New family for River City’s Shieldinch

A new family is set to ruffle a few feathers in River City as they arrive on screen in early October.

The Brodies’ are brothers Michael, Gabriel and Leo – along with Michael’s family, wife Leyla, children Nicole and Conor and stepson Adeeb.

Scots actor Andy Clark is at the helm of the Brodie family, playing new Shieldinch GP Michael. Michael is a former army doctor and was married to mother of his children, Nicole and Conor – but after meeting Leyla his marriage was doomed.

Andy Clark, from Blairgowrie in Perth, says: “I’m delighted to be joining the cast of River City. It’s great to be playing a good guy for once as I’ve played a lot of baddies in my time. Michael is a real family guy and it’ll be interesting to see how his character develops.”

Gabriel Brodie played by former High Road actor Garry Sweeney from Govanhill in Glasgow, is the middle brother and he steam rolls into Shieldinch by taking over the Versus premises, a site which Fraser has his eyes firmly set on. He is proud of living by his wits and feels no remorse in occasionally taking advantage of other people’s good nature.

Garry Sweeney says: “It’s a joy to be part of the cast and to play such a larger-than-life character like Gabriel. He is so much fun to play – always ducking and diving – but also seems to have a real heart of gold.”

The youngest brother is Leo, played by Edinburgh actor Nick Rhys and will set the ladies of Sheildinch’s hearts a flutter. Leo is a proud serving soldier of the Royal Battalions of Scotland but, while on leave, it soon becomes clear that serving in Afghanistan has left him with some problems to overcome.

Nick Rhys think Leo might have an eye for the ladies saying: “Being a young man about the town, there will definitely be someone Leo takes a shine to, who that may be you will have to wait and see.”

Alongside the Brodie men is Leyla, played by Iranian born Maryam Hamidi. Leyla is a modern Muslim who was widowed when her son Adeeb was young. She has a fiery marriage with Michael but it is new and full of hope.

Maryam Hamidi says: “Family set-ups are never that simple in our society and hopefully the journey our new family is going on will be one a lot of modern and multi-cultural families can relate to. I really enjoy the verve and spirit of River City, but hope the Brodies are going to offer Shieldinch a little class and sophistication.”

The Brodie youngsters are Nicole, played by Holly Jack, Conor played by Rian John, and Adeeb played by Taryam Boyd. Nicole is 14, going on 40, and although has looks far older than her age, her maturity is distinctly lacking. Nicole is struggling to come to terms with her new stepmother and won’t play by the rules. Thirteen-year-old Conor is a typical teenage boy but is closer to his Uncle Gabriel than his dad. Adeeb, who is also thirteen, is an intelligent kid who takes his real dad’s Iraqi heritage very seriously.

Executive Producer Gaynor Holmes says “We’re absolutely delighted to be welcoming Andy Clark, Garry Sweeney, Nick Rhys and Maryam Hamidi to River City. They’re certainly going to shake things up in Shieldinch with some exciting upcoming stories. It is a real testament to the show’s popularity that it continues to attract such strong acting talent.”

The Brodie family will make their first appearance in River City at the beginning of October with bad boy Gabriel arriving first and the rest of the family following closely behind. River City is broadcast on Tuesday evenings at 8.00pm on BBC One Scotland (Sky channel 971 for the rest of the UK)