BBC's epic tale of Scotland – less first 3,000 years

IT IS the story of a nation, told from the middle. A History of Scotland, the BBC's landmark £2 million ten-part documentary, has been accused of ignoring 3,000 years of history to begin the epic tale, not with the prehistoric settlement at Skara Brae in Orkney, but with the arrival of the Romans.

The controversial series, which begins next month, has already seen one leading historian quit the advisory panel over scripts described as "Anglo- centric", while yesterday, Alastair Moffat, the broadcaster and historian, took issue with the programme-makers' definition of "history", which has led them to ignore the nation's rich heritage of prehistoric monuments and ruins.

The BBC decided "history" referred to characters and events supported by written records, which meant the series begins in AD 84, when the Roman general Agricola defeated the Picts of Caledonia, an event recorded by Tacitus, the Roman historian. However, this rendered obsolete Scotland's rich prehistoric ruins such as the stone-age settlement at Skara Brae, which was occupied between 3100BC and 2450BC, and the world-famous standing stones of Callanish on Lewis, dated to 2000BC. In an ironic twist, the standing stones are used as the basis for adverts for A History of Scotland, but will not appear in the series.

Yesterday Mr Moffat, the author of Scotland BC, said he was disappointed that the BBC had allowed the Romans to begin the story of Scotland and not the Scots. "If you visit the ruins at Skara Brae and see the stone dresser and the bed you can't help but feel the human story," he said.

"We may not know their name but this is still history. The BBC seems to have ignored 3,000 years. It's a pity to let the Romans tell the story of Scotland; couldn't the Scots have told it?"

Meanwhile, Professor Allan Macinnes of Strathclyde University, who resigned from the series's advisory board after its first meeting last November, said he considered it "strange" that Scotland's rich prehistory had been ignored. "To have the standing stones in the logo, but not in the programme is an own goal by the BBC," he added.

The series is being broadcast in two parts of five episodes each and promises to separate the facts from the myths when telling the story of famous figures such as William Wallace, Robert Bruce and Mary, Queen of Scots.

Two years in the making and costing £2 million, the programme is at the heart of a massive push by the BBC to reignite understanding and appreciation of Scottish history.

Among highlights of the first episode, which is broadcast on BBC1 on Sunday, 9 November, is a document described as "Scotland's birth certificate". The Chronicle of the Kings of Alba is a list of 12 kings of the house of Apin, which charts a critical transition between 878 and 889 when all references to Pictland effectively disappear, to be replaced by "Albaniam", the Gaelic for Scotland. The document is held in the Bibliotheque National in Paris and is part of a parcel of documents believed to have been brought back to France from London by a courier in the 17th century.

Yesterday the programme's presenter, Neil Oliver, an archeologist by training, defended the exclusion of prehistory from the programmes.

He said: "Appearing in the written record: that is what we defined at first base as what we would call history. I'm an archeologist, so it's regrettable for me as I would love to have spent more time considering prehistory, but we can't do it all. There are 12,000 years and we've got ten hours – so what is the best story you can tell?"

The BBC's decision, meanwhile, was supported by Paul Henderson Scott, vice-convener of the Saltire Society, who said: "I would call that archeology. History is what you can deduce from written records and accounts, not what you have to piece together from bits of stone.

"Scotland's history is so fascinating and dense that you don't need to go into archaeology. You can leave that for another series. This is an important series and it can't come on soon enough."

WHAT NEXT

THE documentary series, A History of Scotland, lies at the heart of a major new initiative by BBC Scotland called "Scotland's History" which will span television, radio, the internet and include a series of live concerts.

While the landmark ten-part series will be broadcast on BBC 1 Scotland with a network screening on BBC 2, it is also a catalyst for a raft of radio programming, a new website, interactive games, audio walks and events that will go on through till the end of 2009.

Maggie Cunningham, joint head of programmes at BBC Scotland, said: "This is a project to reach and engage as wide as possible a range of people across the country with up-to-date analysis of Scotland's history. We are one of the oldest countries in the world and have a rich and eventful history to back that up. This is a good time to review Scotland's history and our place in the world."

A website, www.bbc.co.uk/scotlandshistory has also been launched and will feature a wealth of video clips from BBC Scotland's extensive back catalogue of historical programmes.

Debates will also be a key feature of the site.