Boswell and Johnson's Tour of the Western Isles (1993)
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.
Director: John Byrne
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Robbie Coltrane as Dr Samuel Johnson |
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John Sessions as James Boswell |
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Celia Imrie as Lady MacDonald |
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Ruth McGhie as Flora McDonald |
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Penelope McGhie as Miss Campbell |
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Nicola Esson as Elizabeth McQuarrie |
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Mark Anstee as Captain MacLeod |
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Alan David as Sir Aeneas MacPherson |
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Ian Dury as Dr Reid |
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Tony Halfpenny as Coll |
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Donald MacNeill as McLeod of Raasay |
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Carol MacReady as Lady MacPherson |
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Richard D. Sharp as Benjamin |
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Leo Sho-Silva as Joseph |
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Joanne Thirsk as Caroline MacPherson |
| Writing | John Byrne | Writer |
| Directing | John Byrne | Director |
| Production | Nicholas Barton | Producer |