Stuart McGugan
Birth date2 March 1944 (age 82)
Birth placeStirling, Stirlingshire, Scotland
OccupationActor, TV presenter
Years active1966–present
Known forIt Ain't Half Hot Mum (1974–1981)
Play School (1975–1986)

Stuart McGugan (born 2 March 1944) is a Scottish actor and television presenter. He is best known for the role of Gunner 'Atlas' Mackintosh in It Ain't Half Hot Mum and for being a presenter on the children's show Play School.

Early life

McGugan was born in Stirling and raised in Letham and Westmuir.[1] He attended Forfar Academy, and after being kicked out got his first job was as a reporter for Kirriemuir Herald.[1][2] McGugan had a life long love for drama, having performed stage shows when in boy scouts, and tried to apply to enter Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama when he was sixteen, but was denied due to lack of money and because of his gap in education from being kicked out of school.[2] He re-applied a few years later and was accepted, graduating in 1965.[1][2] McGugan joined Royal Shakespeare Company and National Theatre of Scotland.[1]

Career

In the 1970s, McGugan worked in a Repertory theatre in Leeds when he got a phone call from his agent that Jimmy Perry and David Croft wanted to see him; he was doing eight shows a week so went to see them at a rehearsal room in London owned by the BBC.[3] He was interviewed by an executive, while Perry and Croft were finishing rehearsing for an episode of Dad's Army, and went back up to Leeds for a show.[3] He heard nothing else until around Christmas 1973 when he was asked to come down to film for a pilot episode of It Ain't Half Hot Mum; fortunately McGugan just so happened to have booked ten days off work and so went down to London to film it.[3] McGugan landed the role of Gunner 'Atlas' Mackintosh in It Ain't Half Hot Mum for fifty-six episodes from 1974 to 1981.

McGugan was a presenter on BBC's Play School from 1975; he regularly presented the programme for more than 10 years.[4] He played Bomba MacAteer in the 1987 series Tutti Frutti.[5][6] McGugan appeared as Gordon Stewart in two series of the London Weekend Television (LWT) series Wish Me Luck between 1988 and 1989, in The Chief as Chief Superintendent Sean McCloud from 1993 to 1994, then in the mid-1990s was the pub owner Barney Meldrum in BBC Scotland's Hamish MacBeth.[7] He had a recurring role as a factory worker in the Perry/Croft sitcom You Rang, M'Lord?.[8] McGugan made his film debut in 1996 in an uncredited role as a taxi driver in Trainspotting.

He played the character Derek Simpson in Family Affairs in 1997. McGugan was in a Middle Ground Theatre Company tour of a stage adaptation of the 1960 film Tunes of Glory; McGugan played Colonel Jock Sinclair, originally played by Alec Guinness in the film. The production visited Jersey, Wolverhampton and Perth, Scotland in early 2007.[9]

Personal life

McGugan was married to his first wife, Annie Long, from 1970 to 1982.[8] He met his second wife, Cordelia Monsey, in 1981 and started a relationship after his divorce, and married on new years eve 2018.[8] They have a child, Mitch (born 1988/1989), who is a classically trained violinst and heavy metal drummer who plays in the band Karybdis.[2]

Filmography

Film

YearTitleRoleNotes
1996TrainspottingTaxi driverUncredited[10]
2012The Echoes of EmpireVarious roles[10]
2014GustafThe voice of reasonVoice only, short film[10]
2017The FitzroyCaptain Hunt[10]
2018Playing DeadAlfie[10]

Television

YearTitleRoleNotes
1966This Man CraigMicheal DunnOne episode[10]
1967The Revenue MenBoy
1971The View from Daniel PikeBell
1972Madame SinSailor
Man of StrawMajor FoxTwo episodes[10]
Thirty-Minute TheatreOne episode[10]
1973Scotch on the RocksFirst policeman
1974—1981It Ain't Half Hot MumGunner 'Atlas' MacKintoshFifty-six episodes[10]
1975Anne of AvonleaBilly GillisOne episode[10]
Churchill's PeopleAuchinlech
Six Days of JusticeP.C. Rankin
Oil Strike NorthAllan Miller
The SweeneyHicks
1975—1986Play SchoolHimselfTwo hundred and seventy six episodes[10]
1976BeastsJimmy BeattieOne episode[10]
1976—1995This is Your LifeHimselfTwo episodes[10]
1977Rob RoyThorncliffe
Dad's ArmyThe Scottish SargentOne episode[10]
1978—1982Record BreakersHimselfFive episodes[10]
1979SykesJackOne episode[10]
The Mourning BroochSamsonTwo episodes[10]
1980Star TurnHimself
1980—1981Play AwayThree episodes[10]
1982Grey GraniteJim TreaseTwo episodes[10]
1984Aladdin and the Forty ThievesThiefTelevision film[10]
The BriefChief Supt. MackayOne episode[10]
The Cannon and Ball ShowHimself
1985OscarWarden at Pentonville
Operation JulieD.S. Ron StaplesTelevision film[10]
The Personal TouchJohn
1986Comrade DadTelephone InstallerOne episode[10]
The Sunday PremiereHotel guest
The Happy ValleyHotel GuestTelevision film[10]
1987Tutti FruttiBomba MacAteerSix episodes[10]
1988FloodtideDet. Sgt. MarksTwo episodes[10]
The ManagementInspector MacKintosh
TaggartWalter FairleyThree episodes[10]
1989—1990Wish Me LuckGordon StewartEleven episodes[10]
1990—1993You Rang, M'Lord?Jock MacgregorFive episodes[10]
1991SpenderAlfieOne episode[10]
Uncle Jack and the Loch Noch MonsterRobertFive episodes[10]
1991—2007The BillVarious
1992—1994The ChiefSean McCloudThirteen episodes[10]
1993BrooksidePsychiatristOne episode[10]
StrathblairGrantTwo episodes[10]
1995—1997Hamish MacbethBarney MeldrumNinteteen episodes[10]
1996Some Kind of LifeStuart Browning[10]
1997Dalziel and PascoeInspector CruickshankOne episode[10]
1999—2000Mike and AngeloDerek FrostTwo episodes[10]
2000The CreativesCameronOne episode[10]
Little BirdEddie Hughes Snr.Television film[10]
2001Murphy's LawShopkeeper
2002HeartbeatHemmingsOne episode[10]
CasualtyMartin Davidson
2003RockfaceHotel receptionist
Silent WitnessGeorge Franks
Footballers' WivesBarryTwo episodes[10]
2003—2010DoctorsHarry McCree (2003), Pete Cameron (2010
2004Family AffairsDerek SimpsonThree episodes[10]
2007Comedy ConnectionsHimselfOne episode[10]
2009Boy Meets GirlMalcolmFour episodes[10]
BenidormWink McAndrewOne episode[10]
2011The RoyalKen Letham
PostcodeD. I. FlinnTelevision film[10]
2019Pointless CelebritiesHimselfOne episode, partnered with Melvyn Hayes[10]

References

  1. ^ "Stuart McGugan from The Gazetteer for Scotland". www.scottish-places.info. Retrieved 2025-09-06.
  2. ^ Veronique (2022-07-24). "An Interview with Actor and Writer Stuart McGugan". Living on Fascination. Retrieved 2025-09-06.
  3. ^ "54 - Stuart McGugan "It Ain't Half Hot Mum" Interview (April 2021)". Podomatic. Retrieved 2025-09-06.
  4. ^ 'Here's A House: The Story of Playschool', Volume 1 (Paul R Jackson, 2009)
  5. ^ "BFI Screenonline: Tutti Frutti (1987)". screenonline.org.uk
  6. ^ "BFI Screenonline: It Ain't Half Hot Mum (1974-81) Credits". screenonline.org.uk
  7. ^ "Stuart Mcgugan". BFI. Archived from the original on 7 October 2019.
  8. ^ Robertson, Peter (26 April 2020). "TV legend was nearly fired from PlaySchool for trying to drop-kick Humpty". mirror
  9. ^ "Middle Ground Theatre Company". Archived from the original on 20 February 2007.
  10. ^ "Stuart McGugan | Actor, Music Department, Soundtrack". IMDb. Retrieved 2025-10-02.