THE stage revival of the popular comedy, Still Game, has sold more than 100,000 tickets in one day, a rush which led to the collapse of its venue's online box office.
The overwhelming demand for tickets for the theatrical revival of the much-loved comedy show, to be performed at the SSE Hydro in Glasgow, crashed the ticket website of the venue, ticketsoup.com, which collapsed temporarily after being put under "huge strain".
The return of Jack and Victor, the main characters of Ford Kiernan and Greg Hemphill's comedy, a hit on BBC over six series and specials until 2007, has proved to be a theatrical sensation, prompting an increase in shows from four to 16 in less than a week.
Extra dates, September 26, and October 7, 8 and 9, were added to the run last night, and more are likely to be announced if demand for tickets continues.
Initially, at a press conference on Wednesday, only four shows were announced for the come-back, to be performed by the full cast of the former BBC show next autumn.
Last night, Kiernan said: "Loads of people have asked me when should they buy their tickets. I said 'don't panic it's not till next September', but I've seen the ticket sales, so scratch that… panic."
Hemphill added: "It's bigger than the best welcome back we could have hoped for."
Ticketsoup was back up and running last night.
A spokeswoman for the venue said: "We reached a point where demand overloaded our system and as a result, customers were being held in a queue and were unable to get through to book.
"The only action we could take to resolve this was to reboot the system - resulting in all current connections being disconnected."
She added tickets were still available and can be purchased online via www.ticketmaster.co.uk, by telephone and in person at the SSE Hydro box office.
There are now two shows on September 27 and 28, at 2.30pm and 7.30pm each day, and on October 4 and October 5 in the same time slots. There are also 8pm shows on September 26, from September 30 to October 3, and on October 7, 8 and 9.
Hemphill said on Twitter: "Unbelievable response for this Hydro show."
Announcing the return of Jack and Victor earlier in the week, Kiernan and Hemphill said they had healed the split between them that led to the show leaving television after five years.
The duo also revealed they will be talking to the BBC next week about bringing the show back on to television.
The stage show will return to the world of fictional Craiglang, and bring back the key characters Jack, Victor, Isa, Tam, Navid, Boaby and Winston.
The format for the new stage show has yet to be created and no director has been appointed, but it is being produced by Phil McIntyre Entertainments.
The shows will be a significant pay day for Kiernan and Hemphill: a senior theatre industry source said they are likely to receive writer and performer royalties on the more than 150,000 tickets now released for the shows, which, together with performance fees, could add up to a six-figure sum.
It has been rumoured that rival theatres in the city are wary of the commercial power of the Hydro.
However, James Haworth, the general manager at the King's Theatre and Theatre Royal Glasgow, said: "The SSE Hydro is helping to raise Glasgow's profile as a top entertainment destination. Bringing more fantastic acts to the city will encourage people to enjoy the wide variety of shows on offer - comedy, dance, drama, musical theatre, panto - and will undoubtedly boost tourism in Glasgow."
The King's Theatre and the Theatre Royal are both run by the large UK-wide theatre company the Ambassador Theatre Group.
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