| Series: | Play for Today |
| Series No: | 10 |
| Episode: | 1 |
| Director: | John Mackenzie |
| Music: | Frankie Miller |
| Photographer: | Elmer Cossey |
| Editor: | Graham Walker |
| Length: | 71 minutes |
"Just a Boys' Game" is an episode of Play for Today written by Peter McDougall and directed by John Mackenzie.[1] [2] [3] [4] "Just a Boys' Game" aired on 8 November 1979.[5]
It features Frankie Miller, Gregor Fisher, Ken Hutchison, Hector Nicol, Jean Taylor Smith, Katherine Stark, Barry Malone, Michael Malone and band The Cuban Heels.[1]
The plot revolves around the life of Jake McQuillan, who lives in the shadow of his dying grandfather, who used to be Greenock's hardest man.[6]
The play was filmed in and around Greenock, Drumchapel and Port Glasgow.[7]
Frankie Miller's song "Rules of the Game" is featured over the closing credits.[8]
Screenonline wrote "stunningly photographed by Elmer Cossey and featured McDougall's most crackling dialogue and richest characterisations, all brilliantly evoked by a cast headed by blues singer Frankie Miller in a performance that melts the camera in its intensity."[9]