Ready for Christmas

There might be still be some time to go before Christmas but plans are already well underway to add an extra Scottish sparkle to the season. After more than two weeks of intense filming in the snow covered hills around Glen Coe and Lochaber in the Scottish Highlands editing has begun on what is hoped will be the festive film of the year.

Perfect Strangers is Scotland’s first independent romantic comedy Christmas movie. It tells the story of a young man, played by Kenny Boyle, who gets dumped by his girlfriend immediately after proposing to her.

However, as with all feel good movies the broken-hearted hero meets up with a ‘perfect stranger’, played by newcomer Natalie Clark, who just might prove to be his path to new love and happiness.

The 90-minute feature film, directed by Ryan Hendrick and co-written by him and Clare Sheppard, has a stellar line-up with no less than three Dr Who actors.

Sylvester McCoy, who played the seventh incarnation of the time lord is in it, as is Caitlin Blackwood a young Amy Pond during Matt Smith’s time as the doctor.

Frazer Hines, who made his debut as Jamie McCrimmon - a kilted companion to Patrick Troughton’s Doctor Who in 1966, is said to have been the inspiration for Diana Gabaldon to begin writing her series of Outlander books.

Other stars in the movie include Sanjeev Kohli, best known for his part in the BBC comedy series Still Game, and former pop star turned actor and presenter Clare Grogan, who was in Bill Forsyth’s classic Scottish comedy film Gregory’s Girl.

“I get approached by quite a lot of film makers and I am very selective as to what I agree to do but this script stood out,” said Claire Grogan.

"I think Ryan has got a really lovely eye. He creates good pictures and there is always a little bit of edge to the stories. It’s not all candy floss, there is some depth as well.

“Every so often you just come across someone in life you click with and Ryan is one of those people. I think this film is going to have a lot of international appeal which, largely through word of mouth, will result in it turning out to be a big success.” The film, which is being made on a tiny budget of around £60,000, is due to be released in time for December 2020, making it the first ever Scottish-made RomCom to hit the cinema screens.

“It’s been a very ambitious project to do on this budget but it is already getting interest from sales agents who see a commercial life for a romantic comedy shot in Scotland,” said Ryan Hendrick, who already has two other Scottish-based movies in the pipeline attracting interest from home grown and overseas backers.

“There’s never been anything like it before. There is a huge resurgence in Christmas films around the world at the moment and there is also a lot of interest in Scotland. That makes any festive-themed movie made here doubly attractive.”