Two literary giants bicker through Scotland while history happens around them.
In the autumn of 1773, the English writer Samuel Johnson visits the Hebrides, or Western Isles, off the North-West coast of Scotland. With him are his friend, the Scotsman James Boswell, and his black servant Francis Barber. Staying with a series of hosts, including elderly Jacobite heroine Flora McDonald, Johnson and Boswell encounter traditional Scottish hospitality at first-hand, all the time arguing about politics (and in Boswell's case losing his head over every pretty woman he meets). Meanwhile, Francis and another black servant they encounter provide evidence of the new consciousness emerging in Britain's soon-to-be-independent American colonies.
Acting
Robbie Coltrane's Johnson is magnificent, grumpy perfection.
Writing
John Byrne's script sparkles with anachronistic wit.
Director
John Byrne
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
John Byrne also designed the album covers for Billy Connolly and Slade before becoming a playwright.
The real Tour of the Western Isles became one of English literature's most famous travelogues; this adaptation deliberately foregrounds voices Johnson's original text marginalized.
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