Chic Murray was a legend of Scottish comedy. That seems strange when the average Scot today would be able to relate entire sketches from the mildly-amusing show 'Chewing the Fat' yet not a single one of Chic's one-liners. What's also strange is that 'A Clydeside Carol' features little to smile about in what can only be described as decidedly black comedy if it is to be described at all.
Murray plays Willie 'Smellie' Broon, a perpetually drunk tramp and former Shipyard worker while Jeff Rawle (with a dodgy Glasgow accent he just gets away with) plays Plywood his friend, allowed out of "the home" for a day and with only one wish - that to spend Christmas with his old friend at the community centre. Various jobbing actors queue up to show Smellie the evils of his ways over the course of the programme, culminating in a happy, yet not particularly satisfying ending.
Chic Murray was a legend of Scottish comedy. That seems strange when the average Scot today would be able to relate entire sketches from the mildly-amusing show 'Chewing the Fat' yet not a single one of Chic's one-liners. What's also strange is that 'A Clydeside Carol' features little to smile about in what can only be described as decidedly black comedy if it is to be described at all.
Murray plays Willie 'Smellie' Broon, a perpetually drunk tramp and former Shipyard worker while Jeff Rawle (with a dodgy Glasgow accent he just gets away with) plays Plywood his friend, allowed out of "the home" for a day and with only one wish - that to spend Christmas with his old friend at the community centre. Various jobbing actors queue up to show Smellie the evils of his ways over the course of the programme, culminating in a happy, yet not particularly satisfying ending.
