02/11/2017 Timeline

Tonight:

How traditional Scots lingo

could mean we're better

at languages than we thought.

Plus, we speak

to Ross Kemp about going

behind bars at Barlinnie.

Welcome to Timeline,

where we'll bring you the story

of Scottish cycling legend

Robert Millar, who's speaking

on TV for the first time

about transitioning, and is now

living as Philippa York.

She has caught up with a giant who

she helped to inspire.

Hello, nice

to meet you.

We'll bring you that meeting

between Phillipa and Sir Chris Hoy.

Also,

100 years since the Russian

revolution shook the world -

we look at its impact on Scotland.

I am Ross Kemp, I'll be talking to

Glenn on Timeline about my time in

Barlinnie.

That is for a TV show

that we'll have more on later.

How many languages can you speak?

One, I'm ashamed to say.

The same

for me.

Research at Abertay University

in Dundee has found that our brains

handle our local dialect and English

in the same way as if we speak two

different languages.

That means all of us

could be more linguistically

skilled than we realised,

as Kenneth Macdonald has been

finding out for us.

11th.

Could you please repeat that?

11.

Our Scottish accents have always

tended to cause a bit of bother.

Good you please repeat that?

Here in Dundee, people speak with

more than accent.

Hiya.

more than accent.

Hiya.

I'll say

SPEAKS IN THICK DIALECT.

Thanks

romance, buyer.

This isn't a

roundabout, it's a circle -- thanks

very much, the buyer. It isn't the

Telegraph, it is the "Tele". Dundee

Scots even influence other cultures

and some say that Dundonian is more

than a dialect.

It is a language all

of its own, every Dundonian speaks

it. Every Dundonian is bilingual,

they can slip between standard

received pronunciation in English

into Dundonian very quickly.

Let me get back to you on what that

means? At Abertay University they

have found that Dundonian may not be

a separate language but the brain

handles it like one. Our test

subjects, Ollie, is not a native

Dundonian speaker so first he must

learn some.

Moose, tatty.

He does

well on the Dundonian words but

hesitates when he switches back to

English.

The representation of

Dundonian in his mind is weaker than

for his English. How that manifests

in the task is that when we ask him

to switch into a Dundonian word, he

has to do suppress his dominant

English from intruding. That takes

them longer to overcome so when he

switches back to English, it takes

longer.

Some psychologists think

that being bilingual actually

improves your cognitive powers but

at Abertay, they don't say it will

make you brainier. The findings may

have indications for psychology

itself.

We aren't capturing the full

story, a lot of people will report

that they speak a bit of French or

are fluent in German but won't

consider whether their knowledge and

use of Scots is worth mentioning on

a question like that. In terms of

implications for research, they are

quite cute.

Meanwhile, Dundonian

Scots remains in done both -- in

robust health.

It is said that mill workers

developed it to make themselves

heard over the noise of the

machinery.

Three, four, five, six,

seven, eight, nine, ten.

When you

are growing up, were you aware that

you were speaking something

different from what was spoken in

other parts of Scotland?

Not until

many years later. You say DUNDONIAN

ACCENT: seven.

My mother felt she

didn't want me talking Dundee so she

sent me to Eric Kush and lessons

when I was tired. I don't know if

that was a good thing -- electrician

dilly

sent me to elocution lessons.

One

last thing, the answer to the

expression, there are two items

here, there is a plain one and one

from Dundee. Getting the hang of

this!

Let's get another

couple of phrases -

this is one used in Shetland.

No idea.

It means mocking a person in good

fun.

And here's one from Dumfries.

She said don't do something just

yet?

That's all I got.

Don't speak

so confidently and cheerfully about

it just yet.

What kind of sayings do

you have?

I don't know about local

dialect but quite a lot of words in

the Gaelic language were used and my

favourite would be one that my mum

used, she would say, what they...",

meaning what they mess. -- what a

mess.

Robert Millar is considered

Scotland's greatest-ever road

cyclist, winning the King

of the Mountains prize

in the Tour de France in 1984,

making him a hero to many,

including Sir Chris Hoy.

But after gender transition

she recently announced she's

living as Philippa York,

and has started working

as a cycling commentator.

We brought Phillippa

and Sir Chris together for this

film, by Rhona McLeod.

Now let's turn to a sport which, but

for one man would in all possibility

would have never featured in this

review of 1984. The sport is cycling

and the man is Robert Mueller from

Glasgow. -- Robert Millar.

There are

so many facets to transitioning, so

many decisions to make.

Was it an

additional pressure, the fact that

you were one of the world's top

sports people?

I was very aware that

it could turn into a media circus,

the fact that I was transitioning

and a couple of years afterwards

which is one reason I removed myself

from the public eye, I basically

disappeared.

You had a couple of

brushes with the tabloid press.

I

did, a couple of intrusions into my

transition at the start. And at the

end, they were quite damaging.

Hello, the leather.

What a hero you

are -- hello, Phillipa.

Every time I

see my name on back straight there.

Walking down to the panel, the

Manchester velodrome, I think you

were the National Road coach at the

time and it was the national

championships and you walked past

and you said, well done, champ. 5-1

my first national title.

I was nice

to you. -- I had just won my first

national title. Now I'm thinking, I

meeting you, Chris Hoy! Making me

cry again.

I do that when I'm

getting medals, I blame it on the

flowers, allergies! I think she has

no idea how many people she has

inspired. You can see in the track

centre, people shaking her hand,

saying they had seen her on telly

and she was getting emotional. I was

surprised that she was emotional

about people being nice to her. It

was the courage and gutsy Ness and

determination on the mountain stages

that made you work hard on your

bike. Having a practice session, you

would try and emulated Robert

Millar. Countless athletes and

cyclists have been inspired by her

performances, 30 years ago.

The BBC

Sport 's personality of 1984, the

king of the Mounties, stage win of

the Tour de France, another flying

Scot, from Glasgow, Robert Millar.

If you had to make the choice again,

if you could make the choice, would

you have transitioned before?

Yes, I

would have transitioned in my

teenage years. And I wouldn't have

been a cyclist.

You wouldn't have

had the fame?

I wouldn't have been

famous, information, whatever I'm

known for.

Is that because you were

very happy?

Yes. -- infamy. The

thing that counts is and how famous

or not famous you are going to be.

Basically, are you happy? That

counts more for me now than any kind

of success.

Happy with?

Happy with

where I am, yes. Not perfectly happy

because I don't think perfection

exists but yeah, I'm fairly stable

where I am and happy, yeah.

Tom Bishop is a director

of Scottish cycling,

and their Equality Champion.

What kind of support is there in

cycling for somebody who makes that

transition?

We are a very inclusive

and open sport. We are multifaceted,

a lot of different angles. We are

lucky with cycling that it is

different to the other sports where

for example you can't dribble a ball

to work but you can cycle to work so

it is a transport means and it is a

basic lifestyle skill. Within

Scottish cycling, we are there to

receive everybody with open arms and

to welcome them in. People who are

transgender, who have specific

sensitivities, that we would be

there to receive, and quite frankly,

we are all learning about this in

society in general.

When it comes to

a sport, can a man transitioning as

a woman compete on the women's team?

When the transition is complete,

that is the case. Obviously there

are the questions people might have

about that. To my knowledge there is

no evidence to suggest that there is

a difficulty with that, when the

transition is complete.

It might

potentially be an advantage?

It

might be but at the moment I don't

believe there is any evidence of

that but of course, the question is

there. We have to be prepared for

that. It is something that the

sports governing bodies have to be

mindful of going forward, as a

society does, we have to make

adjustments and have to be

reasonable adjustments. At the same

time, we need to engage with the

LGBT community. I'm delighted to say

that today, sport Scotland and a

number of government bodies and

sports associations have signed up

to the Scottish LGBT charter,

through the quality network.

Yesterday it literally happened. I'm

the ambassador for equalities in

Scottish cycling. We are going to be

brace it and learn about it.

Thank

you for joining us.

Still to come on Timeline: My

encounter with TV hardman Ross Kemp,

about his latest assignment behind

bars at a Scottish jail.

And the balance of power between

prisoners and guards.

If you fall

out with the present staff, you can

have your canteen taken away from

you. You can fall out with the

inmates and your life could become a

living hell.

With credits including

Blue Planet and Planet Earth,

Doug Allan is regarded as one

of the best wildlife

cameramen around.

Don't just take our word for it.

Here's Sir David Attenborough.

Captured in animal behaviour in this

extreme and sometimes hostile place

takes a very special kind of

wildlife cameraman. And for me, they

do not come much more special than

Doug Allen.

I must be mad!

High

praise from Sir David Attenborough.

Well, if that praise

wasn't enough, Doug,

who's originally from Dunfermline,

is to be given an award

for Outstanding Contribution

at the Scottish Baftas this weekend.

Doug is in our Bristol studio.

Congratulations.

Thank you.

How do

you go from Dunfermline to diving

under the ice sheets in the

Antarctic?

You actually go through

the red Sea, would you believe? I

got into diving at school, and then

that took me to university at

Stirling, and then various

expeditions and one expedition was

to the Antarctic. I was diving as a

scientist and diver in the Antarctic

when the great Sir David and a film

crew turned up back in 1981. I

helped them for a couple of days and

decided that it was something that I

wanted to get into. And the rest is

history.

It is indeed. 30 years of

history and you have filmed a lot of

wildlife in that time. What are the

moment and animals that stand out

for you?

I have done a lot of stuff

in the polls, so I guess encounters

with polar bears and big mammals

underwater. Those are really

exciting because they sure that

every single mammal is an individual

just like you or I, so getting the

chance to know these animals as

individual characters, that is

really exciting because you need to

get to know them if you're going to

get the best out of them on a film,

particularly underwater. You can't

hide from while if you want to film

it, so the only way is to get in the

water with it, have it except you as

another interesting thing in its

environment and then it's just get

on with his natural behaviour. I

think the close proximity I have had

with Wales underwater and the sheer

excitement of working with polar

bears in the Antarctic, that is a

hard one to beat because polar bears

are a big, sexy, charismatic and

they will eat you, what more can you

want?

Do you have a get into

dangerous situations?

I prefer to

describe them as exciting

situations, put it that way. You

need to do. There are times when I

have been close enough to a polar

bear and the polar bear has gotten a

little bit too interested in me, I

have had to get out my birthday

which is kind of like a hairspray,

and give it a squirt in its

direction and when that pepper spray

heads the beer's knows he is off

like a shot, so that was exciting

and then there was the classic Wall

is that grabbed me underwater, I was

sparkling, no idea and out of the

depths as walrus grabbed me around

the legs and luckily I was able to

hit it on its head with the camera

and it was probably pretty surprised

because that is not the sort of

thing that seals do, because

basically the Wallace have confused

me with a seal. I hated on the head

and let me go and I lived to tell

the tale.

We are glad! How do you

feel that getting the BAFTA?

That is

magic, and is always something

special when it comes from your

peers are so to speak and the fact

that it comes from my Scottish peers

makes it all the more than an hour.

I am really looking forward to

Sunday.

Enjoy it! Thank you very

much for joining us tonight.

If you have a story to tell

or if there's anything you want us

to follow up then it's

easy to get in touch.

You can contact us

on Facebook and Twitter,

you can find us online

or you can email us.

Look forward to hearing from you.

It was one of the defining moments

of the 20th century -

seeing a bloody end

to the Russian royal family,

and the start shortly afterwards

of the Soviet Union.

The impact of the Russian revolution

was felt all around the world.

70,000 Scots took to the streets

in support of the revolutionaries.

We asked historian,

Brendan McGeever, to make this film

about how what happened there,

affected events here.

The Russian Revolution, one

of the defining moments of the 20th

century.

The collapse of an empire,

the overthrow of the czarist regime

and one of the most extraordinary

demonstrations of people power and

democracy.

The revolution's reverberations

spread far beyond

Russia, and they could be felt

here on the streets of Scotland.

What do you know

about the links between

Scotland and the Russian Revolution?

I know a lot about the Russian

Revolution but I never knew we had

any influence.

I don't know anything about that.

I saw a thing on the TV

about Brian Cox and talking

about the support that the West

Coast of Scotland gave to the

workers in the Russian Revolution.

In early May 1917, just

as revolution is escalating, around

80,000 workers come out on the

streets of Glasgow for mayday.

There are red flags

and American support

of the Russian Revolution.

As the Labour Party use

people at the time,

Glasgow is the British Petrograd.

The Clyde and the River Neva

linked together by the

bonds of brotherhood.

Doctor Terry Brotherstone

is an expert on the

history of the socialism

movement in Scotland.

To what extent can we say

that the Russian Revolution was felt

on the streets of Scotland?

In Glasgow there where

rent strikes against

profiteering in the war,

in

1915 you saw the shop stewards

movement developed in the

engineering factories,

determined that workers conditions

would not be worsened

because of the requirements

of the war economy,

and then in 1970 onwards

across the country there

was

increasing weariness and quite a lot

of unrest in engineering factories,

and it was into that that the whole

Russian Revolution came.

John Maclean said

the Russians, a Russian

comrades have begun it,

we are part of it, you have got

to be supporting them.

John McLean was born

in Pollokshaws in 1879, a

schoolteacher, he also let

because of socialism in Scotland.

He was imprisoned for

his political beliefs.

John Maclean made enemies

in government but he made friends

among the working classes,

and in revolutionary Russia as well.

The socialist movement

in Scotland took

great interest in events in Russia,

and the feeling was mutual.

Scotland cut the imagination

of the Russian

revolutionaries, and

articles about Scotland

would regularly feature

in

the Bolshevik press.

In December 1918 the

Bolshevik newspaper Pravda

wrote, Russian workers

enthusiastically hope that John

Maclean and his friends

come to power.

Vladimir Lenin, Leon Trotsky

and other Bolshevik leaders held

John Maclean in the highest regard,

so much so that shortly after the

October Revolution of 1917 the named

John Maclean Bolshevik consul for

Scotland.

In February 1918, John Maclean

took up office on 12 S.

Portland St in Glasgow, the first

Soviet consulate in Britain had now

been established.

John Maclean was celebrated

across revolutionary

Russia, his name was

read aloud in Bolshevik

gatherings all over

the

Soviet Republic.

Streets were named after him,

in fact, to the state,

there is still a Maclean Avenue

in Midwest Russia.

A Soviet postage stamp was even

issued to commemorate

him.

After the Bolsheviks came to power,

John Maclean wrote, Marxism

is growing rapidly in Scotland,

nothing can hold back.

I favour a Scottish

Communist Republic with

Glasgow as its head and centre.

War, inequality and

poverty were central

to the events of 1917,

and they remain crucial

issues in the world today.

As the Russian Revolution

reaches its centenary, society

remains as undivided as ever.

Brendan McGeever there

on the 100th anniversary

of the Russian revolution.

He's the TV hardman who's

travelled to some of the most

dangerous parts of the world,

from Afghanistan, to searching for

pirates off the coast of Somalia.

Now Ross Kemp, who became famous

as Grant Mitchell in Eastenders,

has taken on one of Scotland's

toughest prisons for his latest

programme, in Barlinnie.

So how did this assignment compare?

I've been chatting

to him to find out.

I'm Ross Kemp, and I'm going to

prison.

We have just under 100,000

people in prison right now, not the

highest it's been but very close to

it.

We have sent a lot of people to

prison for short sentences and for

instance in Scotland I think it is

something like 60% of people who

serve three-month prison sentences

will be back in prison within six

months.

Having been inside a prison

like that, a big prison, what are

the conditions like?

Convert to El

Salvador, compared to the Congo, a

lot better. But prisons are still

present. People who say they have it

easy because they have a TV, TV is a

very important thing in prison in

the United Kingdom because it can be

used as a stick, basically, if you

abuse a prison that back the prison

rules it will be taken away from

you. If you spend a lot of time

locked up in your cell, maybe 23 or

22 hours, that becomes very

important to you. And yes, three

meals a day, sometimes the choice of

the courses, and I have the prison

food and help make it with the aid

of a canoe paddle, and the food I

have to say in Barlinnie was a lot

better than some of the food I have

had in national health specials. But

prison is still prison and there is

also, if you fall out with the

prison staff, you can have your

canteen taken away from you. You can

have your recreation taken away from

you. You can be fined financially

and you can't phone your family. You

could fall out with an inmate and

your life could become a living

hell. So there are sort of like two

laws, to rules within every prison,

virtually I have been to.

Ross James Kent.

What is your date

of birth?

21st of the seven.

How

tough are they on drugs inside?

If

you're found with drugs it depends,

it is the amount of drugs that you

have on you. It can be just as I say

a fine, removal of things that give

you pleasure like the television or

access to the canteen suites,

scripts etc, it is just the way that

drugs are sent in. Even to

Barlinnie, a lot of them are thrown

in using one of those dog slippers,

inside the tennis ball. You can get

500 or 700 small street Valium pills

in there and you have to bear in

mind that drugs inside a prison cell

for five times what they are worse

on the street. To the point that it

is worth some inmates going to

prison on purpose in order to sell

drugs.

Was there anyone you met in

there who you thought did not

deserve to be inside?

To be honest,

no, and a lot of the repeat

offenders were very open about the

cycle that they are trapped in. If

you are not changing the causes and

reasons for their being in prison in

the first place they are not going

to stop going to prison. Without

being too big about it, I think

maybe we have to look at the way

that we sentence people, and also

our approach to people when we meet

them and find out they have been in

prison. And how much of a chance we

get them. I am not asking people to

give chances to multiple marketers

here, but people who, there are some

people who rely on Barlinnie, as

soon as they get released they

walked down the road, people into

the shop, the bias much beer as they

can with their £73 they get given,

and the next day they commit an

offence they can go back because

they have nowhere else to go because

they have become so

institutionalised, and we have to

look at is prison the best place for

them? There are definitely people I

met there who I felt should be there

and should remain there because of

the threat they pose.

Let me ask you

about your investigative or more

generally because you do seem to go

to some of the most dangerous places

in the world, why's that? Why are

you attracted to those a pure fluke,

I was on an actress contract to ITV

and was asked to stand and present,

I was fifth choice, I know that

because someone had already been

asked of us sitting next to me in

two days later a bang up and said

you're the first person we thought

of.

So that is how it happened. It

moved from there to being about

Afghanistan and being about bigger

issues, mass migration, human

slavery, drugs, big issues that have

an impact on everyone, really.

Eventually they all have an impact

on everyone no matter how much you

think you are removed from whatever

is happening around the world. It

generally comes back at some point

and lands on your plate.

And Grant

Mitchell your character in

Eastenders keeps coming back.

He has

been back twice.

Again?

Never say

never.

Thank you.

That programme is called

Ross Kemp Behind Bars -

Inside Barlinnie, and it's on STV

at nine o'clock tonight.

And that is your timeline for this

week.

Thank you for watching. That went

fast! We will be back next Thursday

at 7:30pm and we hope to see you

there. Goodbye for now.