Edinburgh’s Scott Hoatson gearing up for 'Bluestone 42'
Scott Hoatson in Bluestone 42. Picture: BBC
Edinburgh actor Scott Hoatson was preparing to go into rehearsal for panto when the call came to audition for Bluestone 42. That was on a Thursday.
The following day he found himself in London reading the script for the show’s director and producer. Three days later he got the news he’d landed the role of Rocket in the new BBC 3 series.
Less than two weeks after that, he was touching down in South Africa, for a ten-week shoot, all thoughts of panto struck from his mind.
From Dad’s Army to It Ain’t Half Hot Mum and Gary Tank Commander, military exploits have long provided TV with some of its best loved comedies.
Silliness and square bashing go together it seems, and Bluestone 24 is the new recruit on the parade ground of mirth.
The programme charts the adventures of a British bomb disposal detachment on tour in Afghanistan. Filmed in South Africa, the eight-part series features Hoatson as Pilton-born Private Euan ‘Rocket’ Armstrong.
Not the sharpest bayonet in the armoury, Rocket is proud to admit that his main incentives for joining the Army were the free food and the guns.
“Rocket likes the simple things; he likes food, and he likes women, and he likes fitba - he’s a Hibby,” laughs the 29-year-old, who attended Duddingston Primary and Portobello High.
“Put ‘youthful’ before that 29,” he quips, before admitting to being taken aback when he realised just how big an undertaking the programme turned out to be.
“I knew we were going to South Africa, which in itself was exciting, but they’d said it was low-budget. When we arrived and toured the set... they had built us a real army base! It was incredible.
“When I saw the level of detail, the size of the crew, and the lengths design and wardrobe had gone to, making everything as authentic as possible, I thought, ‘Wow! This is going to be brilliant.”
Read more at Scotsman
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