THE past few months have seen James Mackenzie cement his place as a River City regular.
He started playing Gary late last year and became a full-time cast member in February.
This week – Wednesday, 8pm, BBC1 Scotland – affairs of the heart loom large as Robbie gets set to head to America.
James, 37, lives in Biggar with his wife Helen and their 11-month-old son Magnus.
THERE are a couple of very different places that I’ll always remember because of their special significance.
Helen and I went to Bali for our honeymoon.
We had it recommended to us by travel agent friends after we said we were looking for somewhere far-flung and exotic.
They couldn’t have sent us anywhere that fitted the bill more.
I know that on your honeymoon you tend to view things through rose-tinted specs, but it really was like a perfect little paradise.
We’ve never seen turquoise water and white sands like it.
The other place, which we’re only just back from, is the Umbria region of Italy.
And the reason that will always stick in my memory is because it’s where Magnus took his very first steps.
We were really lucky in that my aunt has a villa there and we scrounged it off her for 10 days.
It’s our first experience of how holidays change when you’re a parent.
My vision was probably lounging by the pool, getting a tan while reading a book.
Instead, it was constantly chasing a wee rascal around the place.
Magnus isn’t even one and he’s already been abroad which is so different from my own childhood when holiday travel meant a long car journey to the north-west of Scotland.
My dad Michael’s an actor and he toured a lot up there and fell in love with the place.
So he regularly took mum and I back – and I absolutely loved it.
Ullapool and Skye were a couple of the places and I spent the time playing on the beaches and exploring the woods.
In the mornings I’d run into the local kids and that would it be it, my parents wouldn’t see me again until teatime.
We did go to Crete a few times after that and all I wanted to do was play in the pool!
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