Following the exploits of a habitual thief-turned-drug dealer in 1980s Edinburgh, Looking After JoJo was one of BBC Scotland’s most-watched television dramas of all-time.
Lauded for its excellent writing, killer soundtrack, and a formidable cast, that included the likes of Robert Carlyle and Kevin McKidd, the hard hitting 1998 series was filmed on location, with many viewers taken aback to see the inclusion of real Edinburgh council estates that had seldom appeared on film before.
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With Carlyle playing the lead role, the series, which was directed by late local filmmaker John Mackenzie, centres around the changing fortunes of the troubled John Joseph (Jo Jo) McCann, an already hardened criminal, who creates a drugs empire. Jo Jo, it seems, has aspirations to become Edinburgh’s answer to Scarface, and with equally dire repercussions.
While there were inevitable comparisons to Trainspotting, which had been released just two years earlier, and featured two of the same actors, the mini series was praised for its boldness in portraying the bleak reality of heroin addiction and the severity of the AIDS epidemic that gripped Thatcher-era Edinburgh.
Comprising just four, 50-minute episodes, the Bafta-nominated series proved to be a big hit among Scots viewers - but what became of its cast? Read on to find out.
Robert Carlyle (Jo Jo McCann)
By far the most well-known of the Looking After Jo Jo cast, Robert Carlyle was very much a household name thanks to his roles in TV drama Hamish Macbeth and seminal Brit flicks Trainspotting and The Full Monty.
In Looking After Jo Jo, Carlyle delivered a show-stopping lead performance as the petty thief-turned-drug lord, John Joseph McCann.
Since 1998, the Glasgow actor has barely stopped, having scored major roles in a host of successful movies, including Angela’s Ashes, The World Is Not Enough and The Legend of Barney Thomson.
Over the years, the versatile Carlyle has played everyone from Adolf Hitler to John Lennon and remains a hugely-respected actor.
Still active, the 61-year-old is currently filming a TV mini series follow-up to The Full Monty in which he will reprise his lead role as Gary ‘Gaz’ Schofield.
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Jenny McCrindle (Lorraine)
Starring as Rober Carlyle’s love interest, the charming Marilyn Monroe lookalike, Lorraine, Jenny McCrindle had already carved herself a reputation as a versatile screen actress, having appeared in 1989’s Dream Baby alongside a number of her fellow Looking After Jo Jo actors, and Scottish Comedy The High Life (1995).
The same year as playing Lorraine, McCrindle also appeared in Irvine Welsh’s The Acid House.
Jenny McCrindle’s acting career was tragically cut short after being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1999. Her final television credit came in 2000 with TV short Rice Paper Stars.
The Clydebank-born actress sadly died in 2014 aged just 46.
Ewan Stewart (Charlie McCann)
The son of legendary Scots entertainer Andy Stewart, Glasgow-born Ewan Stewart was fresh from playing First Officer William Murdoch in 90s blockbuster Titanic when he joined the cast of Looking After Jo Jo as the lead character’s uncle Charlie McCann. He would remain heavily active in TV, film and theatre, though has been rather quiet in recent years. Stewart’s last theatrical performance was in 2018’s Things I Know To Be True at the Lyric Hammersmith.
The 65-year-old lives in London with his wife, English actress Clare Byam-Shaw, and has two children.
Aline Mowat (Christine)
Having starred in Taggart, Inspector Morse, Monarch of the Glen, The Bill and Holby City, Aline Mowat is something of a British drama veteran.
Aline appears in all four episodes of Looking After Jo Jo as Charlie McCann’s other half: the domineering bar worker/drug pusher, Christine.
Back in the 1990s, Aline was also a well-known face in between the programmes, as Fiona in the Scottish Blend adverts.
In recent years, Aline has provided narration for fairy tale action movie Maleficent: Mistress of Evil, and played Hillary/Valerie in the Amazon children’s series Jessy and Nessy.
Kevin McKidd (Basil)
Kevin McKidd delivered a highly-memorable performance as the violent druggie Basil in Looking After Jo Jo.
The Elgin-born actor, who had previously starred alongside Robert Carlyle in Trainspotting would go on to big things stateside, most notably bagging the role as Dr Owen Hunt in the American drama series Grey’s Anatomy, which is still on the go.
McKidd, now aged 48, became a US citizen in August 2015. He is married with two children and has two other children to a previous marriage.
