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Gilbert on Gilbert

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Factual: Arts, Culture & the Media

25/12/2011

BBC Radio Scotland - Gilbert on Gilbert

Comedy producer Jimmy Gilbert and Colin Gilbert look back on 50 years of comedy hits.

Scottish comedy producers Jimmy Gilbert and Colin Gilbert look back over their careers, which span over 50 years of producing comedy hits across BBC TV and radio.

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Between them Jimmy and Colin Gilbert have delivered some of our best loved and most durable comedy shows spanning over five decades. From The Two Ronnies to Rab C Nesbitt, Last of the Summer Wine to Naked Video, they have left an indelible mark on the Scottish and British comedy scene. Both have served as Head of Comedy at the BBC in London and Glasgow respectively and had similar careers at very different times in the British comedy scene. Now on the back of an incredible 10th series of Rab C Nesbitt, Colin Gilbert and his father Jimmy talk for the first time about their fascinating comedy careers that have their roots firmly in Scotland.

BACKGROUND
At the start of their respective careers Jimmy left Scotland in the late 50's to go to England to start life as a Producer, while twenty years later Colin made the journey in the opposite direction, leaving England to come to Scotland to establish himself as a producer. This show looks at both of their respective careers and offers a fascinating insight into the creation of some of British TV's most loved comedies, including The Frost Report, The Two Ronnies, Porridge, Open All Hours, Fawlty Towers, Naked Video, City Lights, Rab C Nesbitt, Chewing The Fat and Still Game. 

In a notoriously fickle business both enjoyed consistently successful careers spanning over 50 years. Both served as Heads of Comedy at the BBC, Jimmy in London from 1973 - 1977 and Colin in Glasgow from 1983 to 1995. And both went on to develop highly successful careers in the comedy business after they left the BBC.

This unique insight from two of comedy's finest practitioners will also look at how radio served them both well in their respective careers as they searched and developed writers and future comedy hits.

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