Martin Compston's Scottish Fling

My wife's a fan of Scottish actor, "the wee man", Martin Compston, star of "Line of Duty" and we were recommended by friends towards this 6-part series where he tours our own native Scotland in the company of his friend Phil MacHugh. Phil who? You might be thinking and that's evidently what the show producers thought too, as the poor guy doesn't even garner a title credit despite this being the usual procedure in buddy-trip series like this, as he accompanies his more famous chum in all his travels here. The powers-that-be clearly thought it more important to get Martin Compston into the programme title than Martin and little-known Phil, effectively relegating the star's own best mate to "plus one" status.

I'll also say that these travel-lite shows can grate with me, where a celebrity gets paid for a jolly, getting to see places and do things I never will, but once I parked my inner Grinch, I quite enjoyed the duo's adventures as they traversed the length and breadth of old Caledonia, usually to the accompaniment of some cheesy tunes on their car stereo.

The two lads seem to get on well and pretty much throw themselves into everything put before them (apart from MacHugh opting out of a cramped climb up the inside of a wind turbine) before arriving back at Compston's hometown of Greenock for an emotional goodbye.

As this cheap and cheerful type of light entertainment goes, this was more enjoyable than most other programmes I've seen of this type, helped in that by both lads resolutely refusing to disguise their native accents.

The bromance in fact apparently continues as they've recently completed a similar tour of Norway, the neighbouring land across the water, which I'm pretty sure I'll take in soon enough.

This series is light and fluffy, not particularly engaging, and touches only barely on what makes this venture about Scotland.

The bits & pieces are simply too small, too short to build any real interest. There is a genuine cameraderie between Compston and pal, Phil MacHugh, but it gets tiresome, as the bro-play is self-conscious - conscious almost always that they're filming an entertainment show. A little more reflection, particularly on what is ostensibly the subject - Scotland - would have helped. The impression is paper-thin, never leaving or losing the sense that this is a 'show', they're always 'on'.

There are better video series on YouTube about the real Scotland, and there are more entertaining programs with Martin Compston, than this.