BBC hit by row over 'History of Scotland'
One of the most ambitious historical television series ever created, A History of Scotland – two years in the making and costing more than £2m – airs tonight. But while glasses of malt whisky are clinking as the makers congratulate each other, elsewhere tempers are fraying faster than the hem of well-worn kilt.
The BBC spectacular has driven a wedge right into the middle of civic Scotland and its academic elite. On one side are those who claim the series finally offers a genuine – and visually stunning – perspective on the nation's past. On the other, a group of senior historians who claim it commits the ultimate sin: that of pandering to English perspectives.
Fronted by the hirsute archaeologist Neil Oliver, who found fame as the presenter of Coast, A History of Scotland hits screens north of the border tonight and across the UK at a later date. Yet the content, and even the choice of Oliver, has sparked a war of words almost as intense as the Battle of Culloden itself.
First, the 10-part series comes under fire over claims that it is too "anglocentric". The failure to front it with a historian has been attacked. Academic advisers stormed out before programmes were completed.
Professor Allan Macinnes of the University of Strathclyde resigned from the series' advisory board after its first meeting. "I thought the whole production was dreadful," he said. "The first script I got was so anglocentric I couldn't believe it. It was written on the basis as if Scotland was a divided country until the Union came along and civilised it. At the time, England was divided, France was divided, Germany didn't even exist. I would like to see a wider European context."...
Read entire article at Independent (UK)
The BBC spectacular has driven a wedge right into the middle of civic Scotland and its academic elite. On one side are those who claim the series finally offers a genuine – and visually stunning – perspective on the nation's past. On the other, a group of senior historians who claim it commits the ultimate sin: that of pandering to English perspectives.
Fronted by the hirsute archaeologist Neil Oliver, who found fame as the presenter of Coast, A History of Scotland hits screens north of the border tonight and across the UK at a later date. Yet the content, and even the choice of Oliver, has sparked a war of words almost as intense as the Battle of Culloden itself.
First, the 10-part series comes under fire over claims that it is too "anglocentric". The failure to front it with a historian has been attacked. Academic advisers stormed out before programmes were completed.
Professor Allan Macinnes of the University of Strathclyde resigned from the series' advisory board after its first meeting. "I thought the whole production was dreadful," he said. "The first script I got was so anglocentric I couldn't believe it. It was written on the basis as if Scotland was a divided country until the Union came along and civilised it. At the time, England was divided, France was divided, Germany didn't even exist. I would like to see a wider European context."...