30/04/2013 Newsnight Scotland


30/04/2013

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implications that are only now is the satire in the saltire?

:00:15.:00:19.

Salmond will be in charge of Scotland. This title is not clear

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yet. He may be King. Unionists and nationalists are fighting for the

:00:26.:00:31.

soul of the nation but where are the jokes? And 50 years after her death,

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we go in the footsteps of the artist Joan Eardley to the village of

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Catterline, now battling the effects of coastal erosion.

:00:40.:00:48.

Good evening. When Susan Calman cracks jokes about the

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post-independent Scottish currency on the Radio 4 news quiz at the

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weekend, she was not expecting a response is she got. She was accused

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of betraying her country and being racist. Does it betray the absence

:01:02.:01:09.

of political satire at a time when we might most expect it? Why no

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satire in the saltire? It is often regarded as the area

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went satire was born. Deference was dead and that was the week that was

:01:23.:01:33.
:01:33.:01:33.

became the first show to lampoon the establishment. Is anyone not

:01:33.:01:39.

unanimous? By the 80s, stand-up comedians and of course spitting

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image or continuing the tradition. Political satire usually blossoms

:01:48.:01:53.

during times of great political or economic upheaval, kind of like what

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we are going through right now. Where is the satire? Tommy Sheppard

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runs a comedy club in Edinburgh. There are not the characters they

:02:04.:02:07.

used to be in politics, in part because of the increased media

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scrutiny of people. It leads to everyone trying to play it safe and

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be the same. Also in political terms there is a very overcrowded centre

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in British politics and there are not money differences between the

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policies and personalities in individual parties. Last week the

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issue of what currency and independent Scotland might use

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dominated the news programmes. By the weekend, it was dominating the

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London based satirical programmes. Alex Salmond who will be in charge

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of Scotland on his title is not clear, he may be King. Last year, he

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was keen on having the euro but something happened. Shall we tell

:02:56.:03:06.
:03:06.:03:08.

them to hugger off? Hands up who says go away? No! When it comes to

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the vote on Scotland's future, is it the case it is no laughing matter?

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Scots comedian Susan Calman had a laugh at the expense of the SNP.

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What is going to happen is that they are not going to build a broader, we

:03:21.:03:25.

will keep the pound, we will still have the royal family, I am not sure

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what is going on. It seems to me that is just what is happening right

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now except we are not part of the UK. The joke fell flat with some

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pro-independence campaigners. Susan Calman they said they took to social

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media. If Scotland are uncomfortable with satire and poking fun at our

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leaders whoever they are? Do we still defer in a way others do not?

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Is it simply that Scottish comedy has no real tradition of satire?

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think there is a case to be made that says if Scotland were

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independent and more of a grown-up country, it might feel more at ease

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with itself and able to laugh at itself better than it does in the

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shadow of a much bigger country? That I would be faithful... The

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former Socialist MSP now forging a career in stand-up comedy. I think

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politics is hilarious and I think politics is full of characters and I

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think everyone is political. Therefore, unleash the humour. It is

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painful enough and at times of pain and poverty and asperity, people

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need to laugh. It does help a lot. That is why I am building a new

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career at laughing to the madness that surrounds me. How do our

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current MSPs do when it comes to bringing in the last? I think we can

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make an offer to George Osborne. Let us pay his bus fare in coming to

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Scotland to sink the no campaign. talks about credibility. He changes

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his position on the currency more time than I change my shoes. Maybe

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they were just having a bad day. Of course, comedian Rory Bremner has

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been working on a BBC show looking at life in Hollywood. There are a

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few laughs to look forward to. Until then, we can always rely on the

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boxed sets of TV's most recent and possibly best critical satire. Ella

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Macri you want the opposition to do this? We through the looking glass

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now, folks. I enjoyed in the studio by the

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communion Bruce Morton, Edinburgh's MSP Mark McDonald who has also been

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a stand-up comedian. And David Torrance, an associate director of

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the Five Million Questions project at Dundee University. I do not think

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that is a stand-up comic outfit. David Torrance, were you surprised

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at the reaction Susan Calman got? She is clearly a bit upset about it.

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Not surprised at all, sadly. I heard Radio 4 news quiz on the weekend and

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I thought it was quite amusing as it always is. Susan Calman went out of

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her way to avoid saying which side she was on. But became one of the

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running jokes that the other contestants kept needling her on.

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She was careful yet still she got this rather predictable reaction. I

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do think people have just got to lighten up. Yes, independence is a

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serious question. At the same time, politics is incredibly good fun and

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it is full of very witty and amusing characters. I think we have got to

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relax. Mark McDonald, we will give you an award tonight. I think you

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are the first Nationalist politician I have seen publicly criticise some

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of these people who crowd in and criticise people like Susan Calman.

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You have suggested on twitter that the best thing some of them could do

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would be to give up their Internet. I think one of the problems is that

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I think there are people on both sides of the divide who

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unfortunately seem to be lacking in a sense of self-awareness and a bit

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of a sense of humour. The joke is often funny until the joke is on you

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in politics. I think being able to take a step back and realise that

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these are professional comedians and it is not their job to play up to

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one particular side of a debate. do not know whether you heard Susan

:08:03.:08:06.

Calman but it was pretty innocuous. If you take offence at that, you

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would take offence at anything. not think it was the kind of thing

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that got me hot under the, hot under the collar. I might choose to take a

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different line if it were a political debate, but I was always

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told that a joke is a joke and you do not necessarily get needled into

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arguing about a joke, you engage in a political argument. I do not think

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we should be dragging comedians into political debate. If they wish to

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comment on it through the medium of their choice, be it... Do you think

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there is an issue here? One of the points Susan Calman said is if the

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English took a similar attitude to English comedians, there would be no

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comedy in Britain left. That is true. I am amazed that there was a

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fuss about this. I do not know who it was who came down on Susan so

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hard. It was a very innocuous remark. If they want to get

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offended, they ought to come to a comedy club sometime. Not in the

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sanitised confines of the BBC. will be more offended? Yes. Bring it

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on. I come back to this point, there seems to be a lack of hard-hitting

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:09:44.:09:44.

political satire in Scotland. lay that at the door of the comics.

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I see lots of comics, not all of them are doing political stuff, but

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there are a few where politics does infuse their craft and their output.

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But you do not see it represented in broadcast. The reasons for that, I

:10:02.:10:07.

do not know them. Are you saying it is happening in the clubs, on the

:10:07.:10:17.
:10:17.:10:19.

Internet? Lots of people.You think there is an issue, David Torrance?

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think there is. Listening to the report, it reminds you of what they

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used to be. Ground-breaking series in the 60s. They did not touch on

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spitting image but it was the defining satirical show in the 80s

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and shaped how the public saw many politicians, not least Margaret

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Thatcher and John Major. The concerning thing is in Scotland even

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quite modest outlets for such ire, those that do not cost much money,

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sketch writers and newspapers. At the start of the Scottish

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Parliament, we had a lively tradition of that. None of it is

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there any more. All we have are a couple of cartoonists. Ian Green in

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the Scotsman newspaper, he is very good at Woking fun. But not much

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beyond that. Is this you writing a job application? It is not where my

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talents lie. I think it is hugely important because it is a great

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leveller, humour. It takes politicians of all his back down to

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earth and reminds them they are mortal human being is that the end

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of the day and not towering statesmanlike figures. Politics is

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good fun. Satire can combine serious points with a bit of a laugh.

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wonder, Mark McDonald, whether if you think back to spitting image and

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all of the jokes about Margaret Thatcher's Cabinet, it made them

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well known. No one had heard of them before. Perhaps something similar

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for some of your colleagues and the opposition people at -- Holyrood, it

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might make them more popular. not even a household name in my own

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household! I think the point Bruce makes is a good point. Someone who

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has done a little bit of stand-up prior to coming into politics, I

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think there is a lot of good comedy output going on in the clubs. One of

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the difficulties is that... Did you do political satire? I shied away

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from the political angle. I felt it would perhaps lead me as a hostage

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to fortune given that I was politically involved at the time.

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There is a lot of good comedy output in the clubs. One of the

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difficulties is I do not think it is necessarily being given an

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opportunity, given the oxygen of publicity through the radio and

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television, but perhaps it might. A lot of good comics would maybe

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benefit from a leg up and perhaps the television companies and

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production companies, they need to take a look at whether they have a

:12:57.:13:07.
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here? The point made in the film, Scotland, wee country, big England

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next door? There is a strange thing that happens. I see this very, very

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often in Scottish press where a comedian, who is Scottish, will be

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described as "Scottish comedian so-and-so... " I've never seen Phil

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Jupitus described as an English comedian. I never know whether using

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this adjective all the time is because we are very, very proud of

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our Scottish comedians or whether he we are saying- he is only a Scottish

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one. It goes on all the time. make a suggestion, which I am also

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scared to make. I'm not sure there is a great from a dish of la poneing

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satire in Germany, Belgium or France either. Could it be that in Scotland

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we are particularly bad at this, the English are particularly good at it?

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They have a tradition on this sort of thing going back to the Regent

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Sid period right back to the civil war, foreheavens sake, that

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tradition doesn't really exist up here I would be cautious about

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drawing that distinction. There are differences between Scottish and

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English cultural tradition there is are great similarities. I think

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sense of humour is one of them. The traditional satire does exist in

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other countries, the United States has a strong tradition, even now, of

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political satire and lampooning their leaders. It has lapsed to an

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extent. There was a lot more before. The other guests make a good point

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there is plenty going on in clubs, they are not communicated to a mass

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audience. Right. What do you think, do we have a tradition up here?

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think there is a tradition of that. I think, if you look... To counter

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my own point I was making a moment ago, I mean, the abolition of

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deference that happened some times around the late '70s early 80s's

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happened as much in Scotland as it did anywhere else in the United

:15:21.:15:31.
:15:31.:15:32.

Kingdom we all laughed at Spitting Image Yes. Rory bream natural is a

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Scot. There is a fine Scottish tradition. That is not the same. You

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can be Scottish doing it in London, another thing doing it up here?

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True. There is is a good tradition out. There we are capable of looking

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at ourselves and having a wee bit of a laugh at ourselves from time to

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time. I don't think a bit of levelty in this debate would be any harm

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what so ever. What would you tliebg see happening? What I'd like to see

:15:58.:16:08.
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happening, I would like to see a commitment... I would like to see a

:16:09.:16:19.
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space this is my move tonight see the south side of Glasgow, it is

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getting support. General terms?I would like to see a little bit

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more... Development of some is a tiercle ideas from BBC Scotland, for

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instance. We don't have anything like that. We have sketch shows. The

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tradition here has been sketch shows and variety shows Ando casual bits

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of stand-up, not shows like the classic ones you mentioned a moment

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ago. No tradition of that. From your view, from your show that you, do

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there is demand for this? 100 people come down to our basement and they

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like it. It's difficult to... It's all right to do it there, we work it

:17:02.:17:12.
:17:12.:17:14.

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the death of one of Scotland's

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greatest modern artists, Joan Eardley.

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Eardley forged her reputation by her paintings of poor city children in

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Glasgow. But in the 1950's she began to

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immortalise the Aberdeenshire village of Catterline.

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Her dramatic seascapes remain among her most important works and still

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inspire visitors to the village. But if she were to return to

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Catterline today, she'd be shocked by the damage caused by coastal

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erosion. Our arts correspondent, Pauline

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McLean, has gone in Eardley's footsteps to hear about the

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struggles today's villagers are having with the elements. 50 years

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after her death, Joan Eardley is more in demand than ever.

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Exhibitions in Edinburgh and London offering a chance to snap up her

:17:52.:18:02.

work. She's still best-known for the portrait she made of local children

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in her studio in Town Head in glass glow in the 1950s. The more you know

:18:08.:18:14.

something, the more you can get out of it. The more it gives to you.

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That was her approach when she began a new and very different strand of

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work. This is Catterline, where Joan Eardley moved in 19 55, it was in

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complete contrast to her studio in Glasgow. What she loved about it was

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the fact it was so exposed to the elements and rugged. She immersed

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:18:45.:18:45.

herself in it all. She would go out in all weathers and do as much

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painting as she could. With snowstorms, for example, she could

:18:50.:18:55.

last 10 minutes and she would go in and get warm. Her friend, Angus

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Neil, attached an anchor to her painting quipment so that it didn't

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have to be taken in over night. She was hoping that the thaw hadn't set

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in by the next morning. She was dependant on what she was looking

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at. She was a subject painter, in that way, for example, with the sea.

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I mean, she didn't paint it remotely, go up into her studio and

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do it by memory. The whole point was that the oil paint and the foam and

:19:21.:19:25.

waves should will being enter mingle. This was a retrospective

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held 12 years ago or so? 2001, 12 years ago. Tim Cabbs and Annette,

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herself an artist, brought Joan Eardley to Catterline. She soon had

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a home there in a little cottage she would later capture on canvas.

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lived, sort of, platform, sleeping platform me neon with a ladder up to

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it. She slept there. Down stairs was studio and cooking and stuff.

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that part of the attraction for her, it was a basic place? I think Joan

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was the original hippie. You know, she had a whole different concept of

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:20:20.:20:21.

living to our way of thinking. She fitted in over time. She fitted in

:20:21.:20:27.

very well. Now that community faces a new challenge, battling the very

:20:27.:20:34.

elements Joan Eardley immortalised. Last December the storms,, which

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battered this coastline, caused a landslide. Locals worry it will put

:20:39.:20:46.

visitors off. We don't want to be able to walk down the road for

:20:46.:20:51.

instance. If it's covered in mud it's no fun at all. People use it

:20:51.:20:55.

all year round. Tourists come in the middle of winter. They normally want

:20:55.:21:00.

to drive down, particularly if they have old relatives with them. At the

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moment, they can't bring a car down here. The sooner that gets sorted,

:21:04.:21:10.

the better. And, help could be at hand. The community has already been

:21:10.:21:16.

offered assistance by Glasgow Ical University who will carry out a

:21:16.:21:23.

survey shortly. Scarred or not, this landscape still offers inspiration.

:21:23.:21:27.

Like Joan Eardley, Stuart Buchanan moved here from Glasgow, one of a

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long line of artistes who have lived and worked here. The fact that we

:21:31.:21:36.

are talking about her and her paintings and this village 50 years

:21:36.:21:41.

after her death, that is her Legacy. Her paintings are still... They

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stand up. They are reapraised. You know, people still want to look at

:21:45.:21:49.

them or find out where the they were painted. People still come to the

:21:49.:21:54.

village after seeing paintings in cities far away. They will make the

:21:55.:22:00.

trip to see where Eardley stood and worked and other artists she

:22:00.:22:09.

inspired to come here and do the same. Now the front pages: The

:22:09.:22:15.

Scottish Daily Mail, legacy of the ladette life. Drinking and smoking

:22:15.:22:25.
:22:25.:22:25.

blamed for a huge rise in female cancer victims. The Guardian, spend

:22:25.:22:29.

aid cash, public spending arguments within the Government. Spending cash

:22:29.:22:37.

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