An educational anthology series from BBC Scotland using dramatised stories to illustrate key periods of Scottish history.
Around Scotland was the umbrella title for a series of self-contained dramas and serials produced for schools television. Each strand focused on a different historical period, telling stories about the lives of ordinary people caught up in social change. These included “New Lamps for Old”, which followed the Newman family, including Sarah (Fiona Knowles) and Alec (Martin Black); “The Freedom Machine”, about a boy named Mungo (Timothy Young) leaving his rural home for the city; “A Jacobite Adventure”, presented by John Carmichael; and “The Steelworks Close”, which followed the family of Simon Ross (Joseph McFadden).
This series was BBC Scotland’s equivalent to the long-running schools programme How We Used to Live, applying the same educational principles to a specifically Scottish context. The anthology format allowed the production to cover a wide range of social history, from life in a 17th-century burgh to the industrial changes of the 20th century. By commissioning different writers, producers, and directors for each strand, the programme maintained a variety of styles while consistently aiming to make history tangible for its young audience. The series was a fixture of schools television schedules for several years.
Broadcast: BBC Two – BBC Scotland, Anthology series, 15 November 1984 – 21 March 1990
Writers include: Stephen Mulrine, Derek Walker, Joan Lingard, Hector Macmillan, Ann Marie Di Mambro, Marinell Ash, Colin MacDonald
Producers/Directors include: Peter Whiteford, Tom Cotter, Marianne Baird, Kate Kinninmont
Main Cast includes: Fiona Knowles (Sarah Newman), Martin Black (Alec Newman), Alex Norton (Presenter), Mary Riggans (Sarah Duthie), John Shedden (Doctor Cairns), Timothy Young (Mungo), Elaine C. Smith (Mrs Ross), Joseph McFadden (Simon Ross), Jeni Giffen (Annie), William Armour
