lauraclennam

I saw this when it was originally screened in 1978 or 1979 - I was just a little kid at the time. I was living in Argyll, Scotland - real Gaelic country/landscape, so the programme really resonated with me. It was repeated in 1980 or 1981 but after that i never heard anything about it until circa 1991 the first two or three episodes, edited together, were released on video briefly, by a company called VideoGem. I was surprised by its quality - I thought my childhood memories may have exaggerated its appeal. Some of the acting - particularly David Balfour - is slightly wooden; on the other hand , a lot of it is very good - notably David McCallum as Alan Breck Stewart. The episodes I saw on video included original material that doesn't feature in the book; but unlike typical Hollywood 'adaptations' some of this material is quite worthy - including a scene that suggests the relationship between the Scots tenants and the Stewarts-in-exile was more about extortion than loyalty. As for the video release, I don't think it sold very well, as I never saw any further releases of the remaining episodes, which was a great disappointment.

I agree that it was easily the best adaptation I've ever seen, and it would be great to see the whole series released on video. If I remember rightly, the series also adapted at least some of the sequel 'Catriona'.