Scary Adult Things

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A BBC TV channel for Scotland which will broadcast every evening and will show drama, factual, comedy and news programmes made in Scotland

BBC Scotland HD

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Documentary exploring millenial problems.

BBC Scotland

Duncan Cowles

Jordan Laird

Ian Greenhill

Andy Maas

Scary Adult Things: Series 1: Gaming the System

Gaming the System

Series 1

BBC Scotland - Scary Adult Things, Series 1, Gaming the System

Duncan asks if video games are holding him back in life, or if it’s ok to have fun.

Feeling slightly embarrassed about still playing video games in his thirties, Duncan asks if it can hold you back in life, or if it’s ok to have fun.

With gaming now more accepted than ever, why does Duncan still feel slightly embarrassed to tell people he plays video games? He wonders if that time was wasted or well spent, or if he should have been doing something more productive. Why does he feel guilty, and why don’t people perceive games as an adult thing to do?

Duncan notices that Edinburgh-born comedian Iain Stirling, the comedian and voice of Love Island, streams his gaming online via the website Twitch. Iain offers to meet Duncan inside a videogame to chat about how, despite it helping to pay the bills, he also still feels slightly weird about streaming games. How do the partners of streamers feel about their significant other spending all day playing games?

Not convinced Iain really seemed that embarrassed about being a gamer, Duncan searches for someone else to reassure him it’s ok to play videogames. He meets biology teacher Andrew, from Skye, who is anything but shy of his love of video games. He wears the gamer badge with pride, and doesn’t care what people think. After chatting to Andrew and even playing some table tennis in VR together, Duncan is marginally freed from his gamer's guilt and reflects on how much he bonded with Andrew.

Bonding with Andrew leads him to wonder whether people can fall in love via a game, and discovers Phil and Kristin, a young couple who met through Minecraft online and are now happily married. Under a gaming alias, Phil also seems to be making a living from playing games, which causes Duncan to wonder if making full-time money makes playing games more socially acceptable to game cynics such as his mum.

Duncan turns his attention to competitive gaming and heads off to meet an esports Call of Duty champion, Mark Bryceland, who now coaches fellow Call of Duty players in Toronto, raking in massive cash prizes.

Duncan decides to explore what gaming can teach us about ourselves and how we live our lives, speaking to video game expert Gabriel Elvery, who is doing a PHD in fantasy and video games. He notices that some video games look straightforward but make plenty of money for the developers. Is making games as an adult more socially acceptable than playing them? Duncan decides to pitch a game idea of his own - Balance the Stick - to a games company.

Duncan concludes that games are actually more important now than they have ever been. People use them to stay in touch, meet friends, fall in love, relax, make money and have fun - so why does the stigma still exist?

Scary Adult Things: Series 1

A BBC TV channel for Scotland which will broadcast every evening and will show drama, factual, comedy and news programmes made in Scotland


Documentary series exploring some of the problems faced by millennials.

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Scary Adult Things

Series 1

Gaming the System

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