What are you looking at? Historian spoiling for fight over new TV series

Published on Thursday 22 October 2009 22:15

THE historian and archeologist behind a controversial BBC series charting the evolution of the Scottish nation said yesterday he fully expects some academics to "take up the cudgels" when it returns next month.

Neil Oliver, who presents A History of Scotland, said that the makers of the programmes set out to provoke debate as well as "excite" people.

The series aims to follow the progress of Scotland from the 17th century to the present day, and new episodes are due to air next month.

At a preview screening yesterday, Donalda MacKinnon, head of programmes at BBC Scotland, said the programme was "one of the most important series BBC Scotland has ever made, and probably one of the most iconic".

Ms MacKinnon said she had been taken aback by the "dearth of material" on the genesis of her homeland while teaching Scottish history, and expressed hope that the series would leave a "really important legacy for future generations".

First transmitted last year, the first five parts of A History of Scotland proved popular with viewers. However, eminent Scottish historians criticised the series, with Professor Allan Macinnes of the University of Strathclyde claiming a provisional script was "written on the basis as if Scotland was a divided country until the Union came along and civilised it".

Professor Tom Devine also questioned the "old-fashioned" approach to Scottish history.

However, Oliver said the programme makers had not sought to assuage their critics. He said: "We were never trying to make a series that would educate academics, especially those people specialising in Scottish history.

"The series is a primer to inspire people about the country's history, to excite them and help them learn. Parts of the academic community took up the cudgels, and I fully expect they will again with the new programmes. But that is something we wanted to do, provoke debate."

Oliver promised that certain issues, such as an episode looking at the Battle of Culloden, would be "revelatory".

He added: "Painting it as Scotland versus England is to diminish what happened. It was a pan-European civil war."

One future episode looks at the National Covenant of Scotland and its influence on the American Declaration of Independence. It is claimed the declaration's "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" may have been penned by John Witherspoon, a minister from Paisley.

Oliver is, nevertheless, mindful that Scotland still has some way to go. In a book to accompany the series, published this week, he writes: "Scotland still awaits the rise of enough homegrown, entrepreneurial businesses and industries to free her people from the enervating burden of reliance upon help from beyond her borders."

Four hundred years of religion and revolutions in just under five hours

THE five new hour-long episodes of A History of Scotland cover the nation's development from the 1600s to the modern day.

&#149 GOD'S CHOSEN PEOPLE: The episode looks at the Scottish Covenanters, and how they redefined their own place in Britain, and Britain itself. The programme claims they sparked the revolution that struck off the head of Charles I and ultimately led to Cromwell's conquest of Scotland to defeat the Stewarts.

&#149 LET'S PRETEND: Covering the time from the wake of the 1688 revolution that brought William of Orange to power, through to Culloden, the episode looks at the Darien project and the 1707 Union of Parliaments.

&#149 THE PRICE OF PROGRESS: Focusing on the years between 1754 and 1783, the programme looks at the riches Scotland made from transatlantic trade, but questions the moral cost. The episode also claims that the phrase from the American Declaration of Independence, "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness", was coined by John Witherspoon, a minister originally from Paisley. It also relates the story of Joseph Knight, a slave brought to Scotland from Jamaica, who challenged – and defeated – his owner in court.

&#149 THIS LAND IS OUR LAND: The episode examines the conflicts between those who owned Scotland and those who lived in it during the 19th century. It focuses on Sir Walter Scott, and the way his romantic image of Scotland emanated from his fear that revolutionaries in industrial towns would sweep away everything distinctively Scottish.

&#149 PROJECT SCOTLAND: Examining how Scotland went from a pre-war industrial powerhouse to post-war marginalisation in the space of a generation, the episode will look at the mass exodus of Scots in the 1920s and 1930s. It goes on to revisit the work carried out by the Scottish Office in the 1950s and 1960s to reinvigorate the nation, followed by the impact of Lady Thatcher and the path to devolution.