A BBC Scotland sitcom which ran for three series between 2009 and 2012, Gary has become something of a cult classic. Corporal Gary McLintock and his three mates have been on duty in Iraq, and later Afghanistan, and the show mostly looks at their lives, professional and personal, back in Scotland. McLintock is portayed as mildly camp, a bit dim and easily fooled. The programme features video footage of the guys fooling around, recreating pop videos in their overseas camps, and stream of consciousness monologues from Gary in which he doles out his 'wisdom' to the world.
Today Sanjeev Kohli was there to interview Greg McHugh, who created the character, wrote the show and starred as the eponymous hero, and Leah MacRae who is cast as Julie, the scatter brained sister of one of the group. We got a few clips from the show, to remind us of just how funny it could be, and a talk through how the character came in to being and the genesis of the show.
From a short piece of character based stand up, through a series of sketches and then TV pilots, it took four or five years from his starting point before the first series emerged. By then McHugh had a good idea of what did and didn't work and what he needed to make his ideas reality. It was also obvious that the real life Leah was a strong inspiration for the character of Julie!
Kohli kept the story flowing and contributed his own humour. McHugh was a superb interviewee and his frequent switches into the character of Gary were a delightful reminder of what an excellent actor he is. We were accompanied by two people who had never seen the show before, just a few clips, and they had no difficulty in finding as much enjoyment as the ture fans in the audience. A very funny and very interesting way to pass an hour.
This was a one-off event in the BBC Big Blue Tent.
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