AM talks to Two Doors Down star, Jonathan Watson
Gill Sherry
Fans of the award-winning Scottish sitcom, Two Doors Down, will be delighted to learn that it’s back for a one-off Christmas special on Sunday 22nd December.
The show first hit our screens way back in 2013 following some last-minute re-scheduling by the BBC.
“It was put together very quickly,” Jonathan Watson (AKA Colin) tells me. “Gregor and Simon had written it about a year and half beforehand and it was sitting on a shelf. Somebody – a big name – was due to have a 9pm slot on BBC One on New Year’s Eve and for whatever reason, they had to pull out. I got a call on the Wednesday to go down on the Thursday and the contracts were signed on the Friday.”
Apparently, everybody involved with that first show had a similar story to tell. Filming took place from 8am till 8pm over a period of ten days in a small house in Paisley.
“It was a bit of a whirlwind,” Jonathan continues, “and when it came out it had a fantastic impact. The response was great.”
In fact, the response was so good that shortly after that Hogmanay one-off, a full series was commissioned. This was aired in April 2016 and was followed by a further six series plus four Christmas specials.
Despite the show’s huge success, it was assumed that following the passing of its co-creator, Simon Carlysle, in August 2023, we’d seen the last of the characters who had entertained us so well from Latimer Crescent.
“It came as a surprise to us all,” says Jonathan of this year’s Christmas special. “I got a call in March, as we all did, to say the script had arrived from Gregor Sharp. We honestly didn’t think he’d put pen to paper for Two Doors Down ever again, so it came out of the blue. It was great.”
The popularity and success of the show, Jonathan confirms, is very much down to the writing.
“It doesn’t matter how well it’s cast, if the writing’s not in place you’ve had it. Gregor and Simon, now Gregor on his own, they do the characters so well. It’s a good cast, don’t get me wrong, but the writing is key.”
And does the cast enjoy making it as much as we enjoy watching it?
“Very much so. People make the assumption that we go about laughing all the time, but that doesn’t happen. Comedy is a serious business. You’ve got a schedule to work to, you can’t mess about too much. There are moments of hilarity, but you’ve got to pull together and get through the day. It is enjoyable, but the way it’s shot… you could do a scene easily 50 times in the course of a day, so you’ve got to be focused and concentrate constantly. You can’t take your foot off the gas.”
Jonathan and his fellow cast members will certainly need to concentrate next September when Two Doors Down takes to the stage at Glasgow’s OVO Hydro. Performing ten shows over six dates will be quite a task. That said, Jonathan is no stranger to the theatre. In fact, after graduating from the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama (now the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland), theatre was where it all began.
“I started out working with TAG Theatre Company, then Traverse, then Borderline… but in the very early days, before the National Theatre of Scotland, there was a company called the Scottish Theatre Company, and Bill Bryden had been commissioned to write a play for them. It was about the Clydebank Blitz, and somebody pulled out and I replaced them. It was quite a thing working with the wonderful cast, and from that I got my London agent. So that was a big deal.”
Since then, he’s played many different roles for theatre, TV and film. Does he have a preference?
“No. I love the whole lot. I think it’s important to try and keep a mix and keep it all fresh.”
Is it fair to say, though, that’s he’s probably best known for playing Colin?
“No, not really. These things change depending on what’s on at the time. I’ve just finished doing Coldwater for ITV so people are more likely to say, ‘I saw you in that thing on ITV’. I’m known for Only an Excuse? which I did for years. Older people will remember me from City Lights, and I’ve done Dr Who as well, so people remember me from that.”
And is there one role that he would particularly like to play?
“Not really. I’ve been blessed to have been given the opportunity to do so many different things. I’ve never been one of these people to say, I wish I’d done Hamlet. I’ve never viewed it that way. It comes out the blue. You look back at things like Dr Who, and This Time with Alan Partridge, both of those jobs came out of the blue and that’s one of the things that I enjoy. These things crop up just when you don’t expect them. I enjoy that aspect of it rather than trying to focus on one thing and trying to aim for it.”
He certainly wasn’t expecting a Two Doors Down Christmas special! At the risk of spoilers, is he able to tell us anything about it?
“Christmas comes a little bit early, that’s the only thing I can say. You’ll understand that when you see it.”
All will become clear on 22nd December when we are reunited with Colin and his neighbours. Jonathan, of course, has already had the pleasure of the reunion.
“It was good to get everybody back together again, not just the cast members but the whole crew.
There’s so many other people behind the camera that we rely on. If they weren’t there, it wouldn’t happen. It was a really enjoyable experience. And when it’s a character that you’re familiar with and you’ve done for so long, it’s quite comfortable to slip back into it.”
Two Doors Down will be available to watch on BBC One, BBC Scotland, and BBC iPlayer from Sunday 22nd December.
Tickets for the stage show are available form www.ovohydro.com.
Jonathan’s weekly podcast, Forget the Ball, Get on with the Game, a joint project with Philip Differ, is also available to enjoy via your website browser or podcast app.
