PREMIUM
Saoirse Ronan played Mary, Queen of Scots in 2018. But Dr Allan Kennedy of Dundee University says film and TV must cover broader subjects to improve our knowledge of Scottish history
POOR TV about Scotland’s history helps perpetuate myths and misunderstandings about our place in the Union and the British empire, a leading historian says.
Imagined versions of Scotland are seen on screen in shows like US time-travel romance Outlander or movies like 2018’s Mary Queen of Scots, which was criticised for its inaccurate portrayal of the monarch’s life and death.
Now an expert in a key period of the country’s past says the broadcast of fact-filled documentaries and dramas could help dispel mistaken ideas about Scotland’s status, including the notion that it is a British colony.