Review: Jack Docherty in the Chief – No Apologies -Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh

Full disclosure: I am an enormous fan of this show, and this is the third time I have seen Chief Commissioner Cameron Miekelson in the flesh.
For those who have not seen the BBC TV mockumentary The Chief, or its
predecessor, Scot Squad, the programme focuses on a fictional unified Scottish Police Force, its officers and staff.

Chief Commissioner Miekelson – head of this fictional force – was very much the breakout star of Scot Squad and was given his own TV show last year, although Jack Docherty has been brushing off “The Miek’s” cap in theatres around Scotland for some time with a solo show.

Jack Docherty Returns as Scot Squad’s Breakout Star

Having seen The Chief at the Fringe a few years ago, I feared that I would be seeing a repeat of that performance. I was pleased to find that not only had a lot of the existing material been spun on its head and completely reframed, but there was a lot of new stuff in there as well.

This is largely out of necessity, as the show has almost doubled in length. Cameron Miekelson is hilarious. A bumbling, egotistical anachronism, he sees and hears the buzzwords and attitudes which shape the public sector in the twenty-first century, but his attempts to use them to make himself look good inevitably end in disaster, disasters of which he is entirely unaware.

…I feared that I would be seeing a repeat of that performance. I was pleased to find that not only had a lot of the existing material been spun on its head and completely reframed, but there was a lot of new stuff in there as well.

Although he has now risen to the rank of the most senior officer in the land, he is keen to tell us of his humble beginnings in a five-bed detached villa in Corstorphine and how he worked hard to become a police officer, with only his father, Chief Superintendent Miekelson, to help him. Not as savvy as a real senior police officer, he is often caught in compromising situations, for which he makes terrible excuses to get out of.

‘No Apologies’: A Hilarious Book Launch and Audience Interrogation

The premise of the evening is the book launch of Miekelson’s autobiography, also called No Apologies. The jokes all land, and the openers are all very topical and fresh. I felt some could have hit harder, but this show – or brand – has its origins in public service broadcasting, so writers must be mindful of this, even if they didn’t seem to be adverse to throwing in a few f-words, which you wouldn’t hear on the BBC production.

The jokes all land, and the openers are all very topical and fresh. I felt some could have hit harder, but this show – or brand – has its origins in public service broadcasting…

Where the earlier show was largely a monologue, Docherty has now moved on to include a substantial amount of audience participation, which I feel is perfect for the genre and Miekelson’s verging on pantomime character. He has the entire audience on their feet to salute him at the start of the show, and works his way through the front and edges of the audience (he sensibly decides against ascending the steps of The Traverse’s shoogly raked seating), making jokes and using his powers to detect crimes that attendees carried out in their previous lives.

The evening also makes excellent use of props without – one suspects – having had to break the bank. Miekelson’s old-style desk is there with his name on it, some paperwork and a mug. To his left, there’s a lectern and a stand for his autobiography; behind him, there are two Scottish Police Force pop-up banners and a large screen.

The screen mainly shows the Force’s logo, but is often put to good use, showing amateurish images and diagrams which look like “The Miek” has put them together at the last minute with limited IT skills. One particular chart shows that the crime of witchcraft has dropped 100% in Scotland.

Top-Notch Delivery makes a Brilliant Evening at The Traverse

The material is good, but what is difficult to get over in print is how top-notch Docherty’s delivery of it is. For nearly two hours, he has the audience engaged, giggling and laughing uproariously. The mic fails at times, but he is still easily heard; his convincingly strong and professional tone is completely at odds with the nonsense
coming forth from Meikelson’s mouth.

A brilliant evening – I understand that there are plenty of tickets left for tonight, so do go to see it if you are in Edinburgh.

Featured Image: JD26 Tour – The Chief – Traverse Theatre