| Only an Excuse? | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Sketch |
| Created by | Philip Differ |
| Starring | Jonathan Watson |
| Country of origin | Scotland |
| Original language | English/Scottish |
| No. of episodes | 34 |
| Production | |
| Producer | Philip Differ |
| Production location | Scotland |
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Original release | |
| Network | BBC One Scotland |
| Release | 31 December 1993 (1993-12-31) – 31 December 2020 (2020-12-31) |
| Related | |
| Scotch and Wry | |
Only an Excuse? is an annual Scottish comedysketch show that was broadcast onBBC One Scotland onHogmanay from 1993 to 2020.[1]
It starred the actor and comedianJonathan Watson and featured impressions of some of Scottish football's great characters such asDenis Law,Tommy Burns,Barry Ferguson,Sir Alex Ferguson,Frank McAvennie,Walter Smith andGraeme Souness, as well as caricatures of the "stereotypical"Old Firm fan.
Only an Excuse? was first broadcast as a one-off special onBBC Radio Scotland, prior to the1987 Scottish Cup Final. It was aparody of the five-partBBC Scotland television documentaryOnly a Game?,[2] which had aired in Scotland prior to the1986 World Cup Finals and comprehensively documented the history ofScottish football. The documentary was narrated byScottish novelistWilliam McIlvanney,[3] whose distinctive voice was expertly mimicked byJonathan Watson for the radiospoof.
After further occasional radio specials includingOnly Another Excuse?,A Tale of Two Seasons andOnly a World Cup Excuse, all of which were released oncassette byBBC Scotland, the show switched to television in 1993, retaining its originaldouble act ofRangers fan Watson andCeltic fanTony Roper. The first episode replacedRikki Fulton's long-running annualcomedy sketch showScotch and Wry in theHogmanay television schedules.
The show has also been performed at the theatre, with the most recent performance ofOnly An Excuse? taking place at theGlasgow Royal Concert Hall in September 2004. The scripts of the early theatre shows, written by Philip Differ, were published in the bookOnly an Excuse?: The Scripts byMainstream Publishing in 1995.
In December 2020, it was confirmed that the 2020 episode would be an hour long programme and that Watson and Differ would not be making any further episodes.[4]
Jonathan Watson appeared in a spin-off calledOnly a Wee Excuse onTam Cowan's weeklyOffside programme. Up until the last series, Watson's slot was a scaled-down version of the full show, but from the last series onward saw Watson appearing in the studio without costume to perform his impersonations (as in his theatre performances). Another noticeable difference is that Watson starts each segment in his own voice and sets the context and then ends again in his own voice saying, "And that Tam was the week that wisnae."
Watson appeared in a sketch in the BBC'sChildren in Need 2008telethon asAlex Ferguson being interviewed byAdrian Chiles.
Figures from Scottish entertainment regularly appeared, as themselves. These includedHazel Irvine,Kelly Dalglish,Gordon Brewer,Catriona Shearer, Reevel Alderson,Jackie Bird,Cathy MacDonald,Chris Hoy,Kirsty Wark,Judy Murray,Muriel Gray,Michelle McManus andJudith Ralston.