Libby McArthur (born in Castlemilk, Glasgow) [1] is a Scottish actress known for her portrayal of Gina Hamilton in soap opera River City , a character she played from the show's inception in September 2002 until November 2013. [2] Other television appearances include Taggart , Take The High Road , Rab C. Nesbitt [3] and Looking After Jo Jo . [4]
In the early 1980s she was a founder member and vocalist of pop group Sophisticated Boom Boom who had a number of John Peel sessions. [5] [6] [7] [8] [9]
McArthur played the part of Dolly in the 30th anniversary touring production of Tony Roper's The Steamie in the Autumn of 2017. [10]
In 2024, she appeared in the documentary Since Yesterday: The Untold Story of Scotland’s Girl Bands by Blair Young and Carla Easton, which premiered at the Edinburgh International Film Festival on August 21 of that year. [9] [11]
Lulu Kennedy-Cairns is a Scottish singer, songwriter, actress, and television personality. Her career has spanned six decades. Her debut single, a cover version of The Isley Brothers song "Shout", reached the top ten of the UK singles chart in 1964. In 1967, she rose to international prominence after appearing in the film To Sir, with Love, singing the theme song, which topped the US Billboard Hot 100 for five consecutive weeks.
Claire Patricia Grogan, known professionally as Clare Grogan or sometimes as C. P. Grogan, is a Scottish actress and singer. She is best known as the lead singer of the 1980s new wave music group Altered Images, as well as for supporting roles in the 1981 film Gregory's Girl and the science fiction sitcom Red Dwarf as the first incarnation of Kristine Kochanski.
Strawberry Switchblade were a Scottish pop duo formed in Glasgow in 1981 by Jill Bryson and Rose McDowall, best known for their song "Since Yesterday" from 1985, and their flamboyant clothing with bows and polka-dots.
Jane Godley Currie, known professionally as Janey Godley, was a Scottish stand-up comedian, actress, writer and political activist. She began her stand-up career in 1994, and won various awards for her comedy in the 2000s.
Jo Mango is the stage name of a British alternative folk and acoustic singer and songwriter from Glasgow, otherwise known as Jo Collinson Scott, a lecturer at the University of the West of Scotland. Jo Mango has also been the name of her band.
River City is a Scottish television soap opera created by Stephen Greenhorn which has been broadcast on BBC One Scotland since 24 September 2002. Since 2019, the show has aired episodes a day earlier on the new BBC Scotland channel. Set in the fictional district of Shieldinch in the west end of Glasgow, River City follows the lives of the local residents and their families as they go about their day-to-day lives. From its inception in 2002, the soap struggled to grasp viewers' approval, but would gradually see a rise in popularity. In 2023, the soap won 'Best Drama' at the Royal Television Society Scotland awards.
The Steamie is a comedy-drama stage play, written by Tony Roper. It is set on Hogmanay 1950 and provides a window on the lives and aspirations of a group of Glasgow women washing their clothes in a public washhouse (steamie). It was commissioned by Borderline Theatre in the early 1980s and first staged by Wildcat at the Crawfurd Theatre, Glasgow in 1987.
Jane McCarry is a Scottish actress and teacher. She is best known for her roles as Isa Drennan in the BBC Scotland sitcom Still Game, and as Granny Murray in the CBeebies show Me Too! (2006–2008). She trained as an actor at Edinburgh's Queen Margaret University School of Drama.
Helen McCookerybook is a British musician and singer-songwriter, who was the bass player and co-singer with the Chefs, during the late 1970s and early 1980s. She went on to form Helen and the Horns in the mid 80s. Both bands were admired by John Peel, recording six BBC Radio 1 sessions between them. After a long break from her music career, Helen McCookerybook started again as a solo artist in 2005. She regularly plays live gigs, releases recordings, and promotes occasional revivals of Helen and the Horns.
Dorothy Paul is a Scottish stage and screen actress, comedian, and entertainer. She performed onstage often at the Pavilion Theatre in Glasgow.
Elizabeth Gemma Clegg, is a British Paralympic sprinter and tandem track cyclist who has represented both Scotland and Great Britain at international events. She represented Great Britain in the T12 100m and 200m at the 2008 Summer Paralympics, winning a silver medal in the T12 100m race. She won Gold in Rio at the 2016 Paralympic Games in 100m T11 where she broke the world record and T11 200m, beating the previous Paralympic record in the process, thus making her a double Paralympic champion.
Carmen Pieraccini is a Scottish actress and clown doctor, who has appeared in the BBC Scotland soap opera River City since 2003, until her departure in 2007. She returned full-time to the Soap in 2010 and again in 2019 for a short stint and again in November 2024. Her other screen appearances include the BBC comedy Dear Green Place (2006–08), and the films Small Faces (1996) and Late Night Shopping (2001).
Kezia Alexandra Ross Dugdale is a Scottish former politician who served as Leader of the Scottish Labour Party from 2015 to 2017. A former member of the Scottish Labour Party and Co-operative Party, she was a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the Lothian region from 2011 to 2019.
Events from the year 1987 in Scotland.
Natalie McGarry is a Scottish former politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Glasgow East from 2015 to 2017. She was elected as a Scottish National Party (SNP) candidate in the 2015 general election but resigned the SNP whip after six months and sat as an independent until the end of the parliamentary session in May 2017.
Mhairi Black is a Scottish politician who served as Deputy Leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP) in the House of Commons from 2022 to 2024, and as a Member of Parliament for Paisley and Renfrewshire South from 2015 to 2024.
Alison Emily Thewliss is a Scottish National Party (SNP) politician. She was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Glasgow Central from the May 2015 general election until 2024.
Brogan Yvonne Hay is a Scottish footballer who plays for Rangers in the Scottish Women's Premier League (SWPL) as a right winger or forward.
Since Yesterday tells the story of the women who pioneered as members of all-girl bands in Scotland from the 1960s-2010s and asks the questions 'why are they not remembered?' and 'what would have happened if they were?'. It takes a critical look at the structural barriers and risks female musicians face in the music industry.
Sophisticated Boom Boom are a Scottish girl group, initially forming in 1981 and disbanding in 1983. The five-piece all-girl act were formed from a group of pals and became a trailblazing mainstay in the early 1980s Glasgow music scene.
Glasgow band Sophisticated Boom Boom, featuring singer and actress Libby McArthur
Libby Mcarthur (Vocals)
Libby Mcarthur (Vocals)
Such was the fate of 80s post-punk group Sophisticated Boom Boom, who supported Simple Minds and bagged John Peel sessions with their witty, stylish songs. Before they could get signed, singer Libby McArthur found out she was pregnant. In the film's saddest moment, she recalls telling the group, and later discovering that her bandmates had replaced her. "The loss was devastating," she says, "but I went out with my chin up. The one thing I decided was, you will not use that name. Sophisticated Boom Boom – you owe me that."
World Premiere