Scotch and Wry

Scotch and Wry
Directed by	Gordon Menzies (1978-1989) Brian Jobson (1989-1990) Ron Bain (1990-1992)
Starring	Rikki Fulton Gregor Fisher Tony Roper Claire Nielson Juliet Cadzow John Bett Barbara Dickson
Country of origin	Scotland
Original language(s)	English
No. of episodes	24 (2 series & 12 specials)
Production
Executive producer(s)	Gordon Menzies (1990-92)
Producer(s)	Gordon Menzies (1978-1989) Philip Differ (1990-1991) Tony Roper (1992)
Location(s)	BBC Broadcasting House, Glasgow, Scotland, UK
Camera setup	Multi-camera
Production company(s)	BBC Scotland
Release
Original network	BBC One Scotland
Original release	30 September 1978 – 31 December 1992
Chronology
Preceded by	The Scotched Earth Show
Followed by	Only an Excuse?

Scotch and Wry was a Scottish television comedy sketch show produced by BBC Scotland and starring Rikki Fulton and a revolving ensemble cast which over the years included Gregor Fisher, Tony Roper, Claire Nielson, Juliet Cadzow and John Bett.

Initially running for two series from 1978 to 1979, the show went on to become a top-rating annual one-off Hogmanay special for over a decade. The series also gave early exposure to emerging Scottish actors such as Gerard Kelly and Miriam Margolyes. In later years, cast members from sister BBC Scotland comedy show Naked Video would also make sporadic appearances.

Scotch and Wry developed from The Scotched Earth Show, a one-off special based on Scottish humorous writing, broadcast on New Year's Day 1977. Fulton starred in the special, having made sporadic television appearances since the end of his Rikki series for STV.

Scotch and Wry first aired on BBC1 Scotland at 10.30pm on Saturday 30 September 1978. Its comedic focus was on predominantly Scottish (and in particular Glaswegian) humour, although the series also included material from London-based writers, including rejected scripts from The Two Ronnies Overall, the viewer had to be familiar with the Glasgow Patter in order to understand many of the jokes. As a result, much of the humour was constructed around distinctly Glaswegian themes; such as the city's suburbs, its football clubs, and even its famous sectarian divide was also played for laughs. The programmes (and some personalities) of rival ITV station STV (most notably Late Call) were frequently parodied on the show. In the later Hogmanay specials, a greater emphasis was placed on major news events that had happened during the previous year as their basis.

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