Chewin' the Fat
Encyclopedia
Chewin' the Fat is a Scottish comedy
Comedy
Comedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...

 sketch show, starring Ford Kiernan
Ford Kiernan
Ford John Kiernan is a Scottish actor and comedian. Along with his comedy partner, Greg Hemphill, he is best known in the United Kingdom for his appearances in Still Game and Chewin' The Fat.-Personal life:...

, Greg Hemphill
Greg Hemphill
Gregory "Greg" Hemphill is a Scottish actor and comedian. He has also presented on television and radio. Along with his comedy partner, Ford Kiernan, he is best known in the United Kingdom for his appearances in Still Game and Chewin' the Fat.-Personal life:Hemphill was born in Glasgow, Scotland,...

 and Karen Dunbar
Karen Dunbar
Karen Dunbar is a Scottish comedienne and entertainer.-Early life:She first came to the attention of mainstream audiences in the BBC Scotland comedy series Chewin' the Fat and subsequently was given her own show by the channel, The Karen Dunbar Show.Prior to mainstream success, Karen, an out...

. Comedians Paul Riley
Paul Riley
Paul Riley is a Scottish actor and comedian. He is best known for his role as Winston Ingram in the Scottish sitcom, Still Game. He previously worked on the sketch show Chewin' the Fat, the show that Still Game was a spin-off from...

 and Mark Cox
Mark Cox (actor)
Mark Cox is a Scottish comedian and actor born in Springboig in 1972. He is most famous for his role as Tam Mullen in the sitcom Still Game. He previously worked with the creators in Chewin' The Fat. It was announced in 2006 that Cox would narrate Roald Dahl favourite, Three Little Pigs...

 also appeared regularly on the show.

Chewin' the Fat first started as a radio
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...

 series on BBC Radio Scotland
BBC Radio Scotland
BBC Radio Scotland is BBC Scotland's national English-language radio network. It broadcasts a wide variety of programming, including news, sport, light entertainment, music, the arts, comedy, drama, history and lifestyle...

. The later television show, which ran for four series, was first broadcast on BBC One Scotland, but series three and four, as well as highlights from the first two series, were later broadcast to the rest of the United Kingdom. Although the last series ended in February 2002, Hogmanay
Hogmanay
Hogmanay is the Scots word for the last day of the year and is synonymous with the celebration of the New Year in the Scottish manner...

 specials continued from 2002 to 2005.

Chewin' the Fat gave rise to the spin-off
Spin-off (media)
In media, a spin-off is a radio program, television program, video game, or any narrative work, derived from one or more already existing works, that focuses, in particular, in more detail on one aspect of that original work...

 show Still Game
Still Game
Still Game is a Scottish sitcom, produced by The Comedy Unit with the BBC. It was created by Ford Kiernan and Greg Hemphill, who play the lead characters - two Glaswegian pensioners, named Jack Jarvis and Victor McDade respectively....

, a sitcom focusing on the two old male characters Jack and Victor.

The series was mostly filmed in and around Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...

 and occasionally West Dunbartonshire
West Dunbartonshire
West Dunbartonshire is one of the 32 local government council areas of Scotland. Bordering onto the west of the City of Glasgow, containing many of Glasgow's commuter towns and villages as well as the city's suburbs, West Dunbartonshire also borders onto Argyll and Bute, Stirling, East...

.

The English idiom
Idiom
Idiom is an expression, word, or phrase that has a figurative meaning that is comprehended in regard to a common use of that expression that is separate from the literal meaning or definition of the words of which it is made...

 to chew the fat
Chew the fat
"Chew the fat" or "chew the rag" are English expressions for gossiping or making friendly small talk; the former being mainly in American vernacular and the latter being in British.-Chew the fat:...

 means to chat casually, but thoroughly, about subjects of mutual interest.

Recurring characters

Alistair and Rory: Two eccentric documentary presenters from the Scottish Highlands, fascinated with Scottish history and nature. They are constantly harassed by two neds
Ned (Scottish)
Ned is a derogatory term applied in Scotland to hooligans, louts or petty criminals, latterly with the stereotypical implication that they wear casual sports clothes. Such usage in Glasgow dates back to the 1960s or earlier.-Early use of term:...

, who often play practical jokes on them and taunt them and often shout "ya couple a fannies!". The characters are partly based on the hosts of Scottish history programmes such as Weir's Way
Tom Weir
Thomas Weir MBE, better known as Tom was a Scottish climber, author and broadcaster. He was best known for his long-running television series Weir's Way and his trademark woolly bunnet.-Early life and career:...

.

The Big Man: The Big Man is a tough Glasgow gangster, and a stereotypical representation of an "Alpha Male", who turns up to solve people's problems by means of intense intimidation and violence. Keeping with the "hard man" theme, he has a very deep voice. The character first appeared in a parody of Scotland Today
Scotland Today
Scotland Today was a Scottish regional news programme covering Central Scotland, produced by STV Central . Despite its name suggesting a national remit, the programme was actually limited to stories around STV's Central Belt franchise...

s "Call The Lawyer" section, in which people having problems could get legal advice. The writers knew that most of the neds the show often parodied would be likely to call the assistance of the Big Man. The character was so popular after his first appearance, he appeared in other sketches; his catchphrase remaining "Is there a problem here?"

Bish & Bosh: Bish & Bosh are two very dodgy decorators who are usually stealing things from the houses of people hiring them. Their real names are Tony and Wullie. In the sketches, they are normally seen having a tea break talking about something inconsequential that one of them drags into depravity, only to be told by the other, "You've taken that too far".

The Banter Boys: Two camp men who are regularly found nearby places where Glaswegian banter is common, taking great relish in experiencing the Glaswegian accent and patter
Glasgow patter
Glaswegian or The Glasgow Patter is a dialect spoken in and around Glasgow, Scotland. In addition to local West Mid Scots, the dialect has Highland English and Hiberno-English influences, owing to the speech of Highlanders and Irish people, who migrated in large numbers to the Glasgow area in the...

 in a variety of situations. This includes hiding out in a football locker room to hear the coach shouting at the players and taking a taxi ride in a complete circle back to where they got on, paying out £100 for "the banter" they received from the driver. The two characters appear in the form of the stereotypical Kelvinside
Kelvinside
Kelvinside is a district in the Scottish city of Glasgow. It is situated north of the River Clyde and is bounded by Dowanhill, Hyndland and Broomhill to the South with Kelvindale and the River Kelvin to the North...

 housewife, with the same pretensions and turns of phrases. Their catchphrase is "we're paying for the banter". Their real names are James and Gary.

Big Jock: An overbearing, narcissistic golfer who enjoys to humiliate his fellow golf club members by making them do such things as fish out a fifty pound note from a dustbin, or leaving another fifty on the bar to see who would be desperate enough to pick it up for themselves. He often remarks about the size of his wallet, such as how it would require a team of men to lift it, and makes his less well off peers feel bad by publicly announcing to everyone how there is no shame in being poor, or a "jakey." He likes the sound of his own name and shouts it out often. He is typically very loud and likes to make bombastic speeches and has a habit of calling everyone Percy, even if it is not their name. He also wins a lot of trophies, and makes sure everyone knows about it.

The Lighthouse Keepers: Two men who work in a lighthouse, usually featured at the start of a show. One of them endures pranks from his work-mate while pleading "Gonnae no dae that?". They may have been based on two bored lightkeepers in an "Alas Smith & Jones" sketch during the 1980s. The pranks gradually escalate in severity as the series went on, going from simple jokes to excruciating torture of the psyche, including drawing bras and undergarments over the unfortunate man's pornography
Pornography
Pornography or porn is the explicit portrayal of sexual subject matter for the purposes of sexual arousal and erotic satisfaction.Pornography may use any of a variety of media, ranging from books, magazines, postcards, photos, sculpture, drawing, painting, animation, sound recording, film, video,...

 (seemingly his only form of sexual gratification available) and pretending that he has hanged himself. The final sketch ends with the lighthouse being blown up, the trademark "Gonnae no dae that?" phrase being spoken as the unfortunate lighthouse keeper watches his work-mate sail away before the lighthouse explodes. Their real names are Duncan and Malcolm.

The Lonely Shopkeeper: A lonely, bored middle-aged woman working in a village grocery store who constantly attempts to be over-friendly with her customers, usually inviting them for "individual fruit trifles", and invariably frightening them off.

The Man from Kilmacolm: A man (played by Greg Hemphill) who would break cultural taboos or do something very anti-social. When challenged or criticized, he then explains away his actions by just saying "I'm from Kilmacolm", which would immediately win sympathy or understanding from everyone around him.

The Depressed Taxi Caller: This sketch features an extremely unlucky woman working as a taxi controller, who is always shown crying down her headset to the drivers about her terrible life and how her new boyfriends keep dying in bizarre circumstances. She generally smokes many cigarettes and drinks large volumes of whisky throughout the sketch, in order to "dull the pain".

Jack and Victor: Two OAPs who get up to mischief, featuring the characters that were later to appear in the series Still Game
Still Game
Still Game is a Scottish sitcom, produced by The Comedy Unit with the BBC. It was created by Ford Kiernan and Greg Hemphill, who play the lead characters - two Glaswegian pensioners, named Jack Jarvis and Victor McDade respectively....

.

The Janny: A school janitor who pops-up to try and fix everything from broken ankles to broken hearts with the liberal application of sawdust from his bucket.

The Boy Who Has Just Started Masturbating: A 14 year old boy called Stephen who is constantly embarrassed by his parents as they announce proudly to anyone they meet that he has just started masturbating.

Betty the Auld Slapper: A female OAP who has an obsession with recounting her x-rated memories of the war; usually sits with her legs spread and skirt clearly open.

The Community Mobile Van: A van that brings various cultural amenities to the car park of a council estate. Ranging from things like swimming pools, to an art gallery, to a theatre. The staff of the van are often harassed by a ned or two walking past. In reality, such vans would contain something like a Mobile Library, or the "Bionic Bus" councils would send round the council estates to keep local children amused.

Miss Gourlay, the Chemistry Teacher: A highly-strung teacher who gets overly offended by just about anything her class says, who take pleasure in winding her up as a result. Her catchphrase is " Right, that's enough!" Apparently based on a chemistry teacher Karen Dunbar
Karen Dunbar
Karen Dunbar is a Scottish comedienne and entertainer.-Early life:She first came to the attention of mainstream audiences in the BBC Scotland comedy series Chewin' the Fat and subsequently was given her own show by the channel, The Karen Dunbar Show.Prior to mainstream success, Karen, an out...

 had in her own school
Ayr Academy
Ayr Academy is a non-denominational secondary school situated in the centre of the town of Ayr in South Ayrshire. It is a comprehensive school for children from the ages of 11 to 18 from Ayr. Ayr Academy's catchment area covers Newton-on-Ayr, Whitletts and the outlying villages of Coylton, Annbank,...

.

Ballistic Bob: A man who attempts to do a normal task, fails multiple times and ends up trashing the surrounding area in a frustrated rage. He was also featured in a Scottish advert for broadband
Broadband
The term broadband refers to a telecommunications signal or device of greater bandwidth, in some sense, than another standard or usual signal or device . Different criteria for "broad" have been applied in different contexts and at different times...

 where he smashed up an entire office when a file took an infuriatingly long time to download from the Internet.

The Nightshifters: Two men who tried to get some sleep for their nightshift but are always interrupted by too much noise. They follow the noise and when they find the person who's making the noise and then shout "Haw, we're oan the nightshift!".

The Smoking Family: A family of serial smokers, who only spend their money on their incredibly heavy addiction of cigarettes. They have all lost their voices (due to throat cancer) so they have to rely on voice boxes to communicate - including Snowball the cat (who was white, and now is nicotine brown) and their nephew Wayne (who hasn't lost his voice).

The Sewer Workers: Two sewer workers who find strange ways of amusing themselves in the sewer, including playing with faeces.

Ronald Villiers: The world's worst actor, with a gravelly, monotonous voice. Registered with the agent "Widdecombe and Pump". When presented with any script or concept, he invariably responds, "Ah can dae that", but he is incapable of remembering simple lines, often completely misunderstands the directions of the director, and attempts inappropriate ad-libs. His character is quite similar to Pam Doove from The League of Gentlemen
The League of Gentlemen (comedy)
The League of Gentlemen are a quartet of British dark comedy writers/performers, formed in 1995 by Jeremy Dyson, Mark Gatiss, Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith...

.

The Sniffer: A woman who can smell "shite", often in the form of a scam or a bad lie, from a distance away. According to her mail, her name is Olive Actory, a play on olfactory.

The Shoe Sniffer: A man with an extreme fetish for sniffing other people's shoes, he usually distracts them and then sniffs them in a surreptitious manner.

Bob & Alan: Two overbearing salesmen in an electronics store who frequently try to put their "sales pitch" on expecting customers. They will usually attempt to completely confuse the customer, often using entirely fictional or inappropriate terminology to describe everyday electronics equipment. They also end up insulting the customers by using offensive and overly familiar terms, such as distorting the person's own name until it becomes a personal insult towards them.

Oo-oo-hh, fancy!: A sketch featuring a different group of people each time. The group will be comparing items (packed lunches, drinks bought at a bar, etc.). All but the last item will be stereotypically "normal" or "working-class" - but the last person will have something considered "posh". On hearing this sophisticated item everyone else in the group will put their hands by their cheeks - wiggling their fingers - and chant 'OO-OO-HH Fancy!'. The most infamous example is the "Cheese Baguette", as being slightly more sophisticated than an ordinary cheese sandwich.

Eric the Activist: A deranged animal rights activist who would do to a person what he/she is doing to an animal, such as grab a guy's lip when he is fishing to show what it's like. His catchphrases are "Now you know what it feels like" and "'Mon the fish!"

Harry, Linda and George: An abusive husband, Harry often becomes unjustifiably angry and even verbally abusive to his long-suffering wife, Linda, if she does the simplest of things incorrectly, such as during a game of Monopoly
Monopoly (game)
Marvin Gardens, the leading yellow property on the board shown, is actually a misspelling of the original location name, Marven Gardens. The misspelling was said to be introduced by Charles Todd and passed on when his home-made Monopoly board was copied by Charles Darrow and thence to Parker...

 or Countdown
Countdown (game show)
Countdown is a British game show involving word and number puzzles. It is produced by ITV Studios and broadcast on Channel 4. It is presented by Jeff Stelling, assisted by Rachel Riley, with regular lexicographer Susie Dent. It was the first programme to be aired on Channel 4, and over sixty-five...

. George - a family friend with a soft spot for Linda - always gets caught in the middle of these arguments while trying to stop them. The final sketch with the characters, based on a Hogmanay party at the couple's house, shows Harry's ultimate comeuppance, when Linda and George end up kissing passionately in front of him after he makes a fuss about some sausage rolls Linda said she'd made herself but had in fact bought meat and pastry and "put the sausage rolls together" which, Harry tries to make clear, are not the same thing.

Tom Gallacher: A Glasgow merchant who sets up stalls around Glasgow in an attempt to sell sport socks at the price of "two for a pound".

Brenda: A woman who repeatedly injures (often seriously) her husband, she then shouts "HELP HELP, there's been a terrible accident!", in a very bored, insincere manner. Her husband then usually replies with "Brenda, ya bastard!".

Rab McGlinchy: Rab is a stereotypical shellsuit-wearing, chain-smoking, hard-drinking Glaswegian ned
Ned (Scottish)
Ned is a derogatory term applied in Scotland to hooligans, louts or petty criminals, latterly with the stereotypical implication that they wear casual sports clothes. Such usage in Glasgow dates back to the 1960s or earlier.-Early use of term:...

 in who is employed by the television company to translate the Scottish news, narrated by a newsreader, into the dialect of the Glaswegian ned. He is introduced "...and here interpreting for the Neds tonight, Rab McGlinchy."

Singing Bar Boys: Many old men who sing songs, changing the lyrics for comedic effect. Some of these characters later appeared in Still Game
Still Game
Still Game is a Scottish sitcom, produced by The Comedy Unit with the BBC. It was created by Ford Kiernan and Greg Hemphill, who play the lead characters - two Glaswegian pensioners, named Jack Jarvis and Victor McDade respectively....

.

Archie - Couple a plums: Two men harass their friend Archie in a bar. A typical sketch will involve Archie walking up to his mates and they start shouting "ARCHIIIEE" whilst fondling him. Often they will shout "TITTIES" or "COUPLE A PLUMS". Archie then gets frustrated. In one sketch he storms off after shouting "Get aaf me ya pair ah bastards!"

Take a Drink!: In different situations, while several people are drinking (not necessarily alcoholic beverages), a person declines to drink. He is prompted to "Take a drink" by a constantly growing number of people until he gives up and accepts ("O'right then"), at which point everyone cheers him.

Foulmouthed Fishermen: Two fishermen aboard the trawler the 'pearl necklace' they speak in a nautical sounding tone but the words used are rude and have very little to do with ships. Tending to make references to sex or various parts of the anatomy.

The Wee Girl with the Scooter: Often characters are seen to be injured in various ways, such as being run over or pushed down the stairs, and when looking around to see the perpetrator, they are faced with a smiling young girl on a scooter, accompanied by some light ice cream van-esque music. The injured party and anyone accompanying them respond by saying, "Awww" and seem to forget about what has happened to them, although occasionally dying from their injuries.

DVD releases

DVD title Release date Content
Series 1 19 March 2001 Series 1 Episodes 1-6
Series 2 17 July 2000 Series 2 Episodes 1-6
Series 3 9 April 2001 Series 3 Episodes 1-6
Series 4 5 August 2002 Series 4 Episodes 1-6
Series 1-3 1 November 2001 Series 1-3, The Live Show and Still Game Live
Series 1-4 23 February 2004 Series 1-4
The Live Show 27 November 2000 The Live Show
The Best of 20 November 2006 A selection of some of the best sketches

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK