STV to stream cleaner sitcom Dirty Water

ExclusiveThursday 16th February 2023, 3:00pm by Jay Richardson

Dirty Water. Image shows left to right: Boab (Robert O'Donnell), Kaitlin (Kirsty Strain), Jock (John Stuart), Tony (Cameron McGarva), Crawford (Joe Cassidy). Credit: Sonja Blietschau

Scottish channel STV is launching a sitcom about Glasgow cleaners on its streaming service, British Comedy Guide can exclusively reveal.

Dirty Water stars Burnistoun's Kirsty Strain, stand-up comic Billy Kirkwood and Stephen McCole, whose credits include the STV comedy-drama High Times and the Wes Anderson film Rushmore.

Following a rag tag group of employees for low-rent company The Eager Cleaners, who perpetually find themselves in sticky situations that require more than a mop to clean up, three 30-minute episodes of the sitcom will land on STV Player on 1st March.

Written and produced by John Stuart, who also stars as Jock, the immature, recently demoted leader of the cleaning team, Dirty Water began life as a play in 2012, with an early version performed at the Edinburgh Fringe the following year.

In the three episodes, shot over 17 days in Glasgow with a budget of £100,000, Strain plays the smart, cynical chain-smoking Kaitlin; Kirkwood is McShane, leader of a rival cleaning team and McCole is Legend, landlord at the cleaners' regular pub.

The sitcom also stars Robert O'Donnell as Boab, the team's charming, loudmouth ladies' man, and Joe Cassidy as Crawford, their mild-mannered eccentric optimist and resident alcoholic. Scot Squad's Karen Bartke guest stars, while Sabrina Mandulu plays Jessica, a barmaid and Boab's love interest.

Made by Stuart's I Know A Guy Productions, the sitcom had been in development with the BBC, who wanted to change the setting to Inverness. After taking it to the MIPCOM television festival in Cannes, television newcomer Stuart opted to work with commercial channel STV, Scotland's ITV network broadcaster.

"I would hesitate to compare it to Still Game because that show's so iconic," Stuart told BCG. "But that's the kind of tone we're going for.

"People who watch STV want to watch Scottish stuff and obviously the most important thing for us initially is to find an audience. Then hopefully it can grow into something bigger."

You can watch the trailer for Dirty Water below:

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