Colin Edwards, co-creator of the brilliant Franz Kafka Big Band, is also one of my favourite movie bloggers. In his recent critique of Mary Queen of Scots, he admits that British and Scottish history tends to make him glaze over, especially anything to do with Kings and Queens and succession. I don’t think he’s alone and, were it not for the passion of my late Auntie Jean and Uncle Jimmy, I doubt I would have grown up with any knowledge of Scottish history before World War 2. It was they who took me and my sister on tours of historic sites and battlefields around Stirling and Clackmannanshire and made the whole thing come alive.
Colin’s musings also reminded me of the time I persuaded journalist and former SuperScot presenter, Jane Franchi, to take part in the radio mocumentary I made about my alter ego, Johnny Sellotape. In one sequence, Johnny gets a last-minute invitation to appear on this famous BBC Scotland quiz show – a show which tested contestants’ knowledge of all things Scottish – and which regularly attracted record viewing figures.
But much like you can be sure of getting some correct answers on University Challenge by shouting “Shakespeare” , “Beethoven” or “Einstein” at the telly, Johnny had his own game-winning strategy …
Jeff's Zones 