Bob Servant. Image shows from L to R: Frank (Jonathan Watson), Bob Servant (Brian Cox). Copyright: BBC
Bob Servant

Bob Servant

  • TV sitcom
  • BBC One Scotland / BBC Four
  • 2013 - 2014
  • 9 episodes (2 series)

TV series about a small-time Scottish businessman with a vastly inflated sense of his own importance and abilities. Stars Brian Cox, Jonathan Watson, Anita Vettesse, Daniela Nardini, Antony Strachan and more.

  • JustWatch Streaming rank this week: 3,841

Press clippings

Bob Servant reboot speculation after cryptic post with Brian Cox

The creator of the iconic Scottish TV series Bob Servant has sparked speculation among fans that a series reboot or special could be on the cards after a cryptic post on social media.

Lucy Garcia, The National (Scotland), 28th July 2023

Scotland's 20 greatest TV shows of all-time

Featuring 1. Still Game; 2. Bob Servant; 3. Chewin' The Fat; 4. Rab C. Nesbitt; 5. Scotch And Wry; 6. Scot Squad; 7. Limmy's Show!; 8. Two Doors Down; 9. Absolutely; 10. Taggart.

Matthew Elder, The Scotsman, 27th July 2020

Live Bob Servant event set for Broughty Ferry

A special Bob Servant event is set to take place in Broughty Ferry this autumn.

Scott Lorrimer, Dundee Telegraph, 19th June 2015

Radio Times review

Frank and Dorothy are planning their wedding but pig-headed Bob is determined to be the centre of attention - that is if he doesn't stop their big day in the first place. Bob cannot envisage life without Frank, his best pal (and dogsbody) of 52 years standing, and when he hears the couple will move to Fife, he takes drastic action unbecoming of a best man.

Bob Servant is a gift role for Brian Cox, who manages to make Bob sympathetic no matter how deluded and bonkers he becomes. But the second run of Neil Forsyth's breezy Dundonian comedy comes to a halt after just three episodes. Let's hope for more soon.

Patrick Mulkern, Radio Times, 23rd February 2015

Brian Cox blows like a salty hurricane through another episode of this garrulous sitcom. In a moment of madness, Bob lobs a bin bag full of frozen burgers on to the skull of a love rival and is charged with aggravated assault. His regular brief, Objection McNally, is drunk and trouserless, so Bob conducts his own defence, leading to a pleasingly retro courtroom farce in which our man bickers with the jury, calls the judge "Skipper" and asks his nearest and dearest to perjure themselves. He's a guilty pleasure.

Jack Seale, The Guardian, 16th February 2015

Bob Servant, despite Brian Cox, and my having loved his first outing, isn't (yet) funny. Cox and Miller are deeply talented comedy actors, let down here by pilot scripts. I know that the writer of the second, Neil Forsyth, is capable of far greater nuanced stuff, and a fine pawky Dundonian sense of humour, than which there are few finer this side of Brooklyn, and can only hope that he and Cox haven't already alienated audiences. BBC Four prides itself on "experimental", but these should have been sure things. Wh'appen?

Euan Ferguson, The Guardian, 15th February 2015

Radio Times review

In 2013, Brian Cox told me that filming series one had been such a joy and he'd be back like a shot from his Brooklyn home, were there a second run. "I come from that part of the world [Dundee]. It's humour that's not seen anywhere else. It's not Glaswegian. It's not dreichy. It's about light, air and eternal optimism." Writer Neil Forsyth was "a genuine original comic voice".

Bonkers Bob is back. Broughty Ferry's loudmouth has ditched local politics and is peddling huge, noxious burgers from a van. He's thrown off kilter by council official Megan (Daniela Nardini), who tries to shut him down, and by his buddy Frank, who suddenly has a racy sex life.

Patrick Mulkern, Radio Times, 9th February 2015

Successful year for Bob Servant creator Neil Forsyth

Bob Servant creator Neil Forsyth has capped off a successful year by selling two new comedy pilot scripts to American television networks.

Dundee Telegraph, 6th January 2015

Broughty Ferry TV comedy proves serious hit

More than 250,000 people tuned in to the latest episode of Bob Servant this month, making it the best-watched BBC Scotland comedy of 2014.

Bryan Copland, Dundee Telegraph, 5th January 2015

Bob Servant to return to BBC Four for a second series

BBC Four has ordered a second series of Bob Servant Independent, its sitcom series starring Brian Cox and Jonathan Watson.

British Comedy Guide, 3rd February 2014

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