Caithness writer tells of ‘living in the world of Bonnie Prince Charlie’ to create new audio series

Caithness writer Colin MacDonald has revealed the two key questions that drove him on in his latest documentary/drama project – a five-part audio series about the 1745 Jacobite Rising.

He was determined to understand how Bonnie Prince Charlie managed to land in Scotland with a handful of men, rout a much bigger army and march on England, “setting London in an absolute panic”, and also to get a sense of what he was like as a person.

MacDonald described The Pretender Prince as his attempt to answer these questions.

The series starts on May 16 and all episodes will be available on BBC Sounds. The narrator is Jack Lowden, with Lorn Macdonald in the role of Bonnie Prince Charlie, while Helen Mackay from Thurso is also in the cast.

Recording took place over five days at the BBC’s Pacific Quay studios in Glasgow. The Pretender Prince has an original soundtrack written by Duncan Chisholm and performed by him along with harpist Ingrid Henderson, piper Ross Ainslie and bodhran player Martin O’Neill.

MacDonald, a writer for TV, film and audio, comes from Wick and lives and works in Edinburgh.

His previous drama/documentary, An Eye for a Killing, was nominated in the best original series or serial category of the BBC Audio Drama Awards for 2024. It tells the story of serial killers William Burke and William Hare, who murdered 16 people in Edinburgh in a 10-month period in 1828.

An Eye for a Killing was also narrated by Jack Lowden and it too featured Helen Mackay. All five episodes are available on BBC Sounds.

Colin MacDonald Q&A:

Much has been written and passed on verbally about Bonnie Prince Charlie and the Jacobite Rising over these past 280 years. How have you set about the task of telling the story in your own unique way in The Pretender Prince?

“I did over a year’s research before starting to write The Pretender Prince: talking to historians, going through original documents in the National Library, and reading books and articles. Two questions that began to nag at me were: How could a 24-year-old man, Italian born, land in Scotland with a handful of men, and within months rout a much larger army at Prestonpans, capture Edinburgh and then march on England, setting London in an absolute panic, and getting as far as Derby before it all went to hell in a handcart? And – what was he like, this man? Charismatic, certainly, introspective, maybe. The Pretender Prince has been my attempt, in five episodes, to answer these questions.”

What has excited you most about this project? And how important is the music to the overall production?

“The exciting part, as always, has been writing it. Living in that world for eight months – imagining the trials faced not just by Bonnie Prince Charlie and his senior officers but by clansmen and clanswomen who made the long march south and then ended up facing the hell of slaughter at Culloden, and the dreadful aftermath.

“The music plays an integral part. The fiddler and composer Duncan Chisholm went back and found tunes from the 1740s and 1750s, and also wrote incidental music, which is played by him and a collection of world-class musicians, including Martin O’Neill, who is just back from touring with Stevie Wonder.”

How pleased were you to be working with Helen Mackay and Jack Lowden again?

“Working with Helen Mackay is a joy. Helen is a top actor, and has been in a number of my dramas. She brings a richness to the person of Catherine Cameron that I could only dream of when I wrote her. Helen is someone you always want to work with. She gives absolutely everything to the part – and what she brings is laughter, sorrow and a tender poignancy. I am lucky to be able to work with her. The Caithness blood is strong!

“When Jack Lowden agreed to narrate the series it was the best news. He is a brilliant actor – as you can see in Slow Horses, among many other shows. He is committed to Scotland and Scottish drama, and his name is able to pull in big audiences. It’s a privilege to work with him again.”

You must have been delighted with the success of An Eye for a Killing. Why do you think it captured the public’s imagination in the way it did?

“I think An Eye for a Killing captured the public’s imagination because it tells of ordinary people who found themselves, through no fault of their own, caught up in certainly the worst atrocity Scotland had ever seen: mass murderers on the loose and killing for money. It was an attempt to let the victims of that atrocity speak and be heard.”

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