'Scotch & Wry' is remembered, rightly, in Scotland as a comedy classic. It started out as a traditional weekly sketch show, going out in the autumn of 1978 and was Rikki Fulton's first weekly comedy show since STV's 'The Adventures Of Francie & Josie' ( which sadly no longer exists in the archives ). It essentially was born out of a one off sketch show for STV entitled 'The Scotched Earth Show' from 1977 ( which alas also has been wiped sadly ), in which Rikki was the lead star. A stellar cast was made up of Claire Nielsen ( who around this time was appearing regularly as a foil for 'The Two Ronnies' ), David Hayman, John Bett and Margo Cunningham. Several of Britain's most prolific scriptwriters lent their talents to the show such as Terry Ravenscroft, John Byrne, Robert Sykes Andrews and Colin Bostock Smith among many others.
The first sketch opens with Supercop, an incompetent traffic police officer who would flag down motorists and give the request ''Right Stirling, oot the car!''. The catchphrase ( which is not used here yet ) is a reference to the late racing driver Stirling Moss. Here we see him being asked by motorists who are lost in fog for directions to Edinburgh, however it turns out Supercop is lost himself and ends up asking the driver for directions to get to his desired destination.
A common as muck Glaswegian couple dine out at an American themed burger joint, only for the male member of the party to constantly cause embarrassment with his lack of dining etiquette. For instance, when he asks for a drink, the waiter suggests he try a screwdriver ( vodka and orange juice ) , to which the man replies: ''I'd be better with a hammer!'' as he indicates to the arm that has dropped off from his chair!
A nervous middle aged man takes his pet tortoise to see a vet due to being concerned by his disobedient behaviour such as getting next door's tortoise pregnant ( and refusing to stand by her ) and smoking lettuce leaves instead of eating them. The vet diagnoses advanced delinquency and opts to have him put down, only to be killed by the pet with a flick knife, much to the owner's horror!
The episode concludes with the first of what would become a recurring closing item, 'Last Call', a merciless spoof of STV's 'Late Call'. The epilogue is delivered here by Reverend Angus McKnocker, a furtive looking minister who is revealed to be a ladies underwear thief who gets arrested whilst on air!
This opening episode is not bad. Funny in places but somewhat rough around the edges. Many of the sketches have not aged terribly well but unfortunately that is often the way with comedy shows. Luckily, things did improve as they went along. Three further episodes followed and in the winter of the following year, a second series, featuring a longer run of seven episodes got underway, which saw the departure of John Bett ( up until the 1989 special anyway ), Margo Cunningham and David Hayman, but instead saw the arrival of Gregor Fisher and Tony Roper. Hayman was not particularly funny here. Sketch comedy was not his forte. Fortunately, he later matured into a fine dramatic actor. Barbara Dickson makes her musical debut in the show singing 'Another Suitcase In Another Hall'.
Funniest sketch - a milkman reading a letter left on the doorstep by the sexy young woman of the house which reads ''Five today please, milkman!'', to which he calls out to four of his workmates and they all troop into the house to... well, I'll let you work it out for yourself!
The first sketch opens with Supercop, an incompetent traffic police officer who would flag down motorists and give the request ''Right Stirling, oot the car!''. The catchphrase ( which is not used here yet ) is a reference to the late racing driver Stirling Moss. Here we see him being asked by motorists who are lost in fog for directions to Edinburgh, however it turns out Supercop is lost himself and ends up asking the driver for directions to get to his desired destination.
A common as muck Glaswegian couple dine out at an American themed burger joint, only for the male member of the party to constantly cause embarrassment with his lack of dining etiquette. For instance, when he asks for a drink, the waiter suggests he try a screwdriver ( vodka and orange juice ) , to which the man replies: ''I'd be better with a hammer!'' as he indicates to the arm that has dropped off from his chair!
A nervous middle aged man takes his pet tortoise to see a vet due to being concerned by his disobedient behaviour such as getting next door's tortoise pregnant ( and refusing to stand by her ) and smoking lettuce leaves instead of eating them. The vet diagnoses advanced delinquency and opts to have him put down, only to be killed by the pet with a flick knife, much to the owner's horror!
The episode concludes with the first of what would become a recurring closing item, 'Last Call', a merciless spoof of STV's 'Late Call'. The epilogue is delivered here by Reverend Angus McKnocker, a furtive looking minister who is revealed to be a ladies underwear thief who gets arrested whilst on air!
This opening episode is not bad. Funny in places but somewhat rough around the edges. Many of the sketches have not aged terribly well but unfortunately that is often the way with comedy shows. Luckily, things did improve as they went along. Three further episodes followed and in the winter of the following year, a second series, featuring a longer run of seven episodes got underway, which saw the departure of John Bett ( up until the 1989 special anyway ), Margo Cunningham and David Hayman, but instead saw the arrival of Gregor Fisher and Tony Roper. Hayman was not particularly funny here. Sketch comedy was not his forte. Fortunately, he later matured into a fine dramatic actor. Barbara Dickson makes her musical debut in the show singing 'Another Suitcase In Another Hall'.
Funniest sketch - a milkman reading a letter left on the doorstep by the sexy young woman of the house which reads ''Five today please, milkman!'', to which he calls out to four of his workmates and they all troop into the house to... well, I'll let you work it out for yourself!