Gary: Tank Commander

'If you dinny like folk, you dinny vote fir thum'

Hiya, ma name's Gary, um a tank commander, and for the next five weeks in the run-up tae the Scottish election, um going tae be pure sayin it like it is, well no sayin it - cos you're reading it, but I'll be saying it as I type it, cos that's just what a do. Anyway, the election: here goes.

Interview: Greg McHugh, comedian (Gary: Tank Commander)

Cheesy pasta. Two words that this time last year meant nothing more than just plain old macaroni cheese. Fast forward 12 months and one series of Gary: Tank Commander and suddenly "cheesy pasta" has become a national catchphrase, vying with Rab C Nesbitt's "I'll tell you this, boy" and The Rev IM Jolly's mournful "Ah've had a helluva year".

Now in its second series, Gary: Tank Commander marks - along with Limmy's Show and Burnistoun - an unprecedented upswing in the standard of Scottish TV comedy.

Mostly set on the Afghanistan frontline, this likeable sitcom stars Greg McHugh (who also writes) as a cheerful, naive soldier mainly concerned with having a laugh and getting home.

It's refreshing that Gary's campness isn't a laboured joke. Rather than sneer at the incongruity of his blithe personality in a macho world, he's presented as a popular - albeit exasperating - member of the team. The humour is well observed, not cruel or overplayed.

Given its setting, however, it's oddly apolitical. McHugh is more interested in humanising "our boys" than in making any larger satirical statement: maybe their petty banter is a statement in itself. But whereas wartime comedies such as M*A*S*H (a topical comment on Vietnam, despite its Korean setting) never shirked from the horrors of combat, McHugh pretends they don't exist.

Nevertheless, it works on its own agreeable terms. But I'd like to see some genuinely angry comedy in 2011.

The camp commander

Despite the cult success of the first series of Greg McHugh's comedy sitcom, Gary: Tank Commander, on BBC2 Scotland last year, which he wrote and starred in, he isn't taking anything for granted.

Interview: Greg McHugh

Greg McHugh answers some Q&A questions.

Gayry Tank Commander

The star of Gary: Tank Commander has become a gay icon - and he LOVES it. Greg McHugh - who is straight - has developed the huge following thanks to his camp alter-ego squaddie Gary McLintock in the BBC show.

Gary: Tank Commander, the Continuing Mission

Greg McHugh is the man behind the permatan of sashaying soldier Gary McLintoch. Ahead of the second series of Gary: Tank Commander, Greg gave a revealing audio interview to BBC Scotland.

Tank Commander star reveals show has army backing

Tank Commander star Gary McHugh reveals cult comedy has backing of army top brass.

Scots comedy Gary: Tank Commander snapped up by Aussies

Spoof military comedy Gary: Tank Commander looks set to become a surprise hit Down Under.

Tank Commander is sensitive to war effort, says star

Actor and writer Greg McHugh is confident Scots will support his own peculiar take on the war effort rather than take offence to his offbeat portrayal of our squaddies at a time when sensitivities over war, casualties and Gordon Brown's bad handwriting have rarely been as inflamed.