0:00:00 > 0:00:04We first got television in Scotland in 1952. 1952!
0:00:04 > 0:00:07That's the year the Queen became, well, Queen,
0:00:07 > 0:00:10Prime Minister Winston Churchill scrapped identity cards,
0:00:10 > 0:00:14the first ever passenger jet flew across the Atlantic
0:00:14 > 0:00:17and Hibs beat Manchester United 7-3.
0:00:17 > 0:00:207-3? It really was another era.
0:00:32 > 0:00:33Swashbuckling!
0:00:33 > 0:00:36The sound of swords clashing, hooves galloping,
0:00:36 > 0:00:37of bodices ripping.
0:00:37 > 0:00:39The action heroes,
0:00:39 > 0:00:42the bloody battles for Queen and King and country.
0:00:42 > 0:00:45Aye, the epic period drama was one of Scotland's proudest
0:00:45 > 0:00:47television moments.
0:00:47 > 0:00:50It fair gets the heart racing.
0:00:50 > 0:00:52Hey, ya!
0:00:53 > 0:00:54Forward!
0:00:59 > 0:01:00Come on, Buttercup.
0:01:04 > 0:01:07The inspiration for the Scottish swashbuckler were the Hollywood
0:01:07 > 0:01:12films of the '20s, '30s and '40s - Robin Hood, Ivanhoe,
0:01:12 > 0:01:16the Scarlet Pimpernel, Zorro and The Three Musketeers, starring
0:01:16 > 0:01:21classic Hollywood heartthrobs like Douglas Fairbanks and Errol Flynn.
0:01:21 > 0:01:24Then TV makers in the '50s from Scotland decided
0:01:24 > 0:01:27they wanted in on the act.
0:01:27 > 0:01:28WHINNIES
0:01:28 > 0:01:29Nice.
0:01:29 > 0:01:32They might not have had big Hollywood budgets,
0:01:32 > 0:01:35but they had ambition and claymores aplenty.
0:01:37 > 0:01:40At the heart of these dramas are the riotous, rebellious
0:01:40 > 0:01:44stories of Scotland's past, and it made for some great action telly.
0:01:44 > 0:01:47Look at this title sequence from 1976 - it's got everything -
0:01:47 > 0:01:51costumes, wigs, dangerous horses, authentic Scottish landscapes
0:01:51 > 0:01:53and deft swordsmanship.
0:01:55 > 0:01:58Programme makers had an incredible resource at their disposal,
0:01:58 > 0:02:02just waiting to be turned into epic television - the novels
0:02:02 > 0:02:05of Robert Louis Stevenson and Sir Walter Scott.
0:02:05 > 0:02:09Stevenson had a cinematic style before film was even invented.
0:02:09 > 0:02:12Just think of Jekyll And Hyde and Treasure Island.
0:02:12 > 0:02:14Here's two of Stevenson's greatest heroes -
0:02:14 > 0:02:17Alan Breck and David Balfour from Kidnapped.
0:02:17 > 0:02:20Run, lads, run!
0:02:24 > 0:02:27Kidnapped is the tale of a young man who, while trying to
0:02:27 > 0:02:30claim his inheritance, is abducted and set on a boat for Jamaica.
0:02:30 > 0:02:34He's then rescued by a swarthy, handsome Jacobite only to find
0:02:34 > 0:02:37himself mixed up in murder charges and hounded across Scotland by
0:02:37 > 0:02:39the redcoats,
0:02:39 > 0:02:43taking refuge in a wide variety of hand-painted studio sets.
0:02:43 > 0:02:46The troop is collecting, they're building a fire.
0:02:46 > 0:02:49I reckon they're going to camp for the night.
0:02:49 > 0:02:52Well, then the danger's passed. Can we not go down and sleep?
0:02:52 > 0:02:53There'll be no sleep the night.
0:02:53 > 0:02:57When day comes, it shall find you and me in a safe place on Ben Alder.
0:02:57 > 0:02:59Alan, it's not the want or will, it's the strength.
0:02:59 > 0:03:02And who's playing the bawdy Jacobite rebel, Alan Breck?
0:03:02 > 0:03:06None other than the second Doctor Who, Patrick Troughton.
0:03:08 > 0:03:10A great, passionate performance,
0:03:10 > 0:03:13and he tried hard with his Scots accent, and even with the Gaelic.
0:03:13 > 0:03:17HE SPEAKS GAELIC
0:03:17 > 0:03:22"Lift your dirk," he says or maybe it's kilt.
0:03:22 > 0:03:27Stevenson's Kidnapped is perfect mixture of different types of stories. It's a coming of age tale,
0:03:27 > 0:03:29and it's a buddy story. It's also a romance.
0:03:29 > 0:03:32Alan Breck is a compelling character.
0:03:32 > 0:03:35Although he's a Jacobite rebel, he's full of flaws and vanity -
0:03:35 > 0:03:40a ladies man, a gambler, a boaster and foolhardy.
0:03:42 > 0:03:46Breck's charisma has proven attractive to other famous male leads,
0:03:46 > 0:03:49including The Man From Uncle, Scots-born David McCallum,
0:03:49 > 0:03:50playing Breck in 1979.
0:03:50 > 0:03:53Your Highness, Stewart implores you to order the charge.
0:03:53 > 0:03:55They're cutting us to pieces.
0:03:55 > 0:03:57Here he's arguing with Bonnie Prince Charlie,
0:03:57 > 0:04:01played by none other than regular panto dame Christopher Biggins.
0:04:01 > 0:04:03More military tactics to oblige him.
0:04:03 > 0:04:06We cannae hold the clan chiefs much longer.
0:04:06 > 0:04:07Oh, yes, we can!
0:04:08 > 0:04:11Clan Hatton are moving forward.
0:04:11 > 0:04:13Damn Prince Charlie's orders.
0:04:16 > 0:04:20Claymore!
0:04:22 > 0:04:24Other international stars
0:04:24 > 0:04:28and heartthrobs have also played the rebellious but vain Alan Breck.
0:04:28 > 0:04:32In 2005, the BBC did a big-budget version
0:04:32 > 0:04:36and the star was Game of Thrones hero, Iain Glen.
0:04:36 > 0:04:37Come to my arms, Davie.
0:04:42 > 0:04:44I love you like a brother.
0:04:44 > 0:04:47'He was a great Scottish hero, you know,'
0:04:47 > 0:04:52but had this wonderful duality of being, erm,
0:04:52 > 0:04:54comedic and tragic at the same time.
0:04:54 > 0:04:59His motives for everything he did were profound and deeply felt.
0:04:59 > 0:05:02Come on, Davie, you had no choice.
0:05:02 > 0:05:06'I think he is this irresistible force of nature. He's very,
0:05:06 > 0:05:08'very difficult to refuse and, I don't know,
0:05:08 > 0:05:12'He's one of these people, you meet them in life.'
0:05:12 > 0:05:15They are richer in personality than the rest of us.
0:05:15 > 0:05:18- Come on.- I can't run any more.
0:05:18 > 0:05:21Oh, we're just warming up, lad.
0:05:31 > 0:05:34Believe it or not, this epic Scottish swashbuckling drama
0:05:34 > 0:05:36was actually shot in New Zealand.
0:05:36 > 0:05:40Why? Apparently it's got something to do with these.
0:05:43 > 0:05:46There was a little bit of a dispute at the time
0:05:46 > 0:05:49because it was not shot in Scotland, but for my money I think wrongly.
0:05:51 > 0:05:53And the reason it was shot in New Zealand -
0:05:53 > 0:05:56and ideally it would have been filmed in Scotland
0:05:56 > 0:06:00and that's where initially the producers wanted it to shoot but
0:06:00 > 0:06:01when they offered me the role,
0:06:01 > 0:06:04they had already got to the point where they realised
0:06:04 > 0:06:08that to make the programme that they wanted to make, they would
0:06:08 > 0:06:13have much more production value, sadly, by shooting it in New Zealand.
0:06:13 > 0:06:15'For me, New Zealand is Scotland in Technicolor.
0:06:15 > 0:06:18'Everything's slightly bigger and slightly brighter.
0:06:18 > 0:06:20'I think when you watch it,'
0:06:20 > 0:06:25if you know Scotland, I think you can tell it's not Scotland.
0:06:25 > 0:06:28Davie,
0:06:28 > 0:06:32I'm sorry about all the troubles you've been through.
0:06:32 > 0:06:34Truly, I am.
0:06:36 > 0:06:39But at least you had a chance to see this.
0:06:39 > 0:06:42'New Zealand's a lot more rich and vibrant.
0:06:42 > 0:06:45'It made total sense to film there because it's so easy
0:06:45 > 0:06:49'to get to the hills in New Zealand and look out and just see
0:06:49 > 0:06:52'nothing at all. Just mountain after mountain after mountain.
0:06:52 > 0:06:57'Not a single telegraph pole or road or house or anything like that.'
0:06:59 > 0:07:04Another controversial adaptation of Stevenson was Weir Of Hermiston.
0:07:04 > 0:07:06Although some consider it his masterpiece,
0:07:06 > 0:07:09the novel was left unfinished at his sudden death in 1894.
0:07:09 > 0:07:12You'll have to tell me what the Elliots want with me.
0:07:12 > 0:07:16It's a tale of love, treachery and revenge.
0:07:16 > 0:07:18It's the Weaver's Cairn. Why have you brought me here?
0:07:18 > 0:07:21- They're bound to find us here. - No need to fear the Elliots now.
0:07:21 > 0:07:23'It is incredibly fraught scene.'
0:07:23 > 0:07:25The man has raped the woman I love.
0:07:25 > 0:07:29She's gone mad and committed suicide. I am having my revenge.
0:07:29 > 0:07:32I challenge him to a duel. He won't accept.
0:07:32 > 0:07:35I'll never fight with you, Archie.
0:07:35 > 0:07:37And certainly not over a rustic whore.
0:07:37 > 0:07:40Then I shall kill you.
0:07:40 > 0:07:41What?
0:07:41 > 0:07:46Because the milkmaid, the bitch, the rustic whore is dead.
0:07:49 > 0:07:53I kill him. I mean, it's an incredibly passionate situation.
0:07:53 > 0:07:57Although Archie shoots Innes in the book, the poor wench survives.
0:07:57 > 0:08:00Stevenson left notes for a happy ending with Archie escaping
0:08:00 > 0:08:03with his sweetheart whereas in the TV version he is sentenced to death.
0:08:03 > 0:08:06There's nothing more we can do to him.
0:08:06 > 0:08:08You'd best go home and leave this to me.
0:08:08 > 0:08:10- Home?- Aye, to Hermiston.
0:08:10 > 0:08:12'I'd no idea that Stevenson intended'
0:08:12 > 0:08:15a happy ending for Hermiston.
0:08:15 > 0:08:17You'd better be on your way.
0:08:17 > 0:08:21'I think it works much better with the tragic ending'
0:08:21 > 0:08:24because that's the way the novel's rolling.
0:08:24 > 0:08:27That seems, to me, the inevitable outcome and I think
0:08:27 > 0:08:31'had he written a happy ending, it would have come across as a copout.'
0:08:31 > 0:08:34The other classic author whose works were fashioned to make epic TV
0:08:34 > 0:08:36was Sir Walter Scott.
0:08:36 > 0:08:40The world's most famous writer at the time and the man behind Ivanhoe.
0:08:40 > 0:08:44Scott's novel Rob Roy was based on a real-life Scottish folk hero
0:08:44 > 0:08:46that many saw as our very own Robin Hood.
0:08:46 > 0:08:50It was adapted for television three times. Once by Disney.
0:08:50 > 0:08:53Come on, man, do I have to wear this stuff? I mean, seriously.
0:08:53 > 0:08:57This faithful adaptation from 1976 sees Rob Roy appearing
0:08:57 > 0:09:00only occasionally as a background character
0:09:00 > 0:09:05whose actions nonetheless shape the life of the hero.
0:09:05 > 0:09:08The story is a coming-of-age tale of a young Englishman
0:09:08 > 0:09:12drawn into a world of skulduggery, backstabbing, highwaymen
0:09:12 > 0:09:16and ultimately the Jacobite uprising of 1715.
0:09:18 > 0:09:21What's your name?
0:09:21 > 0:09:24- Why should I trust you? - Because you must.
0:09:24 > 0:09:27Look at the way they portray Rob Roy -
0:09:27 > 0:09:30lurking in the shadows to create a sense of foreboding and danger.
0:09:30 > 0:09:31For what reason?
0:09:32 > 0:09:35Or maybe they just ran out of camera lights.
0:09:35 > 0:09:37I'm in more danger here than you will ever be.
0:09:37 > 0:09:41This makes a stark contrast with the 1995 Hollywood movie of
0:09:41 > 0:09:44Rob Roy in which Rob, played by Liam Neeson,
0:09:44 > 0:09:46is in almost every shot.
0:09:46 > 0:09:48This is because the movie was based on the historical
0:09:48 > 0:09:52figure of Rob Roy, not the book by Sir Walter.
0:09:59 > 0:10:01- McGregor!- Set them free!
0:10:11 > 0:10:13The Walter Scott adaptation that rips my bodice
0:10:13 > 0:10:17and gets my blood pumping is a TV series about an entirely
0:10:17 > 0:10:20fictional third Jacobite rebellion.
0:10:20 > 0:10:26The fabulous, the incredible, the infamous Redgauntlet!
0:10:26 > 0:10:27Look above you.
0:10:27 > 0:10:28Redgauntlet is the story
0:10:28 > 0:10:31of one man's duty to his family and country.
0:10:31 > 0:10:35The head of the family wears a gauntlet. And it's red.
0:10:35 > 0:10:38When he dies, he passes it on to the next of kin to continue
0:10:38 > 0:10:41the struggle against the evil redcoats...
0:10:41 > 0:10:47And look to my children. There will now be no-one to protect them.
0:10:47 > 0:10:48Only you.
0:10:50 > 0:10:51The redgauntlet.
0:10:51 > 0:10:52HE MOUTHS
0:10:52 > 0:10:54Redgauntlet!
0:10:56 > 0:11:00Redgauntlet is nail-biting or maybe fist-biting stuff.
0:11:00 > 0:11:02When we look at it now though, what we see isn't
0:11:02 > 0:11:05so much the 18th century but 1970,
0:11:05 > 0:11:08with fast action,
0:11:08 > 0:11:10dead fish,
0:11:10 > 0:11:12gunfights,
0:11:12 > 0:11:14smouldering looks,
0:11:14 > 0:11:16stunning women with '60s hairdos
0:11:16 > 0:11:20and not only that, it's got some fine, fine acting.
0:11:25 > 0:11:27He went bravely, my lady.
0:11:27 > 0:11:30Aye, persuaded by his hothead brother.
0:11:34 > 0:11:37Aye, it's a tricky business getting the balance of history
0:11:37 > 0:11:39and of the contemporary exactly right.
0:11:39 > 0:11:42Once our scriptwriters had finished squeezing the juice
0:11:42 > 0:11:44out of Walter Scott and Louis Stevenson,
0:11:44 > 0:11:48they started making adaptations of books from the 20th century.
0:11:48 > 0:11:51Flight Of The Heron was a romantic historical novel
0:11:51 > 0:11:53written in 1925 by DK Broster.
0:11:53 > 0:11:57It was adapted into two TV series - one by STV in 1968
0:11:57 > 0:12:01and a completely different version by the BBC in 1976.
0:12:05 > 0:12:09Although this drama was set in the 18th century,
0:12:09 > 0:12:11the opening scene has elements of 1970s sexual liberation.
0:12:13 > 0:12:17It also includes some handy tips on the correct wearing of the plaid.
0:12:17 > 0:12:20This is definitely one for the ladies.
0:12:21 > 0:12:24Now, why are you lurking here like a beast of prey?
0:12:24 > 0:12:28Hold on, is that guy wearing a miniskirt?
0:12:28 > 0:12:31All the more reason to tell me quickly and hear my judgement.
0:12:31 > 0:12:32I want the truth, mind.
0:12:32 > 0:12:35'Swashbuckling Scottish hero. I did corner the market a bit in them'
0:12:35 > 0:12:39back in the '70s and it was delightful to do.
0:12:39 > 0:12:42'I enjoyed the physicality of it.
0:12:42 > 0:12:46'I enjoyed the, kind of, romanticism of it as well.
0:12:46 > 0:12:49'Well, great Roddy McMillan had a wonderful phrase.'
0:12:49 > 0:12:52He said, "I think this character's a wee bit off the ground."
0:12:52 > 0:12:58And the idea of it being off the ground, that kind of drama.
0:12:59 > 0:13:01SHOUTING
0:13:01 > 0:13:05On the author's death it was revealed the DK Broster was
0:13:05 > 0:13:06not only a woman but English.
0:13:06 > 0:13:09Lochiel has sent this to you. By a man on a horse.
0:13:09 > 0:13:11It'll be our contract.
0:13:11 > 0:13:14So, you don't even have to be Scottish to write a historical Scottish epic.
0:13:14 > 0:13:16Well, of course you don't.
0:13:16 > 0:13:19Even Queen Victoria herself played her part in romanticising Scotland.
0:13:19 > 0:13:21Bad news?
0:13:22 > 0:13:24No.
0:13:24 > 0:13:25It's great news.
0:13:26 > 0:13:30The Prince has landed at Borrowdale in Arisaig.
0:13:30 > 0:13:32Lochiel has asked me to go to Achnacarry at once.
0:13:32 > 0:13:37So, is the STV version from a decade earlier any more authentic?
0:13:37 > 0:13:40Great God, he's landed in Scotland!
0:13:40 > 0:13:43Calm down, man, you haven't won the Lotto.
0:13:43 > 0:13:44Where?
0:13:44 > 0:13:47At Borrowdale in Arisaig. Lochiel wants to see me at once.
0:13:47 > 0:13:48He has come at last.
0:13:48 > 0:13:52Everything in this version is slightly over the top -
0:13:52 > 0:13:55the acting, the accents, the costumes.
0:13:55 > 0:13:59When Scottishness is taken this seriously, you can't help
0:13:59 > 0:14:00but giggle just a little.
0:14:00 > 0:14:02..the support we've been promised.
0:14:02 > 0:14:04Lochiel's sword won't stay in the scabbard.
0:14:04 > 0:14:07Lochiel will do what is right and honourable.
0:14:07 > 0:14:09Nice tartan tights, by the way.
0:14:09 > 0:14:12Clan Cameron will ride.
0:14:12 > 0:14:13HE SPEAKS GAELIC
0:14:13 > 0:14:16Not a doubt of it.
0:14:16 > 0:14:19What about these strange behaviours?
0:14:19 > 0:14:22Well, in the novel, this scene was about the Jacobites trying to
0:14:22 > 0:14:25make a lot of noise to sound like a large, threatening army.
0:14:25 > 0:14:29But this is, well, it's just, well, a little odd.
0:14:37 > 0:14:39SHOUTING
0:14:41 > 0:14:42Though charming in parts,
0:14:42 > 0:14:45this large-scale series was seen as a failure.
0:14:45 > 0:14:48It was overambitious and shooting in black and white was seen
0:14:48 > 0:14:51as out of date for the sophisticated Technicolor audiences of 1968.
0:14:57 > 0:15:00The fashion for all things Jacobite was so great that once they'd
0:15:00 > 0:15:03used up all the classic romantic novels, scriptwriters had to
0:15:03 > 0:15:07come up with entirely new stories based on historical fact.
0:15:07 > 0:15:09Here's The Borderers written by Bill Craig.
0:15:09 > 0:15:12It ran from 1968 to 1970.
0:15:12 > 0:15:14It was called brave and original.
0:15:14 > 0:15:18A kind of north-eastern wild western.
0:15:24 > 0:15:26It's a gutsy, fast-paced tale
0:15:26 > 0:15:28of cattle rustlers and bloody
0:15:28 > 0:15:32feuds along the conflicted Scottish English border of the 16th century.
0:15:44 > 0:15:48Here, Michael Gambon as Gavin Ker finds his father hanged.
0:15:48 > 0:15:51'We must have though of it as being a bit of a Western,
0:15:51 > 0:15:54'the way we dress and ride horses.
0:15:54 > 0:15:57'I was taught to get off although I learnt after a
0:15:57 > 0:16:01'while to take both my feet out the stirrups like a cowboy
0:16:01 > 0:16:04'and throw my legs backwards and get straight off the horse.
0:16:04 > 0:16:08'So that was very American, isn't it? Cowboys.'
0:16:11 > 0:16:15'From the first day I got to Scotland to start rehearsing and shooting,
0:16:15 > 0:16:18'I had a grey horse called Winston'
0:16:18 > 0:16:20and he immediately fell in love
0:16:20 > 0:16:24with me, Winston, and I had him for the whole two series - two years.
0:16:25 > 0:16:28'I wanted to buy him from the farmer who owned him but he died,
0:16:28 > 0:16:29'unfortunately.'
0:16:29 > 0:16:33Not because of me, I don't think. But he went.
0:16:33 > 0:16:36Send word that I need more men.
0:16:36 > 0:16:39I'll burn their farms and kill their men.
0:16:39 > 0:16:43I'll leave blackened fields and empty byres.
0:16:43 > 0:16:46If it's bloodshed you are after, you won't have long to wait.
0:16:46 > 0:16:49'I remember Winston the horse's name, my horse,'
0:16:49 > 0:16:53more than I do anyone else in the whole series.
0:16:53 > 0:16:57The producer, the director,
0:16:57 > 0:17:00the BBC people.
0:17:00 > 0:17:03The horse was, to me, The Borderers.
0:17:03 > 0:17:04Terrible admission.
0:17:11 > 0:17:15One of our best Scottish period dramas was originally neither
0:17:15 > 0:17:18set in Scotland or written by or even about Scots.
0:17:18 > 0:17:23The Miser was a play by the great 17th century French writer Moliere.
0:17:23 > 0:17:27It was then reset for TV in mean, old Scotland.
0:17:27 > 0:17:30And who better to play the tragic, comic,
0:17:30 > 0:17:33penny-pinching old Scrooge than Rikki Fulton?
0:17:36 > 0:17:40I'll shut up what I like and stand sentinel as it suits me.
0:17:40 > 0:17:42Somehow, Scots dialect
0:17:42 > 0:17:46fits perfectly with this farcical tale of greed.
0:17:46 > 0:17:49My God, I hope he's no' suspicious aboot my silver.
0:17:49 > 0:17:52- Your father's treasure chest. - Aye?- I've nabbed it.
0:17:52 > 0:17:54Oh, michty me!
0:17:54 > 0:17:55Stop, thief!
0:17:55 > 0:18:00Murder, massacre, is there justice in heaven?
0:18:00 > 0:18:06I'm lost, I'm dead, they've cut my throat, they've taken away my silver.
0:18:06 > 0:18:07Who could it be?
0:18:08 > 0:18:10When it comes to rewriting history,
0:18:10 > 0:18:12the less known about the facts, the better.
0:18:12 > 0:18:14Then you can just make things up.
0:18:14 > 0:18:15So, Mary Queen of Scots
0:18:15 > 0:18:18and her third husband Bothwell were perfect material.
0:18:18 > 0:18:23I'm James Hepburn, Earl of Bothwell.
0:18:23 > 0:18:24Duke of Orkney.
0:18:24 > 0:18:28I'm Lord High Admiral of Scotland.
0:18:28 > 0:18:29I'm lawful husband of
0:18:29 > 0:18:33Mary Stewart Queen of France, England and Scotland...
0:18:33 > 0:18:38Brian Cox's Bothwell is a haggard, beaten, dark antihero
0:18:38 > 0:18:42consumed by regret and failure. His performance is outstanding.
0:18:42 > 0:18:44Apart from when he has to deal with a horse.
0:18:44 > 0:18:47'Well, I had several incidents in Bothwell, actually.
0:18:47 > 0:18:49'There was one where we filmed on this little promontory'
0:18:49 > 0:18:51where I rode up and there was my entourage
0:18:51 > 0:18:53and there was all these pennants flying
0:18:53 > 0:18:55'and horses and so on.
0:18:55 > 0:19:00'I had this horse called Papa John which was a vicious beast.'
0:19:00 > 0:19:04If any man here of common or nobility accuses me
0:19:04 > 0:19:08of secret or open treason, let him step forward and I'll give him
0:19:08 > 0:19:10single combat in that rightful cause
0:19:10 > 0:19:14and in the defence of my sovereign lady wife Mary Queen of Scotland.
0:19:14 > 0:19:17'It goes well and suddenly the wind changes.'
0:19:17 > 0:19:20And this pennant which has been flapping out here suddenly flaps
0:19:20 > 0:19:24round the horse's eyes like that and the horse goes bananas.
0:19:24 > 0:19:28It rears up and, as I say, we are on this promontory.
0:19:28 > 0:19:33So, the horse rears up and it turns that way,
0:19:33 > 0:19:35and it throws me
0:19:35 > 0:19:37off the promontory, on the ground here.
0:19:37 > 0:19:40So I'm lying flat on the ground looking up at this horse rearing up,
0:19:40 > 0:19:44but then the horse misses its foot and it falls.
0:19:44 > 0:19:47The cameraman goes that way, the soundman goes that way but I'm there.
0:19:47 > 0:19:51And the horse falls on top of me. And the whole thing just lands on me.
0:19:51 > 0:19:53I just sort of...
0:19:53 > 0:19:57And I'm embedded in the ground in full armour and it took them
0:19:57 > 0:19:59two hours to dig me out.
0:19:59 > 0:20:01I've still got the cut on my nose where I...
0:20:01 > 0:20:05Cos I'm like that and I thought I was dead.
0:20:05 > 0:20:08Cos I could see this animal fall on top of me. It was horrendous.
0:20:10 > 0:20:13Falling off a horse either accidentally or on purpose
0:20:13 > 0:20:16seems to be a recurring theme of the swashbuckler.
0:20:16 > 0:20:19Here's a few examples of historical significance.
0:20:19 > 0:20:20Hey!
0:20:32 > 0:20:35Whoa! Get that man a paracetamol.
0:20:36 > 0:20:38In fact, over the years, the swashbuckler developed
0:20:38 > 0:20:41quite a few ticks and quirks which were repeated
0:20:41 > 0:20:44from programme to programme until they became endearing trademarks.
0:20:44 > 0:20:48So you have the not entirely convincing sword fight.
0:20:52 > 0:20:53Watch out for that tree.
0:20:56 > 0:20:58And was this actually a rehearsal?
0:21:00 > 0:21:02Then there's the unusual, ever-changing accents.
0:21:02 > 0:21:06Sometimes English, sometimes Scottish, sometimes French.
0:21:06 > 0:21:09Sometimes Eng-Freng-gosh-lish-tish...
0:21:09 > 0:21:11You should have dried him off in the gibbet.
0:21:13 > 0:21:17Have you ever seen the like of this before?
0:21:17 > 0:21:19Then there's lots of porridge
0:21:19 > 0:21:21and dangerously high levels of salt.
0:21:25 > 0:21:29Grand, wholesome food, fine food is porridge.
0:21:29 > 0:21:31Then there's larger than life characters
0:21:31 > 0:21:34attacked by tiny, little model ships.
0:21:34 > 0:21:35There she is!
0:21:37 > 0:21:39CREAKING
0:21:39 > 0:21:41SHOUTING
0:21:41 > 0:21:47Then there were bad men with bad beards and bad teeth.
0:21:47 > 0:21:50And bad laughter.
0:21:50 > 0:21:52HE LAUGHS
0:21:54 > 0:21:57You know that when a genre starts repeating itself that it's
0:21:57 > 0:22:00coming to a close and after 30 thriving years
0:22:00 > 0:22:03of swashbuckling TV,
0:22:03 > 0:22:05the buckle stopped here.
0:22:05 > 0:22:09The swash...the...the swash was all washed... It ended.
0:22:09 > 0:22:12That's what I'm trying to say. It stopped.
0:22:15 > 0:22:19There is one surprising reason for this - most of the swashbuckling
0:22:19 > 0:22:22output from the BBC had one man behind it -
0:22:22 > 0:22:24producer Pharic MacLaren.
0:22:24 > 0:22:27Pharic was a TV genius who struggled with partial paralysis
0:22:27 > 0:22:29throughout his long career.
0:22:29 > 0:22:33He produced more than half of all drama for BBC Scotland up
0:22:33 > 0:22:35until his death in 1980.
0:22:35 > 0:22:38- What's the plan? - That depends on the man.
0:22:40 > 0:22:45These include The Miser, Rob Roy, Sunset Song, The New Road,
0:22:45 > 0:22:49Doom Castle, The Haggard Road and Flight Of The Heron.
0:22:49 > 0:22:52Not with a charge of small shot.
0:22:52 > 0:22:54His passing marked the end of era for television.
0:22:54 > 0:22:59And what the devil's this? Oh, aye, he's another of you.
0:22:59 > 0:23:02He threw his absolute energy, enthusiasm
0:23:02 > 0:23:06and joy into being...
0:23:06 > 0:23:09working here in Scotland and we all
0:23:09 > 0:23:14remember him with tremendous affection and a great respect.
0:23:14 > 0:23:16He was a very handsome man. He had white hair and he was
0:23:16 > 0:23:20a real Highlander, you know, he had that kind of Highland sensibility.
0:23:20 > 0:23:22And he was a great one for going on location.
0:23:22 > 0:23:25You know, famous stories of Pharic filming and deciding,
0:23:25 > 0:23:27"I'm going to shoot up there."
0:23:27 > 0:23:29And it would be a cliff top, you know.
0:23:29 > 0:23:33Then they would literally pull him up in his wheelchair and put him
0:23:33 > 0:23:35up there and he would shoot the scene
0:23:35 > 0:23:38and he had that kind of audaciousness about him.
0:23:38 > 0:23:41He was a very charismatic figure.
0:23:41 > 0:23:46When we see the fabric of our national unity rent
0:23:46 > 0:23:48and torn by divisions...
0:23:48 > 0:23:49Before MacLaren died,
0:23:49 > 0:23:52he caught the change in the air in Scottish TV and politics.
0:23:54 > 0:23:56We still needed our heroes, our rebellions,
0:23:56 > 0:23:59our Scottish nationalism and our knife and gun fights
0:23:59 > 0:24:02but this is a period drama of a very different kind.
0:24:02 > 0:24:04It wasn't set in the past but the future.
0:24:06 > 0:24:09May I have your attention, please?
0:24:09 > 0:24:13You're requested to return to your homes quietly
0:24:13 > 0:24:16and to remain there until further notice.
0:24:16 > 0:24:19Scotch On The Rocks was made in 1973.
0:24:19 > 0:24:23The series is a fantasy about a civil war in Scotland in 1979
0:24:23 > 0:24:28where the Scottish Liberation Army attempt to take over the country.
0:24:28 > 0:24:32It was based on a book by Tory politician Douglas Hurd who
0:24:32 > 0:24:35was trying to make independence look like a very bad idea indeed.
0:24:43 > 0:24:45A Tory paranoid about the Scots?
0:24:45 > 0:24:47Who'd have thought it?
0:24:51 > 0:24:55If this is your new Scotland, I want no part of it.
0:24:56 > 0:25:00The programme created such a political stooshie that the BBC
0:25:00 > 0:25:02promised they'd never show it again.
0:25:02 > 0:25:05Many people thought the original master tapes had been destroyed...
0:25:05 > 0:25:07until now.
0:25:07 > 0:25:09So, this is the first time it's been seen
0:25:09 > 0:25:13since it was hidden away in the dark vaults of the BBC.
0:25:13 > 0:25:14Regiment up!
0:25:14 > 0:25:19The period costume drama was dead and buried for almost 30 years.
0:25:19 > 0:25:21Television makers wanted to be ultra-modern.
0:25:21 > 0:25:26Not that. Don't cover him with that.
0:25:26 > 0:25:28Then...
0:25:28 > 0:25:31Just when we thought we'd seen the last of that Victorian nostalgia
0:25:31 > 0:25:34for the noble Hielan'man, in 1997 along comes a romance
0:25:34 > 0:25:38between a noble Hielan'man and the most Victorian Victorian of all.
0:25:43 > 0:25:47Mrs Brown tells the story about the love between Queen Victoria
0:25:47 > 0:25:49and her Highland servant John Brown.
0:25:52 > 0:25:54I would like to get down.
0:25:56 > 0:25:59It was shot on location around Balmoral Castle and was originally
0:25:59 > 0:26:02made just for television but when Harvey Weinstein saw a cut of it in
0:26:02 > 0:26:06the edit suite, he snapped it up and cut a distribution deal for cinema.
0:26:08 > 0:26:10Judi Dench was nominated for an Oscar
0:26:10 > 0:26:15and she and Billy Connolly made Mrs Brown a great romantic two-hander.
0:26:16 > 0:26:19I cannot allow it,
0:26:19 > 0:26:21because I cannot live without you.
0:26:23 > 0:26:27Without you, I cannot find the strength...
0:26:27 > 0:26:29to be who I must be.
0:26:29 > 0:26:32People were saying, "I didn't know you could act like that."
0:26:32 > 0:26:34Well, quite frankly, neither did I.
0:26:34 > 0:26:37Sean Connery gave me advice. He said, "Be shtill.
0:26:39 > 0:26:41"There's a lot of power in shtillness."
0:26:43 > 0:26:47So a lot of the time I'm standing still and it worked.
0:26:47 > 0:26:50You know, when I'm standing with my horse, just, and won't go away.
0:26:50 > 0:26:52"Just be shtill."
0:26:54 > 0:26:59Plus, when Judi or anyone else in that cast,
0:26:59 > 0:27:03you name any one of them, they're all masters,
0:27:03 > 0:27:07and when they're acting with you, you can't respond by waving
0:27:07 > 0:27:11your arms around, you know, like you're on some kind of sitcom.
0:27:11 > 0:27:13You have to get into it.
0:27:13 > 0:27:18You have to start believing that what you're doing is the truth.
0:27:18 > 0:27:22There was one point where we were doing the eightsome reel
0:27:22 > 0:27:25and Judi was across from me as Queen Victoria
0:27:25 > 0:27:28and she's looking at me and I thought, "She fancies me.
0:27:28 > 0:27:32"What am I going to do? My God, Judi Dench fancies me.
0:27:32 > 0:27:34"What am I going to tell my wife?"
0:27:34 > 0:27:36And it suddenly dawned on me what was happening.
0:27:36 > 0:27:38It's all becoming real, you know.
0:27:38 > 0:27:41It was Queen Victoria fancying John Brown.
0:27:41 > 0:27:46So I started fancying her right back again and it just came to life.
0:27:51 > 0:27:56Since Mrs Brown in 1997, there have still been very few period dramas
0:27:56 > 0:27:57shot in Scotland.
0:27:57 > 0:28:00Even Jimmy McGovern's series Gunpowder, Treason And Plot
0:28:00 > 0:28:04was shot in Romania. Although with a Scottish crew.
0:28:04 > 0:28:07- How many men can be raised by morning?- Enough.
0:28:07 > 0:28:11Although the period action adventure is making a comeback with fantasies
0:28:11 > 0:28:14like Pirates Of The Caribbean and Game Of Thrones,
0:28:14 > 0:28:18poor old Scotland has lost touch with its swashbuckling television heritage.
0:28:18 > 0:28:22So, come on, you TV makers, get pitching. Writers, get writing.
0:28:22 > 0:28:25I throw down my red gauntlet to you!
0:28:26 > 0:28:28Charge!
0:28:28 > 0:28:32Woo-hoo! Yeah!
0:28:39 > 0:28:43The Scots are at your throats. Cut them down.
0:28:45 > 0:28:47This time, let's hope for a better outcome.
0:28:51 > 0:28:53Next guns.
0:28:53 > 0:28:54Fire!
0:28:54 > 0:28:56Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd