Two Doors Down

Two Doors Down is back

He admits he's a bit of an arse, but Jonathan Watson can't help liking the bragging character he plays in one of the few Scottish comedies to be aired on both sides of the Border.

Elaine C Smith interview

As Elaine C Smith returns to the small screen in new BBC sitcom Two Doors Down, she reflects on the highs and lows of her career so far. She tells Janet Christie how being funny can be lonely, and that she keeps her feet on the ground thanks to politics and activism.

Two Doors Down interviews

Comedy fans are in for a treat as six episodes of BBC sitcom Two Doors Down will hit the small screens, and plans for a second series are already in place.

Doon Mackichan interview

It was working on a scene on location in the rather unglamorous Glasgow suburb of Bishopbriggs that really made Doon Mackichan stop and pinch herself.

Everyone weary of Hogmanay's forced merriment will relish this comedy. We're told that New Year celebrations are all about spending time with family and friends, raising a glass together and opening a shortbread tin in tipsy harmony. Rubbish! Has anyone ever actually spent a New Year like that? Mine are always soured by the memory of the year before when I made a list of saintly resolutions, long since trashed. I'm so bad at keeping them that I needn't make new ones; I'll just endlessly recycle last year's list and hate myself more each time.

So those for whom Hogmanay is about guilt, despair and plain old grumpiness will find a collection of kindred spirits here.

Almost every Scottish comedy actor you can name makes an appearance: Alex Norton, Daniela Nardini, Doon Mackichan, Jonathan Watson, Sharon Rooney, a young James Allenby-Kirk and more.

The action takes place in a tidy suburban house as Eric and Beth prepare to host a Hogmanay party but things go wrong from the beginning, starting with the small matter of there being no crisps, and when the riotous family and friends descend things get worse still, ending in leaps from the bathroom window and Viking axe attacks.

Two Doors Down welcomes new cast members

Three new cast members have arrived in Latimer Crescent, as filming gets under way for a six-part series of Two Doors Down.

Two Doors Down set to be made into a series next year

BBC Scotland's Two Doors Down, shown across the UK on Hogmanay last year, is set to go into production next year.

So was there a political edge to scheduling the rambunctious, booze-soaked Two Doors Down on the national network during New Year's Eve primetime? Viewers in the rest of the UK might have their suspicions or preconceptions about what happens at a traditional Scottish Hogmanay house party - underage drinking, sexual promiscuity, almost aggressive sentimentality, the single-minded pursuit of steak pie - and this one-off comedy reinforced and celebrated the best and worst of them.

With a conspiracy bunnet on, you could point to Alex Norton and Arabella Weir's harried hosts being called "the Bairds" and infer that this was intended as a tongue-in-cheek reflection of modern Scotland, bared for all to see. The guest list included middle-class neighbours obsessed with designer labels, a young returning soldier and a Scandinavian couple who looked a lot more attractive than everyone else, but were also a lot duller. In truth, any search for political subtext was overshadowed by the combination of Royle Family-style domestic comedy and rapidly escalating farce. Weir's brilliantly sustained accent, one of the best Kirsty Wark impressions I've ever heard, was just the maraschino cherry on top.

The younger generation of Scottish acting talent was well represented by My Mad Fat Diary's Sharon Rooney and Greg McHugh, the hardest-working man in sitcom-land. It was also good to see Jonathan Watson smoothly integrate himself into an ensemble, even if his malt-obsessed golf club bore veered into caricature. The showiest role, though, went to Daniela Nardini as the predatory Aunt Caroline back up from "that London". A blowsy vision in LBD and heels, Caroline's single-minded pursuit of hunky Thor-alike Henning culminated in a memorable gazebo disaster. For fans of This Life, Caroline felt like an alternate-universe version of Anna after almost two decades of questionable life choices.

Two Doors Down could return after huge Hogmanay success

The pilot episode of the Scottish comedy was watched by over three million viewers with BBC bosses set to discuss commissioning more episodes.

Two Doors Down was a one-off comedy drama centred around a Hogmanay party in a lower-middle-class Scottish cul-de-sac, which highlighted the many dangers of mixing alcohol and neighbours.

There was absolutely nothing new about the set-up or surprising about how the story developed, but the first-rate cast delivered some excellent dialogue, there were several memorable slapstick moments and you were left with the distinct impression that writer Simon Carlyle held his assortment of borderline-grotesque characters in great affection.