Gary: Tank Commander star to join River City

 

Paul (right) with co-stars

One of Gary: Tank Commander’s crew is swapping his Army fatigues for overalls – to join River City.

Paul-James Corrigan is to star as the BBC Scotland soap’s new handyman after a successful trial stint earlier this year.

Paul, known as PJ to his friends, said: “It’s great to be involved in two of the most popular programmes on the telly in Scotland.

“It’s been great fun on Gary: Tank Commander and the response has been amazing.

“I get people offering to buy me a drink when I’m out in the pub or having dinner with my girlfriend.

“I love my job.” The 27-year-old actor left his job in a cake factory in Hamilton, Lanarkshire, to pursue his childhood dream of acting.

He was also a member of the cast of Scotland’s most successful touring theatre show Black Watch and is excited by his new acting role, as white van man and recovering addict Stevie.

Pj said: “Stevie is only 19.

He comes back to Shieldinch clean and starts using the drop-in centre again.

“But he gets busy handing out his handyman cards. He’s no cowboy, his dad was a builder.

“Things got off to a bad start with Raymond at first, but they turned their relationship around and Raymond helped him buy the van to get him started.

“And Stevie has a real thing for Nicole when he sees her.

“There are some really good storylines coming up which I’m really looking forward to getting involved in.”

Fans of Gary can relax – PJ’s new River City role doesn’t mean he has been demobbed from tank duty as cheeky soldier Adam in Greg McHugh’s hit TV comedy.

He said: “I’m hopeful that I can make both schedules work for the next series.

“And I’d love for us to do a stage show. We’ve talked about that too. It would work really well.

“The success of Gary has been incredible.

“Everybody takes a chance when they write something for the first time, and Greg has done an amazing job with Gary.

“The response to the show has been overwhelming.

There’s been talk of a movie, and I could see how that would work really well too.”