AFTER months of fevered speculation, Still Game fans have finally learned which beloved character will depart Craiglang for good.

Viewers saw Eric, played by James Martin, bow out of the hit BBC Scotland comedy series on last night. The Glasgow-born actor, who turned 87 earlier this week, has been part of the cast since the show began in 2002.

Yet, even when dealing with death, there was the stamp of Still Game's trademark dark humour as Eric peacefully slipped away in his happy place: playing the fruit machine at The Clansman.

His departure coincided with the arrival of funeral director Iain Duncan Sheathing whose appearance had struck fear into the heart of the Craiglang community. Eric became the first customer – or victim – for the creepy new undertaker, played by comedian Bruce Morton.

TV review: Comedy’s character dies but lousy gags will be the death of Still Game

Mr Martin revealed that he approached Still Game co-creators Ford Kiernan and Greg Hemphill about leaving when the duo started writing the eighth series last year.

"I asked to be written out," he said, adding that his wife Christine had convinced him it was time to take things a bit easier in life.

"She said: 'C'mon, let's call it a day.' I've been an actor since the late 1960s. I have done everything."

The hardest part, he added, was keeping the secret under wraps after news broke last summer that a long-standing character would meet their maker.

"I have been stopped here, there and everywhere," he said. "My answer has always been: 'Listen, if I told you, Navid would kill me and Winston would beat me to death with his artificial leg …'

"I only told my wife. I haven't told anybody else. My granddaughter has been pleading with me. But it would spoil it."

Mr Martin spoke fondly of his time on Still Game, paying tribute to the show's legion of loyal fans.

"Before the first episode of this series, an old couple stopped me and said: 'See you on Thursday!' I will miss that," he said. "I didn't realise it, but he was a revered character, was Eric. Everything happened to him – he was so accident-prone."

His stunt doubles were certainly kept busy. Mr Martin reminisced about shooting the famous scene where he, Jack and Victor ended up spread-eagled on an icy pavement.

"That was funny – the stunt double for falling on the ice," he recalls. "They brought this guy up from London. He was about 6ft and like a Greek God. I joked: 'Could you not get Robert Redford to stand in there for me? What are you getting big ugly guys like that for?'"

Then there was the eye-watering sketch where Eric addressed the perils of incontinence in old age.

"I have done Shakespeare for the Royal Lyceum Theatre Company, excerpts from Shaw, Chekhov and Ibsen, I have been a killer in Taggart – and all I'm known for is p****** myself in Still Game," he laughed.

TV review: Comedy’s character dies but lousy gags will be the death of Still Game

Mr Martin said he was delighted with how his swansong in The Clansman panned out. "I liked the way I died at the puggy – I win the jackpot but die," he said. "My last line was to the undertaker: 'It's just about to pay oot …'

"After that scene, the cast and crew gave me the clapper board and a directors' chair with 'James Martin – Eric' written on it. I shed a wee bit of a tear, I must admit."

The Herald:

Eric’s best bits

1. The “shake and squeeze”

Eric shares with Jack and Victor the harsh facts of getting older: your equipment no longer behaves as it should. Or as the man himself puts it: “A good mug fou of p*sh fae nae where …”

2. Spongy leg

The perils of getting older, part two: the elasticity of one’s skin and muscle tone deteriorates. Eric demonstrates by poking a finger into his leg: “I’ve timed it, 15 full minutes for that to resettle.”

3. Victor’s car

Eric berates Jack, Isa, Tam and Winston for being rowdy in the back of Victor’s car as they are given a lift home from The Clansman – only to promptly vomit all over the inside of windscreen.

4. Fire hydrant

It’s a heatwave in Craiglang and as the gang sweat buckets, some kids nearby are mucking about with a fire hydrant. Eric tries to shut it off and is blown sky high.

5. Slip and slide

Jack, Victor and Eric end up spread-eagled on the pavement courtesy of a nasty patch of ice. The moral of the tale: Timpson’s Permagrip soles, £19.99, don’t do what they say on the tin.

Still Game is on BBC One, Thursdays, 9.30pm