IT was 1989. Kylie and Jason were wooing one another at the top of the charts, Margaret Thatcher's popularity was on the wane and we were a nation chorusing the nasal cry of, "Stoneybridge".
For many, the sketch from the hit comedy series Absolutely is etched in the memory, and the thought of the fictional Scottish backwater selling itself as a contender for the Olympic Games can still raise a laugh.
The Channel 4 show certainly struck a chord with millions of viewers. Not only that, it is now earning classic status thanks to stars like Matt Lucas acknowledging its influence on them, and high profile fans like Private Eye editor Ian Hislop and comic Paul Whitehouse.
Incredibly, it is almost 20 years since these iconic Scottish characters burst on to our screens.
Now popular demand is seeing them make a comeback of sorts. More than a thousand fans lobbied its stars and Channel 4 with an online petition. It was a worthwhile effort because all four series of Absolutely are about to be released on DVD.
"The reason this has come about has all been down to people power," says Gordon Kennedy, one of the show's Edinburgh creators and now better known to younger audiences as Little John in the BBC1 series Robin Hood. "When we heard about the petition, we all felt strongly that we wanted to try and make it happen."
Making it happen has been a long haul as it took another three years to persuade Channel Four to release the rights of the show to its six creators.
But on a dark morning in February, for the first time in years, the six-strong team got together to watch the show and record the commentary for the DVD.
While all six – Edinburgh boys Gordon, Jack Docherty, Peter Baikie and Moray Hunter, together with Morwenna Banks and John Sparkes – still work under the banner Absolutely Productions, it is rare for all of them to be together at the same time.
Gordon, 50, said: "Actually it was a fantastic experience and it was great fun doing the commentary. It was just great to see the show again because we really haven't seen them for 15-odd years so it was bizarre and revolutionary in all sorts of different ways." He adds: "I was surprised by how much I liked it. You are always very critical of your own work and to watch something that was made that long ago you expect it to creak and groan a bit.
"But the material was still fresh for me. I think, importantly, we never really did very much topical material so aside from costumes – some of the waistcoats I wore looked a bit Spandau Ballet – the material hasn't really dated."
It is the shared history of the team and the strong bond of friendship that has resulted that Jack, 45, credits as being the secret of their success.
Moray and Pete have known one another since they were five-years-old and they both attended George Watson's school in the Capital. When they were in their teens, they got together with Gordon and Jack and together they performed at the Edinburgh Fringe as The Bodgers, a later hit with Radio 4 listeners.
Another radio show also featuring John Sparkes and Morwenna Banks – called Bodgers, Banks & Sparkes – followed and the team soon secured their own comedy television pilot.
And while all six Absolutely members never toured live, if there is a public demand, it is something Jack, Moray and Gordon would consider.
The team have now built up an impressive record working behind the scenes, as Absolutely Productions, producing hits such as Trigger Happy TV and Armstrong & Miller.
"We were friends before we ever worked together so it was natural that we would be friends after we stopped," says former chat show host Jack.
"The fact we don't work with each other all the time helps, I think. I know partnerships and double acts that have fallen apart because they only work with each other but we all go off and do our own thing."
It was 1989, when we first watched, enthralled, as the village council of Stoneybridge tried to put together an Olympic bid. It was based on a cheap promotional video for Edinburgh and the name Stoneybridge was chosen at random. It was only when Gordon received a letter from a couple of students saying they had been to the real Stoneybridge in Uist in honour of Absolutely that the team realised a small audience had been watching with raised eyebrows.
For Moray, his favourite character was straight-faced Calum Gilhooley, who bamboozled people with his long childish rants.
"I loved his ability to ramble on endlessly," says Moray. "But I don't know if I could remember all those words now – he droned on and on. My brain must have been working much better then."
Since then, Moray, who married last year and recently celebrated his 50th birthday, has had a varied career in television and radio.
Together with Jack, he has recently completed a television screenplay called The Cup
, which is set to hit our screens later this year.
With well-established careers now under their belts, it must have been strange for the Absolutely team to watch those early episodes.
"Looking at the show after so long was like looking through your old family albums and it was more about the memories of making it and the good times we had together rather than viewing it like a piece of work," says Jack.
"It is a little bit unusual that you have a television series with a bunch of mates from school. It is kind of weird.
"And I guess it represents a culmination of that journey – from doing school reviews to doing the Festival to Channel 4."
When originally transmitted, Absolutely was undoubtedly a huge hit in Scotland. While it didn't appeal to middle England and the south east, it was also well received in the English regions and Wales. But the team are watching with interest to see how younger audiences react to the show.
"I think still stands alone," adds Gordon. "It was influenced by Python and by Morecambe and Wise but it's not like those shows.
"A sketch show is a sketch show so I'm not saying it reinvented the wheel but it had its own peculiar feel and style and presence. There hasn't been anything particularly like it before or since."
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Absolutely will be released on DVD box set on 5 May.'IT DOES SMELL OF ORANGES AND WEE'Do you remember some of Absolutely's best-loved characters?
Little Girl (Morwenna Banks)Wore a red dress, grey cardigan, red tights with a hole in the knee and an Alice band. Usually filmed from above sitting on a chair or table edge, as though an adult was looking down at her.
Best quote: "Yes I do know what happens when you go to school, first you do go into a place what looks like a hosdibul but with no beds and it does smell of oranges and wee, then when you are not looking your mum does run away."
Stoneybridge councillors (all the cast)Councillors Maigret, Wully, Bruce, Ek, Erch, Boaby and Gordy doing their best to promote the town.
Best quote: "Stoneybridge has facilities and . . . facilities, so come to Stoneybridge!"
Naughty kids (Gordon Kennedy, Morwenna Banks)Spent most of their time dreaming up money-making schemes, before deciding to stick a banger up a cat's backside instead.
Best quote: "Let's go up the ospical or we could stick a banger up a cats bum . . . Banger . . ."
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www.absolutely.biz - official site •
www.absolutelyandy.com/absolutely - fan site 