Still Game

About

Still Game is a BAFTA award-winning 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 first appeared in the pair's previous TV sketch show Chewin' the Fat, which aired in Scotland from January 1999 until December 2005.

History

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 the show was filmed at the Cottiers Theatre in 1999 and released on video on November 22, 1999. A DVD of the show was later released on December 2, 2002

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.

The characters reappeared in Kiernan and Hemphill's sketch show Chewin' the Fat, nearly every episode of which featured Jack, Victor, Tam and Winston, with minor differences from their counterparts in the series. By the time Still Game became a show in its own right Winston's physical appearance had changed significantly, but he was still played by Paul Riley. As the show evolved, supporting characters assumed greater prominence. Jack and Victor made their final appearance on Chewin' the Fat in the 2002 Hogmanay Special.

For the show's first three series, the broadcast of Still Game was limited to BBC One Scotland. The show was then moved to BBC Two for the fourth series and shown throughout the UK. On December 28, 2005, the first Christmas special was shown on BBC One, the first national broadcast of the show on the channel. A fifth series of the show started filming in February 2006 and was shown the following June on BBC Two. As of 2006, series three had not been shown nationally, and only five episodes from the first two series were shown on national BBC Two from January 17 to February 14, 2004. The second series was shown nationally from July 10, 2008. This meant it was listed as a new series in TV listings, even though it is not for Scottish viewers.

In the first three series, the episode titles were all Glaswegian dialect words that were related to the episode. Starting from series four, the episodes were titled using standard English, so that general audiences could understand them.

Ending

Before the start of the eighth series, Hemphill revealed that he and Kiernan were about to start writing the ninth series and plan to do a third and final live show after that. On July 13, 2018, the BBC announced that Still Game would return for the ninth and final series later in 2019, after which the show will end.

Filming for the ninth series started in August 2018 and was completed on September 14, 2018. The third and final SSE Hydro live show Still Game: The Final Farewell was officially announced on November 1, 2018, with 5 shows in September 2019 taking place over three days. A further 5 shows where announced on November 2.

Popularity and critical reception

Still Game is one of the most watched programmes in Scotland. The show has a huge fanbase and has been praised for its character chemistery and its style of comedy. Many people have dressed up as characters from the show as part of annual Halloween outings and has been received as a Scottish cultural icon.

Running Gags

Look Who It Is / Two Pints Prick

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Look Who It Is and Two Pints Prick is a line that is used by Boabby the Barman when Jack and Victor enter the Clansman. He refers them to pop culture characters with the means of insulting them. Jack and Victor then insult him back with another pop culture character reference and then they both ask for two beers by saying 'two pints prick'.

Meena's Translations

Meena's Translations is a running gag within Still Game episodes where the character of Meena Harrid (Shamshad Akhtar) speaks in her natural language where she often insults Navid and reccuringly other characters. Her face has never been seen in the series nor has she been talking English.

Isa's Gossip

Isa's Gossip is a running gag in Still Game where the character of Isa Drennan butts into the gossip of what is going on in and around Craigland and the lives of the residents who live there. Isa's interfearance appears to be in annoyance to the other characters and despite trying not to reveal secrets – she then spreads the secrets out.

Hald That Lift / Lift Chats

Hald That Lift or Lift Chats is a running gag in Still Game where Jack and Victor go into the lift just as Isa is leaving too, she shouts "hald that lift!" which prompts Jack and Victor to try and close the lift before she gets in due to their annoyance towards her. When they are in the lift together, Isa guesses or ask where Jack and Victor are going to and tells them where she is going.

Related Memes

Happy New Year You Bunch Of Sheep Shaggers

Happy New Year You Bunch Of Sheep Shaggers refers to a line said by character Victor McDade in the Still Game Hogmanay special "Hootnanny" where Jack and Victor celebrate Hogmanay in a remote island where the locals are hesitant towards them. When the barman of the local pub who barred them because of their rudeness wishes them a happy new year just after midnight, Victor drinks his shot and shouts "Happy New Year You Bunch Of Sheep Shaggers".

Search Interest

External References