Boswell and Johnson's Tour of the Western Isles

Boswell and Johnson's Tour of the Western Isles

1993 · 30 min · Comedy, TV Movie

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.

Directed by John Byrne · Written by John Byrne

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Cast

Robbie Coltrane Dr Samuel Johnson
John Sessions James Boswell
Celia Imrie Lady MacDonald
Ruth McGhie Flora McDonald
Penelope McGhie Miss Campbell
Nicola Esson Elizabeth McQuarrie
Mark Anstee Captain MacLeod
Alan David Sir Aeneas MacPherson
Ian Dury Dr Reid
Tony Halfpenny Coll
Donald MacNeill McLeod of Raasay
Carol MacReady Lady MacPherson

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