Together with his string vest, shabby pinstripe swimsuit and filthy headband, Rab C. Nesbitt was the drunken Glaswegian wastrel within the BBC sit-com that ran for over 25 years. He was uncouth, unkempt, unemployed and horribly opinionated.

We must always have hated him however we didn’t due to some extremely sharp scripts and actor Gregor Fisher’s hilarious and infrequently endearing portrayal of him. Now followers simply may get to see Rab over again as Fisher embarks on a UK theatre tour.

“I’m positive he’ll pop up on stage in some kind,” guarantees Fisher. “A personality like that comes with a invoice, in that casting administrators begin to suppose that’s all you are able to do, but it surely was jolly good enjoyable taking part in him for all these years – and so they paid me!

“I don’t miss standing on a road nook in Glasgow within the freezing rain although with my nipples at 45 levels sticking by means of that bloody vest.

“We all the time appeared to movie it in the course of winter however I’m grateful to Rab, he saved a roof over my head and supplied for my household for a few years.”

Initially, Rab C. Nesbitt was a recurring character within the BBC2 sketch collection Bare Video however was so widespread he bought his personal collection, operating from 1988 to 2014, with viewing figures of 5 million at its peak. Nonetheless, TV’s largest slob-come-street- thinker was one thing of a Marmite character.

Fisher adopts a fancy outdated girl from Edinburgh accent to denounce Rab’s potty-mouth swearing. “For those who suppose it was simply concerning the swearing or being drunk then you might be lacking the purpose and if you happen to don’t perceive him you received’t discover him humorous,” he says. “If Rab have been only a swearing drunken waste of area he wouldn’t be likeable however he was a lot greater than that. I appreciated him.

“There are Rabs in each city and each metropolis, they could look totally different or be a unique color however they’re there. He’s common. You’ll meet him at a bus station or down the pub. Rab is in every single place. He’s the underbelly, on the reject pile. Folks see a ‘Rab’ and suppose ‘he’s a drunk or a drug addict, oh effectively’ however that individual is a lot greater than that. He won’t appear that vibrant or fascinating however he will certainly have a narrative to inform.”

Fisher himself might have simply ended up a “Rab.” Born in Menstrie, Clackmannanshire, a village simply outdoors Stirling in central Scotland, his mom Package McKenzie died of coronary heart failure when he was three. The younger Gregor was separated from his two sisters and adopted by the Fishers who, unable to deal with him, handed him on to a different household, the Leckies.

It could be years earlier than he realised he had sisters and managed to piece collectively his sophisticated beginnings and discover out who his actual father was. He left college at 15 to actually shovel s*** in a hen farm after which, on an identical theme, labored in a rest room manufacturing unit.

“It’s a humorous factor about beginnings and sure mine was powerful however when it was occurring it was regular to me,” he says. “I wasn’t pondering ‘oh expensive, poor me, I’m dwelling by means of tough instances’. It won’t have been such an awesome begin in life however I used to be an adaptable baby. I’m definitely not completely scarred by my beginnings. I had nice love and affection from my adopted mum and I survived. I began out with no kin after which once I was on telly all of them began to come back out of the woodwork,” he laughs.

Adoption after the Second World Conflict was typically a way more casual course of than at the moment, with youngsters handed between households.

“In these days you simply bought on with it,” he continues. “You wouldn’t dream of not going to highschool or work if you happen to had a chilly or
making a fuss about issues, particularly if you happen to have been male. Within the nicest attainable approach, I do suppose we’re a bit lily-livered now and youthful folks might study one thing from these instances.”

Life FINALLY turned a nook for Fisher when he realised he might act and was accepted by the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow.

“It was all theatre work at first after which the telly took over for years so it is going to be good to return to the theatre,
the immediacy of it, though I used to do pantomime, which was enjoyable and would pay for the children’ Christmas.”

The Scottish actor has loved dozens of TV and movie roles since Nesbitt and one among his favourites was Mr Bumble within the BBC’s six-part tv adaptation of Oliver Twist in 2007, maybe ironic for a boy whose personal beginnings have been akin to orphan Oliver’s.

“I did take pleasure in taking part in Mr Bumble though I needed to put on padding as I used to be informed I wasn’t sufficiently big,” says Gregor. “I’m a personality actor, nobody was ever going to ask me to be Romeo, and characters don’t come significantly better than Dickens. My spouse, Mrs Bumble, was performed by the beautiful Sarah Lancashire. She got here as much as me on set and stated ‘You don’t keep in mind me
do you?’ It was earlier than she turned as well-known as she is now and I needed to say I didn’t. It turned out we had met at Granada Studios when she was only a child within the 80s.

“Her dad, Geoff Lancashire (the TV author), had written Cunning Woman and she or he had requested if she might come alongside and watch a learn by means of. She stated, ‘I used to be there with my dad’ after which I remembered her. She is a terrific actress. I don’t know if she nonetheless smokes however on Oliver Twist we might sneak off for fag breaks collectively and simply clicked.

“Mr Bumble is a superb character however I’ve by no means performed anybody really unhealthy with no redeemable options. I would like that sooner or later,” he ponders. “Actors don’t retire, the telephone simply stops ringing.”

Except for TV, Fisher’s movie appearances have included The Service provider of Venice with Al Pacino and 1984 with John Damage. Then there was Love Truly in 2003. He performed Joe, the supervisor of ageing rock star Billy Mack, performed by Invoice Nighy.

Most lately, he accomplished filming the second collection of BBC One comedy Solely Youngster, following rave evaluations for his efficiency within the first collection final yr. Now 71, he’s lastly popping out from behind all his characters to only be himself on stage.A good friend prompt the concept of a tour again in 2019 however then the pandemic and different work bought in the way in which.

Fisher and his actress spouse Vicki Burton, who share two sons and a daughter, had returned to dwell in Scotland having spent 12 years in France. “For years we moved round, doing up homes and dwelling in  France, close to Poitiers. Then a good friend informed me a couple of authorities web site that works out how lengthy you’ll dwell for.

“I bought 86. Greater than my good friend who solely bought 83, which I used to be happy about however he requested how typically I see my youngsters and I realised it was a few times a yr. For those who then work out what number of instances you will note them once more earlier than you die that’s a shock and we determined it was time to come back house to Scotland.”

Now seven years on from when the concept of the tour was first mooted, Fisher is lastly making ready to hit the street. “I’ve to say I used to be terrified by the concept of a tour simply being myself at first. I had spent a few years hiding behind that vest, however I really discovered it was fairly good enjoyable being on stage.

“It’s not a grand efficiency, extra of a pleasant chat. There’ll be tales, laughs and perhaps a couple of moments that make you suppose, ‘I didn’t know that about him.’ We’ll be speaking about every thing from adoption to performing,” says Fisher. Viewers members are welcome to ask him something. “I used to be on a e book tour as soon as (Fisher’s autobiography The Boy From Nowhere was printed in 2015) and a person within the viewers stood up and stated he’d recognized my mom – my actual mom Package. He even stated it was across the time of my conception. That basically was a bit bizarre.”

● Tales, Laughs And ‘A Wee Bit Of Nonsense’ Nationwide Tour opens in March 2026. Tickets on sale now from fiery
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