Scotland's favourite fictional comedy characters

From Gregor Fisher's string-vested philosopher to Rikki Fulton's po-faced sermons, Scotland's greatest comedy characters have wrung plenty of laughs from Scotland's rich fabric of life.

Eddie nails Rab C selfie

Comedian Eddie Izzard takes a selfie with Rab C Nesbitt star Gregor Fisher, wearing an Army uniform -- and bright red nail varnish.

The cross-dressing funnyman snapped the picture in Portsoy, Aberdeenshire, yesterday during a break in filming a remake of 1949 classic Whisky Galore.

Yer Granny review

Gregor Fisher is the picture of conspicuous consumption in Douglas Maxwell's hilarious reworking of Roberto Cossa's play.

Gregor Fisher: Rab C. Nesbitt is a Greek tragedy!

Whether it's Rab C Nesbitt or a 100-year-old granny, Gregor Fisher still gets to eat a fish supper...

Rab C Nesbitt to play Glesga granny

Rab C Nesbitt star Gregor Fisher will play a Glasgow granny in his latest role.

The Tommy Cooper thing, Not Like That, Like This, winningly scripted by Simon Nye, told the tale of guess who? A grand piece of ever-rewatchable television, for whom most plaudits will so rightly go to David Threlfall, who simply channelled Cooper: he made you practically smell Chiswick in the 60s, and the BBC lino, and twitch along with every bursting blood-vessel in first his nose and later heart. But very honourable mentions go to Amanda Redman and the ever-splendid Gregor Fisher, playing so against type as to surely require near-physical contortions. And to Paul Ritter, who played Eric Sykes, and got the wisest line of the night, after Cooper drunkenly explained the difference between his two loves, comedy and magic. Sykes saw a different version of two loves, Cooper being at that stage torn between wife Dove and mistress Mary. "So Dove is your comedy, and Mary is your magic." A difficult, heartbreaking man, and ditto piece of television.

Rab C. Nesbitt: political and laugh-out loud funny

The charms of Rab C. Nesbitt (BBC Two) have been hit and miss over the years but special episode Rab In Hoodie found Gregor Fisher at the top of his potty-mouthed game, his string-vested alter ego Rab reinvented as a modern-day twist on folk hero Robin Hood.

The production values of this Gregor Fisher-starring comedy remain trapped in the 1980s, but its concerns are bang up to date with the Big Society. Rab's spare room is under investigation. Mary is rooting through bins for food, and there's no money to send Peaches on the school trip. Rab's solution? Take up arms against capitalism, with only Andra and the repulsive Jamesie to help him. Living in the woods, though, is tough for these Scottish Robin Hoods. "It'll be July soon," says Jamesie. "We'll freeze."

Desperate times call for desperate measures, so when he's strapped for cash and granddaughter Peaches is yearning to go on the school cruise to Sweden, the resourceful Rab hits on a cunning plan: rob the rich to help the poor! Gregor Fisher mines a broad seam of humour from his variation on the Robin Hood theme, with barbs aimed at George Osborne hitting the target bang on. If the Scots vote for independence, they should make Rab the chancellor.

A profile of the Glaswegian entertainer and talented mimic who performed most of his sketches in the guise of celebrities of the day. Famously, Baxter would use clever editing to portray all the characters in a scene and was the first person to play the current Queen on TV. We hear how he started his career in Scottish variety theatre and the Army entertainment corps, before going on to draw huge audiences during the Seventies and Eighties for his TV specials - until the cost of his epic productions priced him off our screens. Fans and friends including Michael Grade, Barry Cryer, Bill Oddie and Gregor Fisher pay tribute.