Dark Travellers - The Rise of Scottish Crime Writing

A new short film, written and presented by writer and broadcaster James Crawford, charts the rise of Scottish crime fiction and sheds new light on the success of the UK’s bestselling genre. Including never before seen interviews with some of the biggest names in crime writing, it traces the origins of one of key influences on all of their work. 

Produced by Publishing Scotland to mark the start of Bloody Scotland, the Crime writing festival which takes in place in Stirling each September, and the 2021 Frankfurt International Book Fair, Dark Travellers – the Rise of Scottish Crime Writing is a 22-minute documentary film featuring seven award-winning authors talking on the subject of crime writing today: Ian Rankin, Val McDermid, Denise Mina, Abir Mukherjee, Christopher Brookmyre, Marisa Haetzman and Graeme Macrae Burnet. 

James Crawford said: “All of the authors interviewed in this film keep coming back to the idea of the crime novel as being the ideal space to explore the human condition. This, it seems, is at the core of what makes crime writing so popular – a desire to work beneath the surface, to uncover the lies we tell and the secrets we keep; to explore the extremes of personality or circumstance that drive people to commit crimes, or even to kill. And is there something in the air, or the water, or the landscape that makes Scotland’s crime writers so adept at this? Much of their success is, I’m sure, down to their being so skilled at unpeeling these layers of personality, to expose the raw nerves of identity, and truth.”

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Scotland From the Sky - Series Three

Filming is now complete on the third series of Scotland from the Sky. Look out for three new, one-hour documentaries, to be broadcast in the near future on BBC One Scotland and BBC Two nationwide.

Scotland from the Sky Series Two - First Full UK Broadcast

Following straight on from the broadcast of Series One of Scotland from the Sky, BBC Two will now be showing Series Two on Saturday nights at 7.30pm, starting this weekend, 24 October.

The documentary series, which was shortlisted for ‘Best Documentary Specialist Factual: History’ category at the 2019 Royal Television Society Scotland Awards, has consistently been one of the top-rated programmes on the channel on Saturday nights.

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Second Nature - James Crawford presents new short film on Scottish nature writing

A new short film sees Scotland's top nature writers calling for people to 'notice' the natural world in response to the climate crisis and the Covid pandemic.

Produced by Publishing Scotland to mark the start of the 2020 Frankfurt Book Fair, ‘Second Nature’ is an 18-minute documentary film featuring five award-winning writers talking on the subject of nature and nature writing today: Kathleen Jamie, Jim Crumley, Chitra Ramaswamy, Roseanne Watt and Gavin Francis.

James Crawford, writer, broadcaster and Chair of Publishing Scotland, who has written and presented the film, said: 'The subjects being approached by nature writing in Scotland today are incredibly broad and diverse. Yet all these writers share the same sense of immediacy and urgency - and awareness that "noticing" brings with it the risk, at some point in the future, of "not noticing". Of seeing something, right up until the moment that it is gone. There is a truth and an authenticity to the new wave of Scottish nature writing that is incredibly powerful'.

Scotland from the Sky - First Full UK Broadcast

Series One of Scotland from the Sky gets its first full UK broadcast at 7pm on BBC Two on Saturday 3 October.

The series was previously shortlisted in the ‘Best Documentary Specialist Factual: History’ category at the 2019 Royal Television Society Scotland Awards.

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James Crawford appointed as Scotland's first 'archive ambassador'

The Archive and Records Association and its ARA Scotland regional group have announced that Jamie Crawford, of BBC1's 'Scotland from the Sky', has agreed to be the first ever ARA Scotland Explore Your Archive Ambassador for 2019-20.

Explore Your Archive is the annual campaign run by the ARA and a range of partners across the UK and Ireland to encourage members of the public to visit local, regional and national archives to explore the rich array of documentary heritage on their doorstep. The campaign is year-round and includes a launch week in the third week of November, when archives put on events, talks, exhibitions to showcase their holdings. The 2019/20 launch event is due to take place at New Register House in Edinburgh on 25 November 2019.

Karyn Williamson, chair of ARA Scotland, said: “We are delighted that Jamie has agreed to be the Scotland ambassador for the Explore Your Archive campaign for the coming year, not least because we celebrate in 2020 the 700th anniversary of the Declaration of Arbroath, one of Scotland’s most important archival treasures. We hope that Jamie’s involvement will encourage the public to explore the full range of local archival material at their disposal – documents that tell the social, political, economic history of the nation and the families and diverse communities within it.”

Scotland from the Sky shortlisted for Royal Television Society Awards

Scotland from the Sky has been shortlisted in the ‘Best Documentary Specialist Factual: History’ category at the 2019 Royal Television Society Scotland Awards.

The RTS Scotland Awards cover all forms of production in Scotland, recognising and celebrating excellence and innovation across a wide range of genres and crafts.

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Scotland From the Sky Series Two - Episode Three now on iPlayer

In this film, James Crawford uses remarkable aerial images to find out the Scots have harnessed our precious natural resources to power the counytry's industry. He combines old aerial photographs with present-day drone and helicopter footage to tell a range of tales, from a ‘slate island’ on the west coast, and remote loch near Ullapool to the Carron ironworks of Falkirk and the iconic site of Ravenscraig steelworks.

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Scotland from the Sky Series Two - Episode Two now on iPlayer

In this edition, James Crawford uses aerial images to discover how the Scots have lived off the land over the centuries. He combines old aerial photographs with present-day drone and helicopter footage to tell a range of amazing tales, from the delicious whisky of Islay to the fertile fields of the Lothians.

The island of Staffa is world-famous for Fingal’s Cave, but James reveals that people have farmed this tiny and remote island for thousands of years. He lands by helicopter at the spectacular Iron Age hill fort Tap o’ Noth near Aberdeen to find out that thousands of trees were burnt during its destruction. His journey continues to Fort Augustus, where he mountain bikes down the hairpin bends of the highest road in Scotland.

And he experiences a unique view from the top of a Scots pine in the ancient Caledonian forest at Glen Affric – considered one of our county’s most beautiful glens - to show what Scotland once looked like.

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Scotland from the Sky Series Two - Episode One now on iPlayer

A return of the series where presenter James Crawford explores Scotland from above, using stunningly beautiful aerial images to uncover fascinating stories from Scotland’s past.

In the first of three films, James focuses on Scotland’s ten-thousand miles of coastline. He combines old aerial photographs with present-day drone and helicopter footage to uncover an array of amazing tales, from Shetland to Stranraer.

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