Donald Mcleary

Review: Jock on Radio 2

With more people retiring while still in fine physical fettle, Jock seems to be tackling a timely topic with an easy-going wit and a grumpily likeable central character struggling to adapt to his alien new situation.

Unlike last week's Over To Bill, at least Miller's Mountain contained a stereotypical sitcom protagonist in Scottish mountain rescue leader Jimmy Miller (Jimmy Chisholm). Miller's constant boasting about his previous achievements and his sense of superiority put me in mind of such comedy buffoons as Captain Mainwaring and Arkwright. But that's where the comparisons to the likes of Dad's Army ends as Miller's Mountain was missing the vital ingredient in a sitcom, namely funny jokes.

From the time that Jimmy asked barmaid Jules (Sharon Rooney) for the usual and she punched him in the face I knew we were in trouble. But it turned out that this was one of the brighter spots for an episode that I was less and less interested in as it went on. The final gag, involving Jimmy in his underwear, was just atrocious and on the whole I found Donald McLeary's script incredible unfunny. The one exception was the wonderful Sharon Rooney, who can do no wrong in my eyes, as at least she was trying to make her scenes as successful as possible.

Just like with Over To Bill, I'd be very surprised if Miller's Mountain were to return as it didn't really go down well with either audiences or critics. However, if by some miracle Miller's Mountain did run to a full series I would hope that Sharon Rooney would have enough good sense no to reprise her role in this incredibly crude and old-fashioned sitcom.

Writers' Guild Awards 2013 shortlists

Nominations for Jo Brand, Vicki Pepperdine, Joanna Scanlan, Jesse Armstrong, Sam Bain, Stefan Golaszewski, Susan Calman, Sanjeev Kohli, Donald McLeary, David Sedaris, Alice Lowe and Steve Oram.

The sitcom set in a Glasgow corner shop returns for a welcome new series, its fifth. Written by and starring Sanjeev Kohli and Donald McLeary, Fags, Mags And Bags is multicultural, without being the least bit worthy or earnest, and it's genuinely funny. In particular, shopkeeper Ramesh (Kohli) is a great comic creation. In the opening episode of this six-part series, the arrival of a new butcher's shop brings strife to the street.

Still Game star Greg Hemphill on his new play

Greg Hemphill has got the fear. The
Still Game and Chewin' The Fat star is in rehearsals with the National Theatre of Scotland for An Appointment With The Wicker Man, a play he wrote with Donald McLeary. Their take on the 1973 creepy classic has singing, dancing and jokes.

A second six-part series of that United Nations of Accents set in the shopping area of Glasgow. Not that Glasgow itself lends any atmosphere to the show, but it does explain the number of Scots appearing alongside English types of various geographical provenance, and several Indians.

But the action of Sanjeev Kohli and Donald McLeary's sitcom is hardly site-specific - instead it dwells in a slightly surreal world of non sequitors and one-liners, of jokes that stumble over each other in their urge to be heard, of gentle puns and mundane, everyday phrases rendered hilarious by context and fine acting. Plot? Well, in this first in a new series there's a missing cat and the problem of telling Brian the cobbler that he smells terrible. But you don't come here for the story, you come for the sheer joy of hearing clever people having fun with words.