Tuesday 13 August 2013

Scotch and Wry, Ricky Fulton and Last Call: Part 1 of 2

To me Ricky Fulton is one of the finest Scottish comedians to have lived in the television age.

To the uninitiated 'Scotch and Wry' was a comedy television programme broadcast on BBC Scotland on Hogmanay (New Years Eve) from the late 1970s through the 1980s. It was therefore shown only once a year and was a major television event in the year.

There were many repeating characters intermingled with other sketches.

Probably the most famous repeating sketch was 'Last Call' which spawned the shows greatest character who went on to star in several television specials after Scotch and Wry had finished. Some of you may know his name as 'Reverend I. M. Jolly'.

'Last Call' was a parody takeoff of 'Late Call' a short 5 minute programme that used to appear on STV/ Scottish Television in Central Scotland on each weekday night, giving a spiritual look at a particular subject and usually hosted by a Minister of the Church of Scotland or some such similar figure.

However it is often forgotten that the Scotch and Wry 'Last Call' sketch did not always star the Reverend I. M. Jolly.

My two favourite Last Calls do not star that particular character.One was the Reverend David M. Goodchild, and the other was the Reverend W. E. Free. A link to the Reverend David M. Goodchild Last Call is shown below, with the other following in a subsequent post.

Last Call: Reverend David M. Goodchild

Last Call: Reverend W. E. Free

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