0:00:02 > 0:00:05We first got television in Scotland in 1952. 1952!
0:00:05 > 0:00:07That's the year the Queen became, well, Queen,
0:00:07 > 0:00:10Prime Minister Winston Churchill scrapped identity cards,
0:00:10 > 0:00:14the first-ever passenger jet flew across the Atlantic
0:00:14 > 0:00:15and it was the year Eva Peron,
0:00:15 > 0:00:19Hattie McDaniel and Curly Howard from the Three Stooges were born.
0:00:20 > 0:00:22Huh? Died?
0:00:37 > 0:00:41We interrupt this broadcast to bring you a special news report.
0:00:41 > 0:00:43Hostilities have broken out between east and west
0:00:43 > 0:00:46following the breakdown of talks this afternoon.
0:00:46 > 0:00:49A full-scale nuclear strike is on its way to Britain,
0:00:49 > 0:00:52and the four-minute warning has been sounded.
0:00:52 > 0:00:54That's except for viewers in Scotland.
0:00:55 > 0:00:57That sketch from the late '80s
0:00:57 > 0:00:59brilliantly captures the mood of the times.
0:00:59 > 0:01:01London felt a million miles away
0:01:01 > 0:01:04and Ronald Reagan had his finger on the nuclear button.
0:01:04 > 0:01:06If you didn't laugh, you'd cry.
0:01:06 > 0:01:08Comedy is arguably the most creative,
0:01:08 > 0:01:11individual and relevant kind of telly we make.
0:01:11 > 0:01:13It's also the most Scottish - not that you can tell
0:01:13 > 0:01:16from the oldest surviving example of our comic output.
0:01:18 > 0:01:22The year is 1957 and the place, believe it or not, is Glasgow.
0:01:22 > 0:01:24This is the opening night of STV
0:01:24 > 0:01:27and it all kicks off with a curious mix of Hollywood glamour,
0:01:27 > 0:01:32home-grown variety and men dressed as babies.
0:01:37 > 0:01:38Got a fag?
0:01:41 > 0:01:43Don't smoke.
0:01:43 > 0:01:45Given it up.
0:01:45 > 0:01:48From the very beginning, comedy was top of the bill.
0:01:48 > 0:01:51The queue here is for The One O'Clock Gang,
0:01:51 > 0:01:54a much-loved show that went out five days a week
0:01:54 > 0:01:56from Glasgow's Theatre Royal.
0:01:56 > 0:02:00- Thou art a coward!- No-one calls the masked avenger a coward!
0:02:00 > 0:02:02Why not? A coward thou art!
0:02:04 > 0:02:07In their eight years of broadcasting,
0:02:07 > 0:02:10the Gang clocked up a staggering 1,760 live performances...
0:02:10 > 0:02:13Have you had an accident or does your face always look like that?
0:02:13 > 0:02:15..so they can forgiven
0:02:15 > 0:02:19if their routines were sometimes a little rough round the edges.
0:02:20 > 0:02:24That was the very first programme I was ever in, or ever on the telly
0:02:24 > 0:02:29cos my pal and I dogged school and we went and queued up at STV
0:02:29 > 0:02:34at the top of Hope Street. And we got in and we were in the audience
0:02:34 > 0:02:38and I was actually watching a television show being made!
0:02:38 > 0:02:42And Larry Marshall, who was the host, came over,
0:02:42 > 0:02:45cos he used to chat with the audience,
0:02:45 > 0:02:50and he spotted us and we both had crew cuts, my pal and I.
0:02:50 > 0:02:53And he came over to us and said, "There's two scrubber nuts!
0:02:53 > 0:02:56"What you daeing here, how are you no' at school?"
0:02:56 > 0:03:00And I remember panicking cos we'd dogged school.
0:03:00 > 0:03:03I thought, "I'm going to get into helluva trouble here."
0:03:03 > 0:03:05# It's in the news
0:03:05 > 0:03:07# 1,200 paid for only trimming
0:03:07 > 0:03:10# It's in the news... #
0:03:10 > 0:03:13Writing comedy that stands the test of time is a tough gig.
0:03:13 > 0:03:16One of the secrets is to create characters
0:03:16 > 0:03:18that people can root for and identify with.
0:03:18 > 0:03:21I'll tell you what, for a country that prides itself on its work ethic,
0:03:21 > 0:03:23we don't half love a shirker.
0:03:25 > 0:03:28Lex McLean was the original A1 chancer.
0:03:28 > 0:03:31Here, he and his pals don disguises to con their way into a posh do.
0:03:34 > 0:03:37It's an enduring fish-out-of-water set-up,
0:03:37 > 0:03:40with a quality piece of lavvy humour thrown in.
0:03:40 > 0:03:43Perhaps the lady would like something to eat first?
0:03:43 > 0:03:46- Have you got a can of beer? - I'm afraid not.
0:03:46 > 0:03:49- How about a can-O-PEE? - A can o' what? Oh, a canape.
0:03:52 > 0:03:56Something for eating here. Eat it up.
0:03:56 > 0:04:01And for yourself, sir? A drink? A martini, perhaps?
0:04:01 > 0:04:03Yes, a pint of martini.
0:04:06 > 0:04:09A pint it is, sir.
0:04:09 > 0:04:12Lex is just one of a long line of rogues, misfits and schemers
0:04:12 > 0:04:15who've managed to win us over with their willingness
0:04:15 > 0:04:18to stand up for the things they believe in, like getting bevvied,
0:04:18 > 0:04:21diddling the buroo and stickin' it to the man.
0:04:21 > 0:04:23You may not have noticed,
0:04:23 > 0:04:26but we really don't like it when folk get above their station.
0:04:26 > 0:04:29Pint, please. And lift.
0:04:29 > 0:04:31Smashing.
0:04:31 > 0:04:34Francie and Josie were work-shy fops, with ambitions stretching no further
0:04:34 > 0:04:38than the burds at the edge of the dance floor.
0:04:38 > 0:04:41They were also the most popular comic characters of their day.
0:04:41 > 0:04:45They were like the Beatles in Scotland! They were enormous!
0:04:45 > 0:04:47I cannot tell you.
0:04:47 > 0:04:52There's nothing so far in Scotland as big as they were then. Nothing.
0:04:52 > 0:04:56Sadly, all the footage of the original '60s series has been lost.
0:04:56 > 0:04:59All we have left are amateur pictures like these
0:04:59 > 0:05:02and a recording of their stage comeback from the late 1980s.
0:05:04 > 0:05:07- Anyone ever tell you you dance like Cyd Charisse?- No.
0:05:07 > 0:05:08I'm no' surprised.
0:05:12 > 0:05:15I'll have you know I've got dancing in my blood.
0:05:15 > 0:05:18It's a pity it hasnae got doon to yer feet yet.
0:05:18 > 0:05:20Like many of our great comedians,
0:05:20 > 0:05:23Jack Milroy and Ricky Fulton honed their skills on the stage.
0:05:23 > 0:05:25Francie and Josie were fully formed characters
0:05:25 > 0:05:28long before they made it onto TV.
0:05:28 > 0:05:29What's that?
0:05:29 > 0:05:31That's the hitchhiker.
0:05:34 > 0:05:36What's that?
0:05:36 > 0:05:38Troosers coming down!
0:05:39 > 0:05:41What we're seeing here
0:05:41 > 0:05:44are two performers with the ability to make us laugh
0:05:44 > 0:05:46at pretty much anything they do.
0:05:46 > 0:05:49As Fulton himself once said, anyone can make you laugh at a good joke,
0:05:49 > 0:05:52but only a true comic can make you laugh at a bad one.
0:05:53 > 0:05:57- It's a rare flair, in't it? - It's a rare flair, in't it?
0:05:57 > 0:06:00I wish you'd get aff ma feet an' try it for yersel.
0:06:02 > 0:06:04Go!
0:06:05 > 0:06:08Our biggest ever shirker is, of course, Rab C Nesbitt.
0:06:08 > 0:06:11Gregor Fisher and writer Ian Pattison have taken a character
0:06:11 > 0:06:15you'd cross the street to avoid and turned him into a national icon.
0:06:16 > 0:06:20One of the reasons we love Rab is because he never shies away
0:06:20 > 0:06:21from telling it like it is.
0:06:21 > 0:06:23I'll tell you something.
0:06:23 > 0:06:27You've no' half got to have a clear heid to be drunk these days, y'know.
0:06:27 > 0:06:28Dive, Ella, dive.
0:06:28 > 0:06:30Hullllooooooo!
0:06:30 > 0:06:32'A lot of Scots hated it.
0:06:32 > 0:06:35'A lot of Scots thought it was a dreadful image to give of Scotland.'
0:06:35 > 0:06:38"Why is it always a drunk, and why is he this, that and the other?"
0:06:38 > 0:06:42But in actual fact, we sort of took ownership of it and thought,
0:06:42 > 0:06:45"Well, you always cast us as the drunk in The Bill,
0:06:45 > 0:06:49"or you cast us in Holby City or whatever it may be.
0:06:49 > 0:06:54"Why don't we just take it and say this is who he really is?"
0:06:54 > 0:06:55And he's got a brain too.
0:06:55 > 0:06:58Everyone has to work, Mr Nesbitt, or perhaps you disagree?
0:06:58 > 0:07:01Disagree? Of course I disagree.
0:07:01 > 0:07:04Listen you here to me.
0:07:04 > 0:07:07There is a working population in this country of 20 million,
0:07:07 > 0:07:10and there's only 17 million jobs to go roond,
0:07:10 > 0:07:13so some poor bugger's got to be on the buroo, don't they?
0:07:13 > 0:07:16So might as well be them that likes it.
0:07:16 > 0:07:19I'll tell ye this, I lap it up...
0:07:19 > 0:07:22'Writer Ian Pattison is quite a political animal'
0:07:22 > 0:07:29and he would rail against the prevailing powers that be
0:07:29 > 0:07:35and every week Rab C Nesbitt had a rant, a political rant,
0:07:35 > 0:07:39about what was wrong in society, from his point of view.
0:07:39 > 0:07:40The Europeans, eh?
0:07:40 > 0:07:43Hell of a sense of humour the Europeans, haven't they?
0:07:43 > 0:07:46I mean, they've got to have, haven't they,
0:07:46 > 0:07:48making Glasgow the European City of Culture
0:07:48 > 0:07:51and still being able to keep a straight face?
0:07:51 > 0:07:53That takes some doing, eh?
0:07:53 > 0:07:56Because I mean, I'll tell ye, see us scum, us keech,
0:07:56 > 0:07:59we're having a bloody hard time aff the shortbread set
0:07:59 > 0:08:02just because it's 1990, you know.
0:08:02 > 0:08:06"Oh look, look at that, it's stereotypes like him
0:08:06 > 0:08:10"that give Glasgow a bad name. Give us Van Gogh."
0:08:10 > 0:08:11Aaargh, bloody Van Gogh.
0:08:11 > 0:08:14The best of it is, see that Van Gogh,
0:08:14 > 0:08:17he was a bigger heidbanger than me. So he was! He was a nut case.
0:08:17 > 0:08:20See if I met Van Gogh in the lavvy of the Two Ways,
0:08:20 > 0:08:23I'd dae a U-turn in case he chibbed me with his palette knife.
0:08:26 > 0:08:30Ian Pattison gave his show an extra edge by setting it in Govan.
0:08:30 > 0:08:33Critics sometimes say that Scottish comedy's too parochial,
0:08:33 > 0:08:35but I never hear them saying the same thing
0:08:35 > 0:08:38about Only Fools And Horses, Shameless or Phoenix Nights.
0:08:38 > 0:08:40As far as I'm concerned,
0:08:40 > 0:08:43keeping things local only adds to the originality of our humour.
0:08:44 > 0:08:48And it doesn't get much more local than Scotland The What?
0:08:48 > 0:08:49I hope your lugs are working.
0:08:49 > 0:08:52You're going to have to listen carefully here.
0:08:52 > 0:08:55Most of our comedy comes from the central belt.
0:08:55 > 0:08:57A notable exception is Scotland The What?
0:08:57 > 0:09:00These guys met at Aberdeen University in the early 1950s.
0:09:00 > 0:09:04They performed together for 26 years and were in a class of their own
0:09:04 > 0:09:08when it came to taking the mickey out of rural life.
0:09:08 > 0:09:10Sorry I'm late, Mr Webster.
0:09:10 > 0:09:12Oh, that's a' richt, I was lookin' oot the windae
0:09:12 > 0:09:14and I could see ye coming.
0:09:14 > 0:09:16You'd no trouble finding the place?
0:09:16 > 0:09:18No, your directions was spot on.
0:09:18 > 0:09:22Five miles fae Rhynie five-and-a-half fae Kennethmont.
0:09:22 > 0:09:24By Jove, you're very central here.
0:09:24 > 0:09:28The makers of "Scotland The What?" were writing as insiders.
0:09:28 > 0:09:30They used their knowledge of the North East
0:09:30 > 0:09:32to create the fictional village of Auchterturra
0:09:32 > 0:09:36and populated it with a bunch of eccentric but believable locals,
0:09:36 > 0:09:40kinda like what a couple of dobbers did with Craiglang in Still Game.
0:09:42 > 0:09:45'The next couple of clips are widely regarded - by me -
0:09:45 > 0:09:47'as the best in the show.
0:09:47 > 0:09:50'Jack and Victor are a couple of mischievous old pals,
0:09:50 > 0:09:53'abandoned by their families and making the most of it.
0:09:55 > 0:09:57'They live on their wits and get by,
0:09:57 > 0:09:59'treating old age like a second childhood.
0:09:59 > 0:10:01'In this scene,
0:10:01 > 0:10:04'Victor's been saddled with the task of emptying a neighbour's pee pot
0:10:04 > 0:10:07'and can't resist a prank at Jack's expense.'
0:10:09 > 0:10:10Oh that's heavy.
0:10:13 > 0:10:16Oh!
0:10:19 > 0:10:23Thought I was going to be covered in piss then!
0:10:35 > 0:10:38Still Game was commissioned by BBC Scotland
0:10:38 > 0:10:39with a Scottish audience in mind.
0:10:39 > 0:10:42It was the same with Chewin' The Fat.
0:10:42 > 0:10:45The more Scottish we made it, the more viewers it seemed to get.
0:10:45 > 0:10:48People like their comedy to reflect their own lives
0:10:48 > 0:10:50and that's what this next sketch is all about.
0:10:50 > 0:10:53News For Neds makes fun of local news programmes
0:10:53 > 0:10:56and asks how local can local news go?
0:10:56 > 0:10:58The answer? Not local enough.
0:10:58 > 0:11:01And now the main points of this afternoon's Budget again.
0:11:01 > 0:11:04Interpreting for the neds, Rab McGlinchy.
0:11:04 > 0:11:06How you doing?
0:11:06 > 0:11:09As expected, the Chancellor increased tax on the old favourites
0:11:09 > 0:11:11alcohol and tobacco.
0:11:11 > 0:11:13Beer will go up by four pence a pint,
0:11:13 > 0:11:17while smokers can expect to pay as much as £3.97 for 20 cigarettes.
0:11:17 > 0:11:20So you cannae blame me for wirin' in while I can still afford it, man.
0:11:20 > 0:11:22This dobber should be wearin' a mask, so he should.
0:11:22 > 0:11:25I've got nae choice but to get a len' o' ma brother's transit,
0:11:25 > 0:11:26batter doon to Callie
0:11:26 > 0:11:29and jam it oot wi' fags and crates o' that mad lager.
0:11:29 > 0:11:31Gie's a shout if you want a wee message or that?
0:11:31 > 0:11:34Meanwhile, there was better news for drivers as the Chancellor
0:11:34 > 0:11:37outlined plans for a price freeze on a gallon on unleaded petrol.
0:11:37 > 0:11:40That's better news? Don't talk pish, he's no' got a scoobie, by the way.
0:11:40 > 0:11:43Diesel's going through the roof. I've got good mates, right,
0:11:43 > 0:11:46that work in the carnival, this could put 20 pence - 20 pence! -
0:11:46 > 0:11:48on the price of a shot on the dodgems.
0:11:48 > 0:11:51And finally, the Chancellor targeted absentee fathers.
0:11:51 > 0:11:54As well as an increase in the level of monthly child maintenance,
0:11:54 > 0:11:58he announced tough new powers for the Child Support Agency.
0:11:58 > 0:12:01Aye, sure, I'm followin' through into my boxers on that one.
0:12:01 > 0:12:03Listen, if you've no' got it, they cannae get it aff you.
0:12:03 > 0:12:06So look, mates, don't go short-changing yersels,
0:12:06 > 0:12:09just plead skint and gie her what ye can gie her, no? Ha ha!
0:12:09 > 0:12:10- Good night.- Good night.
0:12:10 > 0:12:14'We had a lot of fun with language in Chewin' The Fat.'
0:12:14 > 0:12:17But in comedy as in everything else, there's nothing new under the sun.
0:12:17 > 0:12:2030 years earlier, Stanley Baxter took the concept
0:12:20 > 0:12:22of the foreign language education programme
0:12:22 > 0:12:25and applied it to Glaswegian Scots.
0:12:25 > 0:12:27Parliamo Glasgow.
0:12:27 > 0:12:29Baxter was making a network show here,
0:12:29 > 0:12:31so he had to make sure his material
0:12:31 > 0:12:34would play to a UK as well as a Scottish audience.
0:12:35 > 0:12:37As he puts on his jacket,
0:12:37 > 0:12:39the father enquires if his daughter's gentleman friend
0:12:39 > 0:12:41is taking the evening off his employment.
0:12:41 > 0:12:43Izziafiz Wurk?
0:12:43 > 0:12:46Note the word "Izziafiz".
0:12:48 > 0:12:51We use this as a prefix when asking a question.
0:12:51 > 0:12:53If we're concerned about a person's lack of appetite,
0:12:53 > 0:12:56we enquire, "Izziafiz meat?"
0:12:56 > 0:13:02Similarly, "Izziafiz Boozin?" Does he keep reasonably sober?
0:13:02 > 0:13:04And if we find that someone's behavioural pattern
0:13:04 > 0:13:07is tending towards the unorthodox, we might say,
0:13:07 > 0:13:09"Izziafiz Bliddichump?"
0:13:11 > 0:13:13However I digress.
0:13:13 > 0:13:16Scottish comedy, I think, I've always thought this,
0:13:16 > 0:13:21Scottish people like seeing themselves in Scottish comedy.
0:13:21 > 0:13:24I think in truth, Scottish people, I think we like ourselves,
0:13:24 > 0:13:26we like the way we speak,
0:13:26 > 0:13:30I think we think we're funny and I think we like our patter
0:13:30 > 0:13:33and we want to see that reflected in the comedy that we watch.
0:13:33 > 0:13:37'This sketch has had 3 million YouTube hits. We love it
0:13:37 > 0:13:41'because we've all had to repeat ourselves at one time or another.'
0:13:41 > 0:13:42Whaur's the buttons?
0:13:42 > 0:13:47They installed voice recognition technology in this lift.
0:13:47 > 0:13:52Voice recognition technology in a lift? In Scotland?
0:13:52 > 0:13:56- You ever tried voice recognition technology?- Naw.
0:13:56 > 0:13:58They don't do Scottish accents.
0:13:59 > 0:14:01Eleven.
0:14:01 > 0:14:03'Could you please repeat that?'
0:14:05 > 0:14:08- Eleven.- Eleven.
0:14:09 > 0:14:12- Eleven.- Eleven.
0:14:12 > 0:14:14'Could you please repeat that?'
0:14:14 > 0:14:16El-e-ven.
0:14:17 > 0:14:18Whose idea was this?
0:14:20 > 0:14:22You need to try an American accent.
0:14:22 > 0:14:23El-evann?
0:14:23 > 0:14:26El-evann?
0:14:26 > 0:14:29- That sounds Irish, no' American. - No, it disnae.
0:14:29 > 0:14:31El-evann.
0:14:31 > 0:14:33Where in America is that - Dublin?
0:14:33 > 0:14:35'I'm sorry, could you please repeat that?'
0:14:35 > 0:14:38People seemed to like it outside Scotland.
0:14:38 > 0:14:41There was maybe even mair people outside Scotland that liked it.
0:14:41 > 0:14:42You could check on Facebook
0:14:42 > 0:14:45and you could see who was watching it and sharing it on Facebook,
0:14:45 > 0:14:48and it was a lot of Indian people and Asian people.
0:14:48 > 0:14:50So a lot of people were just getting that thing
0:14:50 > 0:14:53of technology no' picking up their regional accent.
0:14:53 > 0:14:54'Please remain calm.'
0:14:54 > 0:14:57Aaaargh! Let me get up there.
0:14:59 > 0:15:01Right, just wait for it to speak.
0:15:03 > 0:15:05'You have not selected a floor.'
0:15:05 > 0:15:07Aaaah! Up yours, you cow.
0:15:07 > 0:15:10If you don't open these doors, I'm going to come to America,
0:15:10 > 0:15:13I'm gonnae find whatever desperate actress gave you a voice
0:15:13 > 0:15:15and I'm going to go to the electric chair for you.
0:15:15 > 0:15:18- Scotland ya- BLEEP!
0:15:18 > 0:15:20- Scotland!- Scotland!
0:15:20 > 0:15:22Scotla-a-and!
0:15:22 > 0:15:24Freedom!
0:15:24 > 0:15:26Freedom!
0:15:30 > 0:15:33Most of the stuff we've been looking at up till now
0:15:33 > 0:15:35has had its roots in the real world.
0:15:35 > 0:15:38You'd be forgiven for thinking that's what we're dealing with here.
0:15:38 > 0:15:40But don't be fooled.
0:15:40 > 0:15:43The comedy of Chic Murray comes from somewhere else entirely.
0:15:43 > 0:15:45This is surrealism, Greenock style.
0:15:48 > 0:15:51If it's any consolation, I've no idea what's going on here either.
0:15:54 > 0:15:57I've lived here for 50 years off and on
0:15:57 > 0:16:01and I've been a violin maker since I've been five.
0:16:01 > 0:16:06These plastic kits are quite nice and they can be painted, varnished,
0:16:06 > 0:16:11but to me, as a craftsman, there is no substitute for wood.
0:16:14 > 0:16:17He was surrealist comedy.
0:16:18 > 0:16:20"I was walking down the road,
0:16:20 > 0:16:23"I knew it was a road cos I could see the sign that said road..."
0:16:23 > 0:16:26This extraordinary way that he extended stuff.
0:16:26 > 0:16:29I'm living in a hotel, they've got me...
0:16:29 > 0:16:34Ahem. Excuse me. ..in a hotel and I'm not a complainer,
0:16:34 > 0:16:38but I made my way downstairs and I could see the manager looking at me.
0:16:38 > 0:16:42He said, "What is it?" I said, "I would like a door in my room."
0:16:45 > 0:16:50These journeys that he goes on are very simple, simple narratives,
0:16:50 > 0:16:53but it's every detail along the way that he picks up on
0:16:53 > 0:16:58and it just edges it into this... and suddenly the world seems crazy.
0:16:58 > 0:17:03The most simple action seems like it's kind of wacky.
0:17:03 > 0:17:06I just think he's a genius, I've always thought he was a genius.
0:17:06 > 0:17:08So after some time, a door arrived.
0:17:08 > 0:17:12Not on its own, of course, there was two fellas brought it up.
0:17:15 > 0:17:19So, once the door was fixed,
0:17:19 > 0:17:23I made my way out because I wanted to get out, you see.
0:17:23 > 0:17:24And I turned this handle,
0:17:24 > 0:17:28there was one on the other side, I noticed that on the way out.
0:17:28 > 0:17:31I never used that, you'd need to put your arm around the door...
0:17:32 > 0:17:36Now, comedy without controversy is like a roll'n'sausage...
0:17:36 > 0:17:40without the sausage. Not so tasty.
0:17:40 > 0:17:42The football sketch show Only An Excuse isn't a show
0:17:42 > 0:17:45you'd immediately associate with controversial subject matter.
0:17:45 > 0:17:48But take a keek at this spoof of a well-known advert
0:17:48 > 0:17:49and see if you change your mind.
0:17:51 > 0:17:54# Oh, Lord
0:17:54 > 0:17:58# And I've been waiting for this moment
0:17:58 > 0:18:00# For all my life
0:18:00 > 0:18:02# Oh, Lord... #
0:18:02 > 0:18:06As with all spoofs, the success of this sketch depends on us
0:18:06 > 0:18:08having seen the original advert.
0:18:08 > 0:18:10Jokes like this have a shorter shelf life,
0:18:10 > 0:18:12but they always get a great laugh.
0:18:18 > 0:18:21MUSIC: "The Sash My Father Wore"
0:18:25 > 0:18:28The 1980s saw a new wave of alternative comedians
0:18:28 > 0:18:31burst onto the scene. Among them was a fresh-faced Robbie Coltrane,
0:18:31 > 0:18:34who starred in sketch shows such as A Kick Up The Eighties
0:18:34 > 0:18:37and "Laugh??? I Nearly Paid My Licence Fee".
0:18:37 > 0:18:39One of his more outrageous characters
0:18:39 > 0:18:42was an east coast Orangeman by the name of Mason Boyne.
0:18:42 > 0:18:47# Mason Boyne on the march once again
0:18:47 > 0:18:51# Mason Boyne and his bold Orangemen... #
0:18:51 > 0:18:53It's hard to imagine a character like this
0:18:53 > 0:18:55popping up in a comedy show these days.
0:18:59 > 0:19:02Watch how Mason Boyne's blinkered world view brilliantly exposes
0:19:02 > 0:19:04the absurdity that lies at the heart of religious bigotry.
0:19:04 > 0:19:08I've got a very important meeting tonight. We're going to discuss
0:19:08 > 0:19:12the three most important issues facing mankind and the world today -
0:19:12 > 0:19:15nuclear disarmament, a starving Third World
0:19:15 > 0:19:18and the growing number of Catholics in Edinburgh.
0:19:18 > 0:19:23Phil Differ and I had the idea of just writing an absurdly Masonic guy
0:19:23 > 0:19:25who painted...
0:19:25 > 0:19:30all the green leaves in his garden orange, and all that stuff.
0:19:31 > 0:19:34And I'll tell you something else,
0:19:34 > 0:19:37did you know that Adolf Hitler was a Catholic?
0:19:37 > 0:19:41And Mussolini and Atilla the Hun and Dracula
0:19:41 > 0:19:44and, by the way, that huge shark that ate all the people in Jaws?
0:19:46 > 0:19:50My favourite one was the episode where his daughter, Orangina...
0:19:54 > 0:19:56..sent him a Christmas card
0:19:56 > 0:20:00and he'd got a box of orange creams for his wife and so forth
0:20:00 > 0:20:03while she was ironing his sash,
0:20:03 > 0:20:06then he kissed you-know-who on the way out.
0:20:06 > 0:20:10I got a lot of stick for it, I got death threats, actually.
0:20:13 > 0:20:17I think it's important to poke fun at extremism in all its forms
0:20:17 > 0:20:21and Mason Boyne was the extreme, the ultimate Orangeman.
0:20:22 > 0:20:26I think it was important that we just had a wee go at them.
0:20:26 > 0:20:29But equally important, I think you've got to balance that.
0:20:29 > 0:20:31Well, we did the Pope the next week.
0:20:31 > 0:20:34"I'm not a Catholic, but I think you're a good guy
0:20:34 > 0:20:36"and talk a lot of sense.
0:20:36 > 0:20:39"I'd appreciate a signed photo." Ha-ha!
0:20:39 > 0:20:42"It's not for me, it's for the wife." Ha-ha-ha!
0:20:42 > 0:20:45What's so weird about that, Chico?
0:20:45 > 0:20:48It's signed "the Reverend Ian Paisley"!
0:20:51 > 0:20:53Go on, do him. Cracks me up!
0:20:53 > 0:20:56Red socks. Red socks!
0:20:56 > 0:20:58Satanic anti-Christ of Rome.
0:21:00 > 0:21:02You kill me, Pope, you kill me!
0:21:02 > 0:21:05So, as far as I was concerned, we were just being naughty.
0:21:05 > 0:21:07The reaction was extraordinary,
0:21:07 > 0:21:10you wonder if you'd get away with it today.
0:21:11 > 0:21:15The '80s sketch shows tackled the issues of the day head-on.
0:21:15 > 0:21:18They were fast paced and provocative and if you were easily offended,
0:21:18 > 0:21:20that was YOUR problem.
0:21:20 > 0:21:24My first writing job was a Radio Scotland show called Naked Radio.
0:21:24 > 0:21:26It eventually transferred to TV as Naked Video
0:21:26 > 0:21:29and became a big hit for the BBC network,
0:21:29 > 0:21:32but not before recovering from an early identity crisis.
0:21:34 > 0:21:36- ENGLISH ACCENTS:- Bloody flies.
0:21:38 > 0:21:40I wouldn't do that if I was you.
0:21:40 > 0:21:43I'm sorry(!) You're one of those, aren't you?
0:21:43 > 0:21:46"Don't harm the animals!"
0:21:46 > 0:21:47Bloody karma nut.
0:21:47 > 0:21:49No, it's not...
0:21:49 > 0:21:52No, I'm sorry but they're getting this!
0:21:52 > 0:21:53All right?!
0:21:56 > 0:21:58Because the money was from England,
0:21:58 > 0:22:02we were under instructions at the beginning to make it
0:22:02 > 0:22:05accessible to an English audience because it was being networked.
0:22:05 > 0:22:10So sketches would be set in... two Liverpudlians or two people
0:22:10 > 0:22:14from Birmingham or London or Wales or somewhere like that.
0:22:14 > 0:22:18Unfortunately, some of us weren't all that good at accents.
0:22:18 > 0:22:22I always sounded Australian when I did Cockney.
0:22:22 > 0:22:25We all tried various different English accents
0:22:25 > 0:22:27so that we'd be "on the network".
0:22:27 > 0:22:28So we did all that in the first series,
0:22:28 > 0:22:32and then when we did the audience research, they found, across the UK,
0:22:32 > 0:22:36that actually what people liked about it was the Scottish accents.
0:22:36 > 0:22:40Now the show had its voice, it wasn't afraid to use it.
0:22:43 > 0:22:46Most Scots found the economic policies of the Thatcher government
0:22:46 > 0:22:50hard to swallow, but they were meat and drink to our comedy writers.
0:22:51 > 0:22:54Mr Harris, I'm from the council,
0:22:54 > 0:22:57we've come to collect your poll tax.
0:23:01 > 0:23:04The '80s weren't just about breaking new ground.
0:23:04 > 0:23:07Bob Black, a sketch writer for Naked Video,
0:23:07 > 0:23:10went back to sitcom basics to create City Lights,
0:23:10 > 0:23:13a comedy starring Gerard Kelly as Willie Melvin,
0:23:13 > 0:23:16a bank clerk with pretensions of being a writer.
0:23:16 > 0:23:17City Lights is no Terry And June,
0:23:17 > 0:23:20but it's as close as we've come to making a middle-class sitcom.
0:23:20 > 0:23:24Willie! Will you give yourself a shake and hurry up?!
0:23:27 > 0:23:29In this scene from series one,
0:23:29 > 0:23:32Willie shows us how the merest hint of success goes straight to his head.
0:23:32 > 0:23:36He's a classic fool in the same vein as Del Boy and Father Ted Crilly.
0:23:38 > 0:23:41- If you're not ready when that car gets here...- I'm ready!
0:23:41 > 0:23:44- If you're late for... - I've only got my jacket to put on.
0:23:44 > 0:23:46Well, if the traffic's heavy between here and the church...
0:23:46 > 0:23:49If the church falls down in the middle of the service!
0:23:49 > 0:23:51If the minister's run off with...
0:23:51 > 0:23:54Gerard Kelly would go on to become Scotland's King of Panto
0:23:54 > 0:23:56and his acting style was perfect
0:23:56 > 0:24:00for playing a larger-than-life character like Willie.
0:24:00 > 0:24:02Put your jacket on.
0:24:02 > 0:24:07- Ma, I've done it.- What? - I've sold one! I've sold a story!
0:24:07 > 0:24:09Very nice, son. Put your jacket on.
0:24:09 > 0:24:14Clydeside Fiction Magazine want to buy my story City Lights for £35!
0:24:14 > 0:24:17£35!
0:24:17 > 0:24:19Will you put this on?!
0:24:19 > 0:24:23"Please arrange to meet our fiction editor
0:24:23 > 0:24:28"to discuss the sale of more material." MORE material!
0:24:29 > 0:24:30This is it!
0:24:31 > 0:24:34This could be the start of something big.
0:24:34 > 0:24:37The character, if you read it out in black and white,
0:24:37 > 0:24:41he would appear to be insufferable and most unlikable.
0:24:41 > 0:24:47And yet Gerard brought this total vulnerability to him,
0:24:47 > 0:24:50that, although his dreams were harebrained and wild,
0:24:50 > 0:24:53they were totally and utterly sincere.
0:24:53 > 0:24:55Don't get carried away.
0:24:55 > 0:24:59That pile of wastepaper is hardly worth giving up a steady job for.
0:24:59 > 0:25:01Listen to who's talking.
0:25:01 > 0:25:04A man who's allergic to work.
0:25:04 > 0:25:07You haven't had a steady job since school bully.
0:25:09 > 0:25:13That's our jaunt through Scotland's comedy archives almost over.
0:25:13 > 0:25:16To round things off now, we're going to go right back to the beginning.
0:25:16 > 0:25:19The first ever Scottish sitcom was the Vital Spark.
0:25:19 > 0:25:22The little steamer with a lot of puff made its first appearance
0:25:22 > 0:25:26in a series of short stories written by Neil Munro in 1905.
0:25:26 > 0:25:29Since then, almost every decade has seen it featured in some form,
0:25:29 > 0:25:33either as a movie, TV series, book or play.
0:25:35 > 0:25:38Its most popular incarnation was the one made in the 1970s
0:25:38 > 0:25:42featuring this wonderful cast of comic actors.
0:25:53 > 0:25:57If there was ever such a thing as a Scottish comedy superhero,
0:25:57 > 0:26:00his name would be Para Handy...
0:26:00 > 0:26:03a man who combines the dastardly attributes
0:26:03 > 0:26:06of our classic comic chancers
0:26:06 > 0:26:09with the free-booting spirit of a renegade sea captain.
0:26:11 > 0:26:16I think Para Handy is the archetypal outsider. He's a rebel -
0:26:16 > 0:26:20although in Scottish terms, he's probably just a bit of a rascal.
0:26:22 > 0:26:24He's at odds with society,
0:26:24 > 0:26:27he's always at odds with authority.
0:26:27 > 0:26:29He's someone you can root for.
0:26:29 > 0:26:32For a man who's so at odds with the world,
0:26:32 > 0:26:35Para Handy has a remarkable ability to inspire those around him,
0:26:35 > 0:26:37or to at least pull the wool over their eyes.
0:26:37 > 0:26:40In this scene, he manages to convince a mutinous crew
0:26:40 > 0:26:43to buy into one of his harebrained money-making schemes.
0:26:43 > 0:26:47What is it about comedy and harebrained money-making schemes?
0:26:47 > 0:26:50Well, you must admit, it's a bargain at £25!
0:26:50 > 0:26:53£25? You didnae hae 25 pence yesterday!
0:26:53 > 0:26:55Did you come into some money?
0:26:55 > 0:26:57Well, in a sense, Dan, aye.
0:26:57 > 0:27:00Oh! You can't go wrong buying a thing like this!
0:27:00 > 0:27:04That was why I wanted my good friends to share in my good fortune.
0:27:04 > 0:27:06Well, that's very thoughtful of you, Captain,
0:27:06 > 0:27:08but where did you get the money?
0:27:08 > 0:27:10The wages!
0:27:11 > 0:27:13You picked up our wages this morning! Take it back!
0:27:13 > 0:27:16- It's an investment, Dan! - Take it back!
0:27:16 > 0:27:18Ah, Dan, you'd have only spent the money on drink!
0:27:18 > 0:27:21By Jove, the Board of Trade's gonnae hear about this!
0:27:21 > 0:27:22Get that thing back this minute!
0:27:22 > 0:27:24It is no use,
0:27:24 > 0:27:27the man is shut for the half-day and we're sailing on the next tide.
0:27:27 > 0:27:31Not with that thing! And not without our wages!
0:27:31 > 0:27:35Damn me, where is your spirit of initiative, eh?
0:27:35 > 0:27:38It is the sinews of trade and private enterprise
0:27:38 > 0:27:42that keep the capitalist system going!
0:27:42 > 0:27:44We're merchant adventurers, that's what we are.
0:27:44 > 0:27:48Free traders, free booters.
0:27:48 > 0:27:52I mean, if Captain Cook hadn't wanted to trade with the natives,
0:27:52 > 0:27:55America would never have been found!
0:27:55 > 0:27:58And we'd all have been wondering what chewing gum was!
0:28:02 > 0:28:04So there you have it.
0:28:04 > 0:28:05Judging by our comedy tastes,
0:28:05 > 0:28:09we're nothing but a bunch of rogues, misfits and chancers.
0:28:09 > 0:28:11But fear not, we're not doomed yet.
0:28:11 > 0:28:14There's still someone we can turn to for salvation.
0:28:14 > 0:28:16Someone whose sense of right and wrong
0:28:16 > 0:28:19is matched only by his sense of comic timing.
0:28:20 > 0:28:24No-one can milk a silence like Ricky Fulton.
0:28:24 > 0:28:25Hello.
0:28:28 > 0:28:31Well, here we are again, eh?
0:28:32 > 0:28:35Doesn't time fly when you're excruciatingly happy?
0:28:37 > 0:28:39What a year I've had.
0:28:39 > 0:28:43Honestly, as-as, eh, whatsisname...
0:28:43 > 0:28:45God...
0:28:50 > 0:28:51..as God is my judge,
0:28:51 > 0:28:53I've had a helluva year.