COUPLE TEAM UP FOR SHOW Still Game and Scot Squad stars on working together for new series

BY ANN FOTHERINGHAM

FOR a long while after her legendary role as cheery Miss Hoolie in the CBeebies hit show Balamory, Julie Wilson Nimmo was not offered parts in kids’ telly.

“People definitely acted a bit weird about it,” she says, thoughtfully.

“I’d not get roles, or even be considered, and afterwards I’d ask, ‘why on earth would you think I wouldn’t want to do kids’ telly?’ They’d say ‘oh, we just thought you’d be sick of it’.

“I was a bit hurt by that, to be honest.”

Julie, who also stars in Scot Squad, adds: “But I think it was partly because the character was so recognisable, that I wouldn’t get a high profile role because I’d always just be Miss Hoolie to the kids watching. I suppose that’s just the price you have to pay for having a role like that for so long.

“But I never said I’d never do it again.”

She laughs: “It’s weird, because the old cliché is that you should never work with children or animals, but whenever I have done that, I’ve absolutely loved it.”

Children and animals, and Julie’s husband Greg

Hemphill – actor, writer and one half of Still Game’s Jack and Victor – all feature in her return to children’s telly this weekend.

The couple, who live in the West End, are appearing together in Olga da Polga, the first-ever TV adaptation of Paddington creator Michael Bond’s beloved books.

The new 13-part, live-action and animation series is produced by Glasgow-based production company Marakids, and it has been made with the full support of the Bond family.

Karen Jankel, Michael’s daughter, said: “My father would have been absolutely delighted with this because it was exactly how he envisaged a TV show about Olga.”

The show tells the adventurous, funny and imaginative tales of Olga the guinea pig and features a stellar cast of loveable animals and humans.

Michael started writing the stories after he gave his daughter Karen her first guinea pig and Julie and Greg’s characters, Mr and Mrs Sawdust, are loosely based on the author and his first wife, Brenda.

Isla Mercer plays Karen, the Sawdusts’ daughter.

“We are definitely not the stars of the show, Isla, is,” says Julie.

“She is adorable and a wee grafter. Telly can be quite nervewracking for kids, but she is absolutely brilliant. The whole thing has been lots of fun.

“I knew the Paddington books, of course, but I’d never heard of the Olga da Polga stories. I went out and bought them and absolutely loved them. I mean, anything with talking animals, I’m in.”

Julie admits to having had “absolutely no experience” with guinea pigs.

“It was always hamsters we had when we were at school,” she says.

“After Olga da Polga though, I’m like, seriously, get me a guinea pig now. I want one so much. They are cute as anything and just snuggle into you.

“Honestly, everyone will want one after watching this show. We’re going to be responsible for a guinea pig revival.”

Julie and Greg, who met while working together on 90s sketch show Pulp Video, had no qualms about sharing the screen once more.

“It’s been great working with Greg. We have done a couple of things together recently and it has been nice to finally have the time to do that,” says Julie.

“For a long while, it’s always been one of us holding the fort with the kids at home while the other one works.”

Greg agrees with a smile: “Working with Jools has been really nice. She is the queen of kids’ telly, after all, so I feel like I am stepping into her realm

“We met on sketch shows, and we always laughed a lot. We still do. There are lots of laughs, lots of carry on when we work together.”

The couple’s next joint project is a documentary about wild swimming, which Julie took up in lockdown in 2020.

“Most people who don’t do it think people who do it are crazy,” says Greg, adding with a laugh: “As did I, when Jools started doing it. I’d say to her ‘come on, it’s Scotland, you’re swimming outside. We just don’t do that’.

“But once I went along and tried it I really loved it. And the documentary is not just about us, we talk to people who tell their stories and look at the science behind the benefits of wild swimming.

“It’s a deep dive – no pun intended – into how it has changed people’s mindset about the outdoors.”

Greg and co-writer Ford Kiernan called time on Still Game, the hit comedy series about a couple of lovable rogue pensioners in 2019, after nine seasons, multiple awards and a live version.

“It is really strange not to have Still Game part of my life. So much of the year was spent doing it,” acknowledges Greg.

“But that is why Ford and I stopped it. We could easily have become lifers, and while we loved it, we wanted to tell other stories, have a bash at other scripts.

“Jools and I are working on a sitcom script with Louise. It’s just at the script stage but hopefully something will come of that. And I have a film script on the go, and I’m looking at other things. It’s nice, finally to have the time to do that.”

He adds: “I feel like Still Game was a significant body of work for all of us in the cast, and we remain immensely proud of it. But it was time to do other things.”

Olga da Polga will be on CBeebies every Saturday and Sunday at 5.35pm from Saturday, and the first five episodes are now available on BBC iPlayer.

14th November ­ Glasgow Live ­ Still Game legend to star in new CBeebies show alongside wife Julie Wilson Nimmo

Still Game legend to star in new CBeebies show alongside wife Julie Wilson Nimmo

News

Still Game icon Greg Hemphill will star alongside partner Julie Wilson Nimmo in a brand new CBeebies show called Olga Da Polga, in their first time acting together as a couple.

News

By Abbie MeehanTrainee TV and Showbiz Writer

16:16, 14 NOV 2022

The pair will act as a couple on screen for the first time ever. (Image: BBC)

Still Game legend Greg Hemphill will take up a new role in a CBeebies show alongside his partner Julie Wilson Nimmo, famous for her role in Balamory.

The couple will play ‘Mr & Mrs Sawdust’, with Greg playing a very modern stay-at-home dad alongside the talking furry star, Olga da Polga - in the first ever television series of Michael Bond’s hugely successful children’s books.

The adventures of Michael Bond’s loveable guinea pig heroine Olga da Polga and her animal friends come to life in this heart-warming live action series. The Balamory and Still Game couple will play parents to Karen Sawdust, based on the Paddington creator’s own daughter Karen Jankel.

She will be played by Glasgow schoolgirl Isla Mercer, eight, in her debut role - Lesley Harcourt is set to voice Olga.

Speaking to The Sunday post about the role, Greg said: “After all the years we’ve been together, this is the first time Jules and I have actually had the opportunity to act together as a couple, and it’s been an absolute delight.

"Mr Sawdust is a very hands-on dad who looks after Karen as Mrs Sawdust is out working. With Jules and I both acting, I’ve spent a lot of time making the tea and looking after our boys when she was out working, so it wasn’t a great leap to portray Mr Sawdust.

“Little Isla who play Karen was wonderful, and as we all love animals, working with guinea pigs, cats and tortoises was a dream job.”

Julie, who played Miss Hoolie in Balamory, added: “Everyone knows and loves Paddington, so it was a wonderful compliment to be asked to bring the Olga da Polga books to life.”

Olga Da Polga will air from today (November 14) on CBeebies from 11am. It will also be shown on Saturday, November 19 and Sunday, November 20 at 5:35pm.