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Comment by Mark MacLachlan on May 28, 2010 at 13:20

My wife was a social worker in Killie for five years and spent too much time dodging packs of wild dogs in Onthank. One of her clients from Knockinlaw Road, delighted in telling folk how he plead not guilty to murder, but guilty to' throwing the boys deid body on the bonfire'. It hasn't been a happy scheme since it was first built and the town was famous for booze, shoes and coos.

Comment by mark gorman on May 28, 2010 at 13:02

I have just spoken to someone who grew uop on that scheme. He says it bears absolutely no relation to the reality and that many (most) of the houses are owner occupied. The residents are up in arms about the way the programme is misrepresenting their community.

But hey. Bullet the Dug's famous now.

Comment by Mark MacLachlan on May 28, 2010 at 12:57

Amidst all the piss and fury above, be it alliterative labels or net curtain twitching docu-drama, the Scheme, does afford us a rare glimpse of life beyond the battered front door , normally restricted to social work, health and police. For me it's an insight to the way that some on our schemes are so utterly lost, their moral boundaries inexorably skewed. The projection of the endless cycle of violence, addiction, theft and teen pregnancy was as subtle as a metal baseball bat, but much needed. If it needs cliché ridden editing and incidental music to get the message over so be it. It’s only when you tire of saying something that people start to listen…

The media reaction to it has been pathetic. The Daily Record putting 'Bullet the Dug' on it's front page the day after the discovery of the burned body of a seventeen year old girl, who was brutally murdered in another central belt scheme, in Wishaw, was shameful. The police have commented on the unusually slow response from the public, had the Record covered the story in the same way as Bullet's plight, a community might have felt safer and a murderer closer to custody. BBC Scotland don’t come out smelling any better, Rep Scotland played the most excruciating vox pop of neighbours near the murder scene, one resident laughing out loud, when asked if she would use the path in the future, "Naw it's like a scary movie." At that point the victim was still unidentified.

The deification of Marvin reminds me of the first of the ‘Buy Smeato a pint’ websites, where what was a straight up piss take rapidly morphed into an icon creating falsehood that took no mocking. I fear for Marvin.

Comment by mark gorman on May 28, 2010 at 12:44

I knew you'd say that. ;-)

Comment by Stuart Cosgrove on May 28, 2010 at 12:42

James says: "a simple TV viewer and what I saw where people trying to do their best within a world of chaotic home lives, unemployment, drugs, drink, poverty and low self esteem. The public (and especially younger generations brought up on reality TV) know that these types of shows are made in a certain way to get the 'money shots'. As much as things like the Facebook groups and editorial decisions will get all the attention I personally feel shows like these should be a wake-up call for our elected officials in dealing with the important underlying issues.

So much truth and clarity in what you say James. 100% agree.

Comment by James Taylor on May 28, 2010 at 12:35

As someone who has spent a lot of time politically campaigning in the parts of Ayrshire where The Scheme was filmed I agree with Garioch Lesslyn's comments. Yes there is some caricaturing but no more than when Channel4's 'Country House Rescue' plays up to stereotypes of the landed gentry. If anything the feeling I got watching both episodes was sadness, sadness at seeing Gordon Cunninghame crying as he sees his son repeat his mistakes, sadness as Kay gives a home to people really struggling in their lives. Unlike some of the commentators here I looked at the show as a simple TV viewer and what I saw where people trying to do their best within a world of chaotic home lives, unemployment, drugs, drink, poverty and low self esteem. The public (and especially younger generations brought up on reality TV) know that these types of shows are made in a certain way to get the 'money shots'. As much as things like the Facebook groups and editorial decisions will get all the attention I personally feel shows like these should be a wake-up call for our elected officials in dealing with the important underlying issues.

Comment by Stuart Cosgrove on May 28, 2010 at 11:52

I'd say its a mix of quality and form - the form is frequenetly disliked, in fact it is probably the most 'demonised' form in modern media. 'Reality TV' is one of the few things that unites salon intellectuals and red-top tabloids, they both hate 'ob-doc-reality' TV. One hates its brashness the other its competitiveness.

Comment by mark gorman on May 28, 2010 at 10:27

Well that's that one nailed folks. So what is it then, formnat or quality? Me? Neither. It's undoubtedly high quality and I don't object to the format (as Stuart has rightly pointed out below how can format be the issue when portrayal of the Scottish underclasses has been done in many formats). It's the tone of voice (delivery?) that's bothering me.

Red Road (an outstanding movie) dealt with this sort of issue responsibly, symathetically and eye-openingly in my layman's opinion.

Comment by Stuart Cosgrove on May 28, 2010 at 10:18

The Scheme - Clunky Observational Documentary that uses underclass Scotland as its raw material.

Sweet Sixteen - Bitter-sweet Ken Loach feature which uses underclass Scotland as raw material.

Rab C. Nesbitt - Hyper-panto comedy series which uses underclass Scotland as raw material.

Greyhounds for Breakfast - Great hyper-real literature using underclass Scotland as raw material.

David Gillander's utterly brilliant photojournalism which won the Getty Prize and uses underclass Scotland as its raw material.

Channel 4's Knife Crime Commission - discursive current affairs that uses underclass Scotland as its raw material

Billy Connolly's The Crucifixion - Comedic parody of the Bible which uses underclass Scotland as raw material.


All of the above cultural producers enjoy successful careers and to my knowledge live in very comfortable homes.

So for me the real issue is not whether form should sue unedrclass Scotland as Scotland - that is a time-honoured creative tardition. What is at stake is one of two things - quality or formal construct? Either the form of observational documentary or the quality of the series?

If you hate it as telly that’s fine – I’m not sure I really care to defend that - but get it into some perspective please. To object to film-makers creating a cultural product from this raw subject matter is bizarre, self-defeating and against the grain of history.

Comment by mark gorman on May 28, 2010 at 10:01

If the film had been made sympathetically and realistically as opposed to sniggeringly ripping the total piss out of the main protagonists it would have been great, useful and a real expose of the shit lives the so-called 'underclasses ' live. In my layman's opinion (I'm not a film maker only a viewer) it wasn't. I don't know if it was post- post modern because in all honesty I don't know what that is. What I do know is that it was a total piss take. I hadn't thought about the way the punch scene was filmed but I suspect Pat may well be right in his assumtion.

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