Greg McHugh

Scottish actor

Greg McHugh

Born|  (1980-01-05) 5 January 1980 (age 44)

Edinburgh, Scotland

Alma mater| Royal Conservatoire of Scotland
Occupation(s)| Actor and Professional Wrestling Historian
Spouse| Katie McHugh
Children| 2

Greg McHugh (born 5 January 1980) is a Scottish actor and writer. He is the creator, writer and star of the BBC1 comedy series Gary: Tank Commander.[1] He also played Howard in the Channel 4 comedy Fresh Meat.

## Early life and education

[edit]

Greg McHugh was born in Morningside, Edinburgh, on 5 January 1980.[2] His father was a civil servant, and his mother a teacher.[2] McHugh has two older brothers.[3]

McHugh attended St Peter's RC primary school and then St Thomas of Aquin's High School.[4] He studied business at the University of Stirling and trained at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow.[5][6] Initially, McHugh had intended to study sports science but found it too difficult.[2]

McHugh's native accent is a softer variation of the Edinburgh accent.[7]

## Career

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McHugh can be seen briefly on screen in the Still Game episode "Faimly" as a friend or relative visiting the patient in the bed beside Winston Ingram.[citation needed]

McHugh played Josh Elvey in the TV movie Not Safe for Work.

In 2010, McHugh appeared in the episode "Don the Musical" of the English sitcom How Not to Live Your Life. He played Randy, a local actor of amateur dramatics who played the Tom Cruise character, Charlie Babbitt, in a musical version of Rain Man. He was in two 2010 episodes of Rab C. Nesbitt as Liam O'Hagan. The episodes were "Muse" and "Candy."

McHugh appeared on Red Nose Day 2011 reporting the fund-raising going on throughout Scotland for Comic Relief.

McHugh was nominated for a Scottish BAFTA as writer of Gary: Tank Commander.[8]

Between 2011 & 2016, McHugh starred as Howard in the Channel 4 comedy Fresh Meat.

In 2013, McHugh appeared in the Channel 4 serial Dates.

McHugh appeared in the 2013 Bad Education Christmas special as Bonehead, a homeless man.[9]

In 2014, McHugh appeared in the BBC film Marvellous playing the part of Malcolm, the long-time friend of Neil Baldwin.

From 6 December 2014 to 11 January 2015, McHugh starred as the character of Smee in the pantomime production of Peter Pan at the King's Theatre, Glasgow.

In 2016, 2017 & 2020, he appeared as Eddie Scott in the Cumbria-based BBC1 drama The A Word.

On 21 September 2016, McHugh made a secret guest appearance at the first "Andy Murray Live" event, a charity tennis exhibition event raising funds for UNICEF and the Glasgow-based charity, Young People's Futures.[10]

From 20 to 22 October 2016, he reprised his role as Gary: Tank Commander in a stage version of the sitcom at The Hydro in Glasgow.[citation needed]

## Personal life

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McHugh lives in Hove, East Sussex, with his wife Katie. The couple have two children.[11] The couple chose a Humanist Society Scotland wedding because humanism reflected their values, saying "neither [of us] are religious" and they wanted a wedding that "celebrat[ed] the people involved rather than a day dominated by a lot of 'higher power' chat."[12]

## Filmography

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### Film

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Year  | Title  | Role  | Notes

|
|
|

2012  | Phone Home | Astronaut  | Short film
2015  | Kicking Off | Cliff  |
TBA  | Faithful | Michael  | Short film (post-production)

### Television

[edit]

Year  | Title  | Role  | Notes

|
|
|

2002  | Still Game | Hospital Visitor  | Series 1; Episode 2: "Faimly" (uncredited role)
2007  | Comedy Lab | Various characters  | Series 9; Episode 6: "Blowout" (also writer)
2008  | Gary's War | Gary McLintoch  | Television film (pilot for series Gary: Tank Commander)
Delta Forever | Guantanamo Ray  | Pilot episode (also writer)
The Incredible Will and Greg | Many  | Television films
2009  | Not Safe for Work | Josh Elvey
1 Star | Gray (voice)
Eadar-Chluich |  | Episode 7: "Bàs an Eich (Death of the Horse)"
2009–2012  | Gary: Tank Commander | Gary McLintoch  | Main role; Series 1–3; 18 episodes (also writer)
2010  | Rab C. Nesbitt | Liam O'Hagan  | Series 9; Episodes 3 & 5: "Candy" and "Muse"
How Not to Live Your Life | Randy  | Series 3; Episode 7: "Don the Musical"
2011–2016  | Fresh Meat | Howard McGregor  | Series 1–4; 30 episodes
2012  | The Approximate History of Maths | Alan / Various (voice)  | Television film
2013  | Bob Servant Independent | Anders  | Mini-series; Episodes 1 & 5: "Launch Day" and "The Debate"
Dates | Callum  | Episode 6: "Erica & Callum"
Bad Education | Bonehead  | Series 2; Episode 7: "Christmas"
Two Doors Down | Tony  | Television film (pilot for series)
2014  | Marvellous | Malcolm  | Television film
The Feeling Nuts Comedy Night | Howard  | Television Special
2016  | Gary: Tank Commander's Election Special | Gary McLintoch  | Television film (also writer)
2016–2020  | The A Word | Eddie Scott  | Series 1–3; 16 episodes
2018  | Gary Goes to Hollywood | Gary McLintock  | Television film (also writer)
2018–2022  | A Discovery of Witches | Hamish Osborne  | Series 1 & 3; 8 episodes
2019  | Traitors | David Hennessey  | Mini-series; Episodes 1–3: "Feef", "Hugh" and "Priscilla"
2021  | The Cockfields | Tony  | Series 2; 4 episodes
2021–2023  | Guilt | Teddy McLean  | Series 2 & 3; 8 episodes
2022  | Man vs. Bee | Coleman  | Episodes 1 & 3: "Chapter 1" and "Chapter 3"
2023  | Dog Squad | Dan (voice)  | Series 2; Episode 2: "Mission: Windy Day"
2024  | Super Happy Magic Forest | Herbert (voice)  | (unknown episodes)
Only Child | Richard Pritchard  | Episodes 1–6[13]

## Theatre

[edit]

Year  | Production  | Role  | Venue  | Notes

|
|
|
|

2014/15  | Peter Pan | Smee | King's Theatre, Glasgow  |
2016/17  | Gary: Tank Commander | Gary McLintoch  | SSE Hydro, Glasgow  |
2017/18  | Jack and the Beanstalk | Gary Trot  | SSE Hydro, Glasgow  |
2019/20  | Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs | Gary Muddles  | SSE Hydro, Glasgow  |
2023/24  | Sleeping Beauty | Gary McLintoch  | His Majesty's Theatre, Aberdeen

## References

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1. ^ "Gary: Tank Commander, the Continuing Mission". BBC Scotland. 16 December 2010.
2. ^ a b c Gilbert, Gerard (1 November 2013). "Fresh Meat's Greg McHugh on playing TV's weirdest student". The Independent. Retrieved 30 April 2017.
3. ^ "Interview: Greg McHugh, comedian (Gary: Tank Commander)". The Scotsman. 11 January 2011.
4. ^ Christie, Janet (2 July 2016). "Interview: Greg McHugh on comic creation Gary: Tank Commander". The Scotsman. Retrieved 30 April 2017.
5. ^ "Attention! Gary: Tank Commander goes back to school". STV.
6. ^ Brocklehurst, Steven (4 December 2012). "Greg McHugh: The man behind Gary: Tank Commander". BBC News.
7. ^ Exley, Gemma (21 September 2011). "Holy Moly meets Greg McHugh from Fresh Meat and Gary: Tank Commander". Holy Moly!.
8. ^ "BAFTA Scotland Award Winners in 2008 - Awards - Scotland". BAFTA. 9 November 2008.
9. ^ "Christmas Special, Bad Education - BBC Three". BBC.
10. ^ "CHARITIES - Andy Murray Live". www.andymurraylive.com.
11. ^ "Greg McHugh: It can be good to ask what we think normal looks like". Sunday Post. 7 November 2017. Retrieved 23 November 2017.
12. ^ "Humanist Society interviews: Greg McHugh". Humanist Society Scotland. 9 May 2023. Retrieved 9 May 2023.
13. ^ "Gregor Fisher and Greg McHugh star in a brand-new BBC sitcom from the makers of Guilt". BBC. Retrieved 6 February 2024.

## External links

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* Greg McHugh at IMDb
* Greg McHugh at British Comedy Guide