Scotch and Wry is a Scottish television comedy sketch show produced by BBC Scotland and starring Rikki Fulton and a revolving ensemble cast which over the years included Gregor Fisher, Tony Roper, Claire Nielson, Juliet Cadzow and John Bett. Initially running for two series from 1978 to 1979, the show went on to become a top-rating annual Hogmanay special for over a decade. The series also gave early exposure to emerging Scottish actors such as Gerard Kelly and Miriam Margolyes. In later years, cast members from sister BBC Scotland comedy show Naked Video would also make sporadic appearances. History Scotch and Wry was developed from The Scotched Earth Show, a one-off special based on Scottish humorous writing, broadcast on New Year's Day 1977. Fulton starred in the special, having made sporadic television appearances since his ill-fated Rikki series for STV, which ended mid-run in 1967. Scotch and Wry first aired on BBC1 Scotland at 10.30pm on Saturday 30 September 1978. Its comedic focus was on predominantly Scottish (and in particular Glaswegian) humour, although the series also included material from London-based writers, including rejected scripts for The Two Ronnies The show's signature tune throughout its entire run was a library track, Sexy Sox, composed by Reg Tilsley. Overall, the viewer had to be familiar with the Glasgow patter in order to understand many of the jokes. As a result, much of the humour was constructed around distinctly Glaswegian themes; such as the city's suburbs, its football clubs, and even its famous sectarian divide was also played for laughs. The programmes (and some personalities) of rival ITV station STV (most notably Late Call) were frequently parodied on the show. In the later Hogmanay specials, a greater emphasis was placed on major news events that had happened during the previous year as their basis. Another regular target in many sketches was Lanarkshire singer Sydney Devine, who later became one of the show's many guest stars, appearing in a parody of Phantom of the Opera. In the first years of the Hogmanay specials, singer Barbara Dickson performed musical interludes. It also became customary of Scotch and Wry to include a post-closing credits sketch, which was often a dig at The Hogmanay Show which followed immediately afterwards. The best remembered skit – from the 1985 special – involved Fulton interrupting a party to throw his television out of the window just before the show started.