Still Game

Still Game is a Scottish sitcom produced by the Effingee Productions, The Comedy Unit and BBC Scotland. It was created by Ford Kiernan and Greg Hemphill, who played the lead characters, Jack Jarvis, Esq and Victor McDade, two Glaswegian pensioners. The characters first appeared in the pair's previous TV sketch show Chewin' the Fat, which aired in Scotland for 6 years from January 1999 until December 2005. Following its debut on 6 September 2002, 62 episodes of Still Game were aired, including the Christmas and Hogmanay specials in addition to the almost 50 live shows. The first three series were broadcast only on the BBC One Scotland channel, although five episodes selected from the first two series were later broadcast throughout the UK on BBC Two in January and February 2004. From the fourth series onwards, Still Game was broadcast across the UK on BBC Two. After series six had aired in 2007, the production of Still Game ended due to Kiernan and Hemphill experiencing burnout. The Scottish media initially reported rumours that a feud between the two had occurred, but they have since denied this. The two eventually returned to write and star in the seventh series, which debuted in October 2016 on BBC One. It was announced on 13 July 2018 that a ninth and final series would be produced, which would see the characters go into "comedy retirement". The final day of production was 14 September 2018, and it premiered on 24 February 2019 as one of the first programmes to be broadcast on the brand new BBC Scotland channel. Still Game was acclaimed by audiences and critics, and is considered a classic in its native Scotland. In a 2020 poll, readers of The Scotsman voted Still Game as the best Scottish television programme of all time.