WHY ARE THERE SO FEW COSTUME DRAMAS BASED ON SCOTTISH LITERATURE OR HISTORY?
(Mary McCabe) JA: “I’ve tried to encourage the BBC to produce Scottish books. There’s a definite view it would be unviable. Excellent though they are, they keep going back to the same books.” MC: “I don’t think there’s any reason why we haven’t had a Scottish costume drama, or more dramas based on Scottish literature. There are some fantastic Scottish books.” MM: “Scottish accents seem to go in waves in terms of acceptability outside of Scotland. The likes of Lewis Grassic Gibbon needs the patois of the North-east, and that might be a barrier.” BH: “Less than 3 per cent of all programmes commissioned in the UK come from Scotland, so you’re going to get very little from each genre. It’s a Middle England favourite, and it’s beyond our resources.” WHAT IS THE PANEL’S FAVOURITE SCOTTISH DRAMA? BH: “Taggart is unashamedly populist, shown in 70 countries at any one time and going for 25 years.” MC: “Sunset Song.” JA: “As a series, Tutti Frutti. It was very Scottish, it was original, fun and
(Mary McCabe) JA: “I’ve tried to encourage the BBC to produce Scottish books. There’s a definite view it would be unviable. Excellent though they are, they keep going back to the same books.” MC: “I don’t think there’s any reason why we haven’t had a Scottish costume drama, or more dramas based on Scottish literature. There are some fantastic Scottish books.” MM: “Scottish accents seem to go in waves in terms of acceptability outside of Scotland. The likes of Lewis Grassic Gibbon needs the patois of the North-east, and that might be a barrier.” BH: “Less than 3 per cent of all programmes commissioned in the UK come from Scotland, so you’re going to get very little from each genre. It’s a Middle England favourite, and it’s beyond our resources.” WHAT IS THE PANEL’S FAVOURITE SCOTTISH DRAMA? BH: “Taggart is unashamedly populist, shown in 70 countries at any one time and going for 25 years.” MC: “Sunset Song.” JA: “As a series, Tutti Frutti. It was very Scottish, it was original, fun and
