''Only an Excuse?'' is an annual Scottish comedy

sketch show Sketch comedy comprises a series of short, amusing scenes or vignettes, called "sketches", commonly between one and ten minutes long, performed by a group of comic actors or comedians. The form developed and became popular in vaudeville, and is ...

that was broadcast on

BBC One Scotland BBC One Scotland is a Scottish free-to-air television channel owned and operated by BBC Scotland and is a Scottish variation of the UK-wide BBC One. For all of the time the channel is referred to on screen as ''BBC One Scotland'', sometimes us ...

Hogmanay Hogmanay ( , ) is the Scots word for the last day of the old year and is synonymous with the celebration of the New Year in the Scottish manner. It is normally followed by further celebration on the morning of New Year's Day (1 January) or i ...

from 1993 to 2020. It starred the actor and comedian

Jonathan Watson Jonathan Watson is a Scottish actor best known for his comedy sketch show ''Only an Excuse?'', which parodied people and events from the world of Scottish football, as well as the BBC comedy ''Bob Servant Independent'' in which he appears with ...

and featured impressions of some of Scottish football's great characters such as

Denis Law Denis Law (born 24 February 1940) is a Scottish former footballer who played as a forward. His career as a football player began at Second Division Huddersfield Town in 1956. After four years at Huddersfield, he was signed by Manchester City ...

, Tommy Burns,

Barry Ferguson Barry Ferguson (born 2 February 1978) is a Scottish football coach, former player and pundit who was most recently the manager of Alloa Athletic. Ferguson spent most of his playing career at Rangers, in two spells either side of a £7.5 mil ...

Sir Alex Ferguson Sir Alexander Chapman Ferguson (born 31 December 1941) is a Scottish former football manager and player, best known for managing Manchester United from 1986 to 2013. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest football managers of all time ...

Frank McAvennie Francis McAvennie (born 22 November 1959) is a Scottish former footballer, who played as a striker for St Mirren, West Ham United and Celtic, having had two spells with each of these clubs. With Celtic he won the Scottish Premier Division in ...

Walter Smith Walter Ferguson Smith (24 February 1948 – 26 October 2021) was a Scottish association football player, manager and director, primarily associated with his two spells as manager of Glasgow club Rangers. A defender, Smith's playing car ...

and

Graeme Souness Graeme James Souness (; born 6 May 1953) is a Scottish former professional football player and manager, and current TV pundit. A midfielder, Souness was the captain of the successful Liverpool team of the early 1980s, player-manager of Ranger ...

, as well as caricatures of the "stereotypical"

Old Firm The Old Firm is the collective name for the Scottish football clubs Celtic and Rangers, which are both based in Glasgow. The two clubs are by far the most successful and popular in Scotland, and the rivalry between them has become deeply em ...

fan.

History

''Only an Excuse?'' was first broadcast as a one-off special on

BBC Radio Scotland BBC Radio Scotland is a Scottish radio network owned and operated by BBC Scotland, a division of the BBC. It broadcasts a wide variety of programmes. It replaced the Scottish BBC Radio 4 opt-out service of the same name from 23 November 197 ...

, prior to the 1987 Scottish Cup Final. It was a

parody A parody, also known as a spoof, a satire, a send-up, a take-off, a lampoon, a play on (something), or a caricature, is a creative work designed to imitate, comment on, and/or mock its subject by means of satiric or ironic imitation. Often its subj ...

of the five-part

BBC Scotland BBC Scotland (Scottish Gaelic: ''BBC Alba'') is a division of the BBC and the main public broadcaster in Scotland. It is one of the four BBC national regions, together with the BBC English Regions, BBC Cymru Wales and BBC Northern Ireland. I ...

television documentary ''Only a Game?'', which had aired in Scotland prior to the 1986 World Cup Finals and comprehensively documented the history of

Scottish football Association football ( sco, fitbaa, gd, ball-coise) is one of the national sports of Scotland and the most popular sport in the country. There is a long tradition of "football" games in Orkney, Lewis and southern Scotland, especially the Scot ...

. The documentary was narrated by Scottish novelist

William McIlvanney William McIlvanney (25 November 1936 – 5 December 2015) was a Scottish novelist, short story writer, and poet. He was known as Gus by friends and acquaintances. McIlvanney was a champion of gritty yet poetic literature; his works ''Laidlaw'', ' ...

, whose distinctive voice was expertly mimicked by

for the radio

spoof Spoof, spoofs, spoofer, or spoofing may refer to: * Forgery of goods or documents * Semen, in Australian slang * Spoof (game), a guessing game * Spoofing (finance), a disruptive algorithmic-trading tactic designed to manipulate markets __NOTOC__ ...

. After further occasional radio specials including ''Only Another Excuse?'', ''A Tale of Two Seasons'' and ''Only a World Cup Excuse'', all of which were released on

cassette Cassette may refer to: Technology * Cassette tape (or ''musicassette'', ''audio cassette'', ''cassette tape'', or ''tape''), a worldwide standard for analog audio recording and playback ** Cassette single (or "Cassingle"), a music single in the ...

, the show switched to television in 1993, retaining its original

double act A double act (also known as a comedy duo) is a form of comedy originating in the British music hall tradition, and American vaudeville, in which two comedians perform together as a single act. Pairings are typically long-term, in some cases f ...

of Rangers fan Watson and

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language * Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Fo ...

fan Tony Roper. The first episode replaced

Rikki Fulton Robert Kerr "Rikki" Fulton, OBE (15 April 1924 – 27 January 2004) was a Scottish comedian and actor best remembered for writing and performing in the long-running BBC Scotland sketch show, ''Scotch and Wry''. He was also known for his appea ...

's long-running annual

comedy sketch Sketch comedy comprises a series of short, amusing scenes or vignettes, called "sketches", commonly between one and ten minutes long, performed by a group of comic actors or comedians. The form developed and became popular in vaudeville, and is ...

show ''

Scotch and Wry ''Scotch and Wry'' is a Scottish television comedy sketch show produced by BBC Scotland and starring Rikki Fulton and a revolving ensemble cast which over the years included Gregor Fisher, Tony Roper, Claire Nielson, Juliet Cadzow and John B ...

'' in the

television schedules. The show has also been performed at the theatre, with the most recent performance of ''Only An Excuse?'' taking place at the

Glasgow Royal Concert Hall Glasgow Royal Concert Hall is a concert and arts venue located in Glasgow, Scotland. It is owned by Glasgow City Council and operated by Glasgow Life, an agency of Glasgow City Council, which also runs Glasgow's City Halls and Old Fruitmarket v ...

in September 2004. The scripts of the early theatre shows, written by Philip Differ, were published in the book ''Only an Excuse?: The Scripts'' by

Mainstream Publishing Mainstream Publishing was a publishing company in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded in 1978, it ceased trading in December 2013.Charlotte WilliamsMainstream to cease publishing 1 March 2013, The Bookseller.com' (Retrieved 30 December 2016) It was ass ...

in 1995. In December 2020, it was confirmed that the 2020 episode would be an hour long programme and that Watson and Differ would not be making any further episodes.

Spin-offs

Jonathan Watson appeared in a spin-off called ''Only a Wee Excuse'' on

Tam Cowan Thomas Cowan (born 21 April 1969) is a Scottish football journalist and radio presenter who was previously also a television presenter. Early life He was educated at Braidhurst High School in Motherwell where he was one of the school captains. ...

's weekly '' Offside'' programme. Up until the last series, Watson's slot was a scaled-down version of the full show, but from the last series onward saw Watson appearing in the studio without costume to perform his impersonations (as in his theatre performances). Another noticeable difference is that Watson starts each segment in his own voice and sets the context and then ends again in his own voice saying, "And that Tam was the week that wisnae." Watson appeared in a sketch in the BBC's

Children in Need 2008 ''Children in Need 2008'' was a campaign held in the United Kingdom to raise money for Children in Need. It culminated in a live broadcast on BBC One on the evening of Friday 14 November, through to the morning of Saturday 15 November. The broa ...

telethon A telethon (a portmanteau of "television" and "marathon") is a televised fundraising event that lasts many hours or even days, the purpose of which is to raise money for a charitable, political or other purportedly worthy cause. Most telethons f ...

Alex Ferguson Sir Alexander Chapman Ferguson (born 31 December 1941) is a Scottish former football manager and player, best known for managing Manchester United from 1986 to 2013. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest football managers of all time ...

being interviewed by

Adrian Chiles Adrian Chiles (born 21 March 1967) is a British writer and television and radio presenter. He has co-presented both ''The One Show'' (2007–2010) and '' Daybreak'' (2010–2011) with Christine Lampard. He was also the chief presenter for foo ...

Regular cast

(1993–2020) * Tony Roper (1993–1994) * Ross Stenhouse (1993) * Grant Smeaton (1993-1994, 1997, 1999-2010) * Juliette Gilmour (1993-1994) *

Alistair McGowan Alistair Charles McGowan (born 24 November 1964) is an English impressionist, comic, actor, singer and writer best known to British audiences for ''The Big Impression'' (formerly ''Alistair McGowan's Big Impression''), which was, for four years ...

(1995–1998) *

Greg Hemphill Gregory Edward Hemphill (born 14 December 1969) is a Scottish-Canadian comedian, actor, writer, and director. He is best known for his work with Ford Kiernan on the BBC Scotland comedy series ''Chewin' The Fat'' (1999–2005) and ''Still Game'' ...

(1995-1996) * Lewis MacLeod (1995) * Gordon Kennedy (1995-1996) * Susan Nisbet (1997-1998) * Laurie Ventry (1998) * Geoff Boyz (1999) * Iain Davidson (1999-2000) * June Brogan (1999) * Fiona Henderson (1999) * Paul Reid (2000–2001) * Gabriel Quigley (2001) *

Tom Urie Tom Urie (born 1969, Paisley, Scotland) is an actor and musician. He is best known for his role as Big Bob (Bob O'Hara) in the BBC Scotland soap opera ''River City''. In November 2019, Urie played Gordie in the BBC Scotland drama ''Guilt''. C ...

(2002–2005) * Elaine M. Ellis (2003–2005) * Marj Hogarth (2005) * Matt Costello (2006-2010) * Jordan Young (2006) * Julie Austin (2006-2010, 2012-2013) *

Gerard Kelly Gerard Kelly (born Paul Kelly; 27 May 1959 – 28 October 2010) was a Scottish actor who appeared in many comedies, including ''City Lights'', ''Rab C Nesbitt'', ''Scotch and Wry'' and '' Extras''. He had more serious roles as well, includin ...

(2006) * Clare Waugh (2007, 2011, 2015) *

Paul-James Corrigan Paul-James Corrigan is a Scottish stage and screen actor. He is best known for his roles as Adam in '' Gary Tank Commander'' and as Stevie Burns in ''River City''. He is known for his work with s1jobs, after fronting a TV campaign beginning in 2 ...

(2007, 2009-2010) * Johnny Austin (2008) * Heather Reid (2009) * Adam Smith (2011) * Scott Fletcher (2011) * Gerry McLaughlin (2011–2014) * Amanda Marment (2011–2014) * Chris Forbes (2012, 2014, 2018) * Robert Yates (2012) * Josh York (2013) *

Sally Reid Sally Reid (born in Perth, Scotland) is a Scottish stage, radio and television actress who trained at Langside College, Glasgow and with the Steppenwolf Theatre Company and the Second City Training Center in Chicago.Ryan Fletcher Ryan Fletcher (born 1983) is a Scottish actor. Early life Fletcher grew up in Blantyre, Glasgow, born to Stevie and Lorna Fletcher. Career Fletcher appeared in the stage show ''Black Watch'' for the National Theatre of Scotland (2007-8), had ...

(2015–2018) * Louise McCarthy (2015–2019) * James Young (2015) * Moyo Akandé (2017) * Fiona Wood (2018) * Mark Cox (2019) * Joy McAvoy (2019-2020) *

Alex Norton Alexander Hugh Norton (born 27 January 1950) is a Scottish actor. He is known for his roles as DCI Matt Burke in the STV detective drama series ''Taggart'', Eric Baird in BBC Two sitcom '' Two Doors Down'', DCS Wallace in ''Extremely Dangerous' ...

(2019)

Guests

Figures from Scottish entertainment regularly appeared, as themselves. These included

Hazel Irvine Hazel Irvine (born 24 May 1965) is a Scottish sports presenter. Early life Irvine was born in St Andrews, Scotland. Educated at Hermitage Academy in Helensburgh, she achieved an MA in History of Art at the University of St. Andrews, and compe ...

, Kelly Dalglish,

Gordon Brewer Gordon Brewer is a Scottish news and current affairs broadcaster, who worked for BBC Scotland. He presented the flagship ''Newsnight Scotland'' programme from 1999. Early Life He was educated St Modan's High School in Stirling, followed by th ...

Catriona Shearer Catriona Shearer is a Scottish broadcast journalist and producer, who was a presenter on BBC Scotland's national news programme ''Reporting Scotland''. Early life Shearer graduated from Edinburgh Napier University with a BA (Hons) degree in ...

, Reevel Alderson,

Jackie Bird Jacqueline Bird (née Macpherson, born 31 July 1962) is a Scottish journalist and broadcaster, best known as a former anchor of the BBC Scotland national news programme ''Reporting Scotland''. Early life Jacqueline Macpherson was born on 31 J ...

Cathy MacDonald Cathy MacDonald (Gaelic: ) is a Scotland, Scottish broadcaster who is known for hosting many Scottish Gaelic-language television programmes such as Dotaman and has also presented BBC Scotland's ''Reporting Scotland'' news bulletins in the late 198 ...

Chris Hoy Sir Christopher Andrew Hoy MBE (born 23 March 1976) is a former track cyclist and Racing driver from Scotland who represented Great Britain at the Olympic and World Championships and Scotland at the Commonwealth Games. Hoy is eleven-times a wor ...

Kirsty Wark Kirsteen Anne "Kirsty" Wark FRSE (born 3 February 1955) is a Scottish television presenter with a long career at the BBC. Starting on Radio Scotland, where she became a producer, Wark switched to television, presenting The Late Show and Newsnig ...

Judy Murray Judith Mary Murray, OBE (née Erskine; born 8 September 1959) is a Scottish tennis coach. She is the mother of professional tennis players Jamie and Sir Andy Murray. Life and career Murray was born on 8 September 1959 in Bridge of Allan, Sti ...

Muriel Gray Muriel Janet Gray FRSE (born 30 August 1958) is a Scottish author, broadcaster and journalist. She came to public notice as an interviewer on Channel 4's alternative pop-show ''The Tube'', and then appeared as a regular presenter on BBC radio ...

Michelle McManus Michelle McManus (born 8 May 1980) is a Scottish singer, columnist, and television presenter who won the second and final series of the UK talent show ''Pop Idol'' in 2003. McManus's debut single, " All This Time", entered the UK Singles Cha ...

and

Judith Ralston Judith Ralston (née Tonner) is a Scottish weather presenter employed by BBC Scotland, and a former singer. Early life and music career Ralston trained as a musician and studied singing at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasg ...

References

External links

* on BBC website * {{New Year 1990s Scottish television series 2000s Scottish television series 2010s Scottish television series 2020s Scottish television series 1993 Scottish television series debuts 2020 Scottish television series endings BBC Scotland television sketch shows Cultural depictions of association football players Football mass media in Scotland Hogmanay New Year's television specials Scots-language mass media Scottish Premiership on television Sports television in Scotland Television series by Banijay