Two Doors Down star reveals hit Scots comedy show is set for shock comeback

Daily Record

05-05-2025

Kieran Hodgson, who plays Gordon, is the first of the cast members to confirm rumours the much-loved show is returning.
Scots comedy hit Two Doors Down is set for a shock comeback despite the death of the show's creator, one of the stars has revealed.
Kieran Hodgson, 37, who plays Gordon, is the first of the cast members to confirm rumours the much-loved show is returning – with favourites like Elaine C Smith and Alex Norton reuniting for a Christmas special.
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He says there will be tears when the cast come together for rehearsals this summer.
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The show was scrapped in 2023 when creator Simon Carlyle died aged only 48.
In the aftermath his co-writer Gregor Sharp revealed he couldn't carry on without his input.
But cast and fans were thrilled when rumours emerged that Gregor has had a change of heart and was writing a Christmas special.
Kieran revealed: 'The first day on set without Simon will be tough for everyone.
'He was such an integral part of the filming let alone the writing. He was there every day all day. He was our friend. He was giving us notes. He was supervising it and guiding it.
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'Not to have him there will be really ghostly and I can imagine there will be some tears and some moments of silence. Unless we are on the street in Hamilton where we aren't always popular.'
Two Doors Down has been a singular Scottish success. A grower which has become more loved with every passing year.
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It started life as a one-off Hogmanay pilot in 2013. It then took three years before the first full series was shown on BBC2 in 2016.
Six series and four Christmas spec-ials followed on BBC2 until, finally, bosses in London realised its comedy gold and moved it to BBC1 in 2022 for a Christmas special. A seventh series had been filmed when Simon died in August 2023, tragically missing out in the glory of his show finally making it to the big time when it was screened that November.
The show centred around Alex Norton and Arabella Weir as Eric and Beth Baird, their son Ian (Jamie Quinn) and his boyfriend Gordon, played by Kieran, and their neighbours on Latimer Crescent, straight-talker Christine (Elaine C Smith), volatile couple Cathy and Colin (Doon Mackichan and Jonathan Watson) and newbie couple Alan and Michelle, played by Grado and Joy McAvoy. Kieran explained how devastated they all were when Simon died.
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He said: 'The whole ­experience of it was utterly heartbreaking because we'd just finished filming that series and Simon passed away a matter of weeks later.
'He and Gregor had worked so hard on it for over a decade. They'd plugged away and built it and built it and built it. And finally it was getting its moment in the sun on BBC1 and then fate just dealt the cruelest blow.
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'All I've heard from fans since is sympathy for us and that sneaky desire just to have more in whatever way it can be brought about.
'It's lovely that Gregor feels he can write it now. I'm sure it'll be just as brilliant as it ever was.'
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Kieran admitted he'd made his peace with accepting it was over.
He said: 'I had come to terms with whatever Gregor needed to happen really.
'I was ready to be looking back on it gratefully and being in something that people loved so much.'
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Now Kieran is as excited as the rest of us to find out what the gang will be up to next when the cast get back together to film the Christmas special. There is a hope if it goes well an eighth series might happen and a Still Game-style run of shows at the Glasgow Hydro.
Until the cast and crew thought Two Doors Down was finished the interiors were filmed in purpose-built sets in the BBC's Dumbarton Studios with exterior scenes shot on Avonbrae Crescent in Hamilton.
But with news the channel is closing the studio, claiming the lease is coming to an end in September next year, which has led to the axing of River City, if there is an eighth series a new home will need to be found.
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But if the Christmas special is the final hurrah for Two Doors Down could it also bring, finally, the marriage of Ian and Gordon?
Kieran, who has lived in Glasgow since 2020 and takes new show Voice of America to this year's Edinburgh Fringe, laughed and said: 'I think Simon and Gregor loved teasing the audience and I imagine it made them giggle quite a lot to see yet another year going by and they still weren't married.
'I think the closest we've got is looking at wedding venues.'
●Kieran performs Voice of America for the Edinburgh Fringe at the Pleasance Courtyard from July 30-August 24. Tickets from www.pleasance.co.uk.