It was a cultural sensation four decades ago and helped make household names of its stars like Gerard Kelly, Elaine C Smith, Andy Gray, Iain McColl and Jonathan Watson.
Now a documentary to be shown on Sunday night reveals how the sitcom City Lights changed Scottish comedy forever.
The sitcom starred the late Gerard Kelly as Willie Melvin, the frustrated bank clerk with dreams of becoming a bestselling novelist despite the scepticism of family, friends and colleagues.
Running for six series from 1986-91, it captured the culture, fashion and aspirations of the era and introduced the “pure dead brilliant” catchphrase that became synonymous with Glasgow and was adopted by Scots everywhere.
The hour-long documentary “City Lights: Pure Dead Brilliant”, to be shown on the BBC Scotland channel, reveals how in 39 episodes, the series broke the mould for Scottish comedy and created a new generation of stars.
Colin Gilbert, who produced the BBC Scotland series through The Comedy Unit, said: “Scots people, especially Glaswegians, on TV were either thugs, criminals or figures of mockery.
“There had been constant calls, ‘why in a country that is renowned for its humour, is there no Scottish sitcom’?
“The last sitcom that had been made (The Vital Spark) was loosely based on the Para Handy stories from the turn of the 19th century.
“It was whimsical and charming but what people wanted was something that reflected the kind of Glasgow that was happening in the mid 1980s.
“The legacy that City Lights left was it proved that it could be done from Scotland.”
The Comedy Unit went on to make numerous shows north of the Border, including Rab C Nesbitt, which featured several of the same actors.
In the documentary, writer Bob Black reveals that City Lights launched his career, and Willie Melvin’s failures were based on his own experiences of rejection as a budding scriptwriter and author.
He said: “I’d tried some other sitcom ideas that had never even got off the ground before sending the first script for City Lights to BBC Scotland.
“Some of the experiences of writing and having rejections must have come from my own experience.
“Then, I remember it vividly, ‘this is Colin Gilbert at the BBC’, and it was just thrilling.”
Stars of the show went on to have stellar careers in television, but some remained ingrained in the public consciousness from their roles in City Lights.
Andy Gray, who sadly died in 2021, would forever remain Willie’s best friend “Chancer” to some fans.
His daughter Clare says on the programme that, decades later, when he played Pete Galloway in the BBC Scotland soap River City, he would often be addressed in the street as Chancer.
Clare said: “I was able to live with my dad while he was doing River City because I lived in Glasgow at the time.
“There would be times when Dad and I would walk down Byres Road and someone would say to him ‘oi, Chancer’ and you’re going, ‘that’s like 35 years after, that’s quite impressive’.”
And Two Doors Down star, Elaine C Smith, tells how she could never escape the catchphrase introduced by her City Lights character, unlucky in love Irene.
She said: “I was doing a (theatre) show in Castlemilk or somewhere and these girls were standing at the end with their fags and they went ‘oh your show was pure brilliant’, then Bob then went away and came up with ‘pure dead brilliant’.
“I didn’t realise what it would become. Oh my God, it was on the side of buses… Walking down the street, ‘pure dead brilliant’.
“I wish I had a pound for every time somebody said that to me.”
As well as providing a platform for a new generation of comedy stars, guests including Myriam Margolyes and Billy Connolly also made appearances.
Connolly played a tramp who claimed to be Willie’s guardian angel to give him encouragement in his darkest hour.
Bob Black said: “The cast were terrific. It was a huge thrill for me and I appreciated how fortunate I was.
“And it was always a buzz when there was a guest star. I was meeting people like Billy Connolly and Myriam Margolyes – folk I’d seen on the television – and here I was working with them.
“Having Connolly there was the ultimate. I could never have imagined before City Lights that something I wrote would have Billy Connolly in it.
“I look back on those days with huge fondness.”
* City Lights: Pure Dead Brilliant is on BBC Scotland, on 30 November at 9pm.
