SOME of Scotland's best known names will appear in the last ever series of the hit BBC comedy Still Game.

A plethora of stars including singer Midge Ure and Line of Duty actor Martin Compston have take on roles for the ninth and final series.

The celebrity-packed line-up also includes Taggart’s James McPherson, music chart-toppers Amy MacDonald and Clare Grogan, and DJ Des Clarke.

TV cops Martin Compston, who is famed for playing DS Steve Arnott in Line of Duty, and Taggart's James McPherson, who played DCI Michael Jardine in the STV drama, will take on one-off character roles while the rest of the celebrity cast will make cameos including Amy MacDonald who has described herself as a superfan.

Former Ultravox frontman Midge Ure, who wrote and produced Band Aid hit Do They Know It's Christmas?, has already filmed scenes with the cast this week.

He said: “I’ve been a fan of Still Game for a while. My friend, Danny Mitchell, who I co-wrote ‘If I Was’ with sent me a DVD of the first couple of series a long time back and I fell in love with it then.

“The fantasy and the reality of acting are two very different things, however. In your head you’re Robert DeNiro but in reality you’re something very, very different! It’s amazing how quickly you clam up.

“Watching the whole process of filming was amazing, I always find that stuff fascinating. It’s very different from doing pop promos. This supersedes the OBE. Being in Still Game is like the comedy version of getting a Blue Peter badge which I wear with pride. The way I see it, if you’re going to be humiliated it might as well be in a comedy you love.”

Filming on the final series began last week at BBC Scotland’s Dumbarton Studios. The six-week shoot will also see filming take place in locations across Glasgow in what promises to be a ‘must-see’ finale for fans across the country.

The new celebrity line-up will join an alumni of stars who have appeared on the show including US TV star Craig Ferguson, who played stuntman and character Isa's love interest Callum Coburn last series.

Steven Canny, BBC Studios Comedy, Executive Producer, said: “We’re delighted that such brilliant performers from the worlds of music, comedy and gritty television crime are coming to join us. Alongside our brilliant core cast they look well set to give the show the send-off it deserves. I can’t wait for everyone to see these episodes.”

All of the original cast, Ford Kiernan, Greg Hemphill, Jane McCarry, Gavin Mitchell, Paul Riley, Mark Cox and Sanjeev Kohli, return alongside Still Game favourites Methadone Mick (Scott Reid), Sheathing The Undertaker (Bruce Morton), Peggy (Lynne McCallum), Edith (Maureen Carr), Meena (Shamshad Akhtar), Shug (Paul Young), Stevie the bookie (Matt Costello) and Frances (Kate Donnelly).

Since making its TV debut in 2002, Still Game has become a comedy phenomenon. When it returned in 2016 after a nine year hiatus, it became the most-watched TV programme in over a decade in Scotland attracting more than half of the viewing audience. The cast also had a successful run of live shows at the SSE Hydro in Glasgow in 2014.

The final series of Still Game is expected to air later this year.