Long Arm Of The Baw

Manjot Sumal – aka Scot Squad’s PC Surgit Singh – talks Celtic, on-set banter with Grado, and the comedy value of the Glasgow accent.

- Joe Donnelly

IF comedy juggernauts Billy Connolly and Kevin Bridges have taught us nothing else, it’s that humour and the Glaswegian accent go hand-in-hand. Incidentally, both comics are lifelong Celtic fans, as is Manjot Sumal, otherwise known as PC Surgit Singh from the popular BBC Scotland television show, Scot Squad.

Now in its fifth season, the cop show follows a spoof documentary format and pairs Sumal’s straight-laced and by-the-book PC Surgit Singh with the mostly dysfunctional, and often unpredictable, PC Hugh McKirdy, played by Glasgow comedian Grado.

The two clashing characters combine with hilarious results, and Sumal believes the delivery of their humour is galvanised by their West of Scotland inflection and parlance. Incidentally, Grado supports the other half of the Glasgow football divide, which has incurred innumerable bragging rights for Sumal on-set since the show started in 2014.

“I think the West of Scotland accent, particularly the Glasgow accent, is incredible,” said Sumal in an exclusive interview with the Celtic View. “When we pulled over Grado’s fiancé in the second episode of this season, and we have to get her to do the breathalyser, he says – stick that in your gub. That’s such a Scottish thing to say!

“And when I heard it on the television, I immediately thought it wouldn’t work in any other accent, but for some reason the West of Scotland accent just makes it work. It makes it so funny, and I think it makes it relatable as well.

“Everyone has at some point in their lives been on holiday somewhere in the world, and have had people approaching you once they’ve heard your Scottish or Glaswegian accent. They’re so keen to hear you talk, and there’s something about the accent that just makes people warm to you, and I think that helps with comedy.