{"id":382020,"date":"2026-01-21T10:17:17","date_gmt":"2026-01-21T10:17:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/382020\/"},"modified":"2026-01-21T10:17:17","modified_gmt":"2026-01-21T10:17:17","slug":"comedy-legend-jack-docherty-reveals-big-plans-for-bbc-character","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/382020\/","title":{"rendered":"Comedy legend Jack Docherty reveals big plans for BBC character"},"content":{"rendered":"

Comedy legend Jack Docherty has big plans for beloved character Chief Commissioner Miekelson \u2013 and knows which icon he\u2019d love to put him up against.\"BBC\"<\/p>\n

Jack Docherty returns to the hilarious character Chief Commissioner Cameron Miekelson in a new spin-off sitcom(Image: BBC)<\/p>\n

He might have started off life in comedy series Scot Squad as the country\u2019s most accident prone senior cop.<\/p>\n

But after breaking out of the police satire with his own spin-off TV series and live tours, comedy legend Jack Docherty<\/a> has big plans for beloved character Chief Commissioner Miekelson<\/a> \u2013 and knows which icon he\u2019d love to put him up against.<\/p>\n

As the second series of The Chief<\/a> launches on BBC Scotland next week, Docherty<\/a> admits he\u2019s been dreaming up possible next steps for the hapless officer, including a talk show where he would love to grill Sir Alex Ferguson \u2013 who coined the phrase \u201cSqueaky bum time\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"BBC\"<\/p>\n

(Image: BBC)<\/p>\n

His brilliant character has already done a range of interview specials with Scots political leaders to mark Scottish and UK elections, and he admits he\u2019d like to take it a step further.<\/p>\n

The 64-year-old said: \u201cI\u2019ve often thought that he could do an interview show, and we\u2019ve been talking about it actually. That\u2019s the great thing about him, you can just plonk him in anywhere. There could be a Mrs Merton type thing.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d really like him to interview Sir Alex Ferguson, that would be my dream.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause he\u2019d want to give Ferguson advice. He\u2019d see them as absolute equals and he wouldn\u2019t understand why he\u2019s not Sir Cameron. It could be the kind of thing where he would go around seeking inspiration from political leaders, managers, sportsmen, leaders of business.<\/p>\n

“He would be great interviewing all of those people.\u201d<\/p>\n

Edinburgh-born Jack has been one of Scotland\u2019s leading comic performers and writers for more than 40 years, becoming a household name for the era-defining Scots sketch show Absolutely and then starring in his own chat show and presenting work in addition to acting.<\/p>\n

But he was thrilled to be discovered by a new audience of fans as the gormless Chief Commissioner Cameron Miekelson<\/a> in Scot Squad.<\/p>\n

The famously improvised sketch-type series was a satire of Police Camera Action type shows, and Docherty loved getting to bring The Chief to life.<\/p>\n

Jack\u2019s Chief<\/a> is a classic Edinburgh policing establishment character, and he admitted that he has encountered more than a few of them growing up in the capital city.<\/p>\n

He said: \u201cIt\u2019s about 12 or 13 years I\u2019ve been playing him now, but when we were shooting Scot Squad, you\u2019d be done in three or four days.<\/p>\n

“So it doesn\u2019t feel like a tremendous amount, but then you do all the spin-offs so it\u2019s been around. I just feel comfortable playing him. I find him easy to improvise.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Jack Docherty has spent four decades making audiences across the UK laugh(Image: STEVE ULLATHORNE)<\/p>\n

The rampant success of Scot Squad and The Chief spin-offs<\/a> have seen Miekelson enter the public consciousness over the last decade. Jack has performed him live at the Edinburgh Fringe and taken him across the country.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s also about to embark on the No Apologies tour which ties in to The Chief<\/a> launching an autobiography of the same name in the upcoming second series.<\/p>\n

Jack said he was thrilled to get back to the stage after a lengthy absence.<\/p>\n

He said: \u201cI\u2019ve been doing the festival, and I\u2019m touring it this year, and the response has been great \u2013 you\u2019re getting proper laughs from an audience.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou never stop getting nervous, which is good. I do remember doing the live show for the first time in 2017, standing in the wings just suddenly taking a deep breath \u2013 I hadn\u2019t performed live for about 20 years.<\/p>\n

“And then I walked out and got that first laugh and then I wondered why I stopped doing this because it\u2019s such fun.\u201d<\/p>\n

But no matter how many halls The Chief<\/a> visits across Scotland, his spiritual home will always be on the telly, and Jack is delighted to be bringing his grumpy alter-ego back for series two.<\/p>\n

While the Scot Squad version of The Chief<\/a> was very much focused on his hapless attempts to communicate with colleagues and the public, the sitcom version brings us much more into his chaotic personal life as he navigates divorce, dating and trying to relate to his eco-activist daughter, played by Eilidh Loan.<\/p>\n

While he has worked to bring the Scot Squad audience with him, Jack did want to make the spin-off different from its predecessor.<\/p>\n

He explained:\u201cIt\u2019s much more scripted.<\/p>\n

“Because we\u2019d done that (improvisational style) in Scot Squad, we said, \u2018Well, let\u2019s not do that. Let\u2019s make it tight plots. Let\u2019s make it characters interacting. Let\u2019s put a home plot in and a work plot and more conventional sitcom stuff.<\/p>\n

“It is a slight risk because you\u2019re thinking, well, Scott Squad is so established, will the audience come with us if it\u2019s slightly different? But thankfully we seem to have brought them with us.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"BBC\"<\/p>\n

Jack Docherty returns to the hilarious character Chief Commissioner Cameron Miekelson in a new spin-off sitcom(Image: BBC)<\/p>\n

In the new series Jack has promised we\u2019ll see more of Miekelson\u2019s dramas at home and work as the cop struggles to keep up with the pace of modern policing and family politics.<\/p>\n

He said: \u201cWe want to consolidate what we were doing and just to really nail down the world and try to make both the home life and the office life combine and work. Because that\u2019s the biggest challenge. It\u2019s nice to try and get both of those going.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s about writing for the actors that you know, exploring their strengths and getting stories that people know and like. We want to keep on building the world and getting to know more about the characters.\u201d<\/p>\n

As a performer who\u2019s spent his life being reminded of his funniest moments as fans quote lines from Absolutely \u2013 he still gets \u201cStoneybridge\u201d to this day \u2013Jack has been thrilled to see The Chief<\/a> enjoy such fame and popularity as well.<\/p>\n

His greatest hits from Scot Squad, including the apologies gag and the time capsule scene, have become viral video clips shared all over the world \u2013 and he\u2019s loved seeing the global feedback.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe viral thing is so different from where I came from, because you have 80 million views of clips.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd then the Seattle police are getting in touch going, \u2018We think you should be our chief\u2019 and that\u2019s when you know it\u2019s got a life of its own.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd when my kids were still at university, their friends would go, \u2018Have you seen this funny policeman?\u2019 And my kids would have to go, \u201cYeah, that\u2019s my dad.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u25cf Season two of The Chief launches on iPlayer and BBC Scotland channel, Wednesday 21 January, 10pm. The Chief\u2019s No Apologies tour of Scotland kicks off March 22 at the King\u2019s Theatre in Glasgow.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Comedy legend Jack Docherty has big plans for beloved character Chief Commissioner Miekelson \u2013 and knows which icon…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":382021,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[243,2973,2169,96,14471,391,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-382020","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tv","8":"tag-bbc","9":"tag-comedy","10":"tag-edinburgh","11":"tag-entertainment","12":"tag-sir-alex-ferguson","13":"tag-tv","14":"tag-uk","15":"tag-united-kingdom","16":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/382020","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=382020"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/382020\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/382021"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=382020"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=382020"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=382020"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}