Some sublime sketch comedy this week, from the under-appreciated but fondly remembered Channel 4 show Absolutely.
The series ran for four seasons (28 episodes) between 1989 and 1993, taking over from the channel’s previous sketch show hit, Who Dares Wins, which had ended in 1988.
The six-strong cast, who also wrote the show, included four Scots - Moray Hunter, Jack Docherty, Peter Baikie and Gordon Kennedy – plus English comedienne Morwenna Banks and welshman John Sparkes.
A number of the show’s regular sketches and characters have passed into the national consciousness of a generation of Brits, including the useless members of Stoneybridge! town council, the infuriatingly boring and pedantic, anorak-wearing Calum Gilhooley and surreal duo Mr Don and Mr George (who were given their own short-lived spin-off sitcom).
But for today’s classic clip, I’m going to go with a few examples of the fantastically funny rants by fiercely nationalistic (to the point of xenophobia) playwright McGlashan (played by Docherty), satirising the anti-English attitudes of some Scots.
Note that in this one, which I think introduced the character, he is called MacLauchlin, not McGlashan, as he would later become:
Here, McGlashan pays a rare visit south of the Border:
In this one, he gets a job as a newsreader:
Here he ponders the injustice of World Cup draws:
And finally, a lecture on The River Trade Of The Firth Of Forth In The 18th Century:
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December 5, 2009 at 23:08
[...] you’ll find much more McGlashan ranting if you click here (the original YouTube videos had been removed but I’ve replaced them with other [...]