{"id":550586,"date":"2026-04-25T20:58:11","date_gmt":"2026-04-25T20:58:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/550586\/"},"modified":"2026-04-25T20:58:11","modified_gmt":"2026-04-25T20:58:11","slug":"river-city-cast-and-crew-say-fond-farewell-to-shieldinch-as-final-scenes-filmed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/550586\/","title":{"rendered":"River City cast and crew say fond farewell to Shieldinch as final scenes filmed"},"content":{"rendered":"

The iconic Glasgow-based drama has been axed after 24 years when bosses at BBC Scotland said it was \u201cno longer value for money\u201d.<\/p>\n

The final scenes of River City<\/a> have been filmed as Scotland\u2019s longest-running drama series comes to end after 24 years. The iconic Glasgow<\/a>-based drama set in Shieldinch has been axed as BBC Scotland<\/a> said it was \u201cno longer value for money\u201d.<\/p>\n

TV bosses refused to do a U-turn on the decision despite a \u2018Save River City\u2019 campaign backed by the cast, viewers, politicians and actors\u2019 union Equity. The final episode filmed on Friday will be aired at the end of August.<\/p>\n

It will be followed by a specially-commissioned documentary, taking the audience at home through two decades of drama, iconic moments and never seen before behind-the-scenes footage. Speaking to Glasgow Live<\/a>, Executive Producer Martin McCardie said: \u201cIt\u2019s a very emotional time.<\/p>\n

“Since last week, people have been up and down – we are fighting to get to the very end of a really special finale. The audience deserve a character based ending, and I think that\u2019s what we\u2019ve done. It will bring a tear to the eye.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Tony Kearney, who starred as Scott Wallace for nearly ten years, and is now Executive Producer and Director at Solus Productions, who are making the documentary, said he is \u201cindebted\u201d to River City. \u201cI learned my craft of a director here\u201d, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cRiver City taught me about direction and how to handle performers – I went behind the camera and haven\u2019t acted since. Once you\u2019ve been a part of this team it\u2019ll never leave you.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Actor Stephen Purdon is the programme\u2019s longest-serving cast member. Better known as \u2018Shellsuit\u2019 Bob O\u2019Hara, he said it was \u201cemotional, surreal, hard to put it into words\u201d on their final day on set.<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cI\u2019ve grown up here. When I started I was 19 and still living with my mum, now I\u2019m nearly 43 with two kids and a wife.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s funny, a lot of the things Bob\u2019s went through on screen, I\u2019ve went through in my personal life too. But it\u2019s the people I\u2019ll miss most, coming in here and seeing their faces, the banter, the chat and the actors you work closely with. It sounds clich\u00e9 but it is one big happy family.<\/p>\n

\u201cI came in a bit earlier and just had a wee walk around myself and to try take it all in, but you\u2019ve still got scenes to film, you\u2019ve still got to be professional, you\u2019ve still got to go and do your work.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Sally Howitt, who plays Stephen\u2019s on-screen mum Scarlett O\u2019Hara said: \u201cI\u2019ll never not be Scarlett, I never want to lose that.<\/p>\n

“I was first casted for one-month, and 23 years later here I am. It\u2019s such a momentous time, it\u2019s hard to believe it\u2019s the end.\u201d<\/p>\n

And when some of the cast picked a memento to take home with them, Sally said: \u201cI\u2019ve had to take the Virgin Mary from my sideboard. I actually took a frying pan and a leopard print tray and some coasters too.<\/p>\n

When asked what he\u2019ll be nicking, Stephen jokingly said: \u201cNo comment. Next question.\u201d<\/p>\n

Get more Daily Record exclusives by signing up for free to Google\u2019s preferred sources. Click HERE<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The iconic Glasgow-based drama has been axed after 24 years when bosses at BBC Scotland said it was…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":550587,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[243,96,141966,391,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-550586","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tv","tag-bbc","tag-entertainment","tag-river-city","tag-tv","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/550586","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=550586"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/550586\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/550587"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=550586"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=550586"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=550586"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}