Still Game | |
---|---|
Genre | Sitcom |
Created by |
Ford Kiernan Greg Hemphill |
Developed by | Ford Kiernan Greg Hemphill |
Directed by | Michael Hines |
Starring | Ford Kiernan Greg Hemphill Paul Riley Jane McCarry Mark Cox Sanjeev Kohli Gavin Mitchell James Martin |
Theme music composer |
Frank Chacksfield and The Cuban Boys (2002-2007) BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra (2016-) |
Country of origin | Scotland |
Original language(s) | English, Scots |
No. of seasons | 7 |
No. of episodes | 50 2 Specials (list of episodes) |
Production | |
Executive producer(s) | Ford Kiernan Greg Hemphill |
Producer(s) |
Colin Gilbert Michael Hines Ewan Angus |
Location(s) | Dumbarton, Scotland |
Camera setup | Multi-camera |
Running time | 30 minutes |
Production company(s) |
The Comedy Unit Effingee Productions BBC Scotland |
Release | |
Original network |
BBC One Scotland (2002–2004, 2006–2007, 2014) BBC Two (2005–2008, 2014) BBC One (2005, 2016–) |
Original release |
Original Series 1 September, 2002 - 31 December, 2007 Revived Series 7 October 2016– present |
Chronology | |
Preceded by | Chewin' The Fat |
External links | |
Website |
Still Game is a Scottish sitcom, produced by The Comedy Unit with BBC Scotland. It was created by Ford Kiernan and Greg Hemphill, who play the lead characters, Jack Jarvis and Victor McDade, two Glaswegian pensioners. The characters also appeared in the pair's previous TV show Chewin' the Fat which aired in Scotland from January 1999 until June 2000.
Following its debut on 1 September 2002, 48 episodes of Still Game were aired, including Christmas and Hogmanay specials. The first three series were broadcast only on BBC One Scotland, though five episodes selected from the first two series were later broadcast throughout the UK on BBC Two from January - February 2004. All subsequent episodes received UK-wide broadcasts on BBC Two. The show enjoyed higher ratings than its neighbours on the channel's Comedy Zone strand and received wide critical acclaim.. The 2016 series was broadcast on BBC One throughout the UK.
Still Game started as a stage play featuring three characters: Jack Jarvis, Victor McDade, and Winston Ingram. Due to a broken lift, the three men are stranded in Victor's flat and discuss a variety of subjects ranging from death to sex. The stage play toured Scotland, England, Ireland and Canada before returning to Glasgow, where it was filmed and released on video and DVD.
A small number of revisions accompanied Still Game's transition from stage to television. Gavin Mitchell, who originally played Winston (and was replaced by Paul Riley for later performances), played the part of Boabby in the series. Characters mentioned in passing were later fleshed out into supporting characters.
In 1998 Jack and Victor appeared in a number of skits in a tongue-in-cheek documentary about Scottish pop music called Och Around the Clock. In these they are shown to be watching while sitting in Victor's flat. Their skits centred on the duo's disparaging comments about the performers.