I have never been fond of football so I was in two minds whether or not to watch 'Atletico Partick'. I only tuned in because Gordon Kennedy was the lead actor and also because it was scripted by Ian Pattison, creator of 'Rab C. Nesbitt'. I came across the show some years back and found myself expiring with laughter. I suppose I enjoyed it because it focused more on the lives of the players rather than the sport itself.
Kennedy plays Jack Roan, a job centre clerk in his early thirties who plays for an amateur football team called 'Atletico Partick'. Also playing on the team are Jack's friend and neighbour Sean ( Jonathan Watson ), the unbelievably dim Pettigrew ( the late Iain McColl ) whose wife has taken up witchcraft, the posh-spoken Stick ( Gavin Mitchell ) who is so named because of his scrawny build, sleazy love rat Ally ( Tom McGovern ), hard man Gazza ( Ronnie Letham ) and overweight Lachie ( Steven McNicoll ). Their coach is the acid-tongued Bonner ( Clive Russell ) who is also Jack and Sean's boss.
It soon transpires though that Ally is having an affair with Jack's cold-hearted wife Karen ( Aline Mowat ), which then leads to friction between the two players, on and off the pitch.
Gordon Kennedy is excellent as the cuckolded Jack. His character is so charming and well-meaning that you wonder why his wife cheats on him with the charmless Ally. Both Tom McGovern and Aline Mowat got on my nerves but the rest of the cast turned in fine performances, particularly Steven McNicoll and Clive Russell. The stand-out for me though was the late Ronnie Letham. His character, Gazza, reminded me of Vyvyan from 'The Young Ones' for some reason.
'Atletico Partick' sadly was not well received and only one series was made. A great shame as it had so much potential. It deserved a second season. Surprisingly enough, it seemed to go down considerably well in Australia. Me hopes that one day it will be given a DVD release, along with a few other forgotten classics.
Kennedy plays Jack Roan, a job centre clerk in his early thirties who plays for an amateur football team called 'Atletico Partick'. Also playing on the team are Jack's friend and neighbour Sean ( Jonathan Watson ), the unbelievably dim Pettigrew ( the late Iain McColl ) whose wife has taken up witchcraft, the posh-spoken Stick ( Gavin Mitchell ) who is so named because of his scrawny build, sleazy love rat Ally ( Tom McGovern ), hard man Gazza ( Ronnie Letham ) and overweight Lachie ( Steven McNicoll ). Their coach is the acid-tongued Bonner ( Clive Russell ) who is also Jack and Sean's boss.
It soon transpires though that Ally is having an affair with Jack's cold-hearted wife Karen ( Aline Mowat ), which then leads to friction between the two players, on and off the pitch.
Gordon Kennedy is excellent as the cuckolded Jack. His character is so charming and well-meaning that you wonder why his wife cheats on him with the charmless Ally. Both Tom McGovern and Aline Mowat got on my nerves but the rest of the cast turned in fine performances, particularly Steven McNicoll and Clive Russell. The stand-out for me though was the late Ronnie Letham. His character, Gazza, reminded me of Vyvyan from 'The Young Ones' for some reason.
'Atletico Partick' sadly was not well received and only one series was made. A great shame as it had so much potential. It deserved a second season. Surprisingly enough, it seemed to go down considerably well in Australia. Me hopes that one day it will be given a DVD release, along with a few other forgotten classics.
