Blogging about

Timewatch

The BBC’s flagship history series, from Gladiators to Genghis Khan, Bog bodies to Bloody Omaha, find out more in Timewatch.

Wednesday 23 May

We have a viewing with John Farren [executive producer]. By the end of the session, Chris and John have decided to drop the whole sequence on the Western Isles and Whisky Galore. It’s not uncommon at this late stage to do this if a sequence is getting in the way of the story and in danger of confusing the audience. In this case, the Whisky Galore story comes too late in the film for what it tells the viewer about wrecking, so when we come to the sequence, it doesn’t follow on from the thought before but is like going backwards. We think about moving it up to the front of the film but that wouldn’t make sense to Bella’s geographic journey in the programme. Finally the decision is made to drop it. It’s a real shame, as personally it is one of my favourite sequences in the film partly because the Whisky Galore film archive is so funny. But it’s true; the story arc works much better without it.

About the author

Timewatch is the world’s longest-running history series, having started in 1981, and is the BBC’s flagship history series. Here, members of the production team share the highs, and lows, during the production process as they make some of the next series of programmes.