Glasgow Belongs to Me (27 Jul. 1979)

Director:

Gerry Mill

Writer:

Robert Banks Stewart

Stars:

Iain Cuthbertson, Desmond McNamara, Phil McCall

Cast

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
Iain Cuthbertson	...	Charles Endell
Desmond McNamara	...	Sleeper Attendant
Phil McCall	...	Det.-Sgt. Dickson
Jonathan Carr	...	Bowie
Tony Osoba	...	Hamish MacIntyre Jr
Julie Ann Fullarton	...	Janet
Rohan McCullough	...	Kate Moncrieff
Bernard Archard	...	Archibald Telfer
Annie Ross	...	Dixie
Gillian Gillespie	...	Fiona Croall
Rikki Fulton	...	Alastair Vint
Glenn Cunningham	...	Chisholm
Boyd Nelson	...	Logan
Andrew Melville	...	Head Waiter
Bill Denniston	...	'King' Croall

Storyline

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Release Date:

27 July 1979 (UK)

Company Credits

User Reviews

"See me? I'm back!"

Seven years after the L.W.T. comedy drama series 'Budgie' ended, Iain Cuthbertson returned as Glasgwegian porn king 'Charlie Endell' in a short-lived sequel from Scottish Television. Endell is newly released from jail, his wife has divorced him, and, finding Soho overrun by foreigners, returns to his native Glasgow to try and reestablish his empire. His old enemy Detective Inspector Hugh 'Shug' Dickson ( Phil McCall ) is waiting for him when he gets off the train, urging him to "go straight. Preferably go somewhere else.".

Charlie ignores the advice. Before his trial, he left £18,000 in the care of solicitor Archibald Telfer ( Bernard Archard ). Now he wants it back. Two gangsters - Kenny 'King' Croall ( Bill Dennison ) and Alistair Vint ( Rikki Fulton ) - are fighting for control of the city's underworld. Charlie has a special shield named after him at Dixie's ( Annie Ross ) dancing school in order to ingratiate himself with Croall, whose daughter Fiona is a pupil there. Croall takes a shine to Charlie, but Vint hates him on sight.

Charlie is being stalked by a man named Bowie ( Jonathan Ccarr ), and worse, attempts are made on his life; firstly, a crane wrecks the car he has hired and secondly, a bomb goes off in his hotel room...

While missing the interplay Endell had with Adam Faith's 'Budgie', this is nevertheless an enjoyable series, and one regrets its curtailment by the 1979 I.T.V. strike. It is almost an inverted 'Budgie', with Endell coming up with fanciful 'get rich quick' schemes each week instead of his protégé. Nice location work in Glasgow. Cuthbertson slips effortlessly back into the role of Endell - looking menacing in his camel coat, puffing big cigars and drinking brandy, yet somehow he manages to be likable. Tony Osoba ( 'McLaren' in 'Porridge' ) plays the owner of the car hire firm whom Charlie employs as driver. Particularly impressive though is Rikki Fulton. The star of 'Scotch & Wry' was a good enough dramatic actor, and makes 'Vint' a stronger character than was probably written. He is a nasty piece of work, but possesses a dry wit. On being given a tough steak, he hands it back to the waiter, asking: "Was that the ball from last week's Celtic game?".

Jazz singer/actress Annie Ross is 'Dixie', the ex-stripper from Charlie's Soho days turned dance teacher. Sexy Rohan McCullough plays 'Kate Moncrieff', the social worker Endell becomes friendly with. She was one of the original cast of 'Hair' in 1968, along with Oliver Tobias and Paul Nicholas. Later episodes saw the introduction of Russell Hunter from 'Callan'.

Telfer steals Charlie's money before faking his suicide. Forced to move in with Dixie, Charlie swears revenge.

To promote the show, Cuthbertson wrote a short prequel story published in 'The T.V. Times' in which Endell goes back to his Soho club only to get the door slammed in his face by the new owners. He asks someone what became of Budgie, but nobody seems to know.

Surprisingly, Keith Waterhouse and Willis Hall were not credited with having created 'Endell'. Rex Firkin, the producer, had been 'Budgie's executive producer.

Writer Robert Banks Stewart was a busy fellow in 1979. He also found time to create the marvellous 'Shoestring' starring Trevor Eve.

The only negative note is the theme music, sung ( or rather bellowed ) by Cuthbertson, which ranks alongside Arthur Mullard's rendition of the 'Yus My Dear' theme and Dennis Wilson's 'You're Only Young Twice' as the very worst ever written for television. "Titty bum bum!" indeed!