Step back in time as River City celebrates 20 years

 A special anniversary episode this week marks two decades of the Clydeside soap.

As part of River City’s 20th-anniversary celebrations, this week a special one-off episode sees Bob reflect on two decades of living in Shieldinch. After drinking from a mystical bottle of booze, best mates Bob and Angus wake up in a multiverse where many of the lost friends from their past still exist.

It’s Bob’s birthday and Angus takes him to the Tall Ship to celebrate. However, when the pub is flooded, Caitlin gives the boys a bottle to take away and celebrate at Scarlett’s. However, a gathering at his mum’s with soggy sandwiches wasn’t quite the birthday a downbeat Bob envisaged.

Sitting on Deek’s bench on Montego Street with Angus, Bob reminisces on his life, drowning his sorrows. Suddenly, the hungover pair wake up in a world they don’t recognise where their lives have taken an altogether different direction. As Bob and Angus navigate their way through this surreal multiverse, the best friends come across familiar faces from Shieldinch’s past and present.

Starring Stephen Purdon as Bob and Scott Fletcher as Angus, this episode welcomes back iconic characters including Ewan Murdoch (played by Chris Brazier), DCI Whiteside (Michael Nardone), DI Grant (Therese Bradley), Eileen Donachie (Deirdre Davis), Paul Samson (Raymond Henderson), Robbie Fraser (Gary Lamont), Gabriel Brodie (Garry Sweeney), Billy Kennedy (Alexander Morton), Martina Kennedy (Ann Louise Ross), Thomas McCabe (Tam Dean Burn), Kelly-Marie Adams (Carmen Pieraccini), Stella Walker (Keira Lucchesi), Zinnie Hassoun (Nalini Chetty) and Gina Rossi (Libby McArthur).

Also starring Gayle Telfer Stevens as Caitlin, Frank Gallagher as Lenny, Jacqueline Leonard as Lydia, Iain Robertson as Stevie, Julie Cadzow as Suzie, Holly Jack as Nicole, Jenny Hulse as Amber, Joyce Falconer as Roisin, Jordan Young as Alex, Gail Watson as Gillian, Sally Howitt as Scarlett and Barbara Rafferty as Bernie.

Launching on the 24^th of September 2002, River City has become a much-loved Scottish drama over the last two decades with over 1300 episodes filmed at the BBC Dumbarton Studios outside Glasgow. However, unlike its STV predecessor Take The High Road, the rival residents of Shieldinch have never been screened across the network.

As part of the anniversary celebrations, BBC Scotland will also broadcast River City: 20 Year Celebration – a one-off entertainment special hosted by actor and presenter Grant Stott (who plays Sam Spiller in River City) and filmed at the show’s iconic set in Dumbarton.

In this hour-long show, the current cast will join with familiar faces from the past to celebrate the show’s history, reliving memorable moments as well as welcoming some special guests and fans of the series. River City: 20 Year Celebration will debut on BBC iPlayer on Saturday 24th September – the exact date River City launched in 2002. It will then air straight after Monday’s episode on the BBC Scotland channel.

River City Monday 26 September, BBC Scotland HD, 10.00-10.30pm and repeated on Tuesday 27 September, BBC One Scotland HD, 7.00-7.30pm