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NHS issue reminder about vaccines
THOSE ELIGIBLE for the free
Covid-19 and flu vaccinations are
being urged by NHS Lothian to
get their jabs as winter sets in and
hospitalisations increase.
The reminder came as Public
Health Scotland (PHS) data
showed that more people in
SCotland were hospitalised as a
result of Covid in December.
Admissions for flu were also on
the rise with the highest hospital
admission rate noted in patients
aged less than one year old (18.
per 100,000).
Parents and carers are
encouraged to get their children
vaccinated as soon as possible if
they haven’t done so already. All
primary and secondary school
pupils and all pre-school children
aged 2 to 5 (on 1st September
2022) are eligible for the vaccine,
as well as children aged 6 months
and over with an eligible health
condition. The flu vaccine forchildren is a painless nasal
spray which will help protect
them and reduce the risk of them
spreading the virus to more
vulnerable people.
The health service says that
vaccines are safe, effective and
offer the best protection to those
most at risk of serious illness from
Covid-19 and flu while also
helping to protect the NHS at the
busiest time of year.
nhsinform.scot/wintervaccinesBy PHYLLIS STEPHENEDINBURGH TIKTOK star, Andrew
Thomson, took his grandparents, Andrew
and Faye, mum Gillian and girlfriend Hollie
to the pictures with him - to the world
premiere of Amazon’s latest production
The Rig at Everyman Edinburgh - and the
stars of the series were there on the red
carpet. (Actually the carpet was metal just
like it would have been on an oil rig - but
you get the idea.)
The 23-year-old from Longstone has
grown a business for himself with around
two million followers on TikTok and a
growing audience on Instagram.
Unable to show his family what he
actually does for a living, Andrew decided
that he would take everyone with him for
a special night out at the Edinburgh
premiere of a production wholly made
in Edinburgh.
Andrew said: “I’m always away in London
going to events like these. When I come
home I’ll visit my grandparents and show
them photos and try to describe what it’s
like and what I do for work. It was amazing
to have an event in Edinburgh on our
doorstep so that I could finally show them
what it’s really like, and my mum and
girlfriend too. I wanted to give them an
insight as to what I’ve been doing the past
year or so and let them see what I’ve
achieved - just from making videos for the
internet in my bedroom.
“My mum loved seeing me get photos
taken at the event with my gran and
grandad and watching their reactions to
being brought into the film and TV world
that I have been a part of this year.”
Mr Thomson Senior said he really did
not know what to expect at the premiere.
He said: “It was a very interesting night. I
think Andrew is doing well, but I can’t
really explain what he does. He has been to
the US, Italy and is often away to London. I
didn’t really know how these things
worked. After the film I was ready to go
home but Andrew told me it was time to
party. My wife and I sat down but I saw
everybody was on their feet and so we just
got up and mingled. It is strange to do
something for the first time in your life at
my age - but that is what this was. A first.
Andrew used to be a quiet boy - now he is
so confident.”If you would like to be one of Andrew’s many
followers - then you will find him on TikTok- @andrewsvisual
Making it a
family affair
Jane BarlowAndrew with
his grandparentsAmazon’s new thriller series filmed in Edinburgh to stream in January
By PHYLLIS STEPHEN
PORTOBELLO RESIDENT David
Macpherson created the idea for Amazon’s
production of The Rig mainly as a result of the
stories his dad told him about working in the
oil and gas industry.
The writer is from Alness and said: "Even
when I was at school the rigs used to tower over
the town, when they were brought in to get
repaired. That part of it - the oil part - has been
with me throughout my life. But it was not until
we did our location trip to a rig just off Orkney
that I realised there was about 70 feet of legs to
climb up just to get to the top deck.”
Filming for the six part series took place
at First Stage Studios in Leith. But
whether there is any room left for
another series of The Rig everyone
was tight-lipped. David did admit that
he would love to do more however.
Martin Compston plays Fulmer the
comms officer in The Rig but
previously shone as detective Steve
Arnott in the BBC’s Line of Duty.
Compston grew up in Greenock
and his own father worked in
the oil industry. He said:
“I always had this
glamorous idea of what Aberdeen was like
because for working class people with a trade it
was good money. But it is a hard hard life.
“I wish people could see the show the way I
read it because the Director Jon Strickland- who I have worked with on a few things - he
phoned me and told me about the series set on
a rig and that there was a part he wanted me to
play. He knew that my dad had worked on the
rigs and there was an obvious connection. I
thought it was going to be these hard-drinking
men and some sort of social drama. But by part
two I had no idea what was going on - in the
best possible way. It takes this life turn that you
don’t see coming and to read it like that was
wonderful because I knew nothing about
it. It is great to be in something in
Scotland with this size of ambition.
Edinburgh born actor Iain Glen
said that the cast had a certain
responsibility making this
programme here in Scotland. He
said: “We are portraying our people
and our country and it is a Scottish
story. All credit to Amazon as they
did not try to dilute it in any
shape or form. They
stayed very true to
to David’s script.”
“I loved being here for three or four months
filming every day in Edinburgh and I definitely
rediscovered the city and the beauty of it and
the character. I tis hard when you have been
pulled away from your folks. I have lived in
London since I went to drama school so to
come back and just be able to pop in and see my
mum on a daily basis - well that characterised
the job for me more than anything.”
Former Leith Academy boy Mark Bonnar
was also pleased to be back home and passing
by his old school every day on the way to work
in Leith Docks. He said: “It’s wonderful to see
the blossoming of Scotland as a kind of hub for
this kind of thing, especially when it is a
home-grown tale and a home-grown writer and
a lot of the cast too. When the script first landed
on my lap the quality of the writing was
apparent right away but then there was also the
genre and what was happening. As I turned the
pages ( I am a lifelong fan of things like The
Invasion of the Bodysnatchers, The Thing, all
those movies) and David acknowledged the
isolation of the guys on The Rig.
“But also what David did brilliantly is tie it
together with a story of our times and what we
are doing to our planet and how it is being
affected. There is the social story as well which
is important.”David
MacphersonTime for The Rig
The cast of The Rig came to
Edinburgh for the world premiere