'Fresh Meat' cast complete Red Nose Day 'University Challenge'
The cast of Channel 4's Fresh Meat have completed their 'University Challenge' to raise money for Comic Relief's Red Nose Day.
Greg McHugh,
Kimberley Nixon, Jack Whitehall, Joe Thomas and Zawe Ashton spent a day
on the 'Banter Bus' travelling to five universities, taking part in a
variety of tasks including a darts competition, lecturing, tricycle
racing and bar tending.
It
wasn't all plain sailing, with McHugh, Nixon, Whitehall and Ashton
having to cancel planned trips to Sheffield and Manchester due to
traffic. They then picked up the pace and travelled to Nottingham, where
Thomas joined the group.
Later they headed to Loughborough,
where they helped students raise money by assisting in 'dares',
including head shaving, leg waxing and chilli eating.
Scots actor Greg McHugh: Gary Tank Commander won't be back.. for now
Greg McHugh says writing the hit show on his own is draining and now he's taking a break from it as his acting career takes off in other directions.
Gary Tank Commander set
Gary: Tank Commander creator Greg McHugh is putting his hit comedy
creation back on civvy street – because his acting career has taken off
like a rocket.
Three months after the end of the gaffe-prone
squaddie’s third campaign, the show’s writer and star has admitted there
are no plans for any more military manoeuvres.
The Edinburgh
actor said: “There are no plans from me or the BBC for another series of
Gary at this stage. I’d say it was unlikely.
“I’m busy with Fresh
Meat and the possibility of working with other companies. And I am keen
to explore other people’s work and writing for a while.
“When you’re writing a series like Gary by yourself, you write for three-quarters of the year. It’s draining.”
Gary Tank Commander
Greg has been making waves in Channel 4 hit Fresh Meat and offbeat BBC4 comedy Bob Servant Independent, which stars Brian Cox.
He’ll also be on screens this spring in a new Channel 4 comedy drama.
And
Fresh Meat has won praise from Friends producer Jeff Greenstein after
being shown on US station Hulu. While it’s all good news for the
32-year-old, it’s bad news for fans of his daft soldier.
And Greg
admitted that poor treatment at the hands of BBC3 bosses – who
grudgingly aired Gary in late-night double bills – holed his high hopes
for the show.
Greg said: “If we had done what Mrs Brown’s Boys has
done and we were taking over the world, maybe I’d have more enthusiasm
for it.
“If you don’t break through, your motivation is going to dip.
“I
still love Gary and have enjoyed writing for it. I don’t think you can
ever do everything you want to, but I have made it known that I’d like
to do a Christmas special. That’s up to the powers that be.”
Meanwhile,
Greg will take part in a masterclass with two of his Fresh Meat
co-stars at Glasgow’s GFT for the city’s film festival next Friday. Bob Servant Independent is on BBC2 tonight at 10pm and on BBC4 on Wednesday at 10pm.
Source (including photos): Daily Record
Fresh Meat: The Movie
Channel 4′s Fresh Meat is following The Inbetweeners to the cinema.
All the original cast including Jack Whitehall, Greg McHugh, Zawe
Ashton, Joe Thomas and Kimberley Nixon are expected to sign up for the
big screen version.
The Sun reports there are also plans for a Fresh Meat spin-off which would follow the girls as they graduate and move to London.
Source: Showbiz Geek
Greg McHugh Stands up for Scotland
Made for 4 Extra. Greg McHugh, star of Gary Tank Commander and Fresh
Meat, introduces some of his favourite Scottish comedy with Armando
Iannucci, Ronnie Corbett and more.
Greg McHugh is one of the rising stars of
British Comedy. He wrote and starred in the award-winning Gary Tank
Commander and appears as Howard the Scottish geology student in Fresh
Meat. Here, he introduces some of his favourite Scottish funny men and
women in a personal selection of features, conversations and sitcoms.
Greg’s choices include:
Take an
Englishman and a Scotsman - Graeme Garden is joined by Elaine C Smith,
Colin Gilbert, David Quantick, Hardeep Singh Kohli to ponder the
north/south divide of comedy style and inspiration.
When the Dog
Dies: Ronnie Corbett plays the long-suffering head of a dysfunctional
family, trying to live out his golden years in peace, along with his
trusted mutt Henry.
Armando Iannucci: The Radio Scotland Years -
The award winning satirist talks about and plays some examples of his
early comedy efforts on BBC Radio Scotland.
Fags, Mags & Bags
- the Scottish shopkeeper Ramesh causes havoc by installing a slush
puppy machine in his corner shop. This episode stars Greg McHugh as
astrologer Keith Futures.
Laughing In All the Right Places -
Janey Godley talks to presenter Jo Caulfield about how her
‘Scottishness’ makes her stand out in the comedy crowd.
Hiya Pal -
presenter Janice Forsyth pays tribute to the late Gerard Kelly, with
contributions from Ricky Gervais, David Hayman, and Craig Ferguson.
Greg McHugh: The man behind Gary, Tank Commander by Steven Brocklehurst,BBC Scotland news
Gary dispenses wisdom on war, life and cheesy pasta
Greg McHugh is a rising
comedy star who has had a busy year, writing and taking the lead in cult
series Gary, Tank Commander as well as playing alongside Jack Whitehall
in Channel Four's student comedy Fresh Meat.
Edinburgh-born comedy actor Greg McHugh knew that his
creation had caught the public imagination when people started tweeting
pictures of themselves dressed up for Halloween as Gary, Tank Commander.
With his army fatigues, orange fake tan and trademark quiff, Gary is easy to copy.
Add to that the camp gestures, wide-eyed, childlike innocence
and surreal flights of fancy - such as why there is not a vegetable
brand called "world peas" - and you have a character much-imitated by
teenage fans.
You know you have started something beyond your control when people shout "cheesy pasta" at you in the street, McHugh tells Stark Talk on BBC Radio Scotland.
"I've had a guy whisper it in my ear and then walk away, which was quite creepy," he says.
It is a reference to a much-loved scene when Gary recounts his disgust at there being "ni cheesy pasta" on his return from serving in Iraq.
"To Gary, cheesy pasta not being available in the supermarket
is really the same as some dreadful atrocity in a war," says McHugh.
McHugh also plays Howard in Fresh Meat
"He's kind of simple but not stupid. He's not the brightest but he's loveable."
The comedy comes from McHugh's portrayal of Gary - with an
infectious enthusiasm and an adorable daftness - which has won him many
fans, even among squaddies.
Part of the comedy is the accent.
"It's based on a few people," says McHugh.
"It's a real accent that I'd heard on buses in Edinburgh. He's kind of based on a real voice."
There was also a suggestion it could have been based on a guy
who sold pizzas at Stirling University, where McHugh studied business.
"There's no one specific person, there's little bits of other people," he says.
The third series of Gary, Tank Commander will be the last
It is certainly not McHugh's true spoken voice, which is a far softer Edinburgh brogue.
That does not stop people constantly calling him Gary and getting him mixed up with his character.
McHugh says: "On the one hand it's a brilliant compliment.
But I am really quite different from Gary and when people meet they are
genuinely disappointed."
The third series of Gary, Tank Commander recently ended on BBC Scotland, as well as getting a network airing.
However, McHugh does not think he will make any more.
He says: "It is very easy to fall into that safety net of
doing Gary as long as I can milk it but I don't really want to do that.
"Hopefully we would do a Christmas special at some point. I would consider that." Serious business
The 32-year-old comedian has lived with the comic creation for longer than the three series would suggest.
Gary began life as character in McHugh's stand-up show at The Stand in Edinburgh.
It was later made into a 10-minute sketch for E4 before
becoming a show called Gary's War for More4, which won the Scottish
Bafta in 2008.
BBC Scotland took it as a mainstream sitcom and cut down the satirical content in favour of camp surrealism.
McHugh says far more effort goes into its silliness than people appreciate.
"Comedy is a very serious business," he says.
"The amount of detail in making a joke work is immense."
He says writing is a "dreadful stress" and he finds it
infuriating when something he has written does not work as he thinks it
should.
An appreciation of how much effort is involved in writing has made him "quite picky" about what he chooses to do.
But he has just finished appearing as Howard in the second
series of Fresh Meat, created by Peep Show writers Sam Bain and Jesse
Armstrong.
McHugh says: "With Fresh Meat the scripts are so good and so
well-written and the character is so clear and fresh and I enjoy doing
it so much that when I get scripts that aren't up to that standard I
don't want to do them."
He adds: "I've turned down quite a few things."
"I might be mad but I don't want to do things I'm not proud of."
As Gary would say: "May the forces be with you."
Source (including photos): BBC Scotland News
Edi Stark talks to Greg McHugh, aka Gary Tank Commander, about his life and what has influenced his own brand of comedy.
Availability: 2 days left to listen
Duration: 30 minutes
First broadcast: Tuesday 04 December 2012
Listen now at BBC Radio Scotland
Breast cancer awareness campaign breaks government’s online records
A shock new health advert featuring women's breasts has
outperformed a major campaign to promote the Scottish Homecoming, new
figures have shown.
The Homecoming
advert - part of a multi-million campaign - had previously been the
most successful ever to be commissioned by the Scottish Government with
almost 112,000 views.
But the Detect Cancer Early drive starring actress and comedian Elaine C Smith has smashed previous records to become a chart topper on YouTube.
A total of 125,048 people have viewed the video to date which carries the message that lumps are not the only sign of cancer.
The campaign is predominantly aimed at women over the age of 55, as this is the group most at risk of developing breast cancer.
Video statistics from YouTube show that men aged 45–54 years have
been the most likely group to watch the advert online so far, followed
by men aged 35–44 and then women aged 45–54 years.
Brian Coane, accounts partner from The Leith Agency, who made the
advert, said: "The campaign was developed to get the attention of a
female audience. And the first thing that we want the campaign to do is
to help women spot the signs and symptoms of breast cancer.
“But cancer is something that affects many people, male and female.
So we hope that the message of 'Don't get scared, get checked' is one
that people want to pass on, especially through word of mouth."
Official government figures show that there were 1,024 cases of breast cancer in women in Greater Glasgow and Clyde in 2010 and five cases in men.
Launched earlier this year, the Detect Cancer Early campaign aims to
increase the early detection of cancer by a quarter by 2015 and save 300
lives across Scotland.
Speaking about the creative process behind the advert Phil Evans,
copywriter from The Leith Agency, said: “We always felt that showing
real breasts, with real symptoms, would make for a powerful advert.
“And that's when we hit on the idea of cards being held up over the
chest. We thought that if we could get a high-profile woman to go
topless and hold them up so that it looked like they were her breasts,
this would instantly grab the viewer's attention.
“Full-frontal naked breasts had never been seen in an advert before,
but we thought if ever there was a time when this could be appropriate,
it was now - for this campaign.
“There was something about Elaine that we thought women in Scotland
would relate to. And when we found out she'd lost her own mum to breast
cancer, it was never going to be anyone else.
“When I thought about what she should say while holding the cards, I
felt it was important to reflect her personality and warm people to the
information by making a joke at the start of the advert.
“That's where the ‘Three kids later ones’ line came in. It shows this
is about real women with real breasts. This honesty set the tone for
the whole advert. It is a straightforward, honest appeal to the women of
Scotland.
“I'm absolutely over-the-moon with the reaction. As Elaine put it
when she had a wee teary moment during filming, ‘If it prevents one
death from breast cancer it was all worth it’.”
The average survival rate for cancer has doubled in the past 30
years, and half of all people diagnosed with the disease now survive for
at least five years.
Between 1986 and 2010, the survival rate of those being diagnosed
with cancer across NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde has increased by 17%.
Responding to the success of the campaign, Health Secretary Alex Neil
says that the “upfront and honest” advert has made a bold step in
tackling breast cancer survival rates head-on.
He said: “One in nine women in Scotland will be diagnosed with breast
cancer in their lifetime, highlighting the gravity of this disease and
the importance of staging a public health campaign that directly
addresses the awareness of symptoms.
“We needed to give women across Scotland the confidence to deal with
breast cancer and to recognise the potential visual signs and symptoms
of the disease.
“The creative route is a UK first by showing real pictures of women’s
bare breasts with visible signs of breast cancer in a television
advert.
“It has drawn widespread, positive responses across the nation that
have helped to galvanise conversation around the topic of breast
awareness.
“The Scottish Government is proud to have introduced this
groundbreaking campaign which we believe will help pave the way to
improve the health of generations of Scottish women to come.”
Following in the footsteps of Elaine C Smith, a group of celebrities
have since joined together to make an online spin-off video and help
reinforce the Detect Cancer Early campaign messages.
Featuring Kaye Adams, Tom Kitchin, Clare Grogan, Michelle McManus,
Amanda Hamilton, Grant Stott, Phil Kay and Greg McHugh, the celebs are
hopeful that the light-hearted approach, which has had over 10,000 views
so far, will strike a chord with the public.
Kaye Adams said: “I think the tone of the advert is just right. The
important thing in any media campaign is to make a connection and a
lasting impression. A stern 'in one ear and out the other' message is no
good to anyone.
“Scots respond to humour, they enjoy humour and remember it and if it
can help them take on board an important message, then it is doing its
job.
“I thought the original advert was inspiring from the off. It caught
my attention immediately and drove me online to look at it again. Elaine
is the perfect choice, she is known for her humour but also her
intelligence and integrity.”
'Gary: Tank Commander' - Series 3 - 6. 'Spooky Dooky'
Hallowe'en
is a big deal on the barracks and the boys are determined to
successfully defend their dooking for apples trophy. Gary goes with
Julie to see a fortune teller, who gives Gary a spooky and terrifying
prediction. All seems fine back at the barracks as Jacko and Charlie
train Mickey up for his dooking debut, but Gary starts to panic as the
prediction starts to come true. It takes the lure of a massive trophy to
get Gary to the Hallowe'en party, but once there he comes face to face
with the terrifying conclusion to the prediction.
Fresh Meat: behind-the-scenes pictures from series two Source: Telegraph
Fresh Meat stars reveal second series secrets - with catch up video for each character
Check out the videos for superb recaps of what happened to TV's funniest students in the first series of Fresh Meat - but be warned, there are a few rude words Source: Mirror
Fresh Meat series 2 episode 1 review Despite its promising pedigree, Jake finds Fresh Meat's series two opener wanting...
This review contains spoilers. Source: Den of Geek
'Fresh Meat' Greg McHugh teases series two: 'Howard may get action' Much like its characters when they stepped into that grotty student
house for the first time, we weren't entirely sure what to expect when Fresh Meat hit our screens last year. I mean, hadn't we seen enough dirty teen comedies already? But
by the end of its eight-week run on Channel 4, we wanted to be best
friends with the likes of Kingsley (Joe Thomas), JP (Jack Whitehall) and
especially Peking duck-drying Scottish oddball Howard, played to
perfection by Greg McHugh. As anticipation for the second series of Fresh Meat reaches dangerous levels, Digital Spy caught up with McHugh to ask what's coming up in the new episodes, whether he's a fan of The Inbetweeners and how the success of Whitehall's Bad Education has gone down with the team...
So what can we expect in Fresh Meat series two? "Howard
gets a part time job at an abattoir, which was a lot of fun to do,
though under the lights it was pretty disgusting and sinking because it
was real meat." Sounds horrific. "Oh yeah. I mean we didn't kill any animals on set or anything." What else is there? "Potentially
Howard may get a bit of action, a bit of lady action, finally. It's
been a long couple of years for Howie in that regards so, yeah, it'll be
interesting to see how he gets seduced or seduces the lady. It'll be
good fun. "What else? Howard tries his hand at being a sleuth.
There's a crime in the house and Howard's responsibility is to solve
that. He does his own investigation into the crime, which was a lot of
fun indeed." In the first series there were a few flings between the Fresh Meat characters; can we expect any of those old romances to reignite in series two? "I think what I can say about old housemate romances is that this year they become even more complicated." Josie (Kimberley Nixon) and Kinglsey are meant to be, aren't they? "I
couldn't possibly confirm or deny that. Let's just say that storyline
is not straightforward. I think they probably are meant to be together
in a romantic Dawson's Creek way, but it doesn't quite work like that." Anticipation for the second series of Fresh Meat
has been huge; we get readers writing in about it all the time. Did you
and the rest of the team feel a lot of pressure to live up to
expectations? "We invest very heavily as individuals in the
show when we're performing, but the pressure ultimately is on the
writers. We do feel the pressure, but once we got the scripts and saw
how good they are for series two that pressure is reduced. "When
you're doing the show you just enjoy the scripts. The scripts are
brilliant this year - they were brilliant last year as well, but they've
really been written for us this year. There is pressure, but I love
doing it and I think that's a good sign." Read more at Digital Spy Interview with Greg McHugh of 'Fresh Meat' This term Howard enters the job market and takes rather enthusiastically to his new position working with animals...
Says Greg McHugh: "Howard has reached the point of
financial uncertainty so he has managed to get himself a very Howard
like job part time at the abattoir which comes with certain perks of the
job. Those perks are gruesome and real and I had to deal with those
perks on set under hot lights. No, we didn't kill animals but had to
deal with off cuts and if you have to keep redoing a scene or forget
your lines that meat heats up and trust me it is not fresh meat... "I basically had rotting flesh in my hands. I don't
even think anyone even asked me if I was a vegetarian...someone asked if
I could play the violin but not whether I minded handling lumps of meat
on a hot set. The professional that I am I don't think I mentioned how
disgusting it was more than 10 times a day..."
What do learn about Howard this series? "We learn that he is a bit of a part time
Marple...The house gets robbed and Howard investigates the crime; takes
responsibility for discovering who the culprit is. Turns out he is a bit
of sleuth. He also turns out to be a lothario - well, more of a lady
man, not ladies. Howard may well get a bit of action, which will come as
no surprise to many as he is a very attractive man."
In fact Greg gets a lot of comment from fans on Howard's dress sense. "People love his jumpers. That was probably the main
thing I was asked about on Twitter last year - 'Where does Howard buy
his knitwear?' June Nevin, our costume designer, does a top job."
There are two new faces in the house this term, how does Howard deal with them? "Of the two new characters, one is a mature student
who Howard has more in common with. Sabine is straight talking and
Howard, in his own way, is fairly to the point as well so they get on
quite well. Heather meanwhile is entangled with Kingsley and Howard has
no common ground with her so he doesn't really get involved. "Howard does feel genuinely quite close to his fellow
housemates after last term. At various points throughout the series
they support each other and there are some more caring moments - broken
by humour of course. I think that because as a cast we really get on
well this translates on screen. "Howard feels closer to them than he ever has to his
contemporaries before but will they all continue to live together in the
future? He has various, slightly repressed, emotional responses to his
housemates but he does try to tell them how much he cares in Howard
language..."
What Howard does love is his studies. Greg explains: "Howard does genuinely love geology
and as part of that he has his eye on a job with BP. That doesn't quite
go to plan at the job fair as BP have a view of what kind of young
student they'd like to recruit and it is not really Howard. They're
after recruits who are smarter in appearance and Howard has managed to
get abattoir substance on his jumper which doesn't really impress them."
And on the subject of his attire, this term Howard decides to give himself a makeover... "I think inevitably at university you become aware of
other groups and start to think 'how can I improve my standing in the
social hierarchy of student life?' Howard loses confidence in himself
and decides a new look would improve his chances with the ladies and in
general make him a cooler person. So he goes out to choose what he
perceives to be cool new clothes... "I love Howard and I think he works because of the
quality of the writing and also freedom from the brilliant directors to
interpret lines. It is my job to find as much appeal in Howard as I
can. With any three dimensional character as well written as this you
can still add the little details of human life that make them more
interesting."
One of Greg's favourite filming experiences this year
was the geology field trip which saw him, Jack Whitehall and Joe Thomas
spending time in the Pennines. "Oh my god we were released into the wild! The
Pennines are stunning and it also coincided with the best weather we had
all year. It was marvellous to be allowed out of the studio, which has
no natural light at all, and into the fresh air. "There is something about being in an inspiring spot
which just gets the best out of people. We had a stunt guy there to
work with Joe and I but being real men we never actually used the stunt
mat. We just fell onto the grass and the rolled about in the ferns. It
was like that scene from Women in Love where Oliver Reed and Alan Bates
wrestle naked - except we were wearing hiking gear..." Fresh Meat returns to Channel 4 on Tuesday 9th October at 10pm. Don't forget to check out Fresh Meat House which
will launch 9th October directly after transmission of the first
episode on Channel 4. Go to www.channel4.com/freshmeathouse for a tour of the student digs and to watch exclusive content released at the end of each episode. Fresh Meat House is a new commission from Channel 4's Education team who have a focus on life skills for young people Source: Channel 4
Garelochhead plays starring role in Gary: Tank Commander The stunning hillside setting of Garelochhead is once again playing centre stage in a popular BBC comedy. The village’s training camp is the set for filming of Gary: Tank
Commander, written by Greg McHugh, which was back on our screens for a
third series last Monday night.
Crew from the programme visited a host of sites across Scotland looking for the ideal spot for filming. Garelochhead proved to be the best set for Gary, a corporal in the fictional 104th Royal Tank Regiment of the British Army .
Series director Noddy Davidson said: “It’s the best looking camp
that we looked at and we looked at an awful lot when we first came to do
the first series. We had seen so many and they just weren’t right.
Thankfully it just so happened that the locations manager knew of Garelochhead.”
The site is used for all of the exterior shots and features in all but one of the episodes in the current series, series three.
Noddy continued: “For six weeks, we were filming for six episodes.
During that time, we must have shot about eight days at Garelochhead. “Although the exterior shots are done there, the mess hall where
Gary and the boys meet is somewhere else and there are other places we
use as well. It all kind of fits together and nobody notices. “Whenever there are views outside it’s great because Garelochhead looks brilliant. “The only problem is it’s very rare we have a nice day. “Last week’s episode we shot in July and it was absolutely freezing.
We had a guest actor Ben McGregor who had to wear a training
instructor’s vest he was so cold. We look right over the naval base and
apparently the base was put there because it’s the place with the most
cloud cover in the country. “Garelochhead basically gets more rain than anywhere else in the country.”
And Noddy tells how the camp doesn’t stop operating while the sitcom is in town.
“It’s always a surprise to go up and see who we are sharing it with. “We are often having to halt filming for helicopters coming in or
police up there doing target practice. You can sometimes hear gun fire
in the distance.”
Fresh Meat series two launch date revealed Channel 4's university sitcom also gets a new addition to the student house and a website offering a peek inside JP and co's bedrooms...
Student housemates JP, Josie, Kingsley, Vod,
Oregon and Howard will return to Channel 4 for series two of university
sitcom Fresh Meat on Tuesday 9 October, RadioTimes.com has learned.And the Bafta-nominated comedy starring Jack Whitehall,
Joe Thomas, Kimberley Nixon, Greg McHugh, Zawe Ashton and Charlotte
Ritchie also adds a new face to the already eclectic mix of the student
house.
"There is a new arrival in the house this term -
'a foreigner' to mess with their vibe," says executive producer Judy
Counihan, adding: "Kingsley has a new girlfriend who happens to be
Josie’s best friend, Vod has to get a job, Oregon finds true love and
Howard and JP discover true friendship."
Meanwhile, fans who fancy a glimpse of JP’s Google search history, or
a sneak peek at Josie’s emails, should prepare to log on to Fresh Meat
House following the first episode of the new series. Launching immediately afterwards at www.channel4.com/freshmeathouse,
the website will give fans the chance to immerse themselves in the
university houseshare experience, letting them explore the student's
squalid bedrooms for sordid insights into their lives. It also aims to offer "genuine advice and support" to real-life
students through interactive online tools such as Josie’s collection of
Student Union leaflets, Vod’s spectacularly skewed budget calculator and
weekly advice from morose counsellor Nadine.
Though currently in the middle of filming scenes with Hollywood star
and fellow Scot Brian Cox, actor and comedian Greg McHugh has one thing
on his mind - the new series of Gary Tank Commander.
Back for season three, episode one has already
seen Gary waging his own Battle of the Bulge, when a failed fitness
test threatened him with demotion. Thankfully our hero lived to fight
another day and writer and star McHugh assures us there’s plenty more
laughs to come.
“Gary is going to be put in control of some rather
important scenarios, which is, of course, the worst possible situation
for him to be in - not that he realises that himself. “There’s
one episode where an MP - played by the brilliant Jack Docherty - comes
to visit the barracks at a time when budget cuts are being considered.
Sergeant Thompson is meant to be showing him around, but gets injured,
leaving Gary in charge of this crucial, crucial visit.” And there are also some surprises in store, with a “shocking” event in the last episode of the season. “I
can’t wait for it to be on, it’s probably my favourite so far,”
promises McHugh. “It’s set at Halloween and the costume department did a
brilliant job of making us all look idiotic. “My costume
especially is extremely unflattering, but it will probably raise the
biggest laugh of the series. That episode has potentially one of the
most dramatic moments too. It’s super-frightening - I think people might
be quite shocked. But I’m saying no more - they’re just going to have
to wait and see.”
Three years on from the show’s BBC debut, McHugh still can’t believe the response it has received.
“I
get tweets all the time from fans of the show telling me how much they
enjoy it, or asking when they will be able to see all the seasons where
they live. It’s amazing, people have been so nice. “I still get
nervous before the episodes go out. I just really hope people enjoy
them. But I never thought I’d be doing more with the character than me
and Will Andrews (who will be back again this season playing Cammy, with
more Shark World related shenanigans) messing about in my mum’s car. So
to be putting out season three is pretty surreal, but in a good way.”
It’s not the only strange experience McHugh has had recently.
“I’ve
got a small part in an upcoming BBC comedy series called Bob Servant
Independent which stars Brian Cox. I’ve already done one day of filming
and I’ve got three more coming up. I can’t wait. “Doing scenes
with Brian Cox is quite something, I was totally blown away. When you’re
sitting opposite him you do have to pinch yourself a bit. He’s such an
inspiration and a really funny guy too.”
An official screening
date for the series, which will be broadcast on BBC Four, is yet to be
set, though it is expected sometime over the winter.
However, before that, Greg will also be returning to our screens in the second series of Channel 4’s hit comedy Fresh Meat.
“Another
thing I can’t wait for. There’s some absolutely brilliant scenes and
storylines. Again I don’t want to give too much away, but I can tell you
that Howard gets a new job in an abattoir, decides to do a bit of
amateur sleuthing and also may get a little bit of loving... maybe. “And there’s going to be a new housemate, but the details of that are being kept completely under wraps for now.”
Gary: Tank Commander, BBC1, Monday, 10.35pm Source: Scotsman
Radio interviews
Janice Forsyth
talks to Stephen K Amos about his new book, Greg McHugh discusses Gary
Tank Commander, and Jimmy Chisholm, Marcella Evaristi and Jamie
Dalgleish join for the banter. Listen here: BBC iPlayer
Grant Stott interviews "Gary Tank Commander" Greg McHugh Listen here: Forth One
Channel 4’s award winning comedy-drama about the hilarious and
painful truths of being a student is being released on DVD for the first
time.
Winner of a British Comedy Award for Best New Comedy and two RTS
Television Awards for Best Scripted Comedy and Best Writer - Comedy,
Fresh Meat is created by Peep Show writers Sam Bain and Jesse Armstrong.
Fresh Meat follows a group of six students embarking upon the most
exciting period of their lives so far: university!
Fresh Meat focuses on an assorted bunch of fresher’s when their new
university accommodation office places them together in a shared house.
There’s JP (Jack Whitehall), a public school boy with good teeth and an
inflated sense of entitlement; Kingsley (Joe Thomas, The Inbetweeners),
charming and crushingly insecure; Josie (Kimberley Nixon, Cranford),
determined to experience ‘new things'; socially-awkward know-it-all
Howard (Greg McHugh, Gary: Tank Commander); hard-living Vod (Zawe
Ashton, Case Histories); and Oregon (Charlotte Ritchie), desperate to be
cool and terrified of being boring.
The laugh-out-loud comedy focuses on the experiences of this group as
they each struggle to find a place for themselves in their new
university environment. There are many surprises along the way...
To his considerable bemusement, Kingsley manages to pull on his first
night, but to his dismay finds the object of his attention is in fact
recruiting for the Christian Union. Oregon wastes no time locking horns
with her lecturer, Professor Shales (Tony Gardner), at her first English
tutorial.
And Josie ends up in bed with JP - a random encounter after which, to
her horror, she realises he is in fact there to stay. Still, at least
Howard is able to relinquish his outcast status - an accolade now
awarded to the mysterious seventh housemate, Paul Lamb - "the invisible
man"...
Away from home for the first time, on the brink of their adult lives,
these six students see their lives collide, overlap and run the whole
gamut of appalling behaviour and terrible errors of judgement familiar
to anyone who’s ever experienced this rite of passage for themselves.
Broughty
Ferry will welcome the return of Bob Servant later this month.
Three
episodes of a sitcom based on the cult character were filmed in Broughty Ferry
in March, with Dundee-born actor Brian Cox in the lead role.
Now
BBC4 has decided to commission three further episodes of Bob Servant Independent,
which sees the titular character running for parliament.
As
well as Dundee University rector Cox, the series features actors including
Jonathan Watson and Greg McHugh.
The
latest batch of episodes will also feature Taggart actor Alex Norton. They will
be filmed later this month and broadcast in early 2013.
Creator
Neil Forsyth told The Courier: ''I had always written it with a view to it kind
of being the classic British six-episode series, but with the way comedy is
commissioned it has been a bit more staggered. I'm just delighted that we'll be
able to tell the story over the full six episodes.''
Mark
Freeland, controller of comedy for the BBC, said: ''I am delighted that we will
see Bob Servant make more spectacular strides towards the seat of power in
Broughty Ferry. With Bob's unstoppable energy and his running mate Frank at his
side, nothing can possibly go wrong.''
Brian
Cox first played Bob Servant in radio series The Bob Servant Emails.
Citizen
Gangster’s story resonates with any person who’s down on their luck in an era
when times are tough and jobs are nowhere to be found, but in its attempts to
reinvent the criminal as celebrity concept the film falters as the writing
breaks down. It tries to be similarly insightful about veterans as the odd men
out of peace time, feeling estranged from the real world and driven to lives
that give them the adrenaline rush their wartime tour hooked them on.
In trying
to tie these elements together in a criminal drama, the script jumps back and
forth without ever really finding a singular approach to who its characters
are. Luckily, Citizen Gangster has a capable cast of Scott Speedman, Kevin
Durand, Brian Cox, William Mapother, and Kelly Reilly to keep it moving.
