Aug 22 2010
New BBC Series About The 2,000-year story of Scotland
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Times Online tells us: On Sunday BBC Scotland’s biggest, most expensive venture begins – the landmark, multimedia series Scotland’s History. For £2million plus – the price of but a few jokes from Jonathan Ross – the ten-part, two-year initiative sweeps 2,000 years of history, bringing a fresh perspective to what we think we all know.
The series, which starts on BBC One Scotland with a network screening on BBC2 to follow, is being co-produced with the Open University and is linked with radio, the internet, an interactive game, audio walks, concerts and events going through to late next year. |
Pic: Iguana Jo
“We are going into areas even a lot of historians don’t know,” he said. “It’s history with a small ‘h’. You can’t have THE history of Scotland, it’s A history and we think it’s the best.” said presenter Neil Oliver
His approach, he says, is as a storyteller. “I’m an archaeologist and I’ve come across a lot of history but I’ve never had a lecturing style. It’s more, ‘I’ve heard something fascinating and let me tell you about it’. That’s the way I talk. And if I sound excited about something, it’s because I just found out myself.”
To illustrate that sense of changed perspective, he described how the crew went to Finlaggan, on Islay, to film the story of the head-to-head rivalry between the MacDonalds and the Stuarts. “You talk to people, you talk to Gaelic speakers, you do realise there’s another country up there that’s the other half of Scotland.”
Oliver said that he wanted to dispel the myths that have “cursed” Scotland’s past and uncover the real characters and events that have shaped its history.
“The series begins with the birth of Scotland, a birth that was far from inevitable. For centuries, our mountains and lochs were home to a patchwork of disparate peoples. So how was it that this loose confederation of tribes in the northern third of Britain, came together to create a kingdom with its own culture and identity?
“Scotland is my country. The story of this place – and the people who’ve lived here during the last 10,000 years or so – means more to me than any other. For as long as I can remember I’ve wanted to understand more about how we got to where we are today.”
The Series starts on Sunday 9th November, 9pm BBC 1 Scotland. The series can also be downloaded via the BBC iPlayer on Monday 10th November. (only available to the UK and Ireland)
Originally posted 2008-11-06 10:29:22. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
