Scotland’s very first TV soap opera, set in a Glasgow tower block, documented the lives of the Crombie family as they moved from a tenement into a new high-rise building known as Caulton Court.
The central character was 30-something Kate Crombie (Clare Richards, pictured below), who had a sympathetic ear and a family who sometimes tried her patience – husband Andy (Ken Henderson), 18-year-old son Tommy (John Buick) and 16-year-old daughter Chrissie (Jennifer Angus). Betty Henderson played Kate’s mother-in-law, who pined for the good old days of tenement life.
The gossipy old nosey parker in the block of flats was Mrs Gauld, played by Marjorie Thompson, who went on to appear in High Road (1980 – 2003) as Grace Lachlan.
Produced by Scottish Television, the show quickly captured the imagination of the viewing public and especially the many folk living in Scotland’s high-rise flats – such as the Scottish Special Housing Association’s flats at the Wyndford Estate in Maryhill and Hutchesontown, which appeared in the opening shots of the series every Thursday evening.
“Wyndford is like a ghost town around 7.30 pm on Thursday evenings,” said Mr John Blair, chairman of the Wyndford Tenants’ Association, at the time.
“We are following the series with great interest and like to think the Crombies are typical of the tenants we have at Wyndford. In fact, we are thinking of sending them an enrolment form for membership of the tenant’s association.”
The final episode was broadcast on 19 August 1971. Storylines were becoming harder to dream up, and high-rise living was falling out of favour in the real world, with the realisation that the tower blocks were not the answer to overcrowding and insanitary conditions in cities like Glasgow.
A spin-off series entitled A Place of Her Own (1971 – 1972) featured a newly widowed Kate Crombie and followed her adjustment to widowhood and a new environment.
Kate Crombie
Clare Richards Andy Crombie
Ken Henderson Tommy Crombie
John Buick Chrissie Crombie
Jennifer Angus Gran Crombie
Betty Henderson Mrs Gauld
Marjorie Thompson Kipper Lynch
Phil McCall Nora Murdoch
Bobbie Willis
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The gossipy old nosey parker in the block of flats was Mrs Gauld, played by Marjorie Thompson, who went on to appear in High Road (1980 – 2003) as Grace Lachlan.
