River City gangster on his 'polar opposite' role in Glasgow

Glasgow Times

20-06-2025

Jordan Young, the actor who plays both, agrees.
'That's the absolute beauty of being an actor - you hope you will be able to play a huge variety of roles with as much colour and character as you can,' he says, with a grin.
'And with these two, I've been very lucky, as they are polar opposites.'
Jordan Young outside the Tron Theatre (Image: Colin Mearns/Newsquest)
Jordan is about to take to the stage at the Tron Theatre as the aforementioned Ronnie in Douglas Maxwell's Man's Best Friend, a one-man play about love and loneliness.
'It struck a chord with me immediately,' nods Jordan. 'It's a huge challenge, of course, just me on the stage for an hour and a half.'
He pauses. 'The fear of it …' he says, paling slightly. 'It's relentless. There's no time to breathe, or pause while the other actors do their bit, because it's just me.
'It's my job to bring out the story. If you're a runner, you prepare for a 5k, then a 10k, a marathon, then an ultramarathon … this is definitely an ultramarathon.'
(Image: Colin Mearns/Newsquest)
Writer Douglas Maxwell, who staged his first play at the Tron Theatre 25 years ago, says a one-person show is 'an intimate thing.'
He adds: 'It can create a powerful theatrical connection between a skilled storyteller and an audience, built in empathy, imagination and shared experience, which in the end becomes something much bigger.
'That's also what Man's Best Friend is about. Our need to connect with the world, to be of use, to be bigger. And dogs. It's also about dogs.'
'I genuinely love dogs,' says Jordan, enthusiastically. 'My mum was a dog trainer and she used to show dogs. My entire life has been spent with dogs – sometimes we had about 10 in the house at the one time
'So this is the perfect part for me.'
Ronnie is 'very complex', says Jordan, adding: 'I mean. there isn't a human being alive who isn't complex, but I feel like there is an awful lot going on in Ronnie's life. And he's not in charge of any of it.
'Life happens TO him, he's not proactive. It's a comedy, but a dark one, full of pathos, with a lot of heart.'
Jordan grew up in Fife, where he was 'never one of those really young kids who went to acting classes', he says.
'I just liked making people laugh,' he explains. 'There was probably always a bit of a performer in there.
'I lost my dad at 14, and while I didn't know it at the time, I think maybe I found drama cathartic, a way of coping with an incredibly difficult time in my life.'
He pauses. 'It's only looking back that I can work that out now.
'And it just grew from there. I went to drama college, and 30 years later, here I am.'
Jordan as Alex Murdoch with Dawn Steele in River City (Image: BBC)
Jordan is a popular and respected stage and screen actor who has appeared in everything from Shetland and Still Game to Rebus and Scot Squad.
It is as notorious villain Alex Murdoch in River City, however, that he is probably best known. The news that River City will end next year was a 'bolt out of the blue', he admits.
'It will definitely be a seismic change in my life, but it was never a job for life – there aren't many of those any more, and especially not in this industry," he says.
'When I was leaving drama college, if you'd said I'd have a job that would last 12 years, I would not have believed it.'
He will miss Alex, he acknowledges with a laugh.
(Image: Colin Mearns/Newsquest)
'Yes, talk about complex characters ...' he says, smiling. 'Alex just never seems to be able to do the right thing.
'He's been a joy to play though, and I've had the chance to work with some amazing folk. It is sad, of course, because River City is a huge part of the Scottish industry's eco-system.'
He pauses. 'But you have to look at the positives, always, and this is a reset for me,' he adds.
'It's an opportunity to get back out there, to see what else there is.'
Originally staged at Òran Mór as part of A Play, A Pie and a Pint, this longer and fully-staged version of Man's Best Friend, directed by Jemima Levick, will be at the Tron Theatre from June 19 until July 12.