Documentary celebrates 100 years of Rikki Fulton

There are many traditions associated with New Year in Scotland. But for more than a decade, a TV comedy sketch show became as recognisable as shortbread and whisky, or first footing.

Scotch and Wry began in 1977 as a one-off special, starring actor and entertainer Rikki Fulton, who developed it into two successful seasons and regular festive one-offs.

One hundred years since Robert Kerr "Rikki" Fulton was born in the east end of Glasgow, a new documentary takes a look back at the life of one of Scotland's most beloved comic actors.

Fulton drew on his own background in variety and pantomime for the show's broad humour.

Like his TV shows, he enjoyed having a starring role and managing things behind the scenes.

A rare piece of footage shows him instructing staff backstage at the Kings Theatre where he wrote, directed and appeared in a number of shows.

The contrast between his outlandish stage persona and his private life took many people by surprise except those who knew of the trauma in his past.

In 1941, aged just 17, he served in the Royal Navy. His ship HMS Ibis was sunk in the Bay of Algiers and many of his crew mates died.

"I don't think Rikki was a naturally funny man," comedy writer Niall Clark told the documentary.

"He was actually quite a cold character, a buttoned-up person. He'd had some very bad experiences during the war, and I think he found it hard to express emotions."

It was something Fulton himself recognised.

"I suppose I'd like the private me to be a little more ebullient and jokey and able to let the hair down but I'm just not like that," he recalled in a 1990 interview.

"I suppose when I come to perform I'm able to throw caution to the wind and be this idiot. The laughter I create is like a strong shot of something."

Whatever he'd created was popular.

In the 80s, Scotch and Wry became a fixture of Hogmanay television in Scotland. At its height, it attracted two million viewers.

But his comic appeal made it impossible to be taken seriously in other acting roles.

Small parts in Local Hero and Gorky Park, both released in cinemas in 1983 had audiences expecting laughs.

"The director cast me because he said I had the most evil eyes he'd ever seen," he recalled of Cold war thriller Gorky Park, in which he played a KGB operative who delivers the line "greetings comrades, I bring you hot water bottles."

"I sat in the cinema waiting for my big entrance and it was greeted with laughter.

"The place fell about. I thought what hope is there of ever doing a serious acting job in Scotland?"

Although there were a number of writers working on Scotch and Wry, including some based in London, they tended to concentrate on Scottish interests and often parodied programmes like Taggart, the Beechgrove Garden and Late Call.

The latter – a late night sermon shown nightly on Scottish Television - provided inspiration for one of the show's most enduring characters, the Reverend IM Jolly.

Jolly was just one of a number of clergymen Fulton created who ended each programme with a spoof sermon called Last Call.

The sketches were originally criticised by the Church of Scotland but Fulton contended they sent up the original TV programmes, rather than the church.

"Although a lot of Church of Scotland ministers, with the greatest respect, tend to be less than joyful in presenting the gospel," he said at the time.

A confirmed atheist, he turned to the church when he retired from acting.

Rev Alastair Symington, of New Kilpatrick Church in Bearsden, recalls seeing a familiar face in his congregation one Sunday.

"There he was, sitting in a pew and of course I saw Rev IM Jolly, which was slightly unnerving."

The two became friends and met up regularly to discuss life, faith, family and dogs.

The character has been revived and reinvented many times but Rikki Fulton played him just once more on Hogmanay 1999.

"He knew this was the last performance he would give," says comedy producer Phil Differ.

"He was just so full of joy and part of that was knowing he didn't have to do it again. This was his swansong."

Fulton was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease in 2002 and fronted the charity's Christmas campaign in Scotland that year.

A year later he moved into a care home, where he died in 2004 at the age of 79.

Alasdair Symington led the service in tribute to his many comic ministers, and police motorcyclists escorted the funeral cortege in tribute to another of his characters, Supercop.

Fulton and his wife Kate left a substantial donation to the Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals which allowed the charity to open a new kennel block at its Glasgow rehoming centre.

"It was one of the largest single donations we've ever received," Christine Devlin of the Scottish SPCA said.

"Around a million pounds in total. It was hugely impactful especially for building the new block here and helping to run it."

A six-part series featuring the best of Scotch and Wry was aired in 2004 but since then it has been left to a new generation of Scottish comics to bring in the new year.

Narrated by Ashley Jensen and featuring archive interviews from the man himself, Rikki tells the story of his extraordinary life, bringing together the people closest to him as well as tributes from those he inspired.

It features contributions from his Scotch & Wry co-stars Tony Roper, Juliet Cadzow and Claire Nielson.

Alex Norton, Gavin Mitchell, Sanjeev Kohli, Leah MacRae, Louise McCarthy, Jamie MacDonald and Jim Smith are among those who acknowledge the debt they owe to Scotch and Wry in the documentary which will be screened on Tuesday on BBC One Scotland at 22:00.