Brand new BBC Comedy Dinosaur, created by Matilda Curtis and Ashley Storrie, Dinosaur follows Nina (Ashley Storrie), an autistic woman in her 30s, who adores her life living with her sister and best friend Evie.
Nina’s happily getting through her usual Monday routine, working at the natural History Museum, when her sister Evie drops by for a ‘surprise visit’ after her long weekend away. Stalling at first, Evie finally reveals she’s here to share some news, she’s engaged – to her boyfriend of only six weeks, Ranesh. While Nina is concerned (she hasn’t even met him yet) her parents are thrilled, which baffles her. Her brother Bo just thinks it’s par for the course with Evie.
After venting to Lee, the new and charming coffee van man at work, Nina decides to give Ranesh a chance and let Evie invite him to their weekly takeaway night. However, when she is forced to make small talk with the irritatingly chipper Ranesh and Evie pretends to be a pretentious version of herself, it all becomes too much. Nina escapes to attend some organised fun with her colleagues from work, to Evie’s great surprise.
Nina’s encouraged to get involved with the group, and Evie’s wedding, after a pep talk from her supervisor Declan who, like Nina, is autistic. He understands the particular challenges of doing what the neurotypical people in their lives ask of them.
She returns home on a high, and the sisters make up. Just in time for Evie to excitedly ask Nina to be her maid of Honour. Nina is cornered… she’s in the deep end now.
Dinosaur (6 x 30) is a Two Brothers Pictures (Fleabag, The Tourist) production for BBC Three, BBC iPlayer and BBC Scotland in partnership with All3Media International. Dinosaur was commissioned by Jon Petrie, Director of BBC Comedy and Louise Thornton, Head of Commissioning for BBC Scotland. It is based on an original idea by Matilda Curtis. The Executive Producers are Sarah Hammond, Katie Churchill, Harry Williams, Jack Williams. Catriona Renton is Co-Executive Producer. The Director is Niamh McKeown and the Producer is Brian Coffey. The BBC Commissioning Editors are Emma Lawson and Gavin Smith.
Dinosaur will air on BBC Scotland from Sunday 14 April, BBC Three from Tuesday 16 April and BBC One from Friday 19 April.
All episodes will be available on iPlayer from Sunday 14 April.
Meet the Cast
Interview with Ashley Storrie (Nina)
Nina is an autistic woman who is confident in her own skin and knows both herself and the boundaries that she likes to live within. Wheat puffs for breakfast every single day? Obviously, they’re the best cereal. Putting your fingers in bowling balls? Absolutely not, that’s a breeding ground for germs. Nina tells it like it is, often in such a comically dry way that it catches those around her off guard.
In your own words, what is Dinosaur about?
Dinosaur is about love, friendship, sisterhood and being your own self even if it makes people uncomfortable because, you should be comfortable.
Tell us how Dinosaur came to be?
I got self-taped during Covid, so I recorded it in my bedroom, by myself, I did all the voices! For a show called Dinosaur about a girl with autism - and I’m on the autism spectrum - that was really cool, as there’s not a lot of opportunities for that to be showcased or for me to be me, so I just auditioned for it, got the part and then they said ‘Would you like to help with the writing and the creating?’ And that’s amazing – so I said ‘Yes please!’ and now here we are.
How did you decide on the direction that the series would take?
We worked on the script mainly through zoom because I was based in Glasgow and Matilda was based in London, and we just went through my life and experiences. We’ve taken from both of our experiences as young women, dating and just living our lives. That’s how it came about with a lot of the stories. Matilda just came in one day and said that she got locked in a toilet so that’s in the script now, and that’s hilarious. True story!
Do you think the Scottish humour in Dinosaur is something that makes it unique?
That’s the thing, people always say that Scottish humour is unique but it’s not. You know there’s that blood type that can be given to any donor? I think that’s Scottish humour. Because I’ve uploaded videos to the internet for years, of jokes, and I have people from all over the world who are like ‘That’s funny, I’m not from anywhere near where that comes from but… that’s funny.’ At Edinburgh Fringe there’s a group of Nigerian girls who come and see me every year because they say the stories about my mum remind them of their mum. I think that’s what makes Scottish comedy great, it’s maybe you don’t fully understand every word that we’re saying but you get by the tone that we’re saying something funny.
What can you tell us about your character Nina?
Nina is a palaeontologist who loves her family. She loves her sister; she loves her city. She’s straight forward, she’s direct and I think she’s sometimes more direct than me. I often feel a little bit envious of that because Nina lives out loud fully who she is and I sometimes still put on my mask to try and be something else, so I do find myself a little bit envious of her at times.
Tell us about Nina’s relationship with her sister Evie?
Nina and Evie are best friends, sisters, bonded through some sort of magical soul bond and they’re a bit co-dependent and overly reliant upon each other and maybe they’re trying to find out who they are without the other. I think that can be true of sisters or best friends, the women you grow up with and latch on to shape you so much and when those friends move on, get married and have babies, sometimes you can often find yourself kind of freewheeling and left behind. I’m so lucky that Kat, who plays Evie, we met, we fell in love, and we get along really well, and I feel so lucky that that happened because this could have been a completely different experience if that wasn’t the case.
What is her relationship like with the rest of her family?
Nina’s parents are tremendous, Ade and Diane. They love her, she loves them and her brother Bo, who’s slightly more contentious. There’s a little bit of push back there from her brother but I think that’s a typical brotherly thing. I don’t know, I don’t have any but I’m basing it on reality television that I’ve watched, so I’m pretty sure that’s how it works. I’ve seen the Kardashians; I know how families operate. I call Bo ‘bawbag’ a lot and I feel like that’s an underrepresented word in British entertainment. I feel like we’ve had a hurricane bawbag, I’ve met a cat called bawbag and I feel like it needs to spread far and wide. Not just across Britain, but across the world. #Bawbag
Tell us about Nina and Lee?
Nina has such a chonky crush on Lee the coffee man. She thinks he is a dreamboat, and she is like ‘Oh, that’s a bit of tasty.’ They bond over coffee and his ability to do funny voices which tickles her pink and it just blossoms from there, it’s a love story. I think Nina and Lee are very similar but also very different and, in another universe, they are solving crimes, they are a detective and a constable running about Glasgow, Taggerting it up. There’s been a murder! A lot of the time we were running about, and it’s gets quite repetitive, so you make up little stories in your head and that was one of our favourites. That we were detectives on the hunt for a baddie.
Who is your favourite character in Dinosaur?
Amber is my favourite character in Dinosaur, she was also my favourite to write. When I wrote her, I always wrote her with long fingernails and when I spoke, I always had to do a lot of finger acting when I was trying to think what she would say. She is a wildcard; every sitcom has one. If you look at Seinfeld, she’s the Kramer of the series. She’s an oddball that pops up at odd times and gets to say the wildest and best things.
What do you hope viewers will take away from the series?
It would mean so much to me if other people felt represented. When I do stand-up comedy, my first thought at the front of my head is that I’m going to say things that maybe other people haven’t said out loud before. Be it about mental health or physical health, how they feel about their families or grief. These are all things that I’ve talked about loads and my main driving force every year at the fringe was just to hope that somebody watching would go ‘Oh I’m not alone’ or ‘I’m not weird, that’s a normal thing.’ So many things I grew up with, maybe because I was isolated or because I didn’t have a lot of friends, but so much of the things I felt and thought, I thought I was so alone, I thought it was just me and that’s the wonderful thing about art and television and poetry and books, it can make people disenfranchise and feel part of something. So that would be a big boon if one person watched it and said, ‘I’m a Nina’, that would be nice.
Do you think that viewers will resonate with the show?
I think everyone can resonate with family, friendships, relationships and the bonds we forge to protect ourselves. I think a lot of people can relate to the idea of being comfortable and stepping out of that comfort. Even though it can sometimes be uncomfortable, in the end, it’s worth the while. I think a big story and a big thread at the heart of Dinosaur is stepping away from your comfort for your own good and I think anyone can relate to that. We’ve all been there; we’ve all done it big and small. I also hope they relate to me because I look like me, I sound like me and I’m me – and I’m still on the telly. How wild is that? You’ve got all your weird looking guys. Your Jonah Hills, your Seth Rogan’s. There’s not a female Seth Rogan! Now you’ve got a big-headed Ashley. You’re welcome.
Do you have a favourite moment or scene within the series?
There is a scene in this series where Evie and I are coming back from a workout, it’s a very small scene, I’m giving her a piggyback and then we talk about Taylor Swift and then we chest bump and that’s my favourite scene.
You have a great cast. What has it been like to work with them?
Whenever you ask Sanjeev or Greg or Sally to just adlib in the background, they will inevitably say something far funnier that I could have written, and I get so distracted by whatever nonsense they are talking that it is nigh impossible to continue what I’m doing, because I just want to listen to them. They’re the greats of Scottish comedy acting. Sally has been in River City for 20 years playing Scarlett, she’s a comedy genius. She will run away if you leave her unattended, she does get easily distracted by brick-a-brac shops but she is one of the funniest people and I know that we see that in River City, Scotland’s best soap, Scotland’s only soap, I know we see a bit of that but we don’t get to see the full range of Sally’s hilarity and I hope that this series, if nothing else, you get to see how funny that woman is.
When I was 17, Greg Hemphill came to my school and did a talk. He got to pick some kids from this audience of maybe 200 teenagers to read a little bit, and I didn’t’ have any friends, as I said, don’t want to harp on about it. So, I didn’t have any friends, I was a loner, I was weird, and I really liked drama. He said, ‘Would anyone like to come up and read a bit of still game?’ and I put up my hand and he said ‘you, what’s your name? and I said ‘Ashley Storrie’ and the rugby players behind me said ‘Ashley Storrie’ and all made fun of me, and I got up and it was an Isa line and it weirdly had something to do with fish fingers and it’s so stuck in my brain. But I read this line in Isa’s voice, I did the old lady voice, I did the scene. And my whole class who had never even noticed me, all started laughing and then they all started cheering and it was the weirdest moment of my life, it was my Rudy moment, it was so strange. Greg Hemphill turned to me in front of my whole class and said, ‘If you ever want a job when you leave school, you can come work with me’ and for three days I was popular, I was cool for three days because of that moment. Getting to kind of come full circle with that and work with him as a grown up is amazing.
How different has acting in a comedy been than stand-up?
True fact, stand-up comedy and acting are so different. There is the instant gratification of stand-up comedy that you don’t get, and the first week I got very vexed when the crew weren’t laughing, and I didn’t understand that they weren’t allowed because that would ruin a take. So, I would amp it up, make full eye contact with the boom operator like ‘Why are you not laughing at my jokes Charles? Laugh!’ Then I learned that’s not how you make telly and now I know.
What was it like filming in your hometown of Glasgow? Were there any standout moments?
I was so excited to start filming, especially in Glasgow. This is my home city, I think it’s one of the most beautiful places in the world and getting to showcase that and show it off was so exciting. It was the biggest thing I was excited about. Never mind me being on telly, people are going to see Kelvin Way and I’m excited about that.
I think Glasgow has been represented very truthfully, we’re showing it in all its beauty. Glasgow is stunning. It’s one of the prettiest places, it’s a Dear Green Place and we’re showing it in that light and I’m very excited because I think sometimes when growing up, Scotland and Glasgow was always grey and dank and dreary, and that’s not who we are. We’ve not been that since like the 1700’s. Look at us. We’re bright and shiny and new. We’re shiny, simmering and splendid.
The art department are phenomenal. We filmed a couple of days in what was Nina’s office and that was built from scratch. It was literally my dream; it was like a detective Dinosaur office. It was so cool I didn’t want to leave; I could have lived in there. We filmed that in the east end of Glasgow, very close to where I was born and just getting to be in the east end in this weird, fun, Dinosaur capsule that people had created from their imagination was so cool. There’ll be nothing like this again, this is it for me and that’s fine, I’m chill with that, I’m good. If this is the only thing I get to make, then I’m glad it’s this.
There is neurodiversity on & off the camera in this production, tell us why that was important to you?
I think having neurodiversity in any workplace is a good thing. We think differently, it’s just a different perspective, and different perspectives are always good because you can find the problems with things, or you can find different solutions because you’re looking at it from a different angle. So having people with different brains, if they’re on camera or even if it’s just people who have experience with neurodiversity, I know we’ve got amazing people on our crew who’ve got family members who are neurodiverse, and just having that kind of level of knowledge and that level of acceptance has been amazing. I think it’s also created a really good environment where people don’t feel uncomfortable to talk about these things.
If someone is having a moment, be it me or anybody on the crew, there’s no shame in that, there’s no embarrassment. First week I had my first wobble, I got really claustrophobic in a toilet, I got really frightened and I was so embarrassed, and I went outside. Three days later I no longer felt the shame because nobody made me feel bad, nobody hurried me, nobody rushed me, nobody coddled me. It was just a ‘No that’s fine, sometimes people feel like that and that’s allowed’ I think that’s a great thing. I don’t think that’s just neurodiversity, I think that’s just all of our brains need to be told ‘You’re allowed to feel that way’ and that’s been great for this production.
I’ve never made telly like this before. Up until this point, my experience of television is what they call Fact Ent. Which is Factual Entertainment, which essentially means I get shoved in front of a crew with three people, one camera and a boom operator and I’m told ‘Go milk a cow’ and I do it and I say something funny while I’m doing it, and that’s it.
Niamh, the director, is so kind and so patient and if I don’t understand what’s she’s saying, she doesn’t get frustrated with me she tries to find a different way of explaining it and it’s so helpful. I think she fosters such a good environment on set. I think one of the most amazing things is that we didn’t go into overtime, for a very long time, we were on time, we were efficient. We worked well, the whole crew worked well, without a raised voice, without anyone being a taskmaster (that’s a show I’d like to be on!). Everybody was very kind but still managed to get the job done and I think she is proof that you don’t need to scream, and you don’t need to terrify people to get stuff done, you can do it with kindness, patience and compassion.
Three words to sum up Dinosaur?
Not about Dinosaurs.
Interview with Kat Ronney (Evie)
Evie’s a chameleon to her surroundings; masking as a carefree feminist for Ranesh, the fun-loving party girl for her uni mates, but also the silly, nerdy and easy-going sister to Nina – her real self. However, Evie can sometimes end up getting muddled in her performances, showing up her human fickleness and inconsistency – something that Nina gets very confused by. How can you think ‘the wedding industrial complex is predatory capitalism’ whilst also insisting all your bridesmaids wear designer dresses? Nina will come to learn over the series that not all of Evie’s contradictions are falsities, but that Evie doesn’t know what she wants. As distant as Evie begins to feel to Nina due to the wedding, they always find and ground each other.
In your own words, what is Dinosaur about?
Dinosaur follows the story of two sisters, Evie and Nina who's played by my lovely friend Ashley Storrie. It's kind of a love story about these two sisters who have grown up as best friends, just glued to each others sides. They're pretty much chalk and cheese, they are not the same person, but they just click, and they just get each other so well. Evie then meets someone, Ranesh, and completely falls in love, and is ready to make that commitment. It's about how that change is going to affect Evie's life, but also Nina's life, and this life that they have together. I love their relationship so much and it has been genuinely just such a joy to do this with Ashley. I just think the world of her and we have had so much fun and genuinely, the thought of not seeing her every day actually breaks my heart a little bit which I think is absolutely what Evie and Nina are both feeling. It's definitely going to be a huge change for them. They live together, they have a very very set routine that they're both super comfortable in.
Do you have a favourite moment or scene within the series?
One of my favourite moments in the whole show is we get to see them (Nina and Evie) working out together, which they do in matching outfits, and it just cracks me up and we had to do it so so many times and we just giggled so hard that day. I remember coming away from that day in particular, just so filled up.
Would you say you’re similar to Evie in any way?
I do actually see quite a lot of similarities in me and Evie. I think the way that Evie feels about her sister, I can absolutely relate to that. I would do anything for my sisters, they are so so important to me. Her frantic energy, definitely, I can relate to it.
Tell us about Evie’s whirlwind relationship with Ranesh?
Evie and Ranesh's relationship is really sweet. It feels very young, like puppy love, and they're just infatuated with each other and it's so beautiful. I've had such a wonderful time working with Danny, who plays Ranesh, and we had a conversation about how much we just love their relationship because it's so sweet and they clearly are so so mad about each other. You'll see in the beginning that Evie's maybe not being quite so honest about who she is. She really wants to be the woman that this man loves and so withholding these parts of herself that she maybe doesn't deem worthy of him, but that's not sustainable and she's going to have to let those parts out and that's a risk that she's going to take and hopefully it's going to pay off.
What was it like filming in Glasgow? Were there any standout moments?
I'd had a real calling to home this year and was so desperate for the opportunity to work in Scotland and then when it was the opportunity to work in Glasgow on this piece, I was like 'Oh please.' and I remember sending my tape off then going in to do some chemistry reads with Ashley and just having so much fun. Ashley's just amazing and the scripts were so sweet and funny, and made me laugh and made me cry. Sisters in Scotland, perfect mix. I just get really proud when stuff comes out of Scotland, especially out of Glasgow, and to be a part of it was just so cool and overwhelming. I'm from East Kilbride, went to school in the West End, and Glasgow is just my most favourite place ever.
I think one of maybe the most special moments was filming at Kelvingrove. That was, oh my gosh, so cool! It was night-time, we were the only people in this massive, gorgeous place and I felt like a five-year-old. I just wanted to play hide and seek and absolutely was not allowed. I have a really clear memory of me when I was younger on a day out with my family to Kelvingrove, which was one of the best days of my whole life. So, getting to film in there was just wild.
You have a great cast. Tell me a little bit about what it was like working with them?
This cast... honestly, I genuinely may end up dying because I love them so much. We have just been so lucky. Everyone is so kind, and generous and so, so funny. We all just really like being together and I kind of became Social Secretary of Dinosaur which I absolutely love. It's been a bit nuts working with some Scottish icons but they're just so kind and everyone's so supportive. Everyone just wants everyone to be really funny and it is just the most joy ever when we're doing a scene and then we cut, Greg turns and has a wee giggle at you. It's crazy.
How do you think viewers at home will resonate with Dinosaur?
This is something quite new to come out of Scotland, I don't really feel like we've got anything else quite like Dinosaur. I think that worldwide people are going to connect with this because it's just real, it's fresh. Its family and love, everyone can find something in it for them.
What do you hope viewers will take away from the series?
What I want people to take away from Dinosaur is to fully embrace who you are and all the people around you, flaws and all, and to take the risk. You know, sometimes it pays off.
Three words to sum up Dinosaur?
Three words I would use to sum up Dinosaur are wholesome, chaotic, and it's two words, but just bloody lovely.
Interview with David Carlyle (Bo)
The oldest sibling, Bo has always been the odd one out. As an adult, he’s beaten down by failed relationships and the disappointing mundanity of life (“people just like big, spontaneous gestures…because it distracts us from our pointless lives”) – the opposite of bubbly Evie. He’s always lived a life prioritising being normal and fitting in. He’s hugely attracted to unstable women and his current girlfriend Hilda is crystal-obsessed, and he’s terrified of her and miserable, but he’s so afraid of being alone he can’t break up with her.
In your own words, what is Dinosaur about?
Dinosaur is about being open to changes. It follows the character Nina, who is a palaeontologist, and also autistic, and her younger sister and best friend is called Evie, and she has a whirlwind romance and unexpectedly gets engaged, and it throws Nina’s world upside down and chaos ensues. It’s an unusual comedy really. There’s that new word ‘dramedy’ and I think it’s definitely in that category because the characters are so complex at times and some of the relationships are so deep. Some of the scenes as well are kind of epic. They cover pages and pages but there’s so much lightness and comedy in it, so I feel very fortunate and definitely very excited to be part of it.
Tell us about your character Bo and what viewers can expect from him?
So, my character Bo is the eldest of the three siblings and I think he feels a bit like an outsider because his sisters are so close and when the series starts, he just kind of feels like someone who is on the outskirts, he’s a bit lonely. But because of the disruption in his sister’s relationship as a result of the engagement, he’s called upon by Nina to back her up or support her or guide her and I think he doesn’t know how to do that because he feels things really deeply, he struggles to know what to do with those feelings or how to communicate them. He has little nuggets of wisdom and I think that surprises even him, but for the most part he’s pinging just as much as Nina is pinging with her emotions and her behaviour. As a result, episodes two and six are particularly bad days for Bo.
Do you think you and Bo are similar in any way?
I think when you’re acting, if you can find the immediate gap between you and the character then they’re probably quite different to you. Whereas with Bo, it took me a while, and that means he’s like me because it’s harder to see what’s in yourself. I think Bo is funnier than me. He’s drier, he’s quicker, he’s wittier, but we feel like kindred spirits. I really like him, and I hope you do too.
Throughout the series, Bo gives us a lot of Glaswegian patter. What’s your favourite Glaswegian slang?
I think folk are going to be fascinated by some of the turns of phrases that we use. Scottish dialect, Glaswegian in particular, is unique. I live in London actually and, although I’m from Glasgow, it’s easy to forget. I really like coming home and people taking the micky out of me by using phrases that you would never think. So, if I say ‘I really loved this thing that I ate’ or ‘I thought this show was really great’ and they’ll say ‘shut up you walloper’ or ‘shut it you rocket’ I’ll let you google what they mean. I just like how direct it is and actually Nina and Bo have a similar language, so I call her ‘lurch’ or ‘shagrid’ and she calls me ‘bawbag’ and that’s absolutely terms of endearment in this city.
Do you have a favourite scene that you filmed?
There are loads but I really like the engagement party, which is more of a get together in the end. That’s like a Meet The Parents-esque episode and I love it because everyone is trying to be someone they’re not. It just leaks out of them in tiny moments, and it means that the whole thing is quite tense, but I really like the fact that Bo is hammered and therefore forgets to be who he should to get through this party and he just lobs grenades into every conversation that he's in. That’s my favourite and I just loved filming it.
Have you enjoyed playing a comedy character?
I really like playing a comedy character, I never get the chance to do it really. I think drama seems to be the go-to and so I’ve relished being part of a comedy and just getting to stretch those muscles a bit. I have to say though, it’s way more technical and skilful than I anticipated it would be. You have to really know exactly how things are going to work out so that you can get the joke, and it’s all about timings.
Dinosaur has a great cast. Tell me a little bit about how it was working with them?
It's a great cast and I’m loving working with them. I really love working with Ashley. She is totally open to just experimenting with dialogue in the scenes and improvising those moments and that just means it can be such a hoot when you’re doing it. I do feel a bit like she and Kat, they do feel like my little sisters now. Then Sally, who plays mum, she’s so witty and so dry and has this extraordinary way of being able to be completely stressed but relaxed at the same time and it just makes me laugh every time we’re in a scene together, so I’ve enjoyed every minute of it.
I have to say, I was buzzing when I heard that Greg Hemphill was Bo’s dad. I was a huge fan of Still Game, it’s impossible to understate that, and I’ve had to really play it cool as well with Greg on set. I’ve tried not to go down that road of totally fanboying him, but it’s been amazing. Greg actually made this point that when it comes to the things that are shot in Scotland, particularly Glasgow, we kind of go for the high rises and the schemes or the dodgy bits of town whereas with this we’ve done everything. We’ve gone to the posh bits, the nice bits, the pretty bits, the ugly bits, the mad bars and it’s got all of those characters that you’d find in those locations, so I’ve enjoyed that immensely.
This is your first-time filming something in Glasgow - how did it feel to be back home for the series? Were there any standout moments?
On the very first day of shooting, I was on the last scene of the day with Ashley where I pick her up in a car and they had to close down a street for us to do that, but the street was flanked by tenants on either side. It was like something from the 1940’s or 50’s where folk had flung their windows up and were hanging out over the street, then they’d sent their kids down in their PJ’s so that they could watch. The kids were so well behaved as well, they did as they were asked. They got out the shot and they kept quiet while we were filming but you could just see all these people really enjoying watching it and that felt a bit like a full circle moment, where I remember doing that. I remember watching things being shot and wondering ‘Could I ever do that?’ And that was a really beautiful moment. Just watching the kids being dead happy about it and enjoying that their city was the backdrop for something. It was great.
What do you hope viewers will take away from the series?
I think audiences around the world would want to watch this show because it’s a fresh take on something. I think they’ll get a lot from watching it happen in the Glaswegian tongue because we’re known for being direct and upfront and being quite brutal people at times, so I think it’ll be really fun to watch how that plays out. I think people around the world will want to watch it take place in Scotland. People are drawn to Scotland. This is a part of Scotland that because it’s the city, it’s urban, looking at Glasgow in 2023.
I think, like any comedy, it makes light of dark. So, there are themes of anxiety and loneliness and stress, but then there’s also really warm and heart-warming themes so friendship, sisterhood, love, family. There are great cultural diversity themes explored. There’s plenty in there, I think Matilda and Ashley have done an amazing job to pack it all in.
Three words to sum up Dinosaur?
Funny, fresh and moving.
Interview with Sally Howitt (Diane)
Nina, Evie and Bo’s Mum, Diane, grew up in Glasgow and studied at Glasgow School of Art, and around this time met Ade, a cool, slightly older, out of towner who was visiting. They soon married, partly as an act of rebellion, partly because their landlady refused to rent a room to any couple living in sin. While Diane had an easy relationship with Bo, Nina was more difficult. Diane was the one who noticed that Nina might be different. Despite this insight, Nina has always been a challenge for Diane, and she’s never been able to have the same easy connection that Ade has with Nina. It was Nina’s diagnosis of autism that led Diane’s career as a psychotherapist.
In your own words, what is Dinosaur about?
Dinosaur is about a lovely girl who is autistic and it's really about her family life and her relationship with her brother, sister, her friend and her mum and dad. Basically, how she sees the world.
Tell us about your character Diane? / What kind of mum would you describe Diane as?
Diane is just quite middle class, a little bit eccentric, but she's a trained psychotherapist. She's married with three children, there’s all these things that aren’t me. She's obviously highly intelligent, that's the same obviously. Very chaotic though, I love the fact that what she does and how she, in a way, fails to be able to deal properly with her daughter is like all parents that seem to put their children in pigeonholes. It's like ‘Oh, Evie’s so gorgeous and she's met a guy and she's going to get married to him in six weeks and that's okay, you know.’ That’s what Evie’s going to achieve, but Nina ‘Oh she's an academic, she's a paleontologist. She won’t need to have a boyfriend; she's probably going to stay at home with us and that's it.’ Again, she's got them in a box with all the good intention, but our expectations are kind of low in different ways for our children, but I think parents do that. I love the fact that no matter how intelligent or educated you are, you still can fail as a parent in the nicest possible way.
Do you have a favourite moment or scene within the series?
There’s a moment at an engagement party which turns out to be a very up tight tense affair where we're all trying to be something we're not to impress Sachin, played by the wonderful Sanjeev Kohli. We’re liberal and come as you are and he's just so uptight, so high end, artistic, intellectual, academic, pretentious and it all goes horribly wrong in the most beautiful way. He's completely deconstructed and gets pied in the face, metaphorically, as it were. Then we all in turn get custard pied, but it's just this lovely big mess, but then the reality is born from that mess. So, it was a lovely and very funny scene to do, watching everybody at play.
Were there any standout moments from filming?
There's going to be an on camera funny moment when I'm getting into a pair of spanks. I'm kind of dreading that but looking forward to it because I'm just thinking how funny is that going to be? I just hope it's not too grotesque for the viewers so that's been on my mind, the spanks scene.
I've had to say a few expletives. I say had to, but they didn’t have to twist my arm — so that is so lovely, it's quite brutally frank, the Glasgow banter, I would say. It's quite sudden, can be quite aggressive, but the warm heartedness underneath that takes the sting out the tail. I was really really happy to see ‘bawbag’, it's a personal favourite of mine in the script, I won't mention any others because I don’t want to give any spoilers away but it's just lovely. It will be interesting to see what American audiences feel about that, I just hope there will be a little handbook of Glasgow banter being translated because that's a particular favourite of mine.
What has it been like filming Dinosaur in Glasgow?
Every location that I've been in Glasgow has been the west end and I have to say Finnieston, Kirkcaldy University, Kelvingrove Park. Every time there’s been a setup, it’s been all over the west end of Glasgow and it really is extremely gorgeous with the blonde sandstone, the Victorian architecture. It looks stunning and then obviously Rothesay, I'd never been, I recommend everybody to go to Rothesay. It's an absolute jewel in the Scottish crown of places to visit, so beautiful, the people are lovely, all the cafes, the bars —not that we went to many bars, maybe a couple of nights — and the wonderful fish and chips and the ice cream, but just the whole view of the place it’s stunning.
What has been your favourite thing about working with the cast & crew?
Generally, the banter, the stories that have been told when we're all sitting about in between breaks are – they're not repeatable some of them – but that’s Sanjeev Kohli for you, you know. The dynamic is that we were becoming an actual real family and very inclusive, slagging each other off already, you know there's all the banter and ‘I've got your number’ kind of thing. A very lovely atmosphere, such a nice place to work and just the right mix, that just sounds cliché, but I just feel like they got the right mix of people together. Niamh, the director, is adorable, that's a word I would use to describe Niamh. She's so understanding, she's so patient and she's got everything missing but the angel wings. On the set, she helps coax out of us the performances and it's like ‘Niamh do we need to reign this in? Do we need to make this bigger?’ She just lets us try things, experiment, she does it seamlessly.
Audiences will know you from River City. How different was this to film?
I started out in comedy unit stuff from BBC Scotland anyway, so it's just your thing you know. It was something that I love to do. So, I think going for straight drama or going for people being really intensely consummate about whoever it is they are and then becoming unstuck, that's always funny. I think for me it’s the custard pie.
Three words to sum up Dinosaur?
I would say glorious, fantastic and moving.
Interview with Greg Hemphill (Ade)
Ade always had this fun, easy relationship with Nina, Evie and Bo. Though they’ve all moved out, Ade makes sure to bring the family together at least once a week by cooking up a selection of lasagnas (one with crisps on top, one without, one lactose free and a veggie one).
In your own words, what is Dinosaur about?
Dinosaur is about a young family going through an enormous change. One of the daughters in the family is getting married and the other daughter – who is neurodiverse – it’s all about her journey through this change and how she adapts and how she learns to cope with it. Change it’s so vital and it’s so hard and I think that’s one of the biggest themes of the show.
What was your first impression of the script and what made you want to be involved in the show?
My first impression of the script when I read it was it was a page-turner because you have your inciting event in the first couple of episodes and ‘Oh where’s this going to go?’ Normally, I’m used to working on episodic sitcoms that have a half-hour story arc that finishes and then you can just watch the episodes independently. This one you needed to follow the story through to its conclusion. It was terrific. I didn’t find out until very late on exactly what was going to happen at the end of the series.
Tell us about your character Ade?
My character Ade is a bit of a dream character for me because the more I read the scripts, I was reminded of Walter Matthau’s line about half the battle is basically being the character and I was reading it going ‘Oh my goodness, I think I’m Ade. I think I actually am Ade – not the best person to play Ade – but I think I actually am this character.’ I think he’s a dad that people would like to have. He will embarrass you and be everything that a dad should be, but I think he’s actually got a sweet heart and a twinkle in his eye. I’ve certainly embarrassed my kids over the years, so I feel as if I’m qualified.
What is the family dynamic like between them all?
The dynamic of the characters is quite wonderful because you’re not really hiding anything away. It’s not like an Instagram family where you’re presenting the best version of it, it’s basically warts and all. The house is crazy, over-packed with stuff, and they bounce off each other and sometimes, bounce into each other. I think about every single holiday I’ve been on with my family and wow, there’s a lot of truth here. These themes are universal and I’m going through this at the moment, my youngest boy just went to university and the sea change in our family: the change of temperature, the change of volume of noise in the house, you think ‘Oh, this is going to be great!’ and all you do is spend your time missing them.
Known for comedy series such as Still Game, what’s the recipe for a great comedy?
I’ve only ever really done comedy. If I was to do a drama and the director said ‘Alright Greg, you’re going to cry now’ I would probably run a mile. The technical thing is sometimes it’s physical, sometimes it’s about saying the line at a certain pace and giving it a certain lick. You’re bouncing off other people all the time and certainly if you’re changing things, you have to be in the moment and have to be ready and fluid with that. I think when it comes to comedy, the most important thing is who am I working with here and how do they like to work? How can I service that and help that?
Sometimes naturally, you become the old man on the set, and you just have to accept that. But I’m not here to teach anybody anything, I’m here to learn. I’m a big advocate of life-long learning and it really is a pleasure to be around a group of people that are new to me and I’m new to them. I’ve been in this little cottage industry bubble of Still Game for twenty years. It’s like a velvet cage in a bubble and while you’re in that bubble, young people are coming up, they’re doing great work and they’re having their great careers and you’re missing it all. When you come out the other side of that bubble, you get asked to do something like this.
How did you enjoy working with the cast? Had you worked with anyone before?
Working with people like David Carlyle, who from my money was in one of the best shows of the last ten years, It’s a Sin. We watched every episode of that and I was a bit starstruck when I met him, to be honest. Danny and Kat – they’re just adorable. I’ve known Ashley for quite a while, I knew her when she was a stand-up, a fantastic stand-up, and such a quick mind. The thing that strikes me which I’ve loved is Ashley’s love of the moment and changing things and saying, ‘Why don’t we try this?’ and ‘Are you okay with me changing this?’ and it keeps you in that moment and it also means that you don’t arrive on set prepared to the hilt and trapped in amber with the way that you’re going to do it. You’re in the moment and working with other actors and that’s been a joy.
We were filming a scene where Nina played by Ashley has to take a phone call and we were sitting behind her and we have to have a conversation on camera. So, we made up a story about Kurt Cobain, Iceland and Lazy Town and poor old Ash was trying to take this phone call in front of us and the story got longer and more elaborate and more branches were growing off the tree. I felt sorry for her because I think she was more interested in listening to the story that we were telling than doing the phone call that she was supposed to be doing on camera. She kept turning around and rowing (?) us, it was a real joy.
I’m fifty-three now, I thought I was young, hip and quick and there’s all these young, quick hipsters underneath me and my gosh, it’s a pleasure to be in their company. You’re working with young DOPs, young directors and Niamh, she’s young, but my goodness she’s got an old head on her shoulders. She has a lovely symbiotic relationship with her young leads, I think in that she is very responsive to their needs and to their desire to change things and try things and talk things through on set. You come onto set with an open-heart and an open-mind and it’s a joy to see how other folk are doing it. I’m having a ball, absolutely having a ball. Long may it continue.
Three words to sum up Dinosaur?
I would say compelling, I would say moving and, I would say hysterical.
Interview with Lorn Macdonald (Lee)
Lee has been in Glasgow for six months. He’s recently started working in a coffee van called VAN AROUND THE CORNER. He’s got an awkward self-effacing charm, is open-minded and kindhearted. He’s comfortable chatting to strangers - this is part of what appealed to him about the coffee van. He’s the kind of person who people like having around.
In your own words, what is Dinosaur about?
From my perspective, it’s all about Lee, but that’s not what the show is about. It follows Nina as she kind of goes on a supposed journey of discovery, but its more just working out her place in it.
Tell us about your character, Lee?
Lee’s in a transitional phase of his life, quite a late transitional phase of his life where I imagine he’s in his late twenties, maybe early-thirties, and probably has been a certain kind of person for a long time and is a little bit fed up with being that person. Which is someone who sinks into the background or isn’t as big and as funny as he knows he can be. I think Nina brings that out of him or at least he’s trying that and Nina welcomes it, so it makes him meet her more.
What’s Lee’s relationship like with Nina?
I think they see each other in a way that other people don’t, and what starts off as just a little bit of fun banter that he works in the coffee truck outside her work. It’s just nice to see someone that gets you and finds you funny and you find them funny, a bit weird and kind of interesting. You don’t know what kind of relationship it’s going to be and slowly but surely, they see that it has potential to be something else.
I think it’s the kind of relationship that you don’t see often, certainly not in a stereotypical rom com where Lee and Nina become detective buddies. It’s not a relationship that always has to be about the fact that they want each other, its more about the fact that they just connect and on this particular thing, they connect in some unspoken way. They decide that they’re going to come at this as sidekicks. I think that they’re solving crimes after this. By the end of it, that’s very clear that is the direction they should be going in. Maybe dinosaur related crimes. I don’t know, but for me it’s a weird thing that has slowly become one of the main things about their relationship. I’m not even sure if it’s in the writing, but that’s just how I feel when we’re on screen together. There’s definitely a Sherlock-Watson thing going on there.
Tell us what it has been like working with Niamh?
I think she’s maybe the nicest person I’ve ever met which is not usually a trait that you get in a director. She’s just got no ego and every time you get on set and you have an idea, she wants to hear it. She wants to see if it can be incorporated. She wants to give it a go. You’re in a space where you can do something that might not work and I think in comedy especially, that’s really important. It’s really important to feel like you cannot be funny, but daring to see if it just might be. She makes that possible by the way that she runs the set. Top marks.
What has it been like working with Ashley?
What’s so good about Ashley is that she said from the start of this to me ‘Oh, I’m not an actor, I’m a comedian.’ And I’m like ‘Well… you are an actor because you’re acting and you’re doing it pretty well.’ What’s so great as well is at the end of the scene once she’s rocked it and she’s done such a good job, that comedian comes back in. So, she knows that she’s got all the lines and then she’ll improvise and I love that because it means that I can riff off that and a lot of the end of our scenes, whether they’ll keep them in or not, we usually keep the camera rolling for a good thirty seconds or minute whilst we just riff off each other and that’s something that I don’t think many actors will go to immediately.
Do you have a favourite moment or scene within the series?
One line that I really enjoyed performing is just before I bash the bathroom door down with my glasses on and feeling very heroic and going ‘Nina, step away from the door.’ It felt ludicrous very funny before then bashing in and falling onto the ground. I really liked that line.
Seeing the cast and seeing David, Greg, Sabrina and all the rest of them just smashing it and being so funny. Those were kind of my favourite days, not necessarily the actual filming process, but getting to spend time with them. It was the first-time meeting Greg who is just lovely and from when I was a young Scot, Still Game and Chewin’ the Fat had such a huge impression on me.
What do you hope viewers will take away from the series?
It’s just nice to watch something that’s funny and has nice people in it. I mean, I love Succession, what a show! But they’re all awful people, aren’t they? They’re just the worst. Whereas with this it’s nice to watch something where you’re having a laugh, but you can see a bit of hope in all of the characters even if they’re weird and make bad decisions.
Three words to sum up Dinosaur?
Weird is a good word. Hopeful and kind.
Interview with Danny Ashok (Ranesh)
Handsome, pretentious, cringy. He means well, but his earnestness sometimes doesn’t land, particularly with Nina – he believes autism is a superpower but doesn’t know much more about it. He knows Nina and Evie are close but hasn’t yet worked out that Evie is putting on a cool girl act. When Evie’s with him she joins him at art exhibitions and slam poetry nights (but, in truth, Evie loves reality TV and takeaways!).
Tell us about your character Ranesh?
Ranesh is a people pleaser. He is also, in equal measures, oblivious to if his attempts at people pleasing work or not. He is quite a childlike person with a very positive aspect on everything – I would like to think I share some of those qualities! He is someone who is very optimistic, I think, and I hope people gain as much enjoyment from watching him as I have playing him.
Ranesh feels like an outsider at the beginning of the show, how do we see his relationship with Evie’s family develop throughout the series?
I suppose with Evie, it’s almost like puppy love, in some ways, that’s how it comes across. They do genuinely love each other. I think they found a certain bond with one another, a connection where they can just be themselves. With Nina and the rest of the family, Ranesh is someone who will work hard for you to find him loveable. Without giving too much away, those attempts work to various degrees and some members of the family take longer to get to that point than others do.
Ranesh has a strained relationship with his father, how much does that play into his character and behaviour?
As for his relationship with his Dad, I think he spent his entire life seeking the approval of his father and that’s dictated who he is in many ways. Something that he now, having failed to do so with his Dad, is trying to seek approval with everyone else in his life. Again, to various levels of success.
Ranesh rushes into marrying Evie after only 3 months. What’s the most impulsive thing you’ve ever done?
I’ve never done anything as impulsive as rushing to get married but where I used to live, there used to be a lake and there was a nice fishing spot for a lot of people. To get to the fishing spot you had to cross this stone bridge, it was only small, maybe about 50, 60 steps to get there. I decided in between jobs that my housemate, who was a special effects make-up artist, put me in a costume to make me look like a troll. She put me in a blonde wig, I looked like Rod Stewart! I had a fake nose too. I would go every morning and hide behind the bushes at the foot of the bridge and when someone would walk through and reach halfway I would just jump out and scare them. I would say to them ‘If you want to pass the bridge, you have to pay the price’. I’d then ask them a question, it would usually be movie trivia, and if they got it right, they could pass. Sometimes even if they didn’t, I’d let them pass, and we built up a nice community. Des O’Connor was one of the people that used to fish there – randomly. So, that was quite impulsive when I left that, but it was also quite impulsive me doing it in the first place.
What was your first impression of the script and what made you want to be involved in the show?
When I first read the script, I found it to be funny, of course, and really grounded and human. I think there are characters in this show that people will watch and think ‘Yeah, I’m like that person’. There are other characters who are more heightened, with the volume button dialled up, who I think people will watch and think ‘I know someone like that’. That for me was a really appealing part of the show. At the same time, I’ve always wanted to be part of a comedy series so that was a big, big factor for me. Rosalie Clayton, our casting director, as well as being a lovely person is very good at what she does. So, her involvement acted as a sign of quality I think, of what the show could be. Then I met Niamh our director, and I knew this was a team that really cared about telling the story and telling it well.
Do you have a favourite moment or scene within the series?
The engagement party was a lot of fun to do. We were in a very hot venue, with a lot of bodies there, so that kind of made it a little tougher than you would expect. It was just nice to be in the company of such a great cast who were all really firing on all cylinders, and it was hard to keep a straight face with some of the lines that were coming up throughout the scene.
What have you enjoyed the most about working on Dinosaur?
I’ve really enjoyed the collaborative feel of everything. Just the opportunity to play and create and work with such a talented bunch of people – it’s been a lot of fun. I think this for me, from every side, has been the best cast I’ve ever worked with. Every member of the cast has been firing on all cylinders, there are no egos, we’re just coming in and wanting to tell a good story. It is very much a collaboration, there is this feeling when we come in where we can just be open with ideas, even if it’s for other people, and we know it’s for the better of the show.
Were there any funny stories from filming?
It’d be hard for me to repeat some of those stories! However, I will say that David Carlyle is so brilliant in this show. He plays Bo, Evie and Nina’s brother, and I don’t think he realises how funny he is. There are moments throughout the scenes where he’ll be delivering a line in a certain way and I’m really finding it tough not to break out laughing. He’s so so funny in this. Some of my standout memories have been working with him and just watching him in action.
How do you think audience will react to the show?
I think audiences around the world will enjoy this show because there is something for everyone. It is a very funny script and is silly at times but there’s also a lot of heart and a lot of warmth to it as well. I would say that there is a running theme of that sense of belonging, of people wanting to belong. I think audiences will identify with that because at some stage in our lives we’ve all wanted that sense and urge of belonging so that’s a big key theme within this. There is also that sense of just wanting to be wanted and I think that’s a big theme in the show as well.
Three words to sum of Dinosaur?
Very rib tickling… although rib tickling might be one word with a hyphen, so I’d say rib hyphen tickling!
Interview with Sabrina Sandhu (Amber)
Evie and Amber met at university, and they lived together for a few years. Amber now works for a bar called ‘Sketch’ in Glasgow. Her madness takes you off guard. Amber once got banned from the ITV building for egging Gino D’Acampo. (Evie insists this was a huge misunderstanding). Amber’s love language has always been extreme acts of service. She’s hyper-organised, and willing to devote all her time, energy, blood, sweat and tears to those she adores.
In your own words, what is Dinosaur about?
Dinosaur is about two sisters and I think it's their love story really. It’s about Nina who is in her 30s, an autistic woman, and Evie, her best mate, and it's about them both navigating their love lives and the differences as to how they go about that as well. I think when Evie asks Nina to be her ‘MOH’, Maid of Honour, I think it's a bit of a frenzied moment for her because ideally, she wouldn't be doing that, she wouldn’t be that person so, she's going to have to figure out how she's going to get on with that. Amber and Nina, she’s so jealous that she (Nina) gets to be Maid of Honour. She’s trying to hold it down but she's miffed, she's proper miffed that Evie hasn’t asked her, and I think that the McArthur family, so Evie and Nina, are like the family she never had. I think she sees that family unit and she's just like ‘I want to be there.’
Tell us about your character Amber?
So, mad Amber. She's quite effervescent and she's always on that moment of life. You don't know what's going to come out of her mouth but that's quite a fun place and realm to be and I think she's quite insecure, she really does want to be liked at the end of the day but she's quite bold with it as well. I don't think she's a people pleaser, trying to be liked, she's quite headstrong. I don't think she's malicious about it, I know some things she does can be ever so slightly jarring but it always came from a good place, it always was meant well. It's just this sisterly bond of maybe not saying the nicest thing all the time.
What was your first impression of the script and what made you want to be involved in the show?
When the breakdown came through, I remember I was lying down in Brockwell Park in London, and it was a really really sunny day. You know when you’re squinting at your phone to try and figure out what it even says? It comes through and it was like right, mad Amber, Evie's best friend, she’s just a bit off-the-wall and I was like ‘Oh my god, she sounds like she’s going to be so much fun to play.’ There was this weird buzz in my stomach at the thought of even being seen for it. It doesn't happen that often when I read a part and go ‘I’d really like to do that one.’
I think what's good about all the characters in this is that they are very unapologetically themselves and I think life can get quite messy. I think it shows people making many a mistake, which we all do as human beings. To be honest, the love and the friendship, it's the people that are closest to you that might muck up at first, but they are the ones that are going to get you through it so this nice familial bonding, just very warm.
What have you enjoyed the most about working on Dinosaur?
In the series, I think my character often pops in and out of scenes and it's been quite fun figuring out fun ways to do that on camera with Niamh. Also, Niamh’s been amazing, our director, she's been giving us quite a lot of creative freedom to adlib little bits at the top and end of scenes and that's been a really fun thing to play with for sure, just having that chance to do that, that’s been a real treat. Everyone's a really good egg and I love Glasgow. I have to work against myself to not say little anymore, I keep wanting to say wee. So, even my mates rang me the other day and I was like ‘Oh yeah I'll just go on a wee walk while I'm on the phone to you’ and they were like ‘what?’ I said, ‘I'm so sorry, I’m practically Glaswegian now.’
Do you have a favourite moment or scene within the series?
I think the hen-do scenes in Rothesay were my particular favourite, just because I felt like we all felt this buzz of ‘This feels really special.’ I remember the first evening we were there, we actually all went and sat on a bench, me, Ashley and Kat and it was really dark but there was this pink horizon above the sea and I said ‘This is the most gorgeous place ever!’ and we hadn’t known each other that long at this point and again, the word I keep using is alchemy but there was something about the equation between us and that's definitely helped with us playing these parts as well.
Three words to describe Dinosaur?
Heart-warming, I don't know if that's two words, and then then I'd say funny and then lastly just… life. Not that it is what it is but it's a capsule moment of seeing life over here and this whole world of characters that's been created.
Interview with Sanjeev Kohli (Sachin)
Sachin, Ranesh’s dad, is a lethal art critic who ‘actually exposed a gallery for displaying a fake Kandinsky’. He appears cold and superior and although not a complete villain, he majorly contrasts with the friendliness of Nina’s family. It soon becomes evident that Sachin doesn’t quite know how to talk to everyone. Sachin loves Ranesh, but he doesn’t find him that interesting. He’s the kind of person who doesn’t really give much away conversationally: perennially bored and sort of dismissive of everything. Around Sachin, everyone operates at 300% to try and win him over.
In your own words, what is Dinosaur about?
Well, I would say Dinosaur is about family, about family dynamics, but it's also about people pretending to be things they’re not, certainly, in the stuff that I've filmed. So, Sachin, Ranesh’s dad, is a very pretentious art critic and you get the impression that nothing would impress him, and everything would disappoint, so that's the way I played it and it's brilliant to play someone that's exactly who I'm not.
Tell us about your character, Sachin?
So, Sachin is Ranesh’s dad. Ranesh has got engaged to Evie and he's not told his dad yet and they want to impress Sachin, so they try to pretend to be things that they're not which is hilarious because we pretty much all do that at some point in our lives. Trying to impress someone or just be… pretentious is the wrong word, Sachin is pretentious! As it turns out, he's probably being something he's not as well which is the ultimate irony.
How different was Sachin to play from previous roles that you’ve had?
I love playing Sachin because he's very different from anyone I’ve played. Even just little things like he wouldn't make eye contact with you when he’s speaking to you, there’d be something more interesting over there – a possible installation. I don’t think I've ever played a character that is that arrogant, I love his clothes though. He's kind of got that understated, expensive thing. He wears a bandana. This is true. I've got a bandana; I've got four or five bandanas at home. They've been on my neck and then straight off because I’m not getting away with that. So, Sachin goes with it, so that's been lovely actually.
What will you take away from your time playing Sachin?
My main takeaway from working on Dinosaur is that my actual glasses are far too big for me. Sachin with his tiny glasses and I would’ve walked past them in Specsavers. I'm looking at smaller glasses now, game changer.
How does it feel to be a part of the show?
I was very chuffed to be asked to be involved in Dinosaur. I feel it’s very different to lots of stuff that's come out of Scotland. I think especially with comedy in Scotland and, as someone that's quite long in the tooth with Scottish comedy, it can be a bit one note tonally. This feels much more, I don't want to say modern, but I’ve said it now, modern. In terms of the way the dialogues are, it's beautifully written, beautifully constructed. The characters feel very new and fresh.
Do you have a favourite moment or scene within the series?
There’s a lovely scene we filmed. It was the scene where Sachin first meets Evie in a bar and they’re on a table and you’ve basically got six agendas going on and I love seeing that when there's all these things at play. It's almost like a game of 3D chess going on, so that's a lot of fun to play in.
Were there any standout/funny moments from filming?
All the scenes are fun because I'm filming with old pals and new pals. They’re all lovely — except for one. I won’t tell you who… no they’re all lovely. Ashley is a brilliant brilliant stand up, it’s lovely seeing her doing this, acting. She admitted herself, she said she's much more comfortable on a stage with a mic than doing what she's doing, but she looks bloody natural to me. There's a scene that we have where she does this monologue and she just absolutely nails it and you think ‘That's coming from the heart’ as well as being a really good performer, also there's a lot of truth there which is lovely to see. The whole cast are brilliant, really good fun, really good atmosphere on set as well, but also just to be working with people who are pals and are legends. People like Greg Hemphill and Sally Howitt who I’ve worked with down the years, and you forget that they’re legends because they’re pals as well but then working with Greg for the first time since Still Game, working with Sally with River City and then just seeing new talent.
Have you been able to improvise with your character?
We filmed a scene which was brilliant fun. So, it's basically Sachin and Di and Ade around the table in Di and Ade’s house. Greg just started improvising some stuff and I am thankfully really good at keeping a straight face. A lot of my characters are deadpan for that reason, and I managed it but it was absolutely brilliant, he just went to some places and it was hilarious. It's lovely to be on a set where you are encouraged to improvise, I think sometimes you just find moments and Greg found about 20 of them.
What has the filming process been like?
It's been a really lovely atmosphere. They've been long days, long hot days, unseasonably hot days by the way. I’m in a full Punjabi wedding outfit and to quote Carla from Cheers when Norm says, ‘I have been known to sweat.’ And Carla says ‘We can grow rice.’ That’s how much I was sweating. Buckets. Not pleasant for anyone, but the twelve-hour days went that wee bit more quickly in the company that I was keeping. That comes from the top, that’s dripped down from production. Niamh, the director, is just such a wonderful, calming, lovely presence and that defines the atmosphere. I think I’ve been lucky down the years; I’ve heard horror stories about atmospheres on productions and I’ve thankfully not encountered it yet and this has been up there with the nicest I’ve had. Just a good bunch of people and hopefully, that will come across on screen as well.
How do you think viewers around the world will respond to Dinosaur?
There’s no reason why people from all around the world won’t love this. The themes are universal, it’s about family.
The show really showcase Glasgow, is that something that you enjoyed?
It’s just lovely to be able to showcase Scottish dialect. I feel for years, we’ve been embarrassed, there’s this cringe factor with Scottish dialect and I love the fact that you go on TikTok now, you maybe go on YouTube, and there’s Scottish people being Scottish and being themselves and that’s really important. So, hopefully that will come across. Especially with the way that we watch television, when you watch something that’s being streamed from Scandinavia or from Baltimore and actually when it comes from a place, that gives it an extra dimension, so why not celebrate that. I love the fact that someone might be sitting in Bolivia and watching this and yeah, they’ll have the subtitles on but they will learn a bit about how we speak and it'll be a lovely wee cultural injection.
Three words to describe Dinosaur?
Funny, warm, and intelligent.