Letter: Cultural deficit

WE ARE writing in criticism of the BBC’s Hogmanay show. While the performers were excellent, it seemed to lack a production team who understand the broad sweep of culture that is Scotland.

We were offered a music concert that lacked the variety to celebrate Scotland. Where was the spoken word, the poetry, the humour, the prose, the theatre and the dance? Where were the traditional anthems sung in a traditional manner.

There are a multitude of performers capable of presenting songs such as The Dark Island, or My Love is like a Red, Red, Rose.

Someone clearly thought, “oh, we’d better do Auld Lang Syne”; not a highlight. We were offered some waltzes, but nobody danced. We were offered a singalong, but nobody sang.

Where also were the reflections on the past year and the thoughts for the way ahead?

We rightly marked the loss of Gerry Rafferty but what of the other folk of the cultural community who died last year?

One cannot make an international programme worthy of Scotland simply by knocking together some songs and continually referring to e-mails received. Fashionable? State of the art? No, simply a boring event, nothing of which sticks in the mind other than its mediocrity.

Cathie & Jack Jenkins

Priory Crescent

Beauly

Inverness-shire