Bill Paterson Remembers... The Cheviot, the Stag and the Black, Black Oil

Overview

Actor Bill Paterson looks back on one of the earliest roles of his career, in the 1974 boundary-breaking television adaptation of John McGrath's play The Cheviot, the Stag and the Black, Black Oil. It featured outdoor historical re-enactments of the notorious Highland Clearances intercut with scenes from a live performance of the play. Bill's involvement with the production began when he was a young member of left-wing theatre company 7:84 - so named to reflect their claim that seven per cent of the population owned 84 per cent of the UK's wealth. It saw Bill originally playing not one but two roles, as Glasgow property speculator McChuckemup and the oilman known as Texas Bill.