The Steamie is a comedy-drama

Comedy-drama

Comedy-drama is a genre of theatre, film and television programs which combines humorous and serious content.-Theatre:Traditional western theatre, beginning with the ancient Greeks, was divided into comedy and tragedy...

 stage play, written by Rab C. Nesbitt

Rab C. Nesbitt

Rab C. Nesbitt is a Scottish sitcom which began in 1988. Produced by BBC Scotland, it stars Gregor Fisher as an alcoholic Glaswegian who believed unemployment was the life for him...

actor

Actor

An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...

 Tony Roper

Tony Roper (actor)

Tony Roper is a Scottish actor, comedian, playwright and writer.His first major starring role was in Scotch and Wry. He wrote the classic comedy-drama The Steamie in 1988. He achieved even greater fame in Naked Video and in the spin off series Rab C Nesbitt, in which he played Rab's...

. It followed the lives of a group of 1950s Glasgow

Glasgow

Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...

 women washing their clothes in a public washhouse (steamie). It was first performed at the Crawford Theatre, Glasgow in 1987.

A television version was made by Scottish Television

Scottish Television

Scottish Television is Scotland's largest ITV franchisee, and has held the ITV franchise for Central Scotland since 31 August 1957. It is the second oldest ITV franchisee still active...

 for Hogmanay

Hogmanay

Hogmanay is the Scots word for the last day of the year and is synonymous with the celebration of the New Year in the Scottish manner...

 1988. It gained immediate popularity, and has been repeated many times over the years. It starred Dorothy Paul

Dorothy Paul

Dorothy Paul is a Scottish actress, comedienne and entertainer. She is best known for her stage shows often at the Pavilion Theatre in Glasgow.-Acting career:...

, Eileen McCallum

Eileen McCallum

Eileen McCallum is a Scottish actress. Her first major soap role was in Garnock Way playing Jean Ross from 1976–1979, before starring as Isabel Blair in Take the High Road from 1980 - 2003...

, Katy Murphy

Katy Murphy

Katy Murphy is a Scottish actress who has appeared in Mike and Angelo, Spatz, B&B, The Steamie, The River, Takin' Over the Asylum, Casualty and perhaps most memorably Tutti Frutti. She played the part of Janet in the Radio 4 series Adventures of a Black Bag, and her most recent performance was in...

, Sheila Donald, Faye Milligan and Peter Mullan

Peter Mullan

Peter Mullan is a Scottish actor and film-maker who has been appearing in films since 1990.-Early life:Mullan, the sixth of eight children, was born in Peterhead in the northeast of Scotland, the son of Patricia, a nurse, and Charles Mullan, a lab technician who worked at Glasgow University. He...

. Future EastEnders

EastEnders

EastEnders is a British television soap opera, first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 19 February 1985 and continuing to today. EastEnders storylines examine the domestic and professional lives of the people who live and work in the fictional London Borough of Walford in the East End...

 cast member Caroline Paterson

Caroline Paterson

Caroline Paterson is a Scottish actress who has appeared in many Scottish television shows such as one-off STV drama, The Steamie and the BBC's Rab C. Nesbitt. However, she is most recognized for her role in EastEnders as Mark Fowler's wife, Ruth...

 made a cameo appearance. Haldane Duncan

Haldane Duncan

Haldane Duncan is a television producer and director, best known for his contributions to soap operas.-Early years:...

 co-produced and directed it. A novelisation, also by Roper, was published in 2005.

The Steamie came second in an online poll for the television 'list' show stv's Top 30 Best Loved Shows, shown on Saturday 3 January 2009. The following day, a short documentary - The Steamie Story was broadcast on STV, marking the 21st anniversary of its first TV transmission. This was followed by the show itself. The Steamie is available to view in full on the STV Player.

External links

(STV Player

STV Player

The STV Player is a website based video on demand service accessible though the main STV website and separately in the distinct domain name stvplayer.tv. Current programmes are available for 30 days after transmission on the main STV channel, with archive programming available longer-term...

)