Glasgow institution no. 2: Taggart

Taggart - a detective drama produced by STV and set in Glasgow - is the UK's longest running detective series, and tonight sees the airing of its 90th episode.

The title takes its name from the show's original main character - DCI Jim Taggart - played by Mark McManus from the first episode in 1983 up until the actor's death in 1994. Since then, the focus has been on the remainder of the team at Maryhill CID - Michael Jardine (this character was killed off in 2002), Jackie Reid, Robbie Ross, Stuart Fraser and the current DCI Matt Burke (played by James MacPherson, Blythe Duff, John Michie, Colin McCredie and Alex Norton respectively).



Over the years, Taggart has seen appearances by big name Scottish actors including Robert Carlyle and Dougray Scott, and household names like Larry Lamb (Gavin and Stacey) and Paul Barber (Only Fools and Horses).

The show is broadcast in 56 countries worldwide.

Images copyright STV.

New Air Route: Hurghada

International air links are important to any big city, and Glasgow is fortunate enough to be served by two airports - Glasgow International Airport and Glasgow Prestwick Airport. Future posts will look at each airport in more detail, but I'll also be posting when new routes are announced.


From November, Scottish airline Flyglobespan will fly from Glasgow International to Hurghada in Egypt. The flight is primarily for outbound leisure passengers looking to sample the delights of the Red Sea resort - nonetheless, this will be Glasgow's first scheduled service to Egypt and indeed to Africa as a whole (charter flights already operate from Glasgow to Egypt and Tunisia).

Glasgow Institution no.1: Rangers

Taking an overdue break from the film and TV focus today, it's time to start looking at some of the best known names associated with Glasgow. As one of Glasgow's big two football teams (collectively known as the Old Firm) was the focus of my last blog about Heroes and Lost, I thought it only fair that I begin "Glasgow Institutions" with the other team - Rangers. (Celtic fans don't worry - your team will get a similar posting soon!)

Someone with little knowledge of football such as myself can't do a great deal of justice for teams when writing about them, so I'll keep this simple by picking out some of the club's highlights from their official website - http://www.rangers.premiumtv.co.uk

Rangers Football Club was born in 1872, when four young men put together a team to take on Callander FC at Flesher's Haugh on Glasgow Green. A year later the club was officially founded.

Since then, the team has always been one of the strongest in Scotland with the following accolades to its name: Scottish League Champions 51 times between 1891 and 2005; Scottish Cup Winners 31 times between 1894 and 2003; Scottish League Cup Winners 25 times between 1946 and 2007.

As this blog is primarily concerned with Glasgow's place on the world stage, it's Rangers international record that interests me in particular. In 1972, Barcelona was the stage for the European Cup Winner's Cup Final, in which the Glasgow side beat Dynamo Moscow 3-2 to win the competition. They were also runners up in the same competition in 1961 and 1967 and, currently, are preparing to take on Italy's Fiorentina in the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup - good luck Rangers!

The club is based at Ibrox Stadium on the southside of the city.

Hooper Heroes (The Scottish Sun - Saturday 12th April 2008)

The Scottish Sun had a story that was right up my street on Saturday - it was about Glasgow's own Celtic Football Club playing a part in two of the USA's biggest TV shows.

In Heroes, a storyline sees character Peter Petrelli being blackmailed by a "gang of Irish crooks who are plotting a raid on a bookies". The game at the centre of the plot is a 2007 Champions League clash between Celtic and AC Milan.


The newspaper article also refers to a Lost episode in which Scottish character Desmond Hume sings "For It's A Grand Old Team To Play For", and when in a flashback sequence his fiancee says "The closest you've come to a religious experience was when Celtic won the cup".

Glasgow pops up in the funniest of places - UPDATE

Bit of a dark one this - a mention of Glasgow that I recently stumbled across in Omen III: The Final Conflict. Antichrist Damien Thorn (Sam Neill) learns that the Nazarene Child has been born and orders his disciples (of which there are many, from all walks of life) to kill every child born on a certain day. The alarming phenomenon of sudden deaths makes headline news, as Barbara (Leueen Willoughby) - wife of Thorn's private secretary - sees on television in this scene...

Image copyright 1981 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation

Doctor Who: The Glasgow Connection

With The Herald reporting that a large-scale Doctor Who exhibition is due to arrive at Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum next year (http://www.theherald.co.uk/news/news/display.var.2170524.0.Doctor_Who_to_be_star_attraction_at_Kelvingrove.php), and the popular sci-fi show's fourth series due to begin tomorrow night on BBC One, I thought it would be a good idea to look at some of Glasgow's connections with the "Whoniverse".

- Apparently in an early episode featuring the Second Doctor - played by Patrick Troughton - the eponymous Doctor mentiones that he studied at the University of Glasgow under Joseph Lister in 1888.

- More recently, in the Tenth Doctor (Christopher Eccleston) episode The Long Game, a news report heard on "Satellite Five" refers to "the Glasgow water riots". (Don't worry - this episode was set in the far future).

- In a mocked up website to promote The Christmas Invasion, fictional Prime Minister Harriet Jones sends her good wishes "Whether you're in Birmingham or Glasgow, Cardiff or London".

- Finally - and perhaps most significantly - in spin-off series Torchwood, Captain Jack Harkness (Glasgow-born John Barrowman) reveals that "Torchwood 2" - a division of the mysterious alien fighting agency - is an office in Glasgow.

Image copyright BBC 2008.