses in London say the criticism is a matter for BBC Scotland.

There, commissioning editor Ewan Angus agrees with calls for the show to be networked.

He said recently: "I think the appeal is the jokes and the situations, which have universal appeal. There are not a lot of specific references that an audience outside of Scotland wouldn’t get."

BBC Scotland: Still Game home page >>

Published: 4 Jun 2004