Ford Kiernan talks to Susan Welsh about re-uniting Jack, Victor and the Still Game chums
It’s been almost a year since it was announced that two of Scotland’s best loved comedy characters, Jack and Victor, were to reunite.
News that a stage show featuring a full reunion of the original Still Game television cast saw around £10million worth of tickets sold almost immediately with demand for extra shows following quickly on.
Patient ticket holders are now being rewarded as Still Game: Live At The Hydro takes to the stage.
It’s the first time the original cast, including favourites Winston, Isa, Tam, Navid and Boaby the barman have been together for six years, and as always, plucky pensioners Jack Jarvis (Ford Kiernan) and Victor McDade (Greg Hemphill), will be at the heart of the action.
Ford said: “We are still utterly overwhelmed by the public’s response to the show’s return.
“We thought that after so many years away the audience interest would have tailed off, but if anything it has swelled. It seems the public demand is insatiable.
“We are all so excited to be back together and where better for a reunion than at the Hydro.
“When we saw it getting built, Greg and I had a chat and started thinking about whether we could play the venue and get away with it.”
Filling the venue, night after night, is not what they expected to do when they first created the show.
“Greg and I had literally nothing to do as work had dried up,” said Ford.
“We got talking one day about my Uncle Barney and Ford’s grandfather, Sammy.
“He started impersonating Sammy and I started impersonating Barney – the core of it was these were two old, interesting, funny people so we thought, we have to write this.
“In 1997, we decided to write a play for the Edinburgh Festival and took the idea to Karen Koren at the Gilded Balloon and she very kindly put on the show, Still Game, for us.s
“We invented a third character called Winston, who was originally to be played by Gavin Mitchell who plays Boaby the barman, but he was on another performance so we went for Paul Riley.
“The first night we’d an audience of about 22, but by the end of the run we were attracting a couple of hundred a night, and the rest as they say, is history.
“We intended to get it on television, in fact LWT had purchased the rights to it, but then Chewin’ The Fat came along so we were sort of distracted for five years before we got the chance to re-visit it.”
Rather like Father Ted, Still Game has a timeless quality to it.
“The thing is, Jack and Victor are eternally in their 70s like Oor Wullie is eternally 10 and Granpaw Broon is eternally a pensioner,” said Ford.
“I think that’s what gives the show part of its heart, in that people can relate to it and say things like, that’s just like my uncle Joe or so on.
“We did make a conscious decision to make the people have a heart and pathos is enormously important.
“Think of shows like Only Fools And Horses, One Foot in the Grave – even Steptoe and Son – which can all be sad and the reason that works is because people can relate to it.
“But the key message with Still Game is that you can’t discount people because of their age.”
More than 200,000 tickets have been sold for the 21-night Still Game reunion at the Hydro.
“Rehearsals have been great, despite me having to work with some of the worst actors in Scotland,” joked Ford.
“No honestly, you wouldn’t think any time had passed between us, it’s been great – I’ll never get another experience like this, although my wife says I’m now slowly turning into Jack.”
As for fans who want to also see them back on the small screen, there’s good news.
“We are talking to the BBC about bringing back Still Game, but the BBC is methodical and wants to wait until the live shows are finished before getting going.”
Still Game: Live at the Hydro takes place most days from now until Friday, October 10. Contact www.thehydro.com or 0844 395 4000.