The debate has been had. The arguments are over. The battles have been won and lost. And now we’re left with a 100-strong list of those who have made contributions to Scotland’s cultural landscape over the last 12 months which range from significant to groundbreaking. 

Side note: we thought it would be a nice idea to remove last year’s top (yes, magnificent) seven from consideration to make room for a fresh set of current icons and future stars. We’re sure Ncuti won’t mind. So, did we get it right? Judge for yourselves as we start the countdown to our hallowed number one…

100. The Proclaimers

These committed republicans almost certainly regarded it as a badge of honour when ‘I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles)’ was axed at the eleventh hour from the King’s Coronation playlist; anyway, they were too busy touring latest album Dentures Out until Charlie Reid’s voice-loss put a hold on their concert juggernaut. (FS)

99. Daniel Portman

To some he may forever be Brienne Of Tarth’s loyal squire Podrick Payne, but in the past year this Glaswegian formerly known as Daniel Porter has stepped away from the shadow of Westeros and into equally dark territories as a pub landlord in Black Mirror and one of three vengeful sons in Kill. (BD)

98. James Ferguson & Alethea Palmer

The buzz around Fife’s Kinneuchar Inn was rightly rewarded when it scooped The Good Food Guide’s Best Local Restaurant In Scotland title. Chef Ferguson and front-of-house supremo Palmer exploit the area’s natural larder to deliver culinary magic at this 17th-century pub and restaurant. (PM)

97. Keith Ingram

Assai Records has become a fixture in Scotland under Ingram’s stewardship, quietly increasing its chain of record stores without diluting its commitment to quality music. Alongside opening a new shop in Glasgow, the brand has programmed intimate sets from major acts and expanded its gorgeous selection of Assai Obi vinyls. (KF)

96. Terra Kin

Cambuslang-bred singer-songwriter Hannah Findlay first broke through as Terra Kin when Fred again.. used their sultry vocals on ‘Hannah (The Sun)’. Now signed to Island Records, this mellow jazz-influenced vocalist released their Too Far Gone EP in late 2022 and was deservedly crowned BBC Introducing’s Scottish Act Of The Year in April. (FS)

95. Stuart McPherson

This comic appeared on last year’s list for being one half of the What’s The Script? podcast. Still a leading voice on the Scottish ’cast scene (he’s also one third of the equally funny Some Laugh), it’s his well-crafted and deservedly sold-out Fringe show Love That For Me which earns him a solo spot. (MM)

94. Lawrie Brewster

Amicus went toe-to-toe with the iconic Hammer brand in the 1970s, and fans appreciated Brewster’s plans to re-establish the imprint ‘as a beacon of independent British horror’. Working with writer Sarah Daly, their first Amicus feature, In The Grip Of Terror, is currently crowdfunding, and is the portmanteau shocker you’d expect. (EH)

93. Ainsley Hamill 

Argyll-native Hamill co-edited the re-issued Frances Tolmie Collection, a rich storehouse of traditional Gaelic songs, many of which were out of print prior to Acair’s award-winning re-publish. As musical director for the book’s accompanying concert series this year, Hamill and friends wowed audiences at Celtic Connections and the Royal National Mòd. (MMT)

92. Dr Marian Bruce

After a career in academic research, Bruce has created one of Scotland’s most sustainable distillers. Highland Boundary, based at her rewilded farm near Alyth in Perthshire, produces botanical spirits and this year the doctor created Wild Scottish Bitters, the country’s first aromatic cocktail bitters made using sustainably harvested wild ingredients. (JT)

91. Michael Pellegrotti 

In a difficult year for festivals, The Reeling was an encouraging success story. This new Celtic music festival from Skye Live co-director Pellegrotti made its debut in East Renfrewshire’s picturesque Rouken Glen Park with sure-shots such as Skerryvore, Peatbog Faeries and Blazin’ Fiddles on the bill. (FS)

90. Conor McCarron

McCarron’s quiet intensity has been put to exemplary use this year, earning him his second Scottish BAFTA nomination for homelessness drama Dog Days, while his affecting performance in male mental-health short Induction caused a buzz on the festival circuit. He’s one of those rare actors whose eyes contain multitudes. (KF)

89. Lucy Ireland & Jim Manganello

A dance with death is often best avoided, but in Ireland and Manganello’s assured hands (and with their nimble feet), the touring Totentanz was an amusing and occasionally surreal delight. These co-artistic directors and performers of dance-theatre company Shotput succeeded in showing that mortality is to be confronted not feared. (BD)

88. Lois Chimimba

This year, the Glasgow-born actor who is perhaps best known for her role in Netflix’s The One, appeared in Apple TV’s insomnia romcom Still Up. She also made a brief appearance in the last season of Sex Education, played a music lecturer in Dog Days, and could be heard in the Doctor Who: Redacted podcast drama. (RC)

87. James Yorkston

One of Fife’s finest revived his collaboration with Sweden’s Second Hand Orchestra, but this time alongside a very special guest vocalist, the luminous Nina Persson. They created the gentle whimsy of The Great White Sea Eagle album, and the Yorkston/Persson odd-couple live roadshow beguiled across the land. (FS)

86. Amy Matthews

The promise of Matthews’ early career was fulfilled this year with her Fringe hit I Feel Like I’m Made Of Spiders, a show that mined personal trauma for laughs without descending into indulgence (lesser comedians take note). We’ll be amazed if Matthews isn’t conquering the telly circuit very soon. (KF)

85. Sharon Rooney

From taking the patriarchy and the Kens by storm in a powder-blue tweed suit as Lawyer Barbie, to leaving us in stitches in the third season of Jerk with her dry wit, Glasgow-born Rooney was on fire this year. (LB)

84. Josie KO

Fresh from the Glasgow School Of Art scene, KO’s unmistakable DIY-aesthetic sculptures took centre stage in the Royal Scottish Academy’s New Contemporaries show and Fruitmarket’s Poor Things exhibition. To further her explorations of Black Scottish identity, she was also awarded the Bothy Project’s Visual Arts Scotland Residency. (RA)

83. Kyle Falconer & Laura Wilde

There was decent buzz around this couple’s jukebox musical No Love Songs before its release, but the emotional impact that this simple story of post-natal depression had on audiences still felt like a welcome surprise. An insightful and funny depiction of a relationship that will surely run for years in Scottish theatres. (KF)

82. Brian Cox

Beyond the final season of Succession, Dundee’s finest export has taken to his newly minted reputation as wizened luvvie with aplomb, fronting a BBC Maestro series which teaches acting. His reprisal of Bob Servant for a Christmas special shows that, despite his fame, Cox remains a local lad at heart. (KF)

81. Anne Lyden

On New Year’s Day 2024, Anne Lyden will become the first female director-general of the National Galleries Of Scotland. Having worked in curatorial positions at NGS for a decade, Lyden most recently served as interim co-director of collection and research, where she furthered initiatives to diversify the nation’s collection. (RA)

80. Pàdruig Morrison

Hailing from the Isle Of Grimsay, Morrison was commissioned this year to write a classical-Gaelic crossover piece for new Scottish string ensemble Thirteen North, celebrating human connections and responding to themes of generation, culture and tradition. Meanwhile, at Orkney’s St Magnus International Festival, his ‘Fadhail’ for cello made its world premiere. (MMT)

79. Lesley Hart

As the adapter of Anna Karenina at Edinburgh’s Lyceum, Hart brought a full-blooded energy to Tolstoy’s novel. As an actor, she put her fellow cast members through their physical paces in Nat McCleary’s Thrown for National Theatre Of Scotland as well as being killed off in River City after five years as Sgt Lou Caplan. (MF)

78. Douglas MacIntyre

MacIntyre was already a one-man art-pop cottage industry before putting Strathaven on the musical map with FRETS, a series of bespoke acoustic concerts in the bijou confines of the Strathaven Hotel. There he has tirelessly hosted kindred spirits including Lloyd Cole, Callum Easter and Robert Forster. (NC)

77. Susan Riddell 

‘Yodelay-yodelay-do-you-want-your-hole?’ We’re not in the habit of giving away the jokes of our favourite acts, but this Riddell-penned punchline is an absolute beauty, a complete joy of wordplay and surprise. Her latest show, Wonder Woman, and Material Girl podcast are crammed with similar gems. (KF)

76. Jasleen Kaur 

It’s difficult to avoid local-girl-made-good clichés when talking about artist Kaur’s solo show at Tramway this year, a few minutes from her birthplace in Pollokshields. But the exhibition stood on its own terms, using found objects and mesmeric soundscapes to craft a mythic tapestry of Scottish migrant life. (GT)

75. Simon Erlanger

The MD of Isle Of Harris Distillers, based on the Outer Hebridean island, has overseen some big moments this year. The company’s popular gin reached the one-million bottle mark, just in time to coincide with the release of The Hearach (Gaelic for a Harris dweller), their first-ever whisky. (JT)

74. Peter Ross 

A nine-times winner at the Scottish Press Awards, this well-established journalist’s new book takes us on a touching historical journey through Britain’s places of worship. Steeple Chasing: Around Britain By Church was hailed as ‘a charming odyssey’ by The Times. (RC)

73. Izuka Hoyle

A spot on our chart is long overdue for this Edinburgher, who has previously shone in a touring production of Mallory Towers, an off-West End production of Six, and the excellent bittersweet TV comedy Big Boys. She’s finally here for intense kitchen drama Boiling Point as French chef Camille. (BD)

72. LJ Findlay-Walsh

Findlay-Walsh programmes the remarkable Take Me Somewhere, where her curation combines provocative performance and an inclusive sensibility. Respecting Tramway’s history as a venue for the unexpected, Findlay-Walsh showcases a diverse range of thoughtful and challenging work that takes audience engagement and aesthetic experience seriously. (GKV)

71. Laura Aldridge, James Rigler & Nick Evans 

This trio have spent the last couple of years transforming a disused social-work office in Paisley into a sculpture studio. Their groundbreaking funding model sees them pay rent in-kind to the council through activities with local residents. The Sculpture House is already a much-loved institution. (GT)

70. Stuart Ralston

Edinburgh chef Ralston has had a stellar year, opening two new restaurants and publishing a genre-defying cookbook/memoir, Catalogued Ideas And Random Thoughts. Italian-inspired Tipo and fine-dining seafood restaurant Lyla are delicious additions to Ralston’s much-loved Aizle and Noto. (AS)

69. Queen Of Harps

After honing her skills as a harpist and rapper for several years, Anise Pearson raised the bar this summer when performing at festivals such as Spit It Out and Kelburn Garden Party. She was also a finalist in both BBC Introducing Scottish Act Of The Year and SAY Award Sound Of Young Scotland. (MM)

68. Lynsey May 

The Edinburgh-based writer and former books editor of The List saw her debut novel plastered on billboards across town. Dark relationship drama Weak Teeth deals with the fallout after Ellis discovers her boyfriend has been cheating. Drawing comparisons with Sally Rooney, May toured Scottish book festivals including Aye Write and Wigtown. (CSa)

67. Joesef

In what was surely an exhausting yet exhilarating year for this Glasgow singer, his debut album Permanent Damage won him a place on the SAY Award shortlist and scooped Best Album at the Scottish Music Awards (among other accolades). He also performed at TRNSMT and Glastonbury, and opened for Jungle on their US tour. (MM)

66. Hifi Sean

It was a year of looking back and forward for Sean Dickson as he reformed The Soup Dragons for an affectionately received tour. But the true highpoint was Happy Ending, an atmospheric and entirely home-recorded album by his DJ/producer alter ego Hifi Sean, made in collaboration with the extraordinary David McAlmont. (FS)

65. Sarah Smith

Smith has a had a cracker of a year with her debut novel, Hear No Evil, based on the 1817 trial of a Scottish deaf woman. Hot on the heels of recognition in last year’s Bloody Scotland Awards, this year it was shortlisted for the prestigious Crime Writers’ Association Historical Dagger. (LR)

64. Nicole Cooper 

A graduate of RSAMD and associate artist with Bard In The Botanics, Cooper is a dynamic interpreter of Shakespeare: her CATS-nominated performance as Lady Macbeth in Zinnie Harris’ Macbeth (An Undoing) was a triumphant reminder of her ability to modernise familiar characters. In Lear’s Fool, she cemented her reputation for versality. (GKV)

63. Chris Carse Wilson

Carse Wilson burst onto the literary scene this year with his risk-taking debut Fray, a haunting tale of the impact of grief and loss on mental health, written in short bursts on his journey to and from work each day. A second hotly anticipated novel is already in the works. (PM)

62. Amy Laurenson

Good things come to those who wait, but luckily pianist Laurenson didn’t have to hang on very long. Only a week after she quit her bar job to focus on music, she was named BBC Radio Scotland Young Traditional Musician Of The Year on the final night of Celtic Connections. (BI)

61. Andrew Fleming-Brown

Fleming-Brown is pushing the boundaries of what club culture means. In the space of a year, he’s launched SWG3’s BODYHEAT system, which converts heat generated by clubbers dancing into energy, opened a new community garden behind the club’s main warehouse, and announced plans to open a new hotel for music lovers. (BI)

60. Lorne MacFadyen

After a busy couple of years with roles in Pistol, Operation Mincemeat and submarine drama Vigil, MacFadyen charmed audiences as Rose Matafeo’s new love interest in the final series of Starstruck. Meanwhile his band Holy Fool gained airplay on Radio 2 and a Radio Scotland Single Of The Week nod. (PM)

59. Maggie O’Farrell

It’s one thing to win the Women’s Prize For Fiction once, but to be shortlisted twice is quite the feat. This year, O’Farrell’s The Marriage Portrait made its way onto the shortlist, outselling all the other titles. Her acclaimed Hamnet also received a theatrical treatment from the Royal Shakespeare Company. (BI)

58. Sam Gough

After five years as executive director at Glasgow’s Tron Theatre, Gough returned to his previous haunt of Edinburgh’s Summerhall, this time as CEO. In October, he launched the independent Summerhall Arts, a charity to give ‘artists in Scotland more opportunities to be able to compete on the world stage’. (MF)

57. Lewis Capaldi 

Following his sensational debut, Capaldi locked in a second number one album, a revealing Netflix documentary, and a world tour that sold out in seconds. After fans showed their devotion by helping him finish his Glastonbury set, the singer is taking a well-deserved rest to adjust to life with Tourette’s Syndrome. (BI)

56. Jamie Byng 

CEO Byng and the team at Edinburgh-based publisher Canongate celebrated the company’s 50th anniversary with Ayòbámi Adébáyò’s A Spell Of Good Things and Tan Twan Eng’s The House Of Doors both being longlisted for the Booker Prize, while Miranda July announced the publication of a new novel with them in 2024. (CSa)

55. Hope Dickson-Leach

Writer-director Dickson Leach was responsible for the atmospheric Robert Louis Stevenson film adaptation The Strange Case Of Dr Jekyll And Mr Hyde. Based on her own stage production, it featured at Edinburgh International Film Festival and garnered better reviews than the higher-profile Eddie Izzard/Hammer collaboration on the same story. (EH)

54. Katie Goh & Katie Hawthorne 

EHFM’s Culture Show is a monthly overview of Edinburgh’s arts and culture headlines, from highbrow to trivial and everything in between. This year, hosts Goh and Hawthorne have interviewed Anoushka Shankar as part of an Edinburgh Festival special, the CEO of Stellar Quines, and many more of the city’s top cultural talent. (MM)

53. Jude Coward Nicoll 

Young Edinburgh actor Coward Nicoll voiced a leading role in The Boy, The Mole, The Fox And The Horse that won Best Animated Short Film at this year’s Oscars. The Broughton High pupil (and product of the capital’s Strange Town young actors stable) is currently appearing in the West End’s The Enfield Haunting, alongside Catherine Tate and David Threlfall. (RC)

52. Chef The Rapper 

Aberdeen-based chef-turned-rapper Ola Akisanya continued to support and advocate for the grassroots music scene via his Cooked With Chef artist consultancy, won plaudits for his own music as a BBC Introducing Scottish Act Of The Year nominee, and collaborated with fellow Aberdonian AiiTee on the In My Element: Water EP. (FS)

51. Simon Murphy 

Murphy’s Govanhill exhibition of photographs brought into focus the people in one of Glasgow’s liveliest neighbourhoods. The photographer captured some of the community’s unique individuals with a sense of empathy and trust. A book from the exhibition encapsulates the full power of those pictured. (NC)

50. Becky Sikasa 

Scottish soul vocalist Sikasa made waves home and away, launching her debut EP Twelve Wooden Boxes in Glasgow and Cologne, selling out a London debut, and showcasing her wares at The Great Escape and Wide Days conventions. She sealed a breakthrough year with a slot on the SAY Award shortlist. (FS)

49. Rachel Walker & Aaron Jones 

Walker consolidated her role as one of Gaeldom’s best-loved singer-songwriters this year, working with singer and multi-instrumentalist Jones to bring their spellbinding album Despite The Wind And Rain to audiences. With songs penned in English and Gaelic, the album weaved the unsung stories of Scottish women into a rich musical tapestry. (MMT)

48. Gail Porter 

This TV presenter turned freelance good samaritan spent her year working for charities tackling loneliness, homelessness, mental health and animal welfare (plus the actual Samaritans too). 2023 involved a fundraising abseil and Porter’s first ever stand-up show, Hung, Drawn And Portered, which gained strong reviews at the Edinburgh Fringe and goes on a UK tour in 2024. (CSa)

47. Andrew Marshall 

Marshall co-founded the hugely popular Edinburgh Street Food, which champions local, independent businesses and breweries in a vast, vibrant space in the city’s Omni Centre. ESF partners with mental-health charities; in a former role, Marshall and the team at Carlowrie Castle set up Edinburgh homeless charity, The Breakfast Bothy. (SP)

46. Danielle Jam

This Glasgow-based Aberdonian will no doubt be a familiar face to theatre lovers across the land. Most recently praised for her portrayal of Mina in National Theatre Of Scotland’s Dracula: Mina’s Reckoning, Jam also conjured up a nomination for Best Magical Being in the UK Pantomime Awards 2023 after her hometown performance in Peter Pan at His Majesty’s Theatre. (RC)

45. Frankie Elyse 

Elyse’s face has deservedly been everywhere this year, whether it’s hyping up TRNSMT crowds with a bouncy DJ set, meshing techno and violin with Kintra at Riverside, or heading up Glasgow’s women-led Polka Dot Disco Club. We’re even seeing her on BBC Scotland as The Edit’s newly minted entertainment reporter. (BI)

44. Hanna Tuulikki 

The British-Finnish multi-disciplinary artist devised and performed a new musical composition (titled ‘the bird that never flew’) at Glasgow Cathedral. Commissioned by Historic Environment Scotland with Arts & Heritage, Tuulikki explored the venue’s ornithological connections and sought to ‘raise the alarm for critically endangered birds’. (RA)

43. Audrey Gillan 

In her deeply affecting podcast Bible John: Creation Of A Serial Killer, Gillan shifted the focus away from that bogeyman who terrorised Glasgow in the 1960s, and firmly onto his female victims and their families, finally giving them a voice. As a result, police are now re-examining the unsolved case. (PM)

42. Bee Asha 

One of the most interesting creatives working in Scotland, Asha’s Spit It Out Festival (co-founded with Léa Luiz de Oliveira) cemented its reputation as a thoughtful and welcoming space to explore issues of consent and inclusion. Unabashedly horny single ‘Shy Guy’ also showed a playful side to her music. (KF)

41. Helen Nisbet 

Shetland-born curator Nisbet has been making waves in the Scottish art world since becoming director of Art Night in 2018. This summer’s iteration of the much-loved performance-art festival was her last, and her tenure was seen out in style in Dundee, with weird and wonderful happenings across Scotland’s sunniest city. (GT)

40. K Patrick 

Next year brings Patrick’s debut poetry collection, Three Births, but this year was all about Mrs S, their debut novel. Written in lockdown as a ‘horny lesbian’ story, the gloriously taut, thirsty romance explored non-binary identity, queer bodies and butch desire, and was an Observer best debut novel of 2023. (CSa)

39. May Sumbwanyambe

He’s been one to watch for some time but playwright Sumbwanyambe came into his own with Enough Of Him at Pitlochry Festival Theatre, a knotty drama about the dynamics of slavery and emancipation based on the true story of Joseph Knight. It duly triumphed at the CATS and UK Theatre Awards. (MF)

38. Rab Florence

Florence’s latest live show Biscuity Boyle: Live Sex Comedy may not have visited the Edinburgh Fringe, but it was still the most subversive, filthy and ingenious character-comedy stand-up we saw all year. Who would have thought that a decade-old character from Burnistoun could deliver such an effective (and weirdly hilarious) teardown of the modern world? (KF)

37. Susie McCabe 

After a Scottish tour, McCabe smashed the Fringe this year with her show, Femme Fatality, receiving nothing but four and five-star reviews. Delving into personal material on gender and sexuality, the Glaswegian stand-up nevertheless retained a light touch, consolidating her status as one of the nation's most admired headliners. (JR)

36. Marge Hendrick 

Scottish Ballet principal Hendrick dazzled us not once but twice this year. First with her heartbreaking portrayal of Blanche DuBois in the company’s revival of A Streetcar Named Desire, then later in Twice-Born, Dickson Mbi’s five-star triumph set in an unnamed land of mystical rituals and social upheaval. (LR)

35. Neil Forsyth 

The final part of Forsyth’s TV trilogy Guilt put a full stop on his tale of two brothers in epic style. He also penned The Gold, a brilliant six-part drama inspired by the 1983 Brink’s-Mat robbery, marrying that decade’s free marketeering to working-class aspiration in a trail of dirty money. (NC)

34. Ian Stirling & Paddy Fletcher 

Bringing single malt whisky back to Leith in a big way, Stirling and Fletcher defied expectation and physics with the construction of Port Of Leith Distillery. Claiming a status as the UK’s first vertical whisky distillery, it makes the most of its small footprint in an urban dockside locale. (SP)

33. Mark Cousins 

Fresh from winning the 2023 Heart Of Sarajevo Award for his services to cinema, Cousins launched his latest appreciation of Hollywood. His documentary My Name Is Alfred Hitchcock offered up a spry valentine to the director, after Cousins spent his lockdown period watching all of Hitch’s films in chronological order. (EH)

32. Joseph Malik 

Malik’s heroic musical renaissance has been a thing of wonder. After several years absence, the Edinburgh singer/composer/producer returned to become a favourite on The Craig Charles Funk And Soul Show. With Proxima Ebony, the latest of five albums in five years, Malik has truly found his time. (NC)

31. Simone Seales 

Glasgow-based cellist Seales has been making waves on the Scottish classical music scene. As well as performing internationally, this year they also released their debut album I Believe In Living, a lyrical and punchy response to Assata Shakur’s poem ‘Affirmation’ which is full of surprise and revelation. (LR)

30. Tinashe Warikandwa

Starring with writer Apphia Campbell in Through The Mud, Warikandwa captured the struggles of a young woman engaging with a bitter history, present anxieties and intergenerational trauma. Alongside performances in the imaginative musical A Mother’s Song and The Steamie, Warikandwa is an actor who shines as youthful, determined and passionate characters. (GKV)

29. Fred Deakin 

Deakin delivered a very personal rewind on his past in Club Life, a smash hit autobiographical excavation of the uniquely styled Edinburgh club nights which this designer, DJ and one half of Lemon Jelly ran in the late 80s and early 90s. More big nights out may follow. (NC)

28. Tomás Gormley & Sam Yorke

Apart from bringing a new Michelin star to Edinburgh for Heron, Gormley and Yorke gave something back to their industry. Skua was pitched as a place for hospitality workers to kick back after long shifts, though its welcoming attitude means the restaurant is popular with all of Edinburgh’s night owls. The pair co-founded Skua and Michelin-starred Heron, and have now separated to run the sites independently, with Gormley at the helm of Skua and Yorke leading Heron. (SP) 

27. Hazel Johnson

Johnson spent the first outing of her tenure as incoming director of Edinburgh’s Hidden Door festival transforming the former Scottish Widows building into an expansive hive of artistic activity. Leading a tireless team of volunteers, Johnson aims to open up even more of the city’s hitherto unexplored spaces. (NC)

26. Tony Curran

Curran has long been a top-rate actor but in the two-part drama Mayflies, he displayed and took audiences through a panoply of emotions. Based on Andrew O’Hagan’s novel, Curran brilliantly played Tully, a former teenage rebel who, as a ‘sensible’ adult, has a major decision to make about his own bleak future. He also cropped up in Disney+’s MCU affair, Secret Invasion. (BD)

25. Imogen Evans

This 24-year-old Edinburgh-raised designer has already had her eccentric creations donned by A-list celebs from Madonna to Doja Cat and Anderson .Paak. New launches and collaborations with international brands such as Depop have been keeping the Imi Studios brand booked and busy. (MM)

24. Gary McNair 

A hugely productive year for McNair included researching, writing and performing in a tribute to the Big Yin with Dear Billy, and putting a distinctly Scottish spin on a Dickens classic with Nae Expectations. Upcoming in the New Year, he revisits his own fresh take on Jekyll And Hyde. (BD)

23. Hannah Lavery 

Edinburgh Makar Lavery offers a poignant and powerful voice of dissent through theatre and poetry. Her latest script Protest (a collaboration with National Theatre Of Scotland, Imaginate and Fuel) articulates her distinctive blend of personal and political, a reminder of theatre’s capacity to bring nuance to cultural conflicts. (GKV)

22. Liam Shortall 

As the bandleader of Glasgow jazz collective corto.alto, this multi-hyphenate took to the stage at Glastonbury and a sold-out headline show at Glasgow’s QMU. But it was the launch of his debut album Bad With Names that made the year unforgettable for Shortall. (MM)

21. Johnny McKnight 

The most extravagant dame in the pantosphere finishes the year as the Macrobert’s Widow McTwank. That’s after directing Nat McCleary’s Thrown for NTS and taking writing credits on two musicals, No Love Songs and Meet Me At The Knob, plus a handful of River City episodes. (MF) 

20. Sadiq Ali & David Banks 

Circus artist Ali and former MMA fighter Banks won our admiration for Stuntman, their no-punches-pulled exploration of masculinity and one of our highlights at this year’s Fringe. The breathtakingly candid piece turned its lens on violence in both action movies and real life. (LR)

19. Eilidh Loan 

The Renfrewshire actor was a witch in the RSC’s Macbeth, and as understudy enjoyed several turns as Lady Macbeth. As writer/director, she oversaw the National Theatre Of Scotland revival of Moorcroft and filmed her debut short, Soul. On screen, she appears in acclaimed movie How To Have Sex and the upcoming series of Doctor Who. (MF)

18. Duncan Dornan 

After a six-year multi-million-pound refurb, the spectacular Burrell Collection finally reopened its doors in 2022 and was justly rewarded this year when Glasgow’s museums head Dornan picked up the largest prize of its kind in the world: the £120,000 award for Art Fund Museum Of The Year. (PM)

17. Janey Godley 

Despite terminal cancer, Godley produced some career-best comedy this year. Billed as her final stand-up tour, Not Dead Yet drew deep from her well of memorable anecdotes, while Radio 4 series, Janey Godley: The C Bomb, was dark but life-affirming. Next year, the tour resumes and she stars in feature-length documentary, Janey. (JR)

16. Rachel Maclean 

Maclean’s sugar-coated nightmare world has been touring Scotland, with a series of fake shops (walk-in artworks where nothing is for sale) popping up across regional town centres over the last 18 months. Known for her acid-trip spins on pop imagery, the artist’s new venture comments on consumerism and bullshit self-help culture. (GT)

15. Paul Laverty 

Screenwriter Laverty’s run of successful collaborations with Ken Loach came to an end as the veteran director retired with The Old Oak. This drama about Syrian refugees affecting life in a mining-community pub demonstrates Laverty’s gift for creating relatable drama from today’s social issues, in his own upbeat, humanistic way. (EH)

14. Solène Weinachter

Weinachter is rapidly carving out her own niche in the world of dance theatre, with a surreal, satirical style. Alternating between wry and earnest, her exploration of death rituals, After All (presented at this year’s Fringe), was a laugh-out-loud yet strangely moving experience. (LR)

13. Brìghde Chaimbeul

Joining Caroline Polachek on stage in London to play her pipe solo on ‘Blood And Butter’ was just one small part of an epic year for Chaimbeul. She also had a sold-out show at The Glad Cafe and a SAY Award shortlist spot for her album Carry Them With Us. (MM)

12. Siobhan Mackenzie 

Mackenzie’s fashion designs feel like they have been ubiquitous across festival season this year: Pale Waves, Self Esteem and Greg James are all on her client list, so she must be doing something right. Mackenzie takes traditional kilt-making and subverts it with flashes of leopard print, sequins and intricate beading. (CSt)

11. Liam Withnail & Christoper Macarthur-Boyd

These two comedy scamps had a rare old time with their playful podcast Enjoy An Album, while also romping home laden down by plaudits for their solo Fringe affairs: Withnail for Chronic Boom and Macarthur-Boyd with Scary Times. (BD)

10. Khaleda Noon & Sara Elbashir 

If you saw Ezra Collective’s bandleader Femi Koleoso accept this year’s Mercury Prize and dedicated it to the South London youth club that fused the group together, you may begin to understand the importance of an organisation like Intercultural Youth Scotland. Represented here by CEO Khaleda Noon and Creative Lead Sara Elbashir, IYS advise the Scottish Government on anti-racism education, provide safe spaces for BPOC youth to socialise and access mental-health support, and give young people a much-needed place to explore their creativity. (MM)

Read our full feature on Intercultural Youth Scotland.

9. Kieran Hodgson

Kieran Hodgson bookended a successful 12 months with the scurrilous Prince Andrew: The Musical on Channel 4, an all-singing, all-dancing portrayal of the Duke Of York sweating (or not) his association with Jeffrey Epstein, and the seventh series of Two Doors Down, BBC One’s hit Glasgow comedy in which he plays highly strung Gordon. In between, his Fringe show Big In Scotland, the only slightly embellished account of how this proud Yorkshireman conquered Caledonia (or at least came to call it home), garnered him his fourth Edinburgh Comedy Award nomination. (JR) 

Read our full interview with Kieran Hodgson.

8. Paolo Nutini 

Having returned from his eight-year musical hiatus in sensational style last summer with the triumphant Last Night In The Bittersweet, Paolo Nutini has treated 2023 like one elongated victory lap. After making it to the SAY Award shortlist, the Paisley native has made good use of his solid collection of new tracks, leaving no stone unturned as he traipsed the Bittersweet experience across the US, Canada, Europe and Britain. (DM)

Read our full feature on Paolo Nutini.

7. Sekai Machache 

This autumn, Zimbabwean-Scottish artist and curator Sekai Machache took over Mount Stuart on the Isle Of Bute. It had been over two years since Machache meticulously pitched every detail of her desired exhibition at the historic home, which curates a lively and innovative visual arts programme. Emerging from an intensely productive period of creativity during lockdown, the artist devised Svikiro. An utterly immersive expanded cinema experience, Svikiro featured seven films specifically designed for seven imposing rooms in Mount Stuart. In some shape or form, Svikiro will live on at the Venice Biennale in 2024, where Machache will be representing Zimbabwe. (RA)

Read our full interview with Sekai Machache.

6. Jenny Niven 

This is the second time Jenny Niven has made it into the Hot 100, and she’s feeling rather sheepish. When we speak on the phone, she’s in the middle of a programming meeting with her Edinburgh International Book Festival colleagues. They have been gently teasing her about this accolade, a sign of the collegial office where she recently took the lead. ‘A book festival specifically suits me because they are so collaborative,’ she says. ‘They’re this brilliant showcase for Scottish writers and creatives generally. I’m delighted to be at the centre of that.’

Read our full interview with Jenny Niven.

5. Adura Onashile 

There’s a telling scene in Adura Onashile’s debut feature Girl, in which mother Grace (Déborah Lukumuena) shares a bathtub with her daughter Ama (Le’Shantey Bonsu). Her child wants to graduate from soaping her armpits to using a fragrant deodorant, but her mother is keen for her to remain a child, an understandably protective attitude since Grace had precious little girlhood herself, giving birth to Ama at just 14. (EH) 

Read our full feature on Adura Onashile.

4. Martin MacInnes 

2024 will mark the 30th anniversary of James Kelman being the first Scot to scoop a Booker. It took another 26 years for literature’s most vaunted prize to reach Caledonia with Douglas Stuart picking up the award for his debut Shuggie Bain. This year, Martin MacInnes took a firm stride in his career (sales and publicity-wise) by being longlisted with his third publication, In Ascension. But he perhaps shares less in common with those gritty, social-realist authors and more with a fellow Invernesian, Ali Smith, who has made the shortlist on four occasions with a highly ambitious and innovative set of books. (BD)

Read our full feature on Martin MacInnes.

3. Marjolein Robertson 

Having begun performing comedy in Amsterdam nearly a decade ago and subsequently emerging on the Scottish scene, Marjolein Robertson has blended nakedly personal stand-up with the folk storytelling rhythms and imagery of her Shetland roots, the two traditions blurred at the edges by her more surreal inclinations. 

Read our full feature on Marjolein Robertson.

2. Fern Brady 

Why are Scottish comedians so good at writing memoirs? Is it the constant dreich weather? The need to rebuff crap jokes about deep-fried Mars Bars, and fruit and veg deficiencies? The years of repression that, like a 3am heart-to-heart in a nightclub, spill onto the page in a torrent of openness and relief? Whatever the answer, Fern Brady’s Strong Female Character sits alongside Limmy’s Surprisingly Down To Earth, And Very Funny in the proud niche of Scottish comedians writing brutal and frank works on the importance of understanding the minds of others.

Read our full feature on Fern Brady.

1. Young Fathers

Young Fathers have already enjoyed many peaks throughout their 15-year career; from winning a Mercury Prize for their debut album Dead (they reached number four on our Hot 100 that year) to being the only band to win the SAY Award twice when they were victorious with Cocoa Sugar in 2018. But despite all of those accolades, 2023 could easily be considered the Edinburgh trio’s most seismic year yet. The release of their fourth studio album Heavy Heavy in February landed them multiple covers (ours included), and a flurry of four and five-star reviews from titles spanning the NME, Financial Times, The Scotsman and, unsurprisingly, The List. For the first time in their career, they entered the top ten UK album charts and reached number two in Scotland while bowling critics over with their rousing live shows. All in all, it was a comeback of epic proportions. But what does one third of the band, Kayus Bankole, make of it now he’s had some time to reflect? (MM)

Read our full interview with Kayus Bankole from Young Fathers.