If John Byrne had been known only for The Slab Boys, he would be considered one of Scotland’s great cultural figures. But Byrne, who died on Thursday aged 83, was responsible for so much more than the trilogy of plays that helped put Robbie Coltrane on the map. He created the TV series Tutti Frutti, also starring Coltrane, and was a celebrated artist, screenwriter, illustrator and stage adapter.
His prolific output was varied, but if there were a unifying factor it was self-portraiture. “You’re here on Earth to ask why you’re here on Earth, not to avoid the question,” he told me in 2008. “The great many of my self-portraits aren’t the most flattering.”
