Francie and Josie was a double act

Double act

A double act, also known as a comedy duo, is a comic pairing in which humor is derived from the uneven relationship between two partners, usually of the same gender, age, ethnic origin and profession, but drastically different personalities or behavior...

 performed by two Scottish

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

 comedians Jack Milroy

Jack Milroy

Jack Milroy was a Scottish comedian . Born James Cruden in Govanhill and educated at Shawlands Academy, Milroy is noted for his partnership with comedy actor Rikki Fulton, as Francie and Josie...

 as Francie and Rikki Fulton

Rikki Fulton

Robert Kerr Fulton, OBE , more commonly known as Rikki Fulton, was a Scottish comedian and actor best remembered for writing and performing in the long-running BBC Scotland sketch show, Scotch and Wry. He was also known for his appearances as one half of the double act, Francie and Josie, alongside...

 (of Scotch & Wry) as Josie. from 1958 - 1990's.

History

Francie and Josie conspect first appeared on The Five Past Eight Show in the Alhambra Theatre Glasgow

Alhambra Theatre Glasgow

The Alhambra Theatre Glasgow opened on 19 December 1910 at the corner of Waterloo Street and Wellington Street, Glasgow under the direction of Sir Alfred Butt and was acknowledged as one of the best equipped theatres in Britain, planned to accommodate 2,800 people.The Theatre was designed by...

 during the 1958 season, and was a brainwave of Stanley Baxter, Stan Mars and Rikki Fulton

Rikki Fulton

Robert Kerr Fulton, OBE , more commonly known as Rikki Fulton, was a Scottish comedian and actor best remembered for writing and performing in the long-running BBC Scotland sketch show, Scotch and Wry. He was also known for his appearances as one half of the double act, Francie and Josie, alongside...

. Over the season the idea grew and grass roots of Francie and Josie was refined by Jack and Rikki.

By the early 1960s The Five Past Eight Show was broadcast by Scottish Television

Scottish Television

Scottish Television is Scotland's largest ITV franchisee, and has held the ITV franchise for Central Scotland since 31 August 1957. It is the second oldest ITV franchisee still active...

, often there would be a sketches from Francie alone and a sketch from Josie alone and then the both of them together at the end.

In 1962 Scottish Television

Scottish Television

Scottish Television is Scotland's largest ITV franchisee, and has held the ITV franchise for Central Scotland since 31 August 1957. It is the second oldest ITV franchisee still active...

 gave them their own show The Adventures of Francie and Josie which also starred Clement Ashby, Glen Michael, and Ethel Scott (first wife of Rikki Fulton

Rikki Fulton

Robert Kerr Fulton, OBE , more commonly known as Rikki Fulton, was a Scottish comedian and actor best remembered for writing and performing in the long-running BBC Scotland sketch show, Scotch and Wry. He was also known for his appearances as one half of the double act, Francie and Josie, alongside...

). The show become an instant hit, being broadcast by Border Television

Border Television

Border Television is the ITV franchise holder for the Border region, spanning the England/Scotland border and covering Dumfries & Galloway region, a small part of the south-west area of Ayrshire, the Scottish Borders, parts of north and west Northumberland and the majority of Cumbria...

, Grampian Television

Grampian Television

Grampian Television is the ITV franchisee for the North and North East of Scotland. Its coverage area includes the Scottish Highlands , Inverness, Aberdeen, Dundee and parts of north Fife...

, and UTV

UTV

UTV is a television channel based in the UK region of Northern Ireland. The channel is the Channel 3 or Independent Television licensee for Northern Ireland and is operated by UTV Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of UTV Media.- Terrestrial :* Analogue: Normally tuned to 3 * Freeview : 3...

 and resulted in the pair opening many British relay ( TV rental shops). The first shop they opened in Airdrie, caused such mayhem that crowd smashed the windows of the shop due to the pressure on them, of public wishing to meet the pair.

In 1965 the last series was produced, with the pair returning to The Five Past Eight Show, the following year both Jack Milroy

Jack Milroy

Jack Milroy was a Scottish comedian . Born James Cruden in Govanhill and educated at Shawlands Academy, Milroy is noted for his partnership with comedy actor Rikki Fulton, as Francie and Josie...

 and Rikki Fulton

Rikki Fulton

Robert Kerr Fulton, OBE , more commonly known as Rikki Fulton, was a Scottish comedian and actor best remembered for writing and performing in the long-running BBC Scotland sketch show, Scotch and Wry. He was also known for his appearances as one half of the double act, Francie and Josie, alongside...

 were given their own show. The double act

Double act

A double act, also known as a comedy duo, is a comic pairing in which humor is derived from the uneven relationship between two partners, usually of the same gender, age, ethnic origin and profession, but drastically different personalities or behavior...

 took to act around Scotland and also created a Panto, during 1970 the pair did a successful tour around Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...

.

Wiped Tapes

The Adventures of Francie and Josie no longer survive, as all the episode were wiped, many television companies at the time, regularly wiped tapes after programmes exceeded their usefulness, space needed to store large videotapes, as well as the expense of buying more tapes when they could be re-used, were factors as well. Many other STV entertainment shows were also wiped.

Francie

Francie is seen as the less intelligent one of the pair but overrules Josie's intelligence in telling jokes. He's more interested in "birds". He would often burst into laughter in the middle of Josie telling a story at something Josie says. The thing he laughs at are usually not funny at all. Example: Josie: "I couldnae get a hud o' that Chinese waiter, ye know, the one wi' the funny walk." (Walk

WALK

WALK may refer to:*WALK , a radio station licensed to East Patchogue, New York, United States*WALK-FM, a radio station licensed to Patchogue, New York, United States...

/Wok

Wok

A wok is a versatile round-bottomed cooking vessel originating in China. It is used especially in East and Southeast Asia.Woks are most often used for stir frying, but can also be used in other Chinese cooking techniques, such as in steaming, deep frying, braising, stewing, smoking, or making soup...

)

More details can be found about Francie in Is It that time already? Rikki Fulton AutoBio ISBN 1 845020 01 Page 284:

Josie

Josie is the more intelligent one of the pair. He's interested about talking about culture and politicians where Francie usually laughs at him. He would often muddle up his words to mean something utterly different. Example:

Josie: "There's no wonder that Glasgow has been decimated the city of architecture."

Auntie Jessie

Auntie Jessie is the somewhat dumb woman that looked after Francie and Josie after both of their families left their homes. She's usually mentioned a lot in the stage shows and has been played on stage by Mary Lee Milroy.

Glen Michael

Glen Michael

Glen Michael

Glen Michael is a former children's television presenter and an entertainer. His career at Scottish Television spanned several decades with the popular show Glen Michael's Cartoon Cavalcade...

 played many parts on the show, including Josie's cousin when Jack Milroy was ill

Stage

The Stage show ran for over 30 years and the best remembered stage shows are Francie and Josie (1989) and The Farewell Performance (1996). No others are listed. Are organised by Francie and Josie would sing some songs, then a solo from Francie, and then a piano tune from Josie, then another song, and then the famous Arbroath Gag.

In popular culture

Bobby called Jack and Victor "Francie and Josie" to wind them up in a 2002 episode of Still Game

Still Game

Still Game is a Scottish sitcom, produced by The Comedy Unit with the BBC. It was created by Ford Kiernan and Greg Hemphill, who play the lead characters - two Glaswegian pensioners, named Jack Jarvis and Victor McDade respectively....

.