Still Game to return for final series later this year
BBC comedy Still Game will return for a ninth and final series later this year, it has been announced.
BBC comedy Still Game will return for a ninth and final series later this year, it has been announced.
The last outing of the long-running sitcom, which follows the antics of Scottish pensioners Jack and Victor in the fictional Craiglang area of Glasgow, will last for six episodes.
Filming will get under way in BBC Scotland's Dumbarton Studios and around Glasgow next month.
The show is the brainchild of comedians Ford Kiernan, 56, and Greg Hemphill, 48, who also star as the show's elderly protagonists.
Jack and Victor originally appeared in the pair's sketch show Chewin' The Fat, which aired in Scotland between 1999 and 2005.
After making its TV debut in 2002, the duo said they felt it was the right time to retire the show from the small screen.
Hemphill said: “Still Game is a story 21 years in the making.
“We've had an amazing run but one of our hopes when we brought the show back was that we would get the opportunity to finish Jack, Victor and the gang's journey.
“We feel that time is upon us. We hope you will join us later in the year to see how the story ends!''
Kiernan added : “I can't believe 21 years have passed in what, for us, has been an outstanding experience of collaboration, storytelling and performing.
“But above all being fortunate to entertain people and make them smile.
“So when the last episode airs we hope your memories of our little gang will be fond ones.''
The seventh series of Still Game was announced by the BBC in 2016 after a nine-year hiatus.
The premiere of the revived series attracted the show's largest ever overnight audience for a single episode, with a share of over half the Scottish TV audience for its timeslot.
The later episodes maintained that success and the show became the most watched TV programme in over a decade in Scotland.
During the show's break from the small screen Kiernan and Hemphill wrote a stage show for the characters which ran at the SSE Hydro in Glasgow.
Due to demand the show's run was extended to 21 sold-out performances.
A second stage followed at the same venue last year.
Controller of BBC Comedy Commissioning Shane Allen said: “Ford and Greg have achieved that rare beauty of making a modern classic sitcom that has made millions laugh and will be enjoyed for decades to come.
“This new series is another riot of rich character based comedy and see's all our old pals from Craiglang off in style.''
A transmission date for the upcoming series is yet to be announced