THE character of Rab C Nesbitt became “like a straitjacket” for actor Gregor Fisher, according to his on-screen wife Elaine C Smith.

The actress, who played Mary Doll in the Scottish sitcom, said Fisher did not want to play the Govan street philosopher at first and did not think he was funny, but other cast members could see it was a sure hit.

Speaking in the BBC One Scotland documentary In Search of Gregor Fisher, to be broadcast on Monday, Smith said: “He was just fabulous. He was a glorious anti-hero, one of those guys you saw in Glasgow or any major city, ranting at the moon.

“Gregor was like ‘I don’t think that guy’s funny, is it working?’ and we were all like ‘yeah’.

“Making it look as natural as he did, and does, is a skill that is really undervalued. And the amount of work that there was – I was able to come in and do scenes and I would have days off, but Gregor was there constantly. The commitment he had and the discipline he had to be filming six episodes where you are literally in every day on 12-hour days, and where it all rests on your performance.”

Fisher became a household name thanks to the sitcom. But as he became more recognised he began to withdraw and not go out and socialise as much, however. Smith added: “As an actor it becomes like a straitjacket – a gold-lined straitjacket – but people think that’s who you are.”

In Search of Gregor Fisher is on BBC One Scotland, on Monday (DEC 21) at 9pm