Former Celtic football star Jackie McNamara has turned to sitcom writing.

The ex-Scottish international – who now manages Partick Thistle – yesterday unveiled a pilot episode of The Therapy Room, a comedy based on the English Premiership.

Described as ‘not for the faint-hearted’, producers say the show is ‘Shameless meets Gary Tank Commander’. Its central idea is that a Premiership club installs a ‘therapy room’ in which players can get things off their chests in front of a camera, in a similar vein to Big Brother’s Diary Room.

According to those who saw the pilot’s first screening at an Edinburgh cinema last night, the show features raunchy scenes, including one in which the main character has sex while his team-mates watch from cupboards, and an expletive-laden script.

McNamara said the show, filmed at Falkirk FC, was ‘realistic’ in its portrayal of the banter and relationships between team-mates, with a script based on true stories from his life as a professional footballer.

He wrote the 39-minute pilot with actor Francis Gilhooley, who also directed and plays the club chairman. The episode also starred Jackie’s brother Donny McNamara – who has previously appeared in the Edinburgh show Goal, which combined music, dance and football moves – and Billy Eliott actor Gary Lewis as his manager.

Makers are now trying to attract interest from broadcasters.

Here is a trailer:



Published: 11 Nov 2011