Boccia Brothers

With the countdown to the London Paralympic Games well under way, this documentary tells the inspiring story of a bid by two brothers from Lanarkshire to be chosen for the once-in-a-lifetime event. Narrated by Billy Connolly, Boccia Brothers follows Peter and Stephen McGuire from Hamilton in the lead up to the selection process for the Games.

Their discipline is Boccia, a sport similar to French boules and which is believed to have ancient Greek origins. The programme picks up the story with the McGuire brothers riding high in the sport's rankings.

Stephen and Peter have an undiagnosed form of Muscular Dystrophy. Their lives have been burdened with their fair share of heartbreak and misfortune, yet they are inspiring and funny throughout. As well as being skilled practitioners of their sport, they are engaging and amusing characters during the journey.

The story of their quest for selection goes from the Scottish Championships to the International Championships in Portugal and on to the crunch date when the contenders find out if they have made a final cut.

Directed by Martin Clark and Cara Connolly

1911: Review of the Year

Hopscotch Films were commissioned by BBC Learning to create a unique window into what life was like one hundred years ago. With a mix of archive, animation and specially shot footage, we tell the story of six amazing events from the perspective of the witnesses. These are the stories you would be reading about in the newspapers one hundred years ago:

Bombing Raids in Libya:  Italian forces attack Libya in the dying days of the Ottoman Empire.  They drop bombs from small planes in the world’s first air raid.

Industrial Unrest in Glasgow: Women protest against a cut in wages and ten thousand workers strike at the Singer factory.

Armed Gang in shootout with the Police: Home Secretary Winston Churchill watches as police and army battle a gang of jewel thieves.

Art Theft in Paris: the Mona Lisa  is stolen from the Louvre.  It’s so famous it’s unsellable, the police suspect it’s a prank by the modernists.

The Conquest of the South Pole: Admunsun triumphs over Scott in a tale of adversity and heroism.

Street Protests for Democracy : Suffragettes storm parliament and smash windows demanding the vote.

Produced by; John Archer, Carolynne Sinclair Kidd

Directed by: Clara Glynn, Dhivya Chetty, Ewan Morrison, Joseph Briffa, Aileen Ritchie



The School of Scottish Studies

The School of Scottish Studies was founded as a part of the University of Edinburgh in 1951 to collect, archive, research and discover everyday life in Scotland; its culture, and lively arts traditions.

Taking their cue from pioneering American folklorist Alan Lomax, and the mid-century Mass Observation movement, the school’s researchers work in the field recording audio and moving image with people across the  length and breadth of Scotland.

As the school celebrates its diamond anniversary, this documentary looks back at this vast and astonishing range of materials, which tell us as much about the time they were made in as about the lives they were seeking to capture. We look to the present and future, as we meet some current researchers as they continue the work. 

Directed by Joseph Briffa

Produced by John Archer

Broadcast on 30th November 2011, BBC Scotland

The Story of Film: An Odyssey

An epic 15 hour film about the history of innovation in the movies. Made over six years on four continents, covering eleven decades and a thousand films.

Epic... a global vision of cinema. Ian Christie, Sight and Sound

Audacious... a treat for movie lovers. Toronto Film Festival

A brilliant and monumental achievement. Roger Graef

A landmark in thinking and talking about cinema. Jonathan Coe

The Story of Film shows that innovation is at the heart of movie history. This series is about the pioneers, the people who really loved film, brought it alive and used it in new ways. The questions it asks are: who, at any time, were the most dynamic filmmakers on the planet? What sort of films were they making? How did they drive movies forward? Each section of the story is filmed in a different country, an atmospheric reminder that movies are about the real world.

Movies can't change the world or feed a nation but for over a century now people have flocked to films, to see their dreams, their fears, their sexuality and that of others on screen. The movies at the heart of this story have helped shape how we feel, love, look and hope.

Based on the internationally acclaimed best-seller The Story of Film by Mark Cousins

Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and look out for the new website coming soon: www.thestoryoffilm.com

Written and directed by Mark Cousins

Producer: John Archer

No Sleep Till Yell (2011)

The Shetland Folk Festival is one of the world's most exotic events with a hard earned reputation as the festival where nobody sleeps.

Celebrating its 30th birthday, a hundred folk-musicians from as far afield as New York, Mumbai and Stockholm descend on the islands for four days and 200 performances, aided by 700 volunteers. With non-stop music from before the ferry leaves Aberdeen until the moment the visiting musicians return.

Directed: Brian Ross

Produced: John Archer