Duncan Campbell Quotes

“Mercifully, at BBC Scotland, there was still some boldness about.

Five years earlier, BBC Scotland Controller Pat Chalmers had refused to had over tapes of a series by Duncan Campbell about 'Zircon', a secret £500 million spy satellite programme being implemented behind the backs of MPs. The tapes were impounded anyway. But there was still smeddum about - and production staff totally immersed in Scotland's cultures. One was Radio Scotland boss and Gaelic speaker Neil Fraser, another was arts producer and jazz trombonist Dave Batchelor. Dave was put in charge of the whole highly ambitious three-hour programme, commemorating the life of Hugh MacDiarmid, to be broadcast live from Studio One in the Beeb's old base at 5 Queen Street, Edinburgh. Unbelievably, within a decade, this fabulous, acoustic space was mothballed thanks to the internal market imposed by Director General John Birt. No BBC programme could afford to use the corporation's own finest studio space. Nice one, John.”
― Lesley Riddoch, Ayont the Thistle: A gallimaufry of poetry and prose to mark the centenary (1926 - 2026) of Hugh MacDiarmid's 'A Drunk Man looks at the Thistle'