The BBC has released images from the final River City episode which show a bloodied Lenny Murdoch, the show's arch-villain, amid a dramatic fire scene
Johnny McKnight has written for River City for almost a decade so, when it was announced that the show was drawing to a close after 24 years, he asked if he could write the final episode.
"Those moments don't come up very often with long-running shows so I thought it might be cathartic and a nice way to say goodbye as a writer," he says.
Details of the episode, which will air on Monday, are a closely-guarded secret but images released showing a bloodied Lenny Murdoch amidst a dramatic fire scene suggest the show's arch-villain, played by Frank Gallagher, is at the centre of it.
McKnight says he felt a huge responsibility to the show's fans to give them a satisfying ending.
He points to cult TV shows whose endings have divided fans – like The Sopranos, Dexter, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel.
McKnight says: "I'm just part of a massive collective team effort and I hope we've done the fans proud to the end."
He thinks the show has always managed to walk a fine line between comedy and drama.
"River City is what I think it is to be Scottish. Our punches have punchlines.
"We take our trauma and we find a way to tell it in a pub that makes it palatable, and the humour co-exists alongside the drama."
Grant Stott, who played Sam Spiller, was primarily a broadcaster and pantomime regular with limited experience of TV drama before joining River City
Grant Stott, who played Sam Spiller, says it was the comedy which attracted him to the role.
A broadcaster and pantomime regular, he had limited experience of TV drama.
"There is no way I would have got that kind of experience on another show and for that I will be forever grateful; that was always a bit of a dream for me and so to finally achieve that at this stage of my career was very special.
"If I never get a chance to work in the TV drama industry ever again, I'm all right with that because I've achieved what I wanted to do."
