Archives for August 2010

Delighted that Bob confronted Drew about the love letter, and Iona found out the truth. Drew's definitely not a wordsmith and he's far from being a charmer either, judging by his laddish chit-chat. The big man's confidence is taking giant leaps, but should he really grab the bull by the horns, take the chance and reveal the depth of his true feelings to her?

Our hearts when out to Bob when he failed to tell Iona how he really felt. And that song was so sweet - if you fancy hearing it again, and again, here you go.

You can see Tom himself performing the song 'Never Been Kissed' in this clip from The Hour. Read more about Tom Urie, and his childhood chum Gerard Butler, in The Daily Record's celebrity profile.

Aw, the heart melted when Jack made his romantic announcement, in front of all and sundry, in The Ship. We thought you'd like to see some pictures.

Jack takes aim.

And selects his target.

Nothing like a private dance in public.

Talk about an appreciative crowd!

Why don't you see if you can come up with some suitable captions for the photos?

Gordon's glower is priceless - he is not a happy camper.

If you went down to the River City tours this year in Dumbarton you were certainly in for a big surprise.

Two members of the cast had summer jobs as tour guides. Robbie and Hayley, aka Gary Lamont and Pamela Byrne, ditched their curling tongs in favour of showing members of the public around the streets and sets of Shieldinch.

Gary and Pamela studied together, on different courses, at Glasgow's RSAMD. Although they knew one another to see, it's only when they worked together regularly as hairdressers in River City's Just Gordon salon that they became bosom buddies on and off-screen.

'We got our very first job together, in James and the Giant Peach at the Citz,' Pamela said, 'and since then we've become great pals. Just as well, as we seem to do everything together.'

We caught up with the duo to get the low-down on life as a tour guide.



What happened on the tour when you and Gary turned up?

Pamela: 'Whenever Gary and I would walk in, or even more so when we'd walk in together, peoples' jaws would hit the floor. People were always so chuffed, because when you go on a tour you're told that you won't see any cast. We're probably the first cast members to do it. The people on the tour loved it and were so supportive'.

Gary: 'We kept the fact that cast members were doing tours a bit quiet.

When I turned up most people on the tours were a bit confused and thought it was a joke. I bet it was bit surreal!'

'The whole point of the tour is it's the River City set, it's our office, where we got to work every day. It is special though - so it's nice to step out of that and appreciate the River City set for what it is. And you can tell people all that you get up to - all your backstage tips'.

Did people call you by your own name or your character name?

Pamela: 'I would say to people at the start of the tour, 'My name's Pamela, but if you want to call me Hayley I don't mind!' When we went to the salon, people would say: 'I'm thinking about doing this with my hair, what do you think?' They were quite serious!' Do you think it would suit me?' I would tell the people on the tour - you can ask me anything about the characters but I can't talk to you about storylines. People would always ask me about Jack, even before the storylines went out'.

Gary: 'Most people did say: 'Oh, Robbie, Robbie!'. And I get folk saying to me every day in life 'What shall I do with my hair?' If I had a pound for every time someone said that to me I'd be more than a millionaire. What I usually say to them in response is, have you seen the state of my hair??''

The River City cast have time off over the summer. Have you been busy aside from doing the tours?

Pamela: 'I've been involved in a Fringe production in Edinburgh. The Lasses,O. It's a play about Robert Burns and the many women he knew. In another River City connection it was directed by David Paisley, who played Rory Murdoch'.

Together, they've also appeared in A Song, a Sip and a Sandwich, performing numbers from Chicago, Avenue Q and duetting in a number from the musical version of Legally Blonde.

It's purely coincidental that they've now been cast as best friends in River City and forged a close friendship. Gary: 'Pamela and I are now a bit of a double-act. Where I go she seems to pop her head up and vice versa.'

How kind of Robbie to pass along his boyfriend/stalker scraps to Scott. We nearly choked when Victor walked into The Ship. And we knew it was only a matter of time before Victor's trees make an appearance too. All this hassle to avoid Scott being cast as an old maid - but does he know what he's letting himself in for?

We're surprised Robbie didn't have better quality 'fake boyfriend' pickings for Scott. But should Scott bring a made-up plus-one to his best mate's wedding?

It's the first day of filming in Dumbarton. Graeme Gordon, the series producer of River City, tells us what's been going on today.

As the new series producer today was my first shooting day of series six. Everything has kicked off well with the cast and crew refreshed from the summer break in filming. There's a great energy about River City as everyone strives to continue to bring this local show to the 'box'. The only downside today was the weather. It rained. Then it kept raining. Apart from that great first day.

What's warm, cosy and flesh-toned? Need another clue?

These things live in the River City costume room, and Eileen will be getting to grips with them in the next few months. Yes, we're talking about the pregnancy 'bumps' which Deirdre has started wearing as her character adjusts to becoming an expectant mother.

By far the most intriguing items in the River City wardrobe room are the selection of costumes used to create the effect of a pregnancy. You immediately want to handle and squeeze the odd, skin-toned suits. They are also surprisingly lightweight.

Claire Pettifer, the costume designer on River City, let us in on some of the secrets behind the bumps.

Eileen's pregnancy wardrobe - tell us more.

Pregnancy costumes do depend on the actor's shape so they can vary quite a lot. When Eileen gets four/five months into her pregnancy, we use the first bump under her clothes. That's the stage that we're at now. After a while Eileen's bump will go up a stage.

How are the 'bumps' to wear?

The padded costumes are very warm and comfortable! For some reason people think the suits will be really heavy, but they are very cosy and soft to wear. Dressing in the suit is similar to carrying round a cocoon. They are fantastic costumes to wear in the winter when it's chilly on set.

With Heavenly Herbals taking shape the Shieldinch air is filled with the smell of bath oils. Ruth's pre-wedding girlie afternoon was crammed with goodies, and the sound of Fraser's sales pitch. He gets marks for cheekiness.

We thought we'd bring you a glimpse of one of Heavenly Herbal's gift sets.The show's art department worked furiously, filling the bottles with bath product, as they had many gift packs to create.

So we know Fraser's got issues, especially with his dad. With Joanne's knack for sensing troubled men you can be sure she caught a whiff of him a mile away.

Meanwhile, Theresa's ability to sniff out a scamming opportunity at forty paces can only mean one thing - dodgy deeds!

Jo's back! And she's getting bridal and carried away with wedding bells on sister Ruth's behalf. Actress Lisa Gardner made an appearance in the press talking about Jo's return to Shieldinch. In the articles she discussed what Jo's been up to after her break in Australia. Lisa shared her thoughts on her spoilt, selfish character in The Sunday Mail and The News of the World.

It's a busy time for Lisa. She makes an appearance in Rebus: Strip Jack, Radio 4's Saturday Play. The first half of the drama is on the iPlayer and you can listen to the concluding part on Radio 4 on Saturday 14 August at 1532.

Attract, flatter, manoeuvre - it seems Drew's tactics do work. But we all know it was Bob's charm which really worked a treat on Iona. We were so crushed on the big man's behalf. Why is love so complicated? Jack and Hayley are no doubt thinking the same thing...

Taking place on a submarine far below the Arctic Ocean, The Deep sounds like it has nothing in common with a Glasgow-set drama. However this BBC One series was filmed in Dumbarton earlier this year in the same studios as River City.

Neil Mac works as the Unit Manager at Dumbarton. It's his job to co-ordinate the people in control of BBC in-house and independent productions on site. So Neil helped the team from Tiger Aspect Productions, who produced The Deep, to work successfully at BBC Dumbarton.

Neil kindly filled us in on a production secret from The Deep. CGI was used to create many effects in the drama, as the story takes place far below the ocean surface. A submarine set was created for 'The Orpheus' in the studio. The team filled the entire space with a smoke effect, and cleverly lit the studio area surrounding it. Neil tells us when you peered out of the window of the 'submarine' it actually looked like you were underwater.

The Deep stars Minnie Driver, James Nesbitt and Goran Visnjic. It's on weekly on Tuesdays at 2100 on BBC One Scotland until the end of August. You can watch the show on iPlayer if you miss it. Goran talks about filming the show in Scotland and the special effects involved on the TV blog and in The Sunday Mail.

After meeting his dad, it's not hard to see how Lee's developed such problems. By the sounds of things, 'troubled' doesn't really do justice in describing his upbringing.

It was shocking that his exchange with his dad descended into a punch-up. With that kind of behaviour it looks like the Hope family will soon be appearing on Jeremy Kyle.

DJ Sassy Stella calling out on Radio Shieldinch! With her caustic disdain for 'middle class bleeding-hearters' she took no prisoners.

We weren't that surprised to see Charlie overcome with nerves in his radio debut - he may be adept with words but shyness appears to be at the root of his wobbly self-confidence. We'd love to hear Big Bob and Charlie crooning duets on community radio.

Which River City twosome could you imagine making radio magic together? We can hear Scarlett and Jimmy singing Thorn in my Side by Eurythmics, about Theresa obviously...