Archives for May 2009

This photo of Stephen (Bob) and Jayd (Nicki) is too good not to share! You'll see them like this on screen in a couple of weeks :)

OMG. I don't know what to say after that. There have been a fair number of tears shed over this episode - on camera and by colleagues watching it in the office. I am devastated for Raymond - will that man ever find happiness? I could hardly watch poor wee Iona's grief and there are plenty more tears to come.

I'm sorry to see Shona leave our screens - I think she's been brilliant - but what a way to go! Shieldinch weddings are clearly jinxed!

If it hadn't been for such a tragedy, I'd be jumping up and down and shouting at Lenny tonight. Just who does he think he is? Raymond BELONGS behind that bar. I hope he finds a way past the devious Mr Murdoch and his son. Ewan couldn't run a... well, you know....

What did you think of tonight's show?

There's a new spoiler online now so you don't have to wait until next Tuesday to find out what happens! Feel free to talk about it in the comments section below... please remember that not everyone likes to know what's coming up so let's just keep this to ourselves.

The streets of Shieldinch are eerily empty today. The cast and crew are now on a filming break for the summer (well, allegedly it's summer) and won't return to Dumbarton until August. There are just a few of us left rattling about, which is really strange after months of hectic shooting!

As usual when the crew is on a break, the show won't disappear from your screens. All the episodes you'll see over the next few months have already been filmed so you'll still get your weekly dose of drama from River City, every Tuesday from 2000 on BBC One Scotland :)

Samuel Robertson, who will soon appear in River City as new student Innes, will be on Radio Scotland on Friday, 22 May. Jim Gellatly popped down to the actual Oyster Cafe yesterday to meet Sam, the latest in a prestigious line of singers, actors and musicians all to be crowned a Dundee Hero on 'The Music Bed'. As soon as Jim found out the ex-Corrie actor was moving to Shieldinch, he was determined to track him down!

Tune in to BBC Radio Scotland from 2005 on Friday, 22 May, to hear Sam discussing his new role, his time in Coronation Street and working as an usher at the Dundee Rep. Or listen afterwards on the iPlayer!

Oh no!!!! As soon I knew Andy was coming back, I had high hopes for him and Ruth. He seemed so lovely in tonight's episode. However, Shieldinch wouldn't be the same without Ruth - I'd have been gutted if she'd gone to Dubai. Now how can we persuade the producers to create a really rich engineering firm in Shieldinch so that Andy gets a job there and Ruth is forced to realise they belong together?!

I started to feel sorry for Daniel when he was faced with opposition everywhere! I like his motives and I'm glad Marianne has finally realised she should be on his side.

I must be in a very sympathetic mood tonight but it's impossible not to feel sorry for Jimmy! Working for Bob was a disaster from the start but there must be *something* he's good at! In a bid to help Jimmy, I've conducted some intense research/asked around the office for ideas. Together, we've come up with the following suitable jobs: entertainer, therapist, plumber, Samaritan or postman. I do hope he takes our advice.

There's a new spoiler on the website, revealing more about Raymond and Shona's wedding day! You'll find it on the Spoilers page.

A number of stories appeared in the press over the weekend, revealing incoming characters, guest appearances from old favourites, and some future storylines. Please bear in mind that these contain spoilers! Feel free to discuss them using the comments section below.

Sunday Mail story 1.

Sunday Mail story 2.

News Of The World story.

Don't forget you can find more spoilers on the Spoilers page.

Four new hairdressers will arrive in Shieldinch in June. Sandy Welch (The Karen Dunbar Show, Rebus) will play Gordon Swan. He's already been spotted briefly in River City but this time he'll be hanging around for a while. His right hand man is Jack Paterson, played by John Comerford (Hallam Foe, High Times) who actually owns a Glasgow hairdressing salon in real life! Newcomers Pamela Byrne and Gary Lamont will also join as Hayley and Robbie.











Some old favourites are popping back to Shieldinch over the summer! Joyce Falconer (Roisin), William Ruane (Brian), Katie McEwen (Della) and Jimmy Yuill (Scott's dad, Rev John Wallace) will all make guest appearances.









Visit the Spoilers page to read about their summer stories and some more exciting reveals.

A new TV trail promoting River City will be shown on BBC One Scotland and BBC Two Scotland from tomorrow night (Saturday, 16 May)! It's scheduled to be shown between Reporting Scotland and the first of the Eurovision programmes but, as with all things connected with live TV, that could change. Check out the online TV schedule. It'll appear periodically until Tuesday, 26 May.

I'll put the trail on the website on Monday so don't despair if you miss any of the showings this weekend. I can't possibly tell you what story it's promoting. Oh, go on then, two words: Raymond and Shona.

Our very own Chris Brazier (aka Ewan Murdoch) took one for the team yesterday when he took part in the judging panel for Miss Scotland 2009. It was a tough job but he coped admirably and I'm sure some of his co-stars are extremely jealous! Sat alongside the likes of Ultimo boss Michelle Mone and the outgoing Miss Scotland Stephanie Willemse, Chris helped crown Dunblane's Katharine Brown as our next representative at Miss World.

"I had a fantastic night and I'm delighted Katharine has won. I think she'll be a brilliant Miss Scotland. It was a great show - the performance from The Saturdays was definitely one of my highlights!"

Now that the messageboard has closed, we hope you'll enjoy commenting on the Backstage Blog. If you were a member of the messageboard you can can add your comments to our blog posts and it's easy for new users to sign up and join in. To comment, just click on 'comment' underneath a blog post. It'll prompt you to sign in, accept the terms and conditions (if you haven't done so already), and have your say! Posts on the blog are reactively-moderated and please do make sure you're aware of the House Rules.





If you prefer messageboard chat, then Sarah will welcome you over on the Points Of View messageboard. River City has its own thread over there which you may like to bookmark. It's a busy board! Again, members of the old River City messageboard can use their existing logins for this. Now that the show's on iPlayer anyone in the UK can watch it so you could help spread the word and entice PoV users to Shieldinch!







There's a River City thread on Digital Spy's forum. Over on Facebook, there are two places to chat with fans: the River City group and the River City Fan page. Neither of these are official BBC pages but could be a great place for Facebook users to chat about the show. We are looking into other social networking places and more modern, progressive ways for interaction. As soon as anything new is announced, we'll post links here. Please note that the BBC is not responsible for the content of external websites.

Isn't it nice to see Shona and Raymond back and ready to wed? This will be Raymond's fourth wedding and Shona's fifth! That's impressive even by soap standards.

And Lenny's selling the pub! Great timing. I'd love to see those two behind the bar together... to see them happy with the pub and a baby would be fantastic.

It was really interesting to find out more about Jimmy but I can't quite figure out what I think of Kid. He was amusing but I'm already pleased to see the back of him - who would put money in an oven?! I'm pleasantly surprised that Scarlett recovered so quickly from the trauma :)

Three young students will soon be arriving in Shieldinch! Innes Maitland, Charlie Bowie and his sister Jennifer will appear on screen in June. Innes is played by Samuel Robertson, who previously played Adam Barlow in Coronation Street, and newcomers Ryan Smith and Lorna Craig play Charlie and Jennifer.







Samuel said, "I'm having an amazing time filming River City. Innes is a very cool, confident character and he's a lot of fun to play."

Ryan Smith added, "I'm delighted to have landed a part in River City. I'm due to graduate from Glasgow's RSAMD in July, so this is a great opportunity for me."

Read a bit more about their characters over on the Spoilers page.

What I can't tell you right now is where they're going to be living... you'll need to keep watching to find out!

Music fans will recognise the incoming cowboy who's set to cause a ruckus in Shieldinch next Tuesday, 12 May. He's played by Tam White who's best known as a blues musician but has appeared on screen in productions such as Braveheart, Eastenders and Man Dancin'. If you want to find out who the mysterious cowboy is and what he gets up to, visit the Spoilers page.

The actor who plays Eileen's new love interest, Alex Judd, is new to Shieldinch but you'll be very familiar with his sister. Brian McCardie, as seen in Lilies, The Damned United, Rob Roy, Low Winter Sun etc., is the brother of Sarah McCardie aka evil Sharon McLaren! And their brother Martin is one of the show's writers!

Read an interview with Brian over on the Sunday Mail website. Watch out for the sparks developing between Alex and Eileen.

Talking of family connections, the sexy model Fiona who set her sights on Deek last night is Joy McAvoy, sister of James. This is what she has to say about her stint in Shieldinch: "I had a great time filming River City. The script was very funny - although I felt really sorry for Bob. Stephen Purdon and Gordon McCorkell made Jamielee and myself feel really welcome on set, they were such nice guys and great to work with."

It's a small world, isn't it?

Well, I wonder if Deek resolved his little problem! That Fiona was fiesty... just what Deek needs. I hope she sticks around. Maybe she has some more eligible friends for Bob.

I felt really sorry for Ewan tonight but Sammi is clearly not the right woman for him. I hope he finds something else to interest him soon so he can stop moping about! I'd like to see him propose to someone else. Iona! He could propose to Iona. She'd keep him on his toes.

And as for Eileen and Alex... well, it's been a while since we saw her with a man (a very young man in the shape of Liam) but these two seem to be well suited. However, I can't help thinking this new councillor is full of smarm, rather than charm...

If the 'coming up' page isn't enough for you and the video preview leaves you wanting more, then you may like the Spoilers page, which has just been updated and tells you all the juicy gossip about next week's show :)