Still Game and Scot Squad stars on 'emotional' new TV show

Which is ironic, given the couple spend most of it up to their necks in cold water.

Greg, of Still Game fame, and Julie, best known for Balamory and Scot Squad, are wild swimming fans (and have been married for 24 years).

After a successful one-off documentary last year, they are back with a six-part series of Jules and Greg’s Wild Swim, following their adventures in lochs, rivers and the sea around Scotland.

Greg and Julie are back for more wild swimming adventures (Image: BBC)

This is not just another celebrities-team-up-for-a-travelogue programme, however. The scenery, while stunning, is simply a bonus, points out Greg.

“It’s about the people we met, and sharing their stories,” he says, simply. “That’s what interested us about doing this.

"And we met some incredible people.”

In a similar vein to Paul Whitehouse and Bob Mortimer’s Gone Fishing, in which the two comedians talk about everything from mental health to family and relationships while fishing in lovely spots around the country, Julie and Greg’s show dips into the lives of the people they meet with genuine empathy and interest, uncovering tales of joy and heartache amid the ups and downs of everyday life.

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“That’s a really lovely comparison actually, thank you, because Gone Fishing isn’t about fishing, it’s about life,” says Greg.

“We’re not trying to be preachy, we’re not interested in converting anyone, we’re just on a bit of a journey of self-discovery, I suppose, and we want to show everyone the amazing people we met along the way.”

He pauses. “And if people think we’re crackpots, that’s fair enough,” he grins.

Julie and Greg brave rivers, lochs and the sea around Scotland (Image: BBC)

The first episode, which will be aired on BBC Scotland on Wednesday (January 10), begins in Glasgow, where the couple discover the emotional highs and lows of ice bath therapy in Finnieston, and take a dip in the canal at Pinkston Watersports, near Springburn.

They also spend time at White Loch, near Newton Mearns, where they meet Lee, who reveals she took up wild swimming following the death of her 11-year-old son Joe.

“It has got a bit of everything in it, the Glasgow episode,” Greg agrees. “It’s an important episode, because I think most people have an idea of wild swimming as this posh thing done by people who turn up with expensive robes and picnics in their Range Rovers, and it’s really not like that at all.

“We wanted to show people it’s much more accessible.”

The ice baths, at the Polar Bear Club in Finnieston, run by recovering addict Kenny Nicholson, were “intense”, agrees Greg.

“We went into it with open minds, but we were surprised, I think, by how emotional the experience was,” he admits.

“You see on the show that Julie gets quite upset. It definitely feels like it unlocks something deep inside you.”

The show is also a touching and often hilarious look inside Greg and Julie’s relationship, and their reflections on what it means to be married and bring up a family together, will undoubtedly chime with couples everywhere.

“Sometimes couples, as they get older, can drift apart, I guess – the kids have grown up and left home and suddenly, you’re looking at each other and thinking, who is this other person?” says Greg.

“So Jules and I feel really lucky that we get this chance to work together, and to do something we both love, and have a bit of chat and a laugh doing it.”

Greg sighs, contentedly.

“I love working with Julie, I think she is amazing,” he says. “I’m happy doing this until I’m an old guy.”

He adds, swiftly: “Which I realise is not that far away…”

Jules and Greg’s Wild Swim starts on BBC Scotland on January 10 at 10pm.