Talk of the Town: A race to see your face on TV show

There was bated breath among Edinburgh’s runners last night as BBC3 comedy Pramface hit the screens for the first time.

Much of the tale of teenage pregnancy is set in the Capital and among the locations for the shoot last summer was the Jog Scotland 5km race in Inverleith Park, and while the faster runners would have been proud to see themselves striding past the camera, some of those nearer the back of the field were expecting to emerge almost as red-faced from watching the show as they did from the race itself.

Parliament’s bee plan may well bear fruit

THE Scottish Parliament has had its share of problems over the years but the latest concern might top them all: its apple trees.

On what was clearly a busy day, SNP backbencher Rob Gibson called for a review of the varieties of apple trees to ensure they cross-pollinate. Linda Fabiani, on behalf of the cross-party corporate body, admitted: “It seems the trees in are Malus Bramley’s seedling, which are not self-pollinating, so there may well be an issue.”

She promised a review in the early autumn, and added: “Some corporate body members have also suggested having a beehive in the garden to assist in pollination.”

At least that way there will be a few busy bees around the building.

Looking to spread out

The phrase “famous jam maker” is one SuperJam founder Fraser Doherty is doing good job of making his own.

The wunderkind has now been shortlisted in the best start-up category of the Lloyds TSB Enterprise Awards.

He says: “SuperJam has had an amazing few years, even being entered into the National Museum of Scotland as an ‘Iconic Scottish Brand’.”

His products might be a museum piece already, but he’s not gathering dust – Fraser says that if he wins, he’ll put the £50,000 prize towards launching in the US.

A killer suggestion

Some things are better left to the experts and no better example was needed than during a presentation on the city’s archives this week.

Following an update on the recording of the historic collection, Councillor Eric Barry suggested installing a fire retardant gas to save the works in the event of a blaze – on the face of it, a valid point.

Not so.

“Actually gas is problematic – it saves all the records but kills anyone inside the building at the time,” explained records manager Kevin Wilbraham.