Naked Video
Naked Video is a BBC Scotland sketch show that was aired on BBC Two from 12 May 1986 to 18 November 1991. The show was created by Colin Gilbert who had previously created A Kick Up the Eighties and Naked Radio. The series originally starred Ron Bain, Gregor Fisher, Andy Gray, Elaine C. Smith, Tony Roper, Helen Lederer and Jonathan Watson, but they were later joined by Kate Donnelly and Louise Beattie. The series' producer was Colin Gilbert and its script editor was Philip Differ.
Naked Radio proved a popular part of the local schedule, and in 1985, the cast mounted the series on stage at the year's Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Gilbert realised the series had potential for television and Naked Video was created. It proved popular at a time when alternative comedy was at its peak. The Naked Radio series ended in 1991, when it was cancelled along with Naked Video. The show also spawned a radio spin-off: the football-themed Only an Excuse?, which later also made the transition to television.
In 2000, the cast reunited for a theatre show and radio broadcast, and in 2005, Gerard Kelly presented a documentary for the Radio Roots season on BBC Radio Scotland, looking at how the series "sprouted a generation of TV writing and performing talent".
Regular characters
Naked Video featured far too many characters to be described here but some of the recurring ones were:- Rab C. Nesbitt : A stereotypical Glaswegian alcoholic, dressed in a string vest, a pinstripe suit and a grubby headband covering a shrapnel wound. He was arguably the most popular character and he later went on to receive his own series in 1988 which became a successful sitcom.
- The Baldy Man : A vain halfwit who has only a few strands of hair across his head. The character later went on to receive his own series on ITV in 1995, produced and directed by Colin Gilbert, who also worked with Fisher on Rab C. Nesbitt.
- Drunk Sloane : An attractive, but stupid, woman who props up a wine bar and delivers monologues to the camera.
- Bitter Divorcee Lizzie : An attractive thirty-something woman who, like Drunk Sloane, delivers monologues to the camera about her divorce from her husband, only from her bedroom as opposed to a wine bar.
- Highlander Angus : A Gaelic television presenter for the "Outer Hebrides Broadcasting Corporation" who made up news headlines for clips of real-world footage. He replaced the two presenters who introduced each episode of Series 1 and 2.
- Bernard and Miriam : A repressed middle-aged couple. In one episode, Bernard made an electric chair for Miriam's mother, and when Miriam took offence, she put Bernard into it and electrified him.
Episodes
| Series | Original run |
| 1 | 12 May-16 June 1986, Mondays 9:30pm |
| 2 | 16 April-21 May 1987, Thursdays 9:00pm |
| 3 | 19 January-23 February 1989, Thursdays 9:00pm |
| 4 | 29 September-3 November 1989, Fridays 9:00pm |
| 5 | 14 October-18 November 1991, Mondays 10:00pm |
On 17 July 2006, Series 1 was released on DVD by BBC Worldwide and 2Entertain, followed by Series 2 on 9 October of the same year, and Series 3 on 29 January 2007. As of now, Series 4 and 5 have not been released.