Mean Streets Watching Ourselves: 60 Years of TV in Scotland

We first got television in Scotland in 1952. 1952!

That's the year the Queen became, well, Queen,

Prime Minister Winston Churchill scrapped identity cards,

the first ever passenger jet flew across the Atlantic,

and the first TV detector van was commissioned.

They didn't waste any time, did they?

Tonight we're on the mean streets of Glasgow, Edinburgh, and Dundee,

with some of the great moments from the last 60 years

of television drama.

Now, 80% of Scots live in a city.

Right from the beginning, television tried to show us

our own lives on the box, sometimes more successfully than others.

The McFlannels, the oldest Scottish drama in the BBC's archives,

was made in 1958.

I think it's fair to say it hasn't exactly stood the test of time.

Hurry up, for goodness' sake!

Take that. Shift this sideboard out the road.

Do me a favour - just come out of there and let me in!

I need to put my feet on it.

All right...

-You're not hurt, Peter, are you?

-No, no!

Don't worry - things got better. Much better.

Oh!

In the 1970s, Peter McDougall started his television career

by writing four stunning plays that really tell it how it is,

or was, in Scotland.

Peter was working as a painter and decorator down in London.

He stretched his tea-breaks by telling stories about how

he'd twirled a baton as a boy at the head of an Orange band.

The man whose house he was painting

said he should try and write a script about it - so he did.

Just Another Saturday is deceptively simple.

The whole thing takes place over one day, the day of an Orange march.

Cheerio, John!

Cheerio!

God bless King Billy, the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh!

Shut up, for goodness' sake!

It's one boy's journey from the excitement of belonging

to something darker and more complicated.

The filming almost didn't happen.

The Chief Constable of Glasgow City Police told the BBC

a play about the Orange march would cause

"bloodshed on the streets in the making and in the showing".

And of course all that still goes on.

All this stuff that's going on between Celtic, Rangers,

and Neil Lennon being attacked constantly,

and bomb threats - that all comes from the same place.

Of course it does.

But it's not gone away, it's not got any better.

THEY SING TOGETHER

This feels incredibly real, and that's because a lot of it is.

The production team filmed it documentary-style,

with actors mingling with the crowds.

This isn't just great drama, it's a record of life in Glasgow in the '70s.

Mind yer feet, son.

What is it?

I've lost my teeth.

Graeme McDonald, the producer, simply said,

"Have you got anything else you want to do?"

and I said, "Well, my sister's just got married to a Catholic",

and it was commissioned like that,

and of course, that became Just Your Luck.

There's nothing can be done about it noo, is there?

By Christ, no - and don't you be thinking otherwise!

Just Your Luck tells the story of a young girl who falls pregnant.

Here she's telling her mother, and it's not going too well.

The claustrophobia of that wee tenement flat really adds to the power of the scene.

You never told me onything, did ye?

If they didn't teach you at the school, that's hard lines!

It's no' for me to tell you.

You've been working in a chemist shop since you left the school.

-Could you not have laid your haunds on some kind o' thing?

-Sure...

Tell me, what kind o' a thing?

Here the actors are almost bouncing off the walls.

Hey, Mammy, there's something else...

He's a Catholic.

Oh, God forgive me

for bringin' you into this world!

My mother met somebody in Woolworth's after it was on,

and they were discussing it cos it had made such an impact,

and my mother actually said to this women that she met,

"Aye - it can happen, things like that, you know."

I thought, there goes the denial again.

"It can happen" - you cannae see that was your own daughter!

It's not surprising to hear this is based on Peter's own life.

This week we're all be the one big family.

The writing is so sharp and true.

OK, Alison, hen...

Your mammy and me have fixed up the wedding for next Saturday.

'I phoned my mother and said "I've got this".'

I said, "a bit of language in it".

"Oh!" And the line went sort of quiet and then she said,

"Oh, well done then, dear."

And about two hours later she phoned and said,

"You don't have to say "F" do you, Eileen?"

And I said, "Well, yes, I do."

The young groom is David Hayman, in an early television role.

'I vividly remember we were going in to shoot

'the wedding sequence in Greenock'

and the police stayed back and said, "We cannot offer you protection.

"You go at your own risk.

"We just suggest that if anything untoward happens,

"you jump into fast cars and get out of there as fast as you can."

That was all the cops did, and then they stayed back.

I don't know what they thought was going to happen to us!

It was cowboy country in those days.

Peter's next play, Just A Boy's Game,

is about what it means to be a Glasgow hard man.

What's going on here?

It's OK, Harry. It's OK, mate. It's just a drunk boy.

I thought you'd given up thae games, McQuillan.

Here's the singer Frankie Miller playing the lead.

He's charismatic and he's dangerous.

OK?

Take it easy, Jake. It's his lassie.

That's my bird.

Serves you right.

I won't let you wade in.

Move, ya choob! Make way for a living legend.

'And who's this, in an early role,

'before he took to the string vest?'

Mary! Mary!

Shout "Cinzano Bianco" and see if it works.

This might have looked very familiar watching in Glasgow,

but for most of the audience sitting down in front of the TV

in Oxfordshire, Cornwall or Birmingham,

this was like a window onto an unknown world.

For the first time ever, Scottish voices were telling

contemporary Scottish stories on television, and Britain was watching.

Peter McDougall returned to the Orange March in 1993.

This time Billy Connolly's using the parade

to drown out the sound of his bank heist.

Look at the rhythm and energy in this.

ALL CHEER

Wooh!

So the idea of the Orange band and the robbery,

I mean it's just... it's just brilliant!

And in a funny sort of way, it makes the film.

One, two, one, two, three!

EXPLOSION

THEY LAUGH

You can tell it's by him.

If you watch the television now, it's typists.

As Truman Capote said, "There's writers and typists".

Peter is a writer.

Now, when it comes to television, crime is the gift that just keeps on giving.

This next one's a very early television drama

about a man that's lost his memory. That's pretty wacky,

but check out these TV cops.

You can't prove it, can you?

Of course not, I can't prove anything.

Then we've no reason to arrest you.

I'll damn well give you a reason.

Three Ring Circus was a critical success,

rather than a ratings winner.

Have a wine gum, very soothing, take your mind off your troubles.

And ten years later, the BBC had a huge popular hit

with a new crime show.

Daniel Pike is a hard-boiled private eye

with a fine line in Glasgow patter.

D'you know Jimmy Bryce?

I've heard we're the same blood group, rhesus inquisitive.

Take it from me, it's better not to tangle with him.

And you would know, eh?

Roddy McMillan made this in between episodes of The Vital Spark.

Very versatile.

I'm a boilermaker by trade.

-But unemployed.

-Well...

-About this coffee stall business...

-I tell you, I'm not interested.

You're er...you're no' a grass?

I'm not even a front lawn.

What's your game?

I'm a black belt at Ludo. After that, anything that pays the rent.

You say you're out of work, eh?

You know, I think I've got a job for a lad like you -

that's if you're interested.

The BBC made two series of this. It's rough, tough and dirty.

HE MOANS

Of course, when you think of crime in Scotland, Taggart's the daddy.

Kicking off 28 years ago, it was a huge popular success.

Not even the death of its star Mark McManus midway through its run could stop it.

This is the first ever Taggart, from 1983,

and it's pretty good.

PHONE RINGS

If that goonie isn't in the People's Palace

next to Billy Connolly's banana boots, then I want to know why.

Glasgow's a hard city.

I'm aware of that.

I really love McManus's minimal acting style.

What public school did that accent come out of?

He's a Glaswegian Charles Bronson.

You wait here.

The early Taggarts, when you look back at them,

they were done I think over a three week period, it was a three-parter.

And people would talk about it, you know,

they'd watch the first one, then they'd talk about it at work

with their mates, and everybody would have their own opinion

as to who was the guilty party.

'And so it built up that kind of audience.

'I don't think anything else was doing that at that time.'

Right from the beginning, Taggart really makes the most of Glasgow.

The city was as big a character as any of the cops.

It's the Glasgow location and the way they use it

that made Taggart feel tougher and rawer than the competition.

I care about this city,

the people, what's happening.

You look like you haven't slept for days caring about it.

It disnae seem right...

Mark McManus died of pneumonia in 1994. He was only 59.

He was a hard act to follow.

They thought about changing the name,

Taggart's People, Taggart's Patch, whatever.

But then they thought, well, that's the brand,

Taggart is the brand name.

Everybody knows it all round the world, however many countries,

it depends which paper you read, it's either hundreds or it's 65,

but lots of countries all over the world, they all know that name.

It's a great name, real kind of grrrr - TAGGART!

Alex Norton joined the show as DCI Matt Burke in 2002.

Tyre marks leading to the body - looks like he was driven here, dumped and then shot.

Jesus, what a mess.

They're still making the most of the Glasgow cityscape,

and the Glasgow gangster.

There's multiple lacerations to his face, red weals on his wrists,

suggesting he was tied up beforehand.

Two bullets to the back of the head, nine millimetre.

I have a hunch it was premeditated.

Could be.

Drug wars?

Every two-bob dealer thinks he's Dillinger.

11 years with Mark as Taggart, and 16 years without him.

It's Britain's longest-running cop series,

and it seemed like it would keep on running forever,

dropping characters, getting shorter, looking cooler.

Then in 2010, the ITV network lost its appetite for it,

and killed it off. "Yer nicked!"

But Taggart's Glasgow is Beverly Hills compared to this.

DOORBELL RINGS

This is David Hayman playing Jimmy Boyle.

He's the ultimate Glasgow hard man.

He's as compelling as he's repulsive.

It's an unforgettable performance.

-What is it, Tam?

->

You and your mob stay away from my business.

Don't let him forget what I said

or from tomorrow, you'll only be needing one pint.

HE SMASHES THE GLASS BOTTLE

I'd known Jimmy for seven years and respected him,

and respected the man that he had become,

and the political animal that he was at that time.

I didn't want to in any way give...an impersonation of Jimmy.

That would've been an insult to him and also an insult to my talent.

I had to find the Jimmy Boyle in me -

the man I would've become if I'd taken Jimmy's route

rather than take the route to acting,

using the same background influences

and the same levels of social deprivation that we both came from.

I think A Sense Of Freedom's one of the best prison dramas ever made.

These scenes were all shot in Dublin,

because the Scottish prisons didn't want anything to do with the filming.

You really think you can assault a governor?

HE YELLS

'To be meting out violence

'and to being on the receiving end during the prison sequences,

'which form the biggest part of the movie, was very, very difficult.'

John Mackenzie was not a director who worked with fight arrangers,

who worked with stuntmen.

He would go into a queue of unemployed people on the dole

in Dublin and just take out 20 or 30 or them,

and say, "Here's a pair of hobnailed boots, here's a uniform and a truncheon.

"Go and kick David Hayman in a sequence."

There was nothing choreographed at all.

It was quite scary.

It was a very exhilarating, adrenaline-pumping,

visceral ride, making A Sense Of Freedom.

SIRENS WAILING

GLASS SMASHING

Now, that tough Glasgow spirit might show its dark side in Jimmy Boyle,

but it isn't just about hard men with knives.

In 1990, The Ship reminds us where that Glasgow grit comes from,

how it was forged in the hardship and community of work in the yards.

The Ship was created as a spectacular piece of theatre

by writer-director Bill Bryden.

It was part of Glasgow's City of Culture in 1990.

The BBC did help pay for it, so it was made into television too,

but as you can see from this clip, it doesn't pretend it isn't theatre.

It uses the theatre audience to create a sense of occasion.

The decision to build the liner on the Clyde

was absolutely unanimous!

CHEERING

It was a real community effort,

and we had a wonderful company of actors to do it,

a lot of whom are sadly passed.

And it was a unique experience, I think.

The Ship happened in the Harland and Wolff engine shed

on the south side of Glasgow.

And during the show, you watched the actors build a real ship,

from plans to launch.

Once The Ship is over, the industry's over.

And I found that... I found that immense.

'That's the point.'

I don't like folk thinking I'm nae use to anybody.

I could man my post!

I could!

Never take the redundancy, Rab.

The cheque has no' been written that would make it worth your wh...

In the early days of television, Glasgow was the place for your hard men,

and Edinburgh was all wigs and gaiters

and of course, the unforgettable Miss Jean Brodie.

We'll get to her next week.

Then in 1986, Brian Cox and Jimmy Nail changed all that

when they starred in one of Scotland's best ever crime dramas.

It was written by Peter McDougall.

I'm sorry if this is getting a bit monotonous but the man's a genius.

In Shoot For The Sun, Peter showed us Edinburgh as we have never seen it before.

Your eyes do look bad.

You should see them from my BLEEP side.

LAUGHTER

You might've noticed a bleep there. The original's a wee bit sweary,

but it went out at ten at night, and we don't.

Jimmy Nail and Brian Cox are entrepreneurial drug dealers.

Is there any other kind?

Why do you think Johnson says his buyers can't afford five quid bags?

Shufflin' skint?

Cos they're bairns.

He's selling 'em to BLEEP bairns from the school, you daft toerag!

Whoa, take it easy!

I'm working without a net.

Peter McDougall had this incredible reputation in Just Another Saturday,

which I'd seen and was incredibly impressed by,

and he is one of the great dialogue writers of all time, Peter.

I mean, he really is.

I want us to get back to ordinary things,

like blowing up armoured cars and that.

Something worthwhile.

'I'm a Dundonian, but I see myself as an East Coaster as opposed to a West Coaster.'

There's a sort of sensibility which is slightly different.

And this was really about the Edinburgh that people don't see.

Check out this next scene with the Granny trying to do the best

for her junkie daughter and the child.

I'm only asking you to look after the bairn a few days

so as I can help him.

Always "only" this, and "only" that.

Like when you borrowed my "only" savings, "only" you never paid me back.

Nae harm to the wee bairn, but I've done my bit.

I've brought up a family.

This is ten years before Trainspotting, remember.

Ma, he's my man. I've got to stick by him.

Stick by him(!) The jail's where I'd stick him.

He's a soulless waster and he'll have you whoring for him.

Darkness and humour are so vital to the Scottish character

because they can be very dark and they can be very funny,

and also they can be dark and funny at the same time

and they can switch, which gives them a real dynamic.

Peter is a truly astonishing writer in that way. You know.

You're sweating like a rapist there.

Shock, son. Shock.

Terrible. Them boys broke into my house and fleeced me.

Me a pensioner too.

I mean, on a Monday, I buy three pound of mince

and cook it up for the rest of the week -

but they weren't happy just looting and plundering

my wee bit possessions.

Do you know what they did, son?

-One of the dirty

-BLEEP

-did a shite in my mince!

Done a shite in my mince.

I had to throw half of it away.

If Glasgow belongs to Taggart then Edinburgh belongs to Rebus.

Unlike Taggart,

Rebus never disappeared from his own series.

But he did have some fairly major plastic surgery.

Seems to have aged a bit too.

But Ken Stott's probably nearer to Ian Rankin's Rebus.

Open this. I'll deal with it.

Here he is mulling over a tricky case in The Oxford,

his Edinburgh local.

There's an awful lot of drink taken in these dramas.

Anyone would think we were a nation of alcoholics.

Count how the units add up in the next 24 seconds.

What's the plan?

We stop here and get pissed.

He's a terrible man for drink.

He'd suck it through a baby's soiled nappy.

Have an advocaat!

Meredith, I really love you...

Sorry, Mrs Johnson. Is Meredith in?

Sorry, Mr Johnson. Is Mrs Johnson there?

Is anybody home?

Of course Scotland isn't just Edinburgh and Glasgow.

There are cities outwith the central belt.

That's what the producer must have told the BBC in 1991,

when he pitched them Jute City.

So what's it like in Dundee then?

According to this, I'd say it was pretty mental.

A poor candidate in a state of darkness, who has been recommended.

According to writer and local boy David Kane,

just look where the movers and shakers of Dundee get up to

on a Saturday night.

..Humbly soliciting to be admitted to the mysteries and privileges of freemasonry.

In the real world, Margaret Thatcher might have just left Downing Street in tears

but the criminals in this drama are Thatcherite entrepreneurs,

outsourcing contaminated waste, and a few dead bodies, to the Highlands.

It's great stuff, and it's funny.

What do you see out there, Kerr?

I'll tell you what you see.

You see the majority - cattle.

Excess fat on the national body

like mindless herds waiting to be prodded this way or that,

following in each other's shite.

We're not like them, Kerr.

We didnae crawl out of the swamps and develop into intelligent beings

because we had a fail-safe social security system.

It was the desire to succeed that dragged us forward -

the desire for power.

Nice rug. Awfy nice.

Nah, nah, nah...

Here we are with that old guy in a lift again. It's the same guy!

A nice piece of Axminster... Must be loaded.

One of the challenges about filming in Dundee is that amazing accent.

I'll gie ye's a fai-ver fer it.

-A what?

-A fai-ver.

-A fe-tha?

-Eh?

What in the name of God is a fe-tha?

(A fiver.)

It's not for sale. It's been donated.

Whauraboots?

Welly boots?

Whereabouts?!

The old people's welfare.

I must have watched hundreds of scenes with a dead body in a rug,

but I've never seen anyone try and blag the rug before.

I'm an old person. I'd benefit fae that rug!

Well, you're no' gonnae benefit fae it, so shut up!

Looking at these city dramas, Scotland feels like a man's world.

There are women there obviously, but they're wives, girlfriends, victims,

sidekicks - they're not centre stage, telling their own stories.

But this next one, well, it's all about the women,

and that's part of the reason why it's one of the most successful

and best-loved Scottish dramas ever made.

The Steamie started life in the theatre.

Then STV spotted a hit.

Watching it again, it's easy to see why.

THEY SING A TANGO TUNE

And it's Eileen McCallum playing a blinder here again.

From Peter McDougall's plays back in the '70s

to River City today, she's one of those great Scottish actors

who can make television feel real and true.

Then why is Niamh Corrigan's photograph on this one?

You...and Niamh?

Mother...

Oh, dear God! And...

and you were going to have us believing that you were dead?

Gina! Where is Gina!

-Shut up!

-Gina!

Eileen's been in everything, but The Steamie is a standard.

-Gie us the phone.

-There isnae one!

-I know that - gie us it anyway.

Hello, Doreen.

Are you up to your ears in it, hen?

Goodness me, yes!

What with the workmen being in...

'I loved it. It hit the balance.

'It wasn't maudlin at all, but it was very moving.'

You see, John and I are going to the opera tonight.

'I loved Katy's character and that sort of...'

Doris Day sort of number about Drumchapel, you know?

It was just lovely. It was beautiful. It says it all.

That was her aspiration, to have a place in Drumchapel.

# Where all my dreams come true

# I'll be waitin' in the queue

# For a house on an avenue

# Where dreams come true. #

'Cos I was brought up in the East End of Glasgow, and it had a resonance.'

A very powerful resonance because those places

were set up to be Nirvana, and it didn't turn out that way,

And I thought it had a real poignancy and power

and sort of political edge, really,

about what had happened to my character and her dreams.

In America, they've all got them in their houses,

but they call them showers.

Is that no' just in the pictures?

The Steamie was set in the '50s,

when the first television sets were coming to Scotland.

And refrigerators. Telephones as well.

Aye. Televisions too.

My sister Jenny's daughter's husband's bought one of them!

No! A television? You ever seen it?

No, Jenny's seen it. She says it's great!

In this sharp, funny scene we're made to wonder

if one of the reasons we're all more isolated today might be the television.

-Cost a fortune.

-Aye, but you'd save money - you'd never need to go oot!

But the best of television can help give us a sense of community.

It happened when people watched television made in Scotland,

that told stories about people that they felt they knew,

in places they recognised.

It's that Scottish sense of community

that the women of The Steamie celebrate when they burst into song.

# When you've got pals You've got something so rare

# Tell me what could be as fine as

# As some time with all your chinas

# When you've got pals

# Makes it easy to bear

# All the pain And all the pressure... #

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd