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On Wednesday 26 February 2025, BBC Four broadcasts Vivien Heilbron Remembers… Grey Granite!

Episode Summary

The upcoming episode of “Vivien Heilbron Remembers…” titled “Grey Granite” promises to be a nostalgic journey for fans of classic television. This episode will air on BBC Four and will take a closer look at the 1983 adaptation of Lew Grassic Gibbon’s “A Scots Quair” trilogy. The focus will be on the final part, “Grey Granite,” which holds a special place in the hearts of viewers.

Vivien Heilbron, the leading actress, will share her memories of making the series. She will reflect on her experiences and the challenges she faced in portraying the character of Chris Guthrie. This role was significant for Heilbron, as it marked her return to the character after more than a decade since she first played Chris in “Sunset Song.”

The episode will delve into the behind-the-scenes moments of the production, providing insights...

The upcoming program “Vivien Heilbron Remembers… Grey Granite” is set to air on BBC Four at 11:00 Pm on Wednesday, February 26, 2025. This special presentation offers a unique opportunity to revisit a beloved classic from the 1980s. The show focuses on the third and final installment of Lew Grassic Gibbon’s A Scots Quair trilogy, which first graced television screens in 1983.

Vivien Heilbron, the leading actress of Grey Granite, shares her insights and memories from her time on set. She reflects on the challenges she faced while stepping back into the role of Chris Guthrie, a character she first portrayed in the earlier adaptation, Sunset Song. With over a decade since her initial performance, Heilbron’s journey through the character’s evolution is sure to resonate with fans of the series.

This retrospective not only highlights the significance of the original adaptation but also showcases the enduring impact it has had on those involved.

By Fred Blosser

A naive but principled young guy from the sticks gets embroiled with outnumbered and outgunned rebels in an uprising against a tyrannical empire, has his life saved more than once by a roguish outlaw, is menaced by an older relative, and goes on the run with a spirited young woman of royal lineage, all in a 1970s movie featuring a talented cast of fresh newcomers and distinguished veteran British actors. What, “Star Wars”? Well . . . yeah, I suppose so . . . but actually I was thinking of a substantially more obscure picture, Delbert Mann’s 1971 production “Kidnapped,” now available on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber. Mann’s movie was based on the Robert Louis Stevenson novel, once widely read by teenage boys but now supplanted, I guess, by “Minecraft” and Japanese Manga. I saw the film in a nearly empty theater during its U.S. release in early 1972, a rare, intelligent...

Moira Armstrong suggests in her letter about Sunset Song (2 December) that publicity for the film has implied that there had been no earlier attempt to dramatise my grandfather’s novel, citing the BBC’s wonderful 1970 TV version. She should rest assured that the director Terence Davies has consistently and generously credited Vivien Heilbron’s portrayal of Chris Guthrie as his inspiration for his 15-year labour of love. She and James Naughtie (Loons and queans and orramen, G2, 25 November) were concerned about Terence’s capturing of the landscape and language. But the film’s potentially toughest critics, the current residents of “Kinraddie”, the fictional setting of the novel, gave it a resounding Doric cheer when it was shown in Arbuthnott village hall, two miles from where Lewis Grassic Gibbon was brought up, on St Andrew’s Day.

Alister Martin

Welwyn Garden City

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