Loveable rogue
Vic to play 'scoundrel' Brodie
Vic Reeves is to play celebrated Edinburgh criminal Deacon Brodie in a new TV documentary.
The comic will be filming the history of the 18th century gambler and thief in the city next month as part of Rogues Gallery, a ten-part series about Britain’s best-known scoundrels for the Discovery Channel.
Bodie is said to have been the inspiration for Robert Louis Stevenson’s story of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde because of his double life. He was a member of the town council, but a burglar by night, breaking in by taking wax impressions of keys of houses where he worked as a woodworker.
He was executed in 1788, and now has an alleyway and pub named after him in Edinburgh.
Assistant producer Clare Mottershead said: "The series is looking at various rogues and scoundrels from throughout British history that were notorious but also attracted an element of public acclaim."
Reeves is not the first comedian to have portrayed him, as Billy Connolly took the role in an 1997 feature-length drama.Published: 17 Sep 2004
