''Hogmanay'' (formerly ''Hogmanay Live'') is a

New Year's Eve In the Gregorian calendar, New Year's Eve refers to the evening, or commonly the entire day, of the last day of the year, 31 December, also known as Old Year's Day. In many countries, New Year's Eve is celebrated with dancing, eating, drinkin ...

television special A television special (often TV special, or rarely television spectacular) is a standalone television show which may also temporarily interrupt episodic programming normally scheduled for a given time slot. Some specials provide a full range of en ...

broadcast by

BBC One Scotland BBC One Scotland is a Scottish free-to-air television channel owned and operated by BBC Scotland. It is the Scottish variation of the UK-wide BBC One network and is broadcast from Pacific Quay in Glasgow. History The BBC Television Service sta ...

, covering Scotland's

Hogmanay Hogmanay ( , ) is the Scots language, 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 ...

festivities for

. The programme in all its iterations feature a mixture of Scottish contemporary and

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes #Traditional folk music, traditional folk music and the Contemporary folk music, contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be ca ...

, with some past programming also featuring live coverage of parts of the

Princes Street Princes Street () is one of the major thoroughfares in central Edinburgh, Scotland and the main shopping street in the capital. It is the southernmost street of Edinburgh's New Town, Edinburgh, New Town, stretching around 1.2 km (three quar ...

concert in Edinburgh. The special features coverage of the firing of

Edinburgh Castle Edinburgh Castle is a historic castle in Edinburgh, Scotland. It stands on Castle Rock (Edinburgh), Castle Rock, which has been occupied by humans since at least the Iron Age. There has been a royal castle on the rock since the reign of Malcol ...

One O'Clock Gun Edinburgh Castle is a historic castle in Edinburgh, Scotland. It stands on Castle Rock (Edinburgh), Castle Rock, which has been occupied by humans since at least the Iron Age. There has been a royal castle on the rock since the reign of Malcol ...

at midnight and the subsequent fireworks and celebrations in

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

Jackie Bird Jacqueline Weir (née Macpherson, formerly Bird; born 31 July 1962) is a Scottish journalist and broadcaster, best known as a former anchor of the BBC Scotland's national news programme ''Reporting Scotland'' until April 2019. Since 2022, she h ...

and Phil Cunningham often hosted together each year but from 2008 until 2019 she solely presented the programme. Cunningham does still appear on the programme, though not as a host. Carol Kirkwood reported on the 2016 edition of the show live from Edinburgh Castle. The show currently is hosted live from The Old Fruitmarket,

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

. Until 2013, Bird was live from Edinburgh Castle or Princes Street, but the show's producers decided that it should take place in Glasgow permanently. In 2019, ''Hogmanay Live'' was rebranded to ''Hogmanay'' and since then, the programme has been pre-recorded. The current presenters are

Edith Bowman Edith Eleanor Bowman (born 1974) is a Scottish radio DJ and television presenter. She hosted '' Colin and Edith'', weekday afternoons, weekend breakfast, and ''The Radio 1 Review'' on BBC Radio 1 until 2014 and has presented a variety of music-r ...

and

Amy Irons Amy Irons (born 28 May 1991) is a Scottish radio and television presenter. She currently works as a news and sport presenter for BBC Scotland and also presents the mid-morning programme on Heart Scotland from 10am–1pm. After graduating in mult ...

History

1991–2018: ''Hogmanay Live''

The programme descended from BBC One's networked carriage of Hogmanay-themed variety specials on New Year's Eve from 1953 to 1985, such as '' The White Heather Club''. The specials introduced names such as

Jimmy Logan James Allan Short, Officer of the Order of the British Empire, OBE, RSAMD, FRSAMD (4 April 1928 – 13 April 2001), known professionally as Jimmy Logan, was a Scotland, Scottish performer, theatrical producer, impresario and Theatre director, ...

, Kenneth McKellar, Andy Stewart and

Moira Anderson Moira Anderson (born 5 June 1938) is a Scottish singer. Life and career Moira Anderson was born on 5 June 1938 in Kirkintilloch, Dunbartonshire, Scotland. She was educated at Lenzie Academy, She then attended the Royal Scottish Academy of Mus ...

to a national audience, although faced a mixed reception for their reliance on Scottish stereotypes. By the 1980s, the special had become largely perfunctory; BBC Scotland attempted to retool the special for 1984–85 with ''

Live into 85 ''Live into 85'' is a New Year's Eve television special that was broadcast by BBC1 on 31 December 1984. Broadcast from the Gleneagles Hotel near Auchterarder, Scotland and presented by the English comedian Tom O'Connor, the special was themed ...

'', but the production faced a number of setbacks and was poorly received by viewers. The BBC discontinued the national broadcasts, but continued to air the Hogmanay specials for viewers in Scotland.

1999: ''New Year Live''

In 1998–99, BBC One broadcast an adapted version of the special nationally under the title ''New Year Live'', marking the first networked broadcast of a Hogmanay special from BBC Scotland since the ill-fated ''Live into 85''. It was hosted by comedian Fred MacAulay and television presenter

Carol Smillie Carol Patricia Smillie (born 23 December 1961) is a Scottish former television presenter, actress and model. Smillie became famous as a presenter on British TV during the 1990s and early 2000s. She was best known for assisting Nicky Campbell on ...

from Edinburgh Castle and other locations, and featured a performance by

Duran Duran Duran Duran () are an English pop rock band formed in Birmingham in 1978 by singer Stephen Duffy, keyboardist Nick Rhodes and guitarist/bassist John Taylor (bass guitarist), John Taylor. After several early changes, the band's line-up settled ...

. Prior to broadcast, critics raised concerns that the BBC were "

anglicizing Anglicisation or anglicization is a form of cultural assimilation whereby something non-English becomes assimilated into or influenced by the culture of England. It can be sociocultural, in which a non-English place adopts the English language ...

" Hogmanay and downplaying its traditions, while Smillie conversely stated in a promotional interview that she thought

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a Religion, religious and Culture, cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by coun ...

was more important to her than the New Year. MacAulay made several off-colour jokes during the telecast (most of which surrounding Smillie having been named "

Rear of the Year Rear of the Year was a British award for celebrities who were considered to have attractive buttocks. It was created by publicity consultant Anthony Edwards in 1976. Initially, it was awarded only to women, but in 1986 the first award was made t ...

" for 1998), while the telecast was plagued by a number of technical issues (including mistimed returns from pre-recorded sketches that led to microphone gaffes). The stage was briefly invaded by a group of attendees wielding axes. The special was derided by local critics, who criticized MacAulay and Smillie's hosting, felt that its comedy sketches and musical acts were poor, and that the special presented a diluted and anglicized version of Hogmanay. Viewership was also lower in Scotland than the previous year's edition.

2019–present: ''Hogmanay''

In 2019, the format changed and ''Hogmanay Live'' was renamed to ''Hogmanay'' with the outgoing year added at the end, the first edition was presented by Calman, Clarke and Irons, and was not filmed live. The 2020 programme was again hosted by Calman and was pre-recorded without a studio audience due to

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

. It was announced that Stirling Council would team up with BBC Scotland to organise a firework display over the

Wallace Monument The National Wallace Monument (generally known as the Wallace Monument) is a tower on the shoulder of the Abbey Craig, a hilltop overlooking Stirling in Scotland. It commemorates Sir William Wallace, a 13th- and 14th-century Scottish hero. ...

and

Stirling Castle Stirling Castle, located in Stirling, is one of the largest and most historically and architecturally important castles in Scotland. The castle sits atop an Intrusive rock, intrusive Crag and tail, crag, which forms part of the Stirling Sill ge ...

which would be broadcast on the programme from midnight. The 2021 programme saw Calman axed from the presenting line-up and replaced by

and Amy Irons. Again, the programme was pre-recorded but for the first time, saw the return of a studio audience.

Broadcasts

The programme is broadcast throughout the United Kingdom on BBC One Scotland. BBC One's London celebration, '' BBC New Year's Eve specials'' is also available in Scotland via digital television as well as BBC Two's ''

Jools' Annual Hootenanny ''Jools' Annual Hootenanny'' is a TV show presented by Jools Holland and broadcast on New Year's Eve as an end-of-year special edition of his series '' Later... with Jools Holland'' on BBC Two in the United Kingdom since 1994. From the show's ...

'' with

Jools Holland Julian Miles Holland (born 24 January 1958) is an English pianist, bandleader, singer, composer and television presenter. He was an original member of the band Squeeze and has worked with many artists including Marc Almond, Jayne County, To ...

hosted the show every year from 1999 until 2018–19. Before then, it had various hosts.

In popular culture

The show was regularly lampooned in BBC Scotland's 1979–92 Hogmanay comedy sketch 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 Jo ...

'' (which was screened immediately before in the schedule), which usually involved

Rikki Fulton Robert Kerr "Rikki" Fulton (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 appearances ...

in a post-closing credits skit aimed directly at ''Hogmanay Live''. Since 1993 ''

Only an Excuse? ''Only an Excuse?'' is an annual Scottish comedy sketch show that was broadcast on BBC One Scotland on Hogmanay from 1993 to 2020. It starred the actor and comedian Jonathan Watson and featured impressions of some of Scottish football's great ...

'' has occupied the same schedule position and continued the parodies. During ''Hogmanay Live 2001'', one of presenter Jackie Bird's many costume changes included a small gold glittery top. Amid derision from the media, the top became one of the infamous moments of that year's programme and was auctioned off for charity during the BBC's

Children in Need ''BBC Children in Need'' is the BBC's UK Charitable organization, charity dedicated to supporting disadvantaged children and young people across the country. Established in 1980, the organisation has raised over £1 billion by 2023 through its ...

telethon later in the year.

References

External links

* * {{New Year 1991 Scottish television series debuts 2000s Scottish television series 2010s Scottish television series 2020s Scottish television series Annual television shows BBC Scotland television shows British television specials Hogmanay New Year's television specials