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The Best Episodes of A History of Scotland

Every episode of A History of Scotland ranked from best to worst. Let's dive into the Best Episodes of A History of Scotland!

Presented by Neil Oliver, A History of Scotland is a television series first broadcast in November 2008 on BBC One Scotland and later shown UK-wide...
Genre:Documentary

Best Episodes Summary

"Bishop Makes King" is the best rated episode of "A History of Scotland". It scored 8.6/10 based on 23 votes. Directed by N/A and written by N/A, it aired on 11/24/2008. This episode scored 0.1 points higher than the second highest rated, "Project Britain".

  • Bishop Makes King
    8.6/1023 votes
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    #1 - Bishop Makes King

    Season 1 Episode 3 - Aired 11/24/2008

    Robert Bruce's 22-year struggle to secure the Scots' independence is one of the most important chapters in Scotland's story. Neil Oliver explores the crucial role the Scottish church played in promoting the cause of Robert Bruce, how they launched repeated propaganda campaigns, both at home and abroad, and how the famous 1320 Declaration of Arbroath ultimately persuaded the Pope to finally recognise Scotland as an independent nation.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • Project Britain
    8.5/1020 votes
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    #2 - Project Britain

    Season 1 Episode 5 - Aired 12/8/2008

    Neil Oliver describes how the ambitions of two of Scotland's Stuart monarchs were the driving force that united two ancient enemies, and set them on the road to the Great Britain we know today. While Mary Queen of Scots plotted to usurp Elizabeth I and seize the throne of England, her son James dreamt of a more radical future: a Protestant Great Britain.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • God's Chosen People
    8.5/1018 votes
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    #3 - God's Chosen People

    Season 2 Episode 1 - Aired 11/8/2009

    Neil Oliver continues his journey through Scotland's past with the story of the Covenanters, whose profound religious beliefs were declared in the National Covenant of 1638. This document licensed revolution, started the Civil War that cost King Charles I his head, cost tens of thousands of Scots their lives and led to Britain's first war on terror.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • Project Scotland
    8.4/1017 votes
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    #4 - Project Scotland

    Season 2 Episode 5 - Aired 12/6/2009

    As a partner in the British Empire, Scotland began the 20th century with an advanced economy and a world-beating heavy industry. But in the closing decades its sense of Britishness was in doubt and a Scottish Parliament sat in Edinburgh for the first time since 1707. Charting Scotland's darkest century, Neil Oliver discovers a country driven to self-determination through a series of economic crises so deep that her most striking export became her own disillusioned population.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • Language is Power
    8.2/1023 votes
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    #5 - Language is Power

    Season 1 Episode 4 - Aired 12/1/2008

    At one time, Gaelic Scotland - the people and the language - was central to the collective identity of Scots. But as Neil Oliver reveals, Scotland's infamous Highland/Lowland divide was the result of a family struggle that divided the kingdom. This is the story of how the centralising policies of the Stewart royal family in the 15th century led to the Gaels being perceived as rebels and outsiders.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • This Land Is Our Land
    8.2/1016 votes
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    #6 - This Land Is Our Land

    Season 2 Episode 4 - Aired 11/29/2009

    At the start of the 19th century, everything familiar was swept away. People fled from the countryside into the industrial towns of Scotland's central belt. Rural workers became factory workers - in some of the worst conditions in Europe. This new Scotland became a seedbed of revolution. But it wasn't just force that kept the Scottish people in their place, it was fantasy. Neil Oliver reveals how Sir Walter Scott created so powerful a myth, it haunts the Scots collective imagination to this day.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • The Hammers of the Scots
    8.1/1022 votes
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    #7 - The Hammers of the Scots

    Season 1 Episode 2 - Aired 11/16/2008

    Neil Oliver charts the 13th century story of the two ruthless men who helped transform the Gaelic kingdom of Alba into the Scotland we recognise today. While Alexander II forged Scotland in blood and violence, William Wallace's resistance to the nation-breaking King Edward I of England hammered national consciousness into the Scots.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • Let's Pretend
    8.1/1019 votes
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    #8 - Let's Pretend

    Season 2 Episode 2 - Aired 11/15/2009

    Bitterly divided by politics and religion for centuries, this is the infamous story of how Scotland and England came together in 1707 to form Great Britain. Over time the Union matured into one of the longest in European history, but it very nearly ended in divorce. Exploiting the Union's unpopularity, the exiled Stuarts staged several comebacks, selling themselves as a credible and liberal alternative to the Hanoverian regime. Neil Oliver reveals just how close they came to succeeding.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • The Price of Progress
    8.0/1018 votes
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    #9 - The Price of Progress

    Season 2 Episode 3 - Aired 11/22/2009

    Through the winning and losing of an American empire and the impact of the Scottish Enlightenment, Neil Oliver reveals how in the second half of the 18th century Scotland was transformed from a poor northern backwater with a serious image problem into one of the richest nations on Earth. This was the dawn of the modern age when Scotland made its mark on the world by exporting its most valuable commodities - its people and ideas.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • The Last of the Free
    7.9/1026 votes
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    #10 - The Last of the Free

    Season 1 Episode 1 - Aired 11/9/2008

    At the dawn of the first millennia, there was no Scotland or England. In the first episode of this landmark series, Neil Oliver reveals the mystery of how the Gaelic Scottish Kingdom - Alba - was born, and why its role in one of the greatest battles ever fought on British soil defined the shape of Britain in the modern era.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A