Still Game star Ford Kiernan says Isa actress' new look had staff panicking

Still Game: Boabby (GAVIN MITCHELL), Winston (PAUL RILEY), Victor (GREG HEMPHILL), Jack (FORD KIERNAN), Isa (JANE MCCARRY), Tam (MARK COX), Navid (SANJEEV KOHLI) - (BBC Studios, Alan Peebles) — Still Game: Boabby (GAVIN MITCHELL), Winston (PAUL RILEY), Victor (GREG HEMPHILL), Jack (FORD KIERNAN), Isa (JANE MCCARRY), Tam (MARK COX), Navid (SANJEEV KOHLI) - ()

STILL GAME Star Ford Kiernan has revealed how the Craiglang wardrobe department were thrown into a panic when the cast turned up to film the new series – because one of them had started to disappear.

Comedy favourite Jane McCarry, who plays Craiglang’s cardigan-wearing nosey neighbour Isa Drennan in the hugely popular series, had lost several stone since the gang were last together. She had adopted a new health regime with co-star Mark Cox following last year’s gruelling run of live Still Game shows at the SSE Hydro in Glasgow.

The 48-year-old transformed her looks, shedding several stone and showcasing a healthy new image when she turned up for filming last summer.

Creator and star Ford Kiernan, who play Jack Jarvis, said: “Jane looks terrific, and has a new lease of life.

Jane McCarry as Betty in Bingo! (Mihaela Bodlovic)

“But we got a surprise when she came back and had turned into Doris Day. We were like, ‘what the hell’s happened?’

“It was the wardrobe department’s problem, because Isa’s clothes all looked like they were hanging over a chair.

Still Game… but now with new added padding! Jane McCarry reveals her weight loss means bulking up to play Isa

“So they had to go and sort that out and there was a fair amount of sweating about how they were going to sort that out.

“But it’s terrific for Jane.”

The Glasgow-set series returned earlier this month for its eighth outing 20 years after it was first produced as a stage show by Ford and Greg Hemphill, who plays Victor McDade.

It has become Scotland’s most popular TV series, and is now broadcast across the UK BBC network.

But despite its huge success, Ford revealed he hankered for another dramatic role, having appeared in newspaper thriller The Field Of Blood, based on Denise Mina’s book, and in Billy Connolly film The Debt Collector.

‘Still Game feels like a bigger deal this time… it’s precious’: Greg Hemphill and Ford Kiernan on the return of Jack and Victor

He said: “I would really love to play a detective or a reporter in a nice comfortable Sunday night returning drama, just to get away from comedy for a wee while. Although I doubt I’d be able to help myself – I’d probably still be trying to make people laugh in it.

“But I don’t want to be greedy. There are a lot of people not working in this acting game. I’ve had a great career with Still Game and I’m grateful for it.”