Dragons, pensioners, and Cher: our preview of the cultural year ahead

The eighth and final series is due to be broadcast in April – leaving just enough time for those who have not yet seen it to catch up on the previous 67 episodes.

What began as a cult series on HBO has built up a passionate fan base all over the world, including in Scotland where there is even a Game of Thrones philosophy course at the University of Glasgow and fans have given their offspring names like Jorah, Khaleesi, Khal, Yara, Sansa, Bran and even Ned, after characters in the show.

READ MORE: Game of Thrones inspires new ‘white’ Scotch whisky

Another repercussion is a rise in popularity of dogs like huskies and other wolf-like hounds, some of which have been sadly abandoned after it has dawned on their owners they are not living in the fictional Seven Kingdoms.

Should the uninitiated bother to join the legions? Well, it has raked in 47 Primetime Emmys and a clutch of other awards, plus there is a strong Scottish connection with actors Iain Glen and Richard Madden among the cast, which is one of the largest ensemble casts ever used in a TV series.

There is speculation, too, that the continent of Westeros is named after Wester Ross in the Highlands, with fans of that theory convinced that the squiggles and curves of the fictional place are based on a map of the Scottish coastline.

It is interesting to note that George RR Martin, the author of The Song of Ice and Fire novels on which the show is based, is a keen student of history and has indicated that the shocking Red Wedding, with its infamous gut-wrenching twist, was influenced by the Massacre of Glencoe in 1692 and the Black Dinner in 1440 when the Earl of Douglas was murdered.

Then there are the wilds that lie beyond The Wall which has a parallel with the Antonine Wall, the final frontier of the Roman Empire. So although it is a saga set in a fantasy world with magic, dragons and hordes of undead, the bloody battles and power struggles appear to have a basis in medieval history.

The show has been criticised for its usage of violence, which has resulted in one of the highest body counts of any TV series in history. Its depiction of women, who are often subjected to brutal sexual assault, has also been debated.

Martin has responded by saying that sexual violence and rape are common in war and that he felt obliged to be truthful about human nature and history.

In view of this it is unlikely there will be a happy ending although actor Iain Glen who plays Jorah, has said the conclusion is “rather brilliant”.

CHER AT THE HYDRO

LEGENDARY superstar Cher – otherwise known as the Goddess of Pop – is to perform in Scotland for the first time since 2004, when she will play Glasgow’s SSE Hydro in October.

The date is part of a tour which will see the first UK performances from the 72-year-pop icon in 14 years and comes after the success of her recent appearance in the hit film Mamma Mia 2 and her Dancing Queen album.

One of the best-selling music artists in history, Cher is the only artist to have a number one single in the US Billboard charts in six consecutive decades from the 1960s to date. The multi award-winning actress and singer has also been acclaimed for her philanthropy and social activism, including HIV/AIDS prevention and LGBT rights.

She’s come a long way from an inauspicious start in life when at one point there was so little money in the family home she had to use rubber bands to hold her shoes together. Around the same time her mother was forced to put her in a home for several weeks, an experience both found traumatic although they saw each other every day.

After her mother married again there was more money and Cher began to perform better at school despite later finding out she was dyslexic.

Determined to be famous from an early age, Cher (real name Cherilyn Sarkisian) left school at 16 and went to LA where she eventually met up and began performing with Sonny Bono. They achieved success with I Got You Babe which reached the top of the US and UK charts after the duo travelled to London on the advice of The Rolling Stones. They became overnight stars after news broke they had been thrown out of the Hilton because of their outfits and teenagers began to copy their bell-bottoms, ruffled shirts, and fur vests. They became rock’s “it” couple and by the end of 1967 had sold 40 million records worldwide.

Cher began her solo career at the same time, releasing hits like Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves. She moved into films in the 80s, winning an Academy Award for Best Actress.

At various times through the decades, Cher has revitalised her singing career, reaching a new commercial peak in 1998 with her Believe album which pioneered the use of auto-tune, now known as “the Cher effect”.

She has sold 100m records worldwide with her new album continuing to add to the total.

THE NEW IRVINE WELSH NOVEL

HE made his name writing about Edinburgh’s dark underbelly but Irvine Welsh’s new novel, due out in 2019, changes location to Trump’s America and tackles the issue of gun control.

He says it is very different to his 2018 novel Dead Men’s Trousers, the last about his Trainspotting characters who have earned him fame and fortune since they first appeared 26 years ago.

“It’s actually set in an imagined future in Trump’s America,” said Welsh. “There is no way that I can’t write that book at the moment. It starts off with the Mandalay Bay shootings and involves a fictitious set of characters who react to it and ends with a fictitious shooting two years later.

“It’s really about the unhealed wounds in American society and the idea of a whole nation being under some degree of post-traumatic stress that is generated by these things. It’s about three different generations of the one family, and how they react and cope with everything that is going on.”

He added: “America under Trump is a bit like Britain under Brexit. On the one hand, people are getting on with their lives, but on the other you’re aware of this menace in the background.”

Born in Leith, Welsh was brought up in the housing scheme of Muirhouse, left school at 16 then, attracted by the punk scene, headed to London in 1978 where he sang and played guitar in The Pubic Lice and Stairway 13 – the latter taking its name from the Ibrox disaster.

He was arrested for a series of petty crimes but a suspended sentence for wrecking a community centre made him change his ways.

He returned to Edinburgh in the late 1980s, worked for the city council then studied for an MBA at Heriot Watt before publishing Trainspotting in 1993 which grittily portrayed heroin addiction and the desperate attempts of young people with few prospects to escape their lot in life.

The black comedy was voted the 10th greatest book of the 20th century in a Waterstones poll of 25,000 people and has sold more than 1 million copies in the UK alone.

Rather fittingly perhaps, it is said to be the most shoplifted novel in British publishing history.

RETURN OF THE CURE

DIG out your purest black outfits – this summer will see The Cure’s first show in Scotland in 27 years. One of the first alternative bands to have chart and commercial success in an era before alternative rock had broken into the mainstream, The Cure will headline the Glasgow Summer Sessions at Bellahouston Park on August 16.

READ MORE: The Cure to play Scottish date for the first time in 27 years

Since the release of their debut record Three Imaginary Boys in 1979, the band have gone on to release 13 studio albums, more than 40 singles and have performed more than 1500 concerts across the globe.

This summer is not only the first gig for The Cure in Scotland since their Wish tour in 1992, but it will also be the first time the band have headlined a major Scottish festival. The band is also to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2019.

Founded in Crawley, West Sussex in 1976, The Cure became part of the post punk and new wave movements that sprang up in the wake of the UK’s punk rock revolution.

They are cited as one of the pioneers of the goth phenomenon and have been described by magazine NME as “the most successful alternative band that ever shuffled disconsolately about the Earth”.

Lead singer Robert Smith’s distinctive red lipstick and bird nest hair is a look that has been copied around the world although some of the band’s older male fans may be struggling to recreate it this summer unless they sport a wig.

Revealing that he wore lipstick because it made him feel more confident and more attractive, Smith said he started smearing it over his face because it never stayed in place when he was singing.

“On stage I always used to lean my mouth on the mike and shut my eyes so I wouldn’t have to see the people,” he said. “And at the end I’d come off with lipstick smeared all over my face, so I thought I might as well go on with it like that and make it look intentional.”

Smith, the only original member of the band, has also revealed he was influenced by Scot Alex Harvey of the Sensational Alex Harvey Band and wrote the song, Cut Here, for Associates singer Billy MacKenzie.

The Cure will be supported by Scottish bands The Twilight Sad and Mogwai at their highly anticipated Glasgow appearance.

THE FINAL STILL GAME

It’s probably fair to say that a twinge of dread is mixed in with pleasurable anticipation felt by Still Game’s many fans as they look forward to the final series in 2019.

Dedicated followers of the TV comedy, who have grown attached to the Glaswegian pensioners and their antics, are being driven into a frenzy by the rumour that one is to be killed off.

At first it was thought it was Jack Jarvis, played by Ford Kiernan, who was to get the chop but now many suspect it will be Victor McDade, played by Greg Hemphill.

Or it could be one of their pals such as Isa (Jane McCarry), Navid (Sanjeev Kohli), Boabby (Gavin Mitchell), Winston (Paul Riley) or Tam (Mark Cox).

The only comfort is that any death is unlikely to be until the sixth and final episode of the ninth series and in the meantime viewers can enjoy guest appearances from the likes of Martin Compston (Line Of Duty), singer-songwriters Midge Ure and Amy MacDonald, James MacPherson (Taggart) and DJ Des Clarke.

There is also the chance to watch it twice as it will premiere on the new BBC Scotland channel when it launches on February 24, then will air again on BBC later in the year.

READ MORE: Still Game to have star role in new BBC Scotland channel launch

The lead characters in the sitcom were created by Hemphill and Kiernan for their previous TV sketch show Chewin’ the Fat, which aired in Scotland between 1999 and 2005.

Still Game, produced by BBC Scotland’s Comedy Unit, was first broadcast in September 2002 and 56 episodes of the show were aired, including Hogmanay and Christmas specials. The first three series were shown only on BBC Scotland, attracting a cult following, with the show’s fame growing when five episodes form the first two series were shown on BBC2 in 2004.

From series four, Still Game was shown across the UK on BBC2, then moved to BBC1 for the seventh and eighth series. Live shows in 2014 played to 210,000 fans and made £6m in ticket sales with another final run due in autumn 2019 when the characters will officially retire.

Hemphill said: “It’s been 21 years and if anyone is entitled to a retirement, it’s Jack and Victor.

“When we brought them back in 2014, we both knew it wasn’t for 10 years. We wanted to bring them back to tell a certain number of stories. And we’ve told them now. So this is them saying cheerio.”

CAPTAIN MARVEL

The last Avengers outing saw half the heroes (and half of the life across the universe) wiped out by mega-villain Thanos. Salvation may come in the shape of Brie Larson’s Captain Marvel on March 8. The ultimate heroine will no-doubt set-up the grand finale in Avengers: Endgame, which is released hot on the heels of the latter in April 2019. Web-crawler Spider-Man (who apparently fell foul of Thanos’ snap) is also back in July, up against Mysterio, played by Jake Gyllenhall, in Spider-Man: Far From Home.