Still Game interview: “Pensioners can be as subversive as anybody”

Ford Kiernan and Greg Hemphill – or their Still Game characters Jack and Victor – are national treasures, though so far only in Scotland. That’s set to change now their seventh series has been given a Friday night primetime slot on BBC One.

Still Game started as a stage play in 1997, and the subsequent six series on BBC Scotland turned them into icons north of the border. The sitcom follows mischief-making neighbours Jack and Victor who, with their fellow senior citizen pals, get into everyday scrapes in a relatively deprived corner of Glasgow.

A fallout between Kiernan and Hemphill halted production in 2007 but in 2014 they reunited for a stage production that sold out a staggering 21 nights at the 10,000-seater SSE Hydro Arena in Glasgow. Following that phenomenal success they are back on the small screen in a highly anticipated new series. More than 25,000 people applied for 400 available tickets to the premiere of the first episode, and national treasure status – across the UK – awaits.

The Big Issue: After a break of nine years Still Game is back. The characters haven’t changed but has the world they live in?

Greg Hemphill: Although the characters haven’t changed, TVs have changed, mobile phones have changed and buildings are getting knocked down in Glasgow all the time.

Ford Kiernan: That’s why Jack and Victor’s story works. It’s about them, how things change and how they cope with that.

You have said you avoid three subjects: football, religion and politics. But after the independence referendum and post-Brexit, politics dominates everything in Scotland.

FK: You avoid it by simply not referencing it because it dates the programme. Obviously it divides the audience, the idea is – that old adage – to make everyone happy.

GH: And also, as Ford says, in five years’ time if you put your DVD in and watch again, you’re watching it in a bit of a bubble. As soon as you address all these things it becomes like Have I Got News For You. If you look at something like Cheers, they don’t talk about Reagan and you can still watch an episode and enjoy it 30 years on. Though the fashions are slightly dated.

It doesn’t feel like we’re bringing back the show after nine years because it feels like the show has continued to grow

Since the show has been off-air it has gained a huge following across the world. Were you nervous about whether you could recreate the magic?

GH: It’s so bizarre, it doesn’t feel like we’re bringing back the show after nine years because it feels like the show has continued to grow. You are mindful of it. You take it into consideration.

FK: The writing process is much the same as if you learn the words to a song. You’ll always know the words to the song, it’s just up to you to sing it properly the next time you get a chance. How do you keep the magic going? Well, maybe we haven’t, we’ll soon find out!

What is the key ingredient that strikes a chord with audiences?

FK: The show’s got heart. People warm to it because there’s a recognition factor, either an uncle or an old gossipy aunty. And they’re a community looking out for each other.

GH: There are a million ways characters can show affection for one other and we always explore that, even if it’s calling somebody a bawbag. We live in the west of Scotland, we’re not huggers. We’re very careful that there are no mean streaks and that’s because Ford and I are fans of that kind of humour, inclusive and warm but not without its edge.

Still Game started around the time that Ricky Gervais was changing the sitcom landscape with The Office. All these years later you’re still here…

FK: Don’t worry about him.

GH: Last I heard he’s doing okay.

Was Still Game almost an antidote to that style of fly-on-the-wall, ‘real’ sitcom?

GH: These are things you can see retrospectively. At the time you just write the show you want to write, it’s got to come from your heart and your head. When Ricky Gervais did The Office humour became far more edgy and modern but we’ve often thought pensioners can be as subversive as anybody.

If you were trying to get something commissioned today about a bunch of old people who live in high-rise flats, you might get a raised eyebrow

FK: I think the landscape changes all the time. You’ve got Mrs Brown’s Boys and American stuff that’s way out there. If you were trying to get something commissioned today about a bunch of old people who live in high-rise flats, you might get a raised eyebrow.

Has Still Game changed people’s attitudes towards older generations?

GH: I’d like to think so. People are people whatever age they are, that’s what the show’s about.

FK: That was the goal. There’s a thing in this world, when you get to a certain age you’re redundant – verbally, mentally, physically. You get used up and thrown away. The whole idea is that pensioners are valuable parts of the community.

WELCOME TO CRAIGLANG…

A beginners’ guide to the world of Still Game

Jack & Victor’s Flats

Still Game is set in Craiglang, a fictional part of Glasgow, but it could be an unloved part of any city in the UK, where deprivation strengthens the sense of community. Jack and Victor live next to each other in a high-rise block, constantly having to evade the ever-watchful eye of nosy neighbour Isa.

The Clansman

The heart of any community is the local pub. Pulling pints behind the bar at The Clansman is Boaby, who hates his regulars about as much as they hate him. But at the same time, they rely on each other, and underneath the apparent vitriol is a camaraderie and genuine affection.

Navid’s Shop

A quintessential part of of any neighbourhood is the local shop, run in Craiglang with zero enthusiasm by Navid and his much moaned-about wife, Meena.