A BBC documentary celebrated the Scotch and Rye actor.

There are many traditions associated with the New Year in Scotland. But for more than a decade, a TV comedy sketch show has become as recognizable as Shortbread and Whiskey, or First Floor.

Scotch and Rye began in 1977 as a special, starring actor and entertainer Ricky Fulton, who developed it into two successful seasons and a regular festival one-off.

One hundred years after Robert Kerr “Ricky” Fulton was born in the east end of Glasgow, a new documentary takes a look back at the life of one of Scotland’s best-loved comedians.

Fulton drew on his background in variety and pantomime for the show’s broad humor.

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

A rare piece of footage shows him directing the backstage crew at the King’s Theater where he wrote, directed and appeared in numerous shows.

The contrast between her unusual stage persona and her private life surprised many except those familiar with her traumatic past.

In 1941, aged just 17, he served in the Royal Navy. His ship HMS Ibis was sunk in the Gulf of Algiers and many of his crewmates were killed.

“I don’t think Ricky was an inherently funny guy,” comic writer Neil Clark told the documentary.

“He was actually quite a cold character, a buttoned-down person. He had some very bad experiences during the war, and I think it was difficult for him to express emotions.”

This was something that Fulton himself recognized.

“I guess I’d like Private Me to be a little bit more upbeat and funny and able to let the hair down, but I’m not like that,” he recalled in a 1990 interview.

“I think when I come to perform I can throw caution to the wind and it can be silly. The laughter I create is like a loud shot of something.”

Everything he created was popular.

In the 80s, Scott and Rae became a fixture on Hogmanay television in Scotland. At its peak, it attracted two million viewers.

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

Local Hero and Gorky Park cameos, both released in theaters in 1983 with audiences expecting laughs.

“The director cast me because he said I had the most evil eyes,” he recalled of the Cold War thriller Gorky Park, in which he played a KGB operative. What was that “Hello comrades, I bring you hot water. Bottles.”

“I sat in the cinema waiting for my grand entrance and was greeted with laughter.

“Falled about the place. What hope, I thought, of ever doing serious acting in Scotland?”

Although there were many writers working on Scotch and Rye, some based in London, they tended to focus on Scottish interests and often parodied programs such as Taggart, Beechgrove Garden and Late Call.

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

Jolly was one of several pastors created by Fulton who ended each program with a spoof sermon called The Last Call.

The sketches were originally criticized by the Church of Scotland but Fulton claimed they sent the original TV programs rather than the Church.

“Although many ministers in the Church of Scotland are, with the greatest respect, less than happy to preach the gospel,” he said at the time.

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

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

“There he was, sitting in a pew and of course I saw the Rev. I’m Julie, who was a bit uncomfortable.”

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

The character has been revived and remade several times, but Ricky Fulton played him only once again in Hogmanay in 1999.

“He knew it was the last performance he would ever give,” says comedy producer Phil Duffer.

“He was just filled with so much joy and part of it was knowing he wouldn’t have to do that again. That was his swan song.”

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

A year later he moved into a care home, where he died in 2004 aged 79.

Alasdair Symington led the service in tribute to his many comic ministers, and police motorcyclists attended the funeral in tribute to another of his characters, the Super Cop.

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.

“This was the biggest single donation we have ever received,” said Christine Devlin of the Scottish SPCA.

“Almost a million pounds in total. It was particularly impactful to help build and run the new block here.”

A six-part series featuring the best of Scottish and Rye was broadcast in 2004 but has since been left to a new generation of Scottish comics to bring in the new year.

Narrated by Ashley Jensen and featuring archival interviews from the man himself, Ricky tells the story of his extraordinary life, one that brings together those closest to him as well as the tributes from those around him. whom he influenced.

It features contributions from her Scotch & Rye co-stars Tony Roper, Juliette Kidzo and Claire Nelson.

Alex Norton, Gavin Mitchell, Sanjeev Kohli, Leah McRae, Louise McCarthy, Jamie Macdonald and Jim Smith are among those who have acknowledged their debt to Scotch and Rye in the documentary which will be shown. Tuesdays at 22:00 on BBC One Scotland.