River City (TV Series 2002– )

River City: Created by Stephen Greenhorn. With Scott Vickers, Gary Lamont, Rian Gordon, Frank Gallagher. The lives of people living in Glasgow, Scotland.

“Premiering 24 September 2002, River City is the first British soap based in Scotland for quite a while. The show is set around Montego Street, in the fictitious Glasgow district of Sheildinch. Within this, there are a flux of principal characters, many of whom operate shops or businesses within Montego Street and the action focuses on them, their families and associates.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe opening episode showed promise, with the wedding of Tommy Donachie (Eric Barlow) to Eileen (Deirdre Davis), with Eileenu0026#39;s bitter ex-husband, Raymond (Paul Samson), looking on, vowing vengeance showed potential. Sadly, it was let down by some slightly poor scripting. Two and half years later u0026quot;River Cityu0026quot; his hit itu0026#39;s stride and in Scotland itu0026#39;s now more popular than the similar, London-based u0026quot;Eastendersu0026quot;. u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe recent revamp of the theme tune has helped. It now has a hard Celtic beat to it that resonates with many of the urban Scottish themes now explored within the show.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThere have been some terrific entertaining story lines particularly over the last year or so, with drug addiction, obsession, rape and child abuse giving episodes an often powerful dramatic weight. With the double act of brassy Roisin (Joyce Falconer) and hapless Raymond (Paul Samson), thereu0026#39;s been a fair share of comedy as well.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eTam Dean Burn is excellent as the creepy homosexual Godfather of Shieldinch. He has recently left the show for a bit, but hereu0026#39;s hoping we havenu0026#39;t seen the last of him. Sally Howitt is on fine form as the steely, sexy Scarlett and Gray Ou0026#39;Brien isnu0026#39;t too bad as gambling, womanizing Billy Davies.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eIt was a mistake to get rid of Lewis Cope (Duncan Duff) just when he was getting interesting, but his recent return was a masterstroke and heu0026#39;s now back to his scheming, villainous best. Also of note are Carmen Pieraccini as the sassy Kelly-Marie, Jade Lezar as Roisinu0026#39;s wayward daughter Alanna, Gilly Gilchristu0026#39;s womanizing lawyer Archie Buchanan and Carter Ferguson as charming bobby-on-the-beat Harry Black. In addition former u0026quot;Deacon Blueu0026quot; singer Lorraine MacIntosh is also very good as recovering alcoholic Alice.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eu0026quot;River Cityu0026quot; has come a very long way since itu0026#39;s 2002 premiere, and things can only improve from here.”