Scotch and Wry
Encyclopedia
Scotch and Wry was a Scottish comedy
sketch show which was broadcast on BBC One Scotland and starred Rikki Fulton
. After two series, in 1978 and 1979, the programme continued as a regular part of the channel's Hogmanay
celebrations between 1980 and 1992. The show gave early exposure to actors like Gregor Fisher
, Tony Roper
, Gerard Kelly
and Miriam Margolyes
.
Very much a regional comedy show, the focus of Scotch and Wry was on predominantly Scottish (and in particular Glaswegian
) humour - the viewer had to be familiar with the Glasgow Patter
in order to understand many of the jokes. As a result, much of the humour was constructed around distinctly Glaswegian themes; such as the city's suburbs, its football clubs, and even its famous sectarian divide was also played for laughs. In later episodes, less of an emphasis was placed on this, and the writers began to draw on major news events that had happened during the previous year as their basis.
In many sketches, characters poked fun at Sydney Devine
. He even appeared in a sketch once, a parody of Phantom of the Opera.
In later years it became customary of Scotch and Wry to include a post-closing credits sketch which was usually a dig at The Hogmanay Show which followed immediately afterwards. This usually involved Rikki Fulton interrupting a party to throw the television out the window before The Hogmanay Show started.
After the series ended, it was replaced by Jonathan Watson
's football-themed sketch comedy show, Only an Excuse?
in BBC Scotland's Hogmanay television lineup.
, Jim Watt, Mark McManus
, Gavin Hastings
, Dougie Donnelly
, and Archie Macpherson
.
For Children in Need
in 2009, Alex Salmond
gave a message in the style of Rev I.M. Jolly's Last Calls.
Comedy
Comedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...
sketch show which was broadcast on BBC One Scotland and starred 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...
. After two series, in 1978 and 1979, the programme continued as a regular part of the channel's Hogmanay
Hogmanay
Hogmanay is the Scots word for the last day of the year and is synonymous with the celebration of the New Year in the Scottish manner...
celebrations between 1980 and 1992. The show gave early exposure to actors like Gregor Fisher
Gregor Fisher
Gregor Fisher is a Scottish comedian and actor.-Early life:Fisher was born in Glasgow and following the death of his parents was brought up in Edinburgh, Langholm and Neilston and attended Barrhead High School...
, Tony Roper
Tony Roper (actor)
Tony Roper is a Scottish actor, comedian, playwright and writer.His first major starring role was in Scotch and Wry. He wrote the classic comedy-drama The Steamie in 1988. He achieved even greater fame in Naked Video and in the spin off series Rab C Nesbitt, in which he played Rab's...
, Gerard Kelly
Gerard Kelly
Paul "Gerard" Kelly was a Scottish actor who appeared in many comedies, most notably in City Lights, Rab C Nesbitt, and Scotch and Wry. He had more serious roles, including PC David Gallagher in Juliet Bravo , villain Jimmy in EastEnders and the villainous Callum Finnegan on Brookside...
and Miriam Margolyes
Miriam Margolyes
Miriam Margolyes, OBE is an English actress and voice artist. Her earliest roles were in theatre and after several supporting roles in film and television she won a BAFTA Award for her role in The Age of Innocence .-Early life:...
.
Very much a regional comedy show, the focus of Scotch and Wry was on predominantly Scottish (and in particular Glaswegian
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
) humour - the viewer had to be familiar with the Glasgow Patter
Glasgow patter
Glaswegian or The Glasgow Patter is a dialect spoken in and around Glasgow, Scotland. In addition to local West Mid Scots, the dialect has Highland English and Hiberno-English influences, owing to the speech of Highlanders and Irish people, who migrated in large numbers to the Glasgow area in the...
in order to understand many of the jokes. As a result, much of the humour was constructed around distinctly Glaswegian themes; such as the city's suburbs, its football clubs, and even its famous sectarian divide was also played for laughs. In later episodes, less of an emphasis was placed on this, and the writers began to draw on major news events that had happened during the previous year as their basis.
In many sketches, characters poked fun at Sydney Devine
Sydney Devine
Sydney Devine is Scotland's very own rhinestone cowboy, a singer whose career began with a television appearance in 1953 at the age of thirteen, developed during eight years touring with the White Heather Group...
. He even appeared in a sketch once, a parody of Phantom of the Opera.
In later years it became customary of Scotch and Wry to include a post-closing credits sketch which was usually a dig at The Hogmanay Show which followed immediately afterwards. This usually involved Rikki Fulton interrupting a party to throw the television out the window before The Hogmanay Show started.
After the series ended, it was replaced by Jonathan Watson
Jonathan Watson
Jonathan Watson is a Scottish comedian and impressionist best known for his comedy sketch show Only an Excuse?, which parodies people and events from the world of Scottish football. Watson also regularly appeared on Tam Cowan's Offside television programme on BBC One Scotland where he performed a...
's football-themed sketch comedy show, Only an Excuse?
Only an Excuse?
Only An Excuse? is an annual Scottish football comedy sketch show that airs each Hogmanay.Starring actor and comedian Jonathan Watson, the show features impressions of some of Scottish football's great characters such as Denis Law, Tommy Burns, Barry Ferguson, Sir Alex Ferguson, Frank McAvennie,...
in BBC Scotland's Hogmanay television lineup.
Principal and Recurring Characters
- The perennially depressed Reverend I.M. Jolly, who, with his catchphrase "Ah've had a helluva year", proved to be the most popular of several fictional ministers played by Fulton in "Last Call", a parody of Scottish TelevisionScottish TelevisionScottish 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...
's late-night "God slot" programme Late CallLate Call (TV programme)Late Call was Scottish Television's version of "The Epilogue", presenting five minutes of religious thought late at night.It was parodied by Rikki Fulton in the comedy show Scotch and Wry where it was named "Last Call". His character, "Reverend I.M...
. Even after the series finished, Jolly's "Last Call" continued to be part of the Hogmanay programming. The Jolly monologues usually contained references to his mysterious wife "Ephesia", and the antics of church organist "Mr. Bampot" - neither of which are seen (but are referred to) in the spin-off series.
- Supercop, an incompetent traffic policeman with the catchphrase "OK, StirlingStirling MossSir Stirling Craufurd Moss, OBE FIE is a former racing driver from England...
, oot the car!", only to find himself dealing with BatmanBatmanBatman is a fictional character created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger. A comic book superhero, Batman first appeared in Detective Comics #27 , and since then has appeared primarily in publications by DC Comics...
, an extraterrestrialExtraterrestrial life in popular cultureIn popular cultures, "extraterrestrials" are life forms — especially intelligent life forms— that are of extraterrestrial origin .-Historical ideas:-Pre-modern:...
, DCI Jim TaggartJim TaggartDetective Chief Inspector James "Jim" Taggart was the main character in Taggart from 1983 to 1995. He was played by Mark McManus until his death in June 1994, with the last episode featuring Taggart being broadcast in January 1995.-Character:...
, Dr Crippen or any other unlikely traffic offender.
- Dirty Dickie Dandruff, Gallowgate Gourmet, the unbelievably unhygienic television chef who would always say, Hullo and welcome to Dirty Dick's. (billed as "Dickie Dandruff's Delicatmessen")
- Aloycious {AKA Tam} McGlinchey, a colourful Rab C Nesbitt type character.
- Alky Broon, similar to the Dickie Dandruff character, who first appeared as a terminally unhygienic barber (in the 1983 show), then in 1993 as a cack-handed dentist.
- Ticket Clerk, an unnamed ticket clerk, intended to poke fun at British RailBritish RailBritish Railways , which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was the operator of most of the rail transport in Great Britain between 1948 and 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the "Big Four" British railway companies and lasted until the gradual privatisation of British Rail, in stages...
. He regularly would pull the shutter down in front of an unfortunate passenger with the line the last train left five minutes ago.
Notable one-off characters
- Rev. David Goodchild, from one of the most memorable Scotch and Wry sketches. He un-knowingly gets drunk during his "Last Call" after his water decanter is accidentally spiked with ginGinGin is a spirit which derives its predominant flavour from juniper berries . Although several different styles of gin have existed since its origins, it is broadly differentiated into two basic legal categories...
.
- Rev. W.E Free, a hypocritical Free PresbyterianFree Presbyterian Church of ScotlandThe Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland was formed in 1893 and claims to be the spiritual descendant of the Scottish Reformation...
minister who uses his "Last Call" to go into a diatribe about the "sins" of his parishioners - only to reveal he wished he could be as sinful as them.
- Big Chief Swift Half, an unemployed Glaswegian who dresses up as a Red Indian to get out of getting a job.
- Mrs Ida Closeshave, a woman who talked about the events of her missionary work on "Last Call"
- S.W Duff, a Funeral DirectorFuneral directorA funeral director , also known as a mortician or undertaker, is a professional involved in the business of funeral rites. These tasks often entail the embalming and burial or cremation of the dead, as well as the planning and arrangement of the actual funeral ceremony...
.
Parodies
- Bonnie Prince Charlie
- Robert the Bruce
- The Curries, a parody of the scottish singing duo, The CorriesThe CorriesThe Corries were a Scottish folk group that emerged from the Scottish folk revival of the early 1960s. Although the group was a trio in the early days, it was as the partnership of Roy Williamson and Ronnie Browne that it is best known.-Early years:...
.
- Beechgrove GardenThe Beechgrove GardenThe Beechgrove Garden is a television programme broadcast on BBC Two Scotland since 1978, but since 10 April 2007 now broadcast on BBC One Scotland. It is a gardening programme. The original plot of land used was the small area of garden attached to the BBC studios in Aberdeen, located in the...
Presenters, a parody of the BBC Scotland gardening show which shows the two presenters (Fulton playing George Barron, and Gregor Fisher as Jim McColl) "growing" whiskyWhiskyWhisky or whiskey is a type of distilled alcoholic beverage made from fermented grain mash. Different grains are used for different varieties, including barley, malted barley, rye, malted rye, wheat, and corn...
.
- The Phantom of the OperaThe Phantom of the OperaLe Fantôme de l'Opéra is a novel by French writer Gaston Leroux. It was first published as a serialisation in "Le Gaulois" from September 23, 1909 to January 8, 1910...
, in which Rikki plays The Phantom. He takes off his white mask to reveal there's nothing wrong with his face but his love interest runs off screaming. Then, he reveals his son, played by Sydney DevineSydney DevineSydney Devine is Scotland's very own rhinestone cowboy, a singer whose career began with a television appearance in 1953 at the age of thirteen, developed during eight years touring with the White Heather Group...
.
Guest stars
Scotch and Wry also attracted many celebrity guests like Barry McGuiganBarry McGuigan
Finbarr Patrick McGuigan MBE , known as Barry McGuigan and nicknamed The Clones Cyclone, is a former Irish and British professional boxer who became a world featherweight champion.-Background:...
, Jim Watt, Mark McManus
Mark McManus
Mark McManus was a Scottish actor best known for his portrayal of Detective Chief Inspector Jim Taggart in the long-running ITV television series Taggart for eleven years until his death.-Career:...
, Gavin Hastings
Gavin Hastings
Andrew Gavin Hastings, OBE is a former Scotland rugby union player. He is frequently considered one of the best, if not the best, rugby player to come out of Scotland. His nickname is "Big Gav".Hastings was born in Edinburgh...
, Dougie Donnelly
Dougie Donnelly
Douglas "Dougie" Donnelly is a Scottish television broadcaster best known for presenting sports coverage for BBC Scotland....
, and Archie Macpherson
Archie Macpherson
Archibald "Archie" Macpherson is a Scottish football commentator and author.He has been commentating on Scottish football, via both radio and television, for over four decades.- Early life :...
.
Spin-offs
In the mid 90's two home videos where released which depicted Rev I.M. Jolly in similar situations to which he mentioned on his Last Calls. The first, Jolly: A Man for All Seasons and a "christmas special", tis The Season to be Jolly.Reprisals and Specials
Shortly after Rikki Fulton's death in 2004, BBC aired The Very Best of Scotch and Wry.For Children in Need
Children in Need
Children in Need is an annual British charity appeal organised by the BBC. Since 1980 it has raised over £500 million. The highlight of the Children in Need appeal is an annual telethon, held in November. A teddy bear named "Pudsey Bear" fronts the campaign, while Terry Wogan is a long...
in 2009, Alex Salmond
Alex Salmond
Alexander Elliot Anderson "Alex" Salmond MSP is a Scottish politician and current First Minister of Scotland. He became Scotland's fourth First Minister in May 2007. He is the Leader of the Scottish National Party , having served as Member of the Scottish Parliament for Gordon...
gave a message in the style of Rev I.M. Jolly's Last Calls.