Show Rating:

Vladimir McTavish has borrowed that tired old listing format from the telly, but mercifully it gains a good deal in the translation to the stage. Here is a list of all the best Scots there have ever been – admittedly light on ladies – which is a fair representation of the pride of the nation.

However, this is not a nation famous for its pride. Drinking and diffidence are our arts, and as demonstration of this McTavish has cunningly scripted the consumption of two pints and a nip into his show.

Glasgow airport hero John Smeaton, clad in the wrong football strip makes it into this list just after Gordon Brown, so you’ll have guessed which end of the list is theirs, Oor Wullie sits at the other.

In between, McGonagall provdes the verse, and the letters page of the Stornoway Gazette perfectly illustrates the enduring legacy of John Knox. But the star turn is a glowing tribute to the climber and writer, Tom Weir. A carefully filmed piece which affectionately and accurately replicates the production values of the beloved Weir’s Way. It was class.

McTavish travels fondly down some familiar sandstone streets here, dishing out judicious jibes to Fifers, bemoaning the Scots’ penchant for glorious defeat. Some of the observations will skip lightly over the heads of anyone ignorant of football.

This a home game really, but if you, or anyone you love has Calvinist handicaps you will enjoy the stroll.

Reviewed by: Chloe Smith