ScottishNews.com

The BBC Scotland drama will bow out with a special hour-long episode on Monday, 31 August, bringing to a close a story which began when the programme first arrived on screen in September 2002.

Details of the ending have deliberately been kept under wraps, but the BBC has promised an explosive conclusion involving some of the show’s best-known characters.

Images released ahead of the finale show a bloodied Lenny Murdoch, played by Frank Gallagher, surrounded by flames as his bitter feud with Harry Foulkes, played by Jim Sturgeon, reaches its climax.

There will also be happier developments in Shieldinch, with the BBC teasing that love and marriage will play an important part in the final episode and “new beginnings” are on the horizon at The Tall Ship.

Long-running character Bob O’Hara, played by Stephen Purdon, is also pictured walking alone along Montego Street in one of the images released ahead of the farewell.

The final episode has been written by Johnny McKnight, who has been part of the River City writing team for almost a decade. McKnight said he asked to write the ending after learning that the programme was being brought to a close.

He told the BBC: “Those moments don’t come up very often with long-running shows so I thought it might be cathartic and a nice way to say goodbye as a writer.”

McKnight admitted he felt a major responsibility to the people who have followed the residents of Shieldinch over more than two decades.

The writer pointed to the famously divisive conclusions of major television series including The Sopranos and Dexter as examples of just how difficult ending a long-running show can be.

Frank Gallagher, who has played Shieldinch gangster Lenny for 21 years, said the finale was filmed on a bigger scale than a typical River City episode.

He told The Sunday Post that the production included night shoots and had been filmed in a “more cinematic way”, while Jacqueline Leonard, who plays Lydia Murdoch, revealed that viewers can expect a major car crash as well as the confrontation between Lenny and Harry.

River City was launched as a twice-weekly soap in 2002 and went on to become one of BBC Scotland’s longest-running and most recognisable programmes.

Set in the fictional Glasgow district of Shieldinch but filmed at a purpose-built production base in Dumbarton, it provided regular work and training for generations of Scottish actors, writers, directors and production crews.

McKnight described the programme’s contribution to the Scottish television industry as a “factory of creativity”.

River City also provided early or significant roles for a long list of Scottish performers during its run, while established characters including Bob, Scarlett O’Hara and Lenny became familiar faces to viewers.

Gallagher believes the programme’s distinctive combination of humour and sometimes extremely dark storylines reflected something recognisably Scottish. He said: “River City is what I think it is to be Scottish. Our punches have punchlines.”

The decision to end the programme prompted a campaign to save it after the BBC announced that River City would be brought to a close.

BBC Scotland said changing viewing habits meant it wanted to move investment towards shorter drama series capable of reaching audiences across the UK and internationally.

The final scenes were filmed at Dumbarton in April, when cast and crew gathered for an emotional last day after more than two decades of production.

Purdon, who joined River City as a 19-year-old and has remained with the programme throughout its run, said at the time that he had effectively grown up on the show.

The physical home of Shieldinch has already disappeared. The purpose-built outdoor set in Dumbarton, including familiar locations such as Montego Street and The Tall Ship, was demolished during the summer following the end of production.

Tonight’s farewell will not end when the credits roll on the final episode. BBC Scotland will follow it with River City: The Last Take, a special one-off documentary looking back at the programme’s 24-year history.

Stephen Purdon, Sally Howitt, Frank Gallagher, Jacqueline Leonard, Jordan Young, Carmen Pieraccini, Grant Stott and Gayle Telfer Stevens are among the cast members reuniting to remember major storylines and share behind-the-scenes stories.

The documentary also had access to the final week of filming, capturing the cast and crew as they prepared to leave Shieldinch for the last time.

River City’s final hour-long episode airs at 9pm on BBC Scotland and BBC iPlayer on Monday, 31 August.