''Gary: Tank Commander'' is a

BAFTA The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA, ) is an independent trade association and charity that supports, develops, and promotes the arts of film, television and video games in the United Kingdom. In addition to its annual awa ...

award-winning Scottish

sitcom A sitcom (short for situation comedy or situational comedy) is a genre of comedy produced for radio and television, that centers on a recurring cast of character (arts), characters as they navigate humorous situations within a consistent settin ...

, written and created by Greg McHugh, and produced by the Comedy Unit. The show originated in 2008 as a one-off

pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its Aircraft flight control system, directional flight controls. Some other aircrew, aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are al ...

for

More4 More4 is a British free-to-air television channel, owned by Channel Four Television Corporation. The channel launched on 10 October 2005. Its programming mainly focuses on lifestyle and documentaries, as well as foreign dramas. Content The i ...

, under the title ''Gary's War''. A full series was subsequently commissioned and broadcast on

BBC Two Scotland BBC Two Scotland is a Scottish free-to-air television channel owned and operated by BBC Scotland as a variation of the BBC Two network. It was broadcast via digital television and was the sister Scottish channel of BBC One Scotland and Gaelic-l ...

in December 2009, with the programme moving to

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 ...

for the second series in January 2011. Originally broadcast in Scotland only, in the summer of 2011 the series received a UK-wide screening on

BBC Three BBC Three is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was first launched on 9 February 2003 with programmes for a 16 to 34-year-old target aud ...

. McHugh, who is also the screenwriter, plays the eponymous character, Gary McLintoch (the

tank A tank is an armoured fighting vehicle intended as a primary offensive weapon in front-line ground combat. Tank designs are a balance of heavy firepower, strong armour, and battlefield mobility provided by tracks and a powerful engine; ...

commander), a

corporal Corporal is a military rank in use by the armed forces of many countries. It is also a police rank in some police services. The rank is usually the lowest ranking non-commissioned officer. In some militaries, the rank of corporal nominally corr ...

in the fictional 104th Royal Tank Regiment of the

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

. He based the character on an old pal of his from Lochgilphead who was in the RAF, Big Stu Hutch. Filming for the third series began in April 2012.

Plot

Each episode is about the lives of Gary and his three British Army friends after they have returned home to

Callander Callander (; ) is a small town in the council area of Stirling (district), Stirling in Scotland, situated on the River Teith. The town is located in the historic county of Perthshire and is a popular tourist stop to and from the Highlands. De ...

from

military deployment Military deployment is the movement of armed forces and their logistical support infrastructure around the world. United States There are numerous groups within the military, these groups include (1) Army, (2) Navy, (3) Air Force, (4) Marine ...

s abroad. The first series follows the quartet's service in

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

, while the second takes place after their time in

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

Production

Locations

Filming locations have included

East Kilbride East Kilbride (; ), sometimes referred to as EK, is the largest town in South Lanarkshire in Scotland, and the country's sixth-largest locality by population. Historically a small village, it was designated Scotland's first "new town" on 6 Ma ...

's Territorial Army (TA) Centre, Walcheren Barracks in

Maryhill Maryhill () is an area in the north-west of Glasgow in Scotland. A former independent burgh and the heart of an eponymous local authority ward, its territory is bisected by Maryhill Road, part of the A81 road which runs for a distance of ro ...

, Garelochhead Training Camp and the

drill hall A drill hall is a place such as a building or a hangar where soldiers practise and perform military drills. Description In the United Kingdom and Commonwealth, the term was used for the whole headquarters building of a military reserve unit, ...

of the

Glasgow and Strathclyde Universities Officer Training Corps The University Officers' Training Corps (UOTC), also known as the Officers' Training Corps (OTC), are British Army reserve units, under the command of the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, which recruit exclusively from universities and focus on ...

Clydebank Clydebank () is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland. Situated on the north bank of the River Clyde, it borders the village of Old Kilpatrick (with Bowling, West Dunbartonshire, Bowling and Milton, West Dunbartonshire, Milton beyond) to the w ...

has also featured as the "town centre" (episodes 1 and 3) and a location in

Kirkintilloch Kirkintilloch (; ; ) is a town and a Burgh of Barony (The Baron of Kirkintilloch) in East Dunbartonshire, Scotland. It lies on the Forth and Clyde Canal and on the south side of Strathkelvin, about northeast of central Glasgow. Historically ...

was used for the

army camp scenes (apparently, a section of land and a human-made hole were employed), both appearing in the first season. The second series was again filmed at East Kilbride TA Centre and Maryhill, with

Cambuslang Cambuslang (, from ) is a town on the south-eastern outskirts of Greater Glasgow, Scotland. With approximately 30,000 residents, it is the 27th-largest town in Scotland by population, although, never having had a town hall, it may also be cons ...

's Dechmont ranges included. Locations also included the small village of

Milton of Campsie Milton of Campsie is a village formerly in the county of Stirlingshire, but now in East Dunbartonshire, Scotland roughly north of Glasgow. Nestling at the foot of the Campsie Fells, it is neighboured by Kirkintilloch and Lennoxtown. History T ...

, most notably the old railway line, used in the storyline that features the scattering of Gary's mother's ashes. For the second season's Afghanistan scenes, Hughes revealed in 2011 that filming was undertaken in Scotland.

Language

Most of the main characters, especially Gary, occasionally use Scots when speaking, giving rise to some humorous situations throughout the show. A notable example occurs in series 1, episode 3 ("The General"), when a visiting American

general A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

struggles to appropriately use the term " ken" ("know" or "understand"). The use of Scots has not hindered the accessibility of the show to a broader English-speaking audience.

Format

The original pilot was filmed as a

mockumentary A mockumentary (a portmanteau of ''mock'' and ''documentary'') is a type of film or television show depicting fictional events, but presented as a Documentary film, documentary. Mockumentaries are often used to analyze or comment on current event ...

, with interviews, archive news material,

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

-style videos and "

fly-on-the-wall Fly on the wall is a style of documentary-making used in film and television production. The name derived from the idea that events are seen candidly, as a fly on a wall might see them. In the purest form of fly-on-the-wall documentary-making, ...

" footage following Gary's return home from Iraq. For the series, the show moved towards a traditional sitcom format, although it retained the use of interspersed interviews and video clips.

Interviews

Each episode contains several scenes where Gary is interacting with an unseen interviewer regarding a topic from the respective episode. The interviews are usually composed of Gary's idle thoughts and they help viewers to understand Gary. Occasionally, words or phrases (but rarely complete sentences) are subtitled in these interviews for emphasis. These subtitles are often presented with the use of subtle

kinetic typography Kinetic typography—the technical name for "moving text"—is an animation technique mixing motion and text to express ideas using video animation. This text is presented over time in a manner intended to convey or evoke a particular idea or emo ...

Video clips

Each episode commences with a

-style video clip (with an accompanying time meter) showing the soldiers and their antics whilst in Iraq (series one) or Afghanistan (series two) and further segments are spread throughout the episode. The clips are usually independent of the episode's plot but display the soldiers' sense of humour, creativity with equipment and their boredom during deployment.

Running gags

* Gary's insistence on pretending to be a company's representative when answering the phone. * The

Officer Commanding The commanding officer (CO) or commander, or sometimes, if the incumbent is a general officer, commanding general (CG), is the officer in command of a military unit. The commanding officer has ultimate authority over the unit, and is usually giv ...

(OC)'s inability to finish a sentence or remember names. * Sergeant Thomson's

sycophancy In modern English, sycophant denotes an "insincere flatterer" and is used to refer to someone practising sycophancy (i.e., insincere flattery to gain advantage). The word has its origin in the legal system of Classical Athens, where it had a d ...

with the Officer Commanding. * Charlie stating trivial information, only to be told how boring he is. * Gary's occasional inability to understand jokes involving certain swear words. * Julie's incompetent driving. * Gary refusing to address the chef in the barracks by his real name (Jeff), preferring to refer to him as "Chef".

Main cast

List of episodes

Pilot (2008)

* ''Gary's War'': A 24-minute short film originally shown on

. Fresh back from a tour of duty in Iraq, Corporal Gary McLintoch returns to the Bannockburn housing estate he grew up in, as he recollects events from Iraq and gives his own unique take on the build-up to and aftermath of the Iraq War.

Series 1 (2009)

* Episode 1: ''Be the Best'': Gary returns from Iraq one day late after missing his connecting flight from

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

, and immediately gets posted to a recruiting stand in the Clydebank shopping centre. While he takes a break, Julie, Jacko's sister and the only person to welcome him back at the airport, comes looking for him and inadvertently signs up to join the army. * Episode 2: ''Green Gods'': The fire brigade goes on strike and the Army have to step in as a stop-gap using a vintage

Green Goddess The Green Goddess is the colloquial name for the RLHZ Self Propelled Pump manufactured by Bedford Vehicles, a fire apparatus, fire engine used originally by the Auxiliary Fire Service (AFS), and latterly held in reserve by the Home Office un ...

with out-of-date equipment. They long for the excitement of a call-out to break the monotonous job and test their firefighting abilities, but find it is their people skills which are not up to the task. * Episode 3: ''The General'': A US Army general visits under the pretext of examining the British Army in barracks, but is more interested in a free holiday and tracing his assumed Scottish roots. * Episode 4: ''The Great Debate'': Gary takes part in a debate about the Iraq War at the

University of St Andrews The University of St Andrews (, ; abbreviated as St And in post-nominals) is a public university in St Andrews, Scotland. It is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, oldest of the four ancient universities of Scotland and, f ...

against an anti-war student, organised by the OC's annoying brother. (The scenes set in the

were actually filmed in the

University of Glasgow The University of Glasgow (abbreviated as ''Glas.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals; ) is a Public university, public research university in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded by papal bull in , it is the List of oldest universities in continuous ...

.) * Episode 5: ''In the Field'': Gary agrees to help his father by buying a cooker for him and collecting it in the tank whilst on exercise. Despite the show's name, this is the first appearance of the tank (portrayed by an

Abbot Abbot is an ecclesiastical title given to the head of an independent monastery for men in various Western Christian traditions. The name is derived from ''abba'', the Aramaic form of the Hebrew ''ab'', and means "father". The female equivale ...

self-propelled gun) which Gary commands. * Episode 6: ''Stagging On'': Gary spends his birthday on guard duty. Charlie starts a rumour about himself. Guest appearance from Kevin Bridges. * Episode 7: ''Best of...'': Compilation episode broadcast over a year after episodes 1–6.

Series 2 (2011)

* Episode 1: ''Checkout'': The squad are returning from

but miss their flight. * Episode 2: ''Tank Goodness'': While transporting a tank back to the barracks, the boys defy orders by stopping off at a service station for a bit of breakfast, only to find the tank missing when they finish. A frantic search ensues. * Episode 3: ''Too Many Chefs'': Gary and the boys must help prepare an important dinner for the Captain, exasperated by a drunk Sergeant Thompson. * Episode 4: ''Mum's the Word'': Gary and his father are finding a suitable place to scatter the ashes of his mother. * Episode 5: ''Climate Control'': Gary and the boys patrol a Climate Control meeting which

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

is attending. They also run into big bunnies, which are actually people in rabbit suits. (This episode is currently not included on BBC iPlayer). * Episode 6: ''Star Wars'': Gary and his team take part in an audition to be the faces of an army recruiting advert, to get out of a stores-check, but all does not go smoothly.

Series 3 (2012)

* Episode 1: ''Shape Up'': Gary has to work on his fitness and chip addiction if he is to avoid failing a third fitness test which would result in his demotion. * Episode 2: ''Good Exercise'': While on a training exercise, Gary is offered a job by Captain Fanshaw which isn't all it is cracked up to be. * Episode 3: ''Bad Cammy'': After being framed for many acts Gary must confront his old nemesis and prove his innocence. * Episode 4: ''The Big Cuts Are the Biggest'': Gary shows an MP (guest star Jack Docherty) around after Sgt Thomson is injured, but fails to stick to the agenda. * Episode 5: ''Achtung Charlie'': Charlie decides to marry a German woman he has known for a day but Gary accidentally ruins the perfect marriage. * Episode 6: ''Spooky Dooky'': Gary's Halloween celebrations are overshadowed by a gypsy fortune-teller's ominous prediction.

Special (2016)

* Election Special: Gary's back and he wants to help everyone to get to know politicians: Nicola Sturgeon, Kezia Dugdale, Ruth Davidson, Willie Rennie, Patrick Harvie and David Coburn before the election.

Reception

Concerns arose regarding the show's portrayal of British Army soldiers and the offence it may cause Scottish viewers. McHugh subsequently dismissed these worries, stating that, "We hear lots about the death of troops, sadly, but we never hear about the more human side or the lighter side". The concerns were proven to be unfounded and the programme was re-commissioned by the BBC, thereafter returning for a second series.

References

External links

* {{BBC programme 2009 Scottish television series debuts BBC television sitcoms Iraq War in television Scots-language mass media Scottish television sitcoms Television shows set in Scotland War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) in popular culture 2000s British sitcoms 2010s British sitcoms 2012 Scottish television series endings 2016 in Scottish television British military television series Military comedy television series