Snoddy - BBC1 Scot Sitcom - British Comedy Guide (original) (raw)

Genre

Sitcom

Broadcast

2002

Channel

BBC One Scotland

Episodes

6 (1 series)

Stars

Gregor Fisher, Dawn Steele, Gavin Mitchell, James Young, Brian Pettifer and Hugh Ross

Writer

Johnny Crawford

Director

Ron Bain

Producers

Colin Gilbert and Ewan Angus

Company

Gregor Fisher plays Samuel J Snoddy, a policeman - but no ordinary policeman! And as befits "no ordinary policeman" he works for "no ordinary police department". Snoddy is Detective Inspector with the Elite Crime Squad. "The Elite" was set up to handle all cases considered unsolvable by other departments. Naturally other departments are reluctant to admit they cannot solve cases, so this leaves "The Elite" - and Snoddy - with both an undeserved high professional reputation and an undeserved high proportion of spare time on their hands.

Snoddy manages to fill this time with his two all-consuming passions - golf and .... golf. In addition to this, his entrepreneurial instincts constantly lead him to dabble in dodgy business concerns which so far include a hot dog stand, a donkey sanctuary and a Scottish theme bar in Spain.

On the occasions when "The Elite" is called upon to solve a crime Snoddy's finely honed twin qualities - golfer and shyster - come to the fore. He will often solve a case making as many bizarre mental leaps as he makes bizarre zig zagging bunker shots on the golf course. And his business acumen always seems to ensure that if a criminal pulls a fast one, Samuel J Snoddy will pull an even faster one and come out well on top.

Resourceful, courageous, unpredictable and at times downright dangerous, Snoddy is regarded with a mixture of fear and awe by his colleagues in "The Elite". These include Constables Murdoch and Wilson whose days revolve around watching endless re-runs of Sunset Beach on TV, smoking hash and generally chilling out; Professor Baxter the confused and accident prone scientific officer; Miss Laura Bonney, the attractive and brilliant legal brains of the outfit and a constant sexual fantasy for Murdoch & Wilson; and not forgetting Detective Chief Inspector Chalmers , the enigmatic visionary who founded "The Elite" - although these days his enigmatic visions tend to come courtesy of sniffing an ancient formula of metal polish reputed to have been brought to the Highlands in 1238 by Swedish monks.

Despite "The Elite" having all this talent, it is Snoddy who drives the department on. "Crime never kips!" he declares as he leads the team, in whatever haphazard a fashion, in its latest case.

Whether it's solving the classic "body in a locked room" murder mystery or apprehending Snoddy's personal nemesis, the master criminal Kenny Carty, you can be sure things will not go smoothly.

Even when things are quiet Snoddy can still create mayhem. On being handed a vast sum of money to arrange for the design and redecoration of the Elite's offices he decides to pocket the cash and do it himself while in another episode an official tour by a visiting foreign Chief of Police turns into a shambles as Snoddy tries to take part in a golf tournament at the same time.

While in one episode his illicit business activities result in the infamous Glasgow Soup Riots, in another his bravery and resourcefulness save the city from a rampaging Psychotic Cyborg Robot Policeman, Snoddy is by turn hero and villain.

Additional details

Production

Studio

Picture

Colour

Broadcast details

First broadcast

Wednesday 13th March 2002 at 10:35pm on BBC One Scotland