As a Glaswegian exile, now living in Bolton, England, certain things remind me of home: rain, haggis suppers and Rab C Nesbitt. Rab is everyman, he is the peoples champion, voicing their thoughts and opinions, he is the part of us that bucks the system and says it as it is. My favourite scene had to be the one with Stanley Baxter as his friend, when they attended the Football World Cup in Italy. Stanley's character is terminally ill and this is his swan song. Allow me to go a little bit deeper here, Scotland as a nation are a country of triers and doers with big hearts and even bigger ambitions. We have qualified for the World Cup on eight occasions which, as small nation we are proud of. However we have never qualified past the group stage. In Italy we were in a group with Costa Rica, Sweden and Brazil. We transpired to lose 1-0 to Costa Rica, Beat Sweden 1-0 and then in the final game against Brazil we had to avoid defeat to finally break our duck. This is the setting for the end of the episode in question. Stanley Baxters character has a heart attack before the game, amidst telling everyone who will listen that theBrazil game is not a lost cause and Scotland can cause a huge upset bygetting a result. Scotland lost 1-0, the final scene has Rab at hisfriends side as he opens any eye and with his dying breath he asks, "Well Rab?" Nesbitt is struggling back the tears and to avoid hurting his friend he lies to him, " Aye,we scudded them, we scudded them, 3-0," As a Scotsman I know the hurt of following the national team and the frustration of watching Scotland try and fail every time. This scene always makes me fill up.
Review of Rab C. Nesbitt
