[1][2][3] Forsyth first came to attention with a low-budget film, That Sinking Feeling, made with youth theatre actors and featuring a cameo appearance by the Edinburgh gallery owner Richard Demarco.

Forsyth's next film was Comfort and Joy (1984), about a Glasgow radio DJ caught in a rivalry between ice cream companies, which again featured Clare Grogan.

By the time it was released in November 1987, Puttnam was notoriously fired from Columbia,[5] and the film was given minimal promotion due to its ties to the studio's ousted chairman.

"[12] However, Time Out London's reviewer said: "There's still comic mileage in Gordon-Sinclair's amiable fumbling Gregory... [A]ttention is directed towards wider, broadly political issues, but Forsyth's assured craftsmanship ensures that they are deftly woven into the storytelling.

Gordon-Sinclair is a revelation, and although the film suffers from a lack of pace, its wealth of human insight and the premium it places on subtlety of expression make it a rare pleasure.