About Dr Mark Jardine

Historian, Scriptwriter & Blogger on Scottish History & Covenanters. Expert on the 1680s. Worked on BBC Scotland’s A history of Scotland with Neil Oliver, The Last Explorers (again, with Neil Oliver) & Addicted to Pleasure with Brian Cox. RTS Award Winner. Now working on the follow up to Rise of the Clans,

Working for BBC Studios on history programmes/series development.

Researcher for the National Museum of Scotland for the Rip It Up: A History of Scottsih Pop exhibition in 2018.

Follow on Twitter: @drmarkjardine

Blog Contact

jardinesbookofmartyrs[at]gmail.com

I was also the presenter of ‘Death in Kabul’ on BBC Radio Scotland, the story of 19th century diplomat and adventurer in Afghanistan, Alexander Burnes.

Academic

My thesis on the United Societies or Later Covenanters between 1679 to 1688 can be found here.

I also have a First Class MA (Hons) in Scottish Historical Studies from the University of Edinburgh (1998).

Television and Radio

IMDb entry (some TV credits)

I’ve been on several other Radio Scotland programmes in the Past Times series in the last few years to the present, mainly talking about the Covenanters.

2014

BBC Radio Scotland ‘Out of Doors’ on the heart of Scotland.

BBC Radio Scotland ‘Scotland on the Couch’.

2013

Wigtown Book Festival event on Wigtown Martyrs.

Talk at Scottish Covenanter Memorial Association Dinner

Talk on Glasgow’s Townhead Martyrs at Towmhead Community Hall.

2012

10 March Interviewed on BBC Radio Five Live Breakfast show on the crisis at Rangers Football Club.

Beginning of Feb. On BBC Radio Scotland’s ‘Scotland At Ten’ discussing Scottish identity, the Union of 1707 and Scottish Independence.

January. Wrote outline for commissioned BBC Scotland/network history series on the Stuart monarchy which is due to be filmed in 2013.

2011.

3 Sept, Interviewed for BBC programme on Highland games.

28 July, Interviewed on the BBC Six O’Clock News by Lorna Gordon on the history behind the royal wedding of Zara Phillips and Mike Tindall.

3 July, Guest on BBC Radio Five Live on Stephen Nolan’s ‘We’re All In It Together’ programme discussing the possibility of Scottish independence.

1 July, Guest on BBC Radio Scotland’s live coverage of the Queen’s opening of the fourth Scottish Parliament.

I’m also working on two outlines for television history series for the BBC.

2010. I wrote and developed the outline for Neil Oliver’s forthcoming BBC Scotland series, The Last Explorers (Working Title), due for network transmission on the BBC in November 2011.

2007-2009 I was the ‘Series Historian’ who shaped and developed (and wrote parts of) BBC Scotland’s A History of Scotland from its inception to its network transmission. This ten x 60 mins series took over two years of my life to make. The series was a tremendous success, had exceptionally strong ratings and won a BAFTA (2008) and RTS (Nation and Regions) Award (2009).

A history of Scotland, Programme One: ‘Last of the Free’

A history of Scotland, Programme Seven: ‘Let’s Pretend’

A history of Scotland, Programme Ten: ‘Project Scotland’

Prior to that I was the researcher for the television history series In Search of Scotland , presented by Dr Fiona Watson, and worked for BBC online on the accompanying web site. I’ve also appeared on The Culture Show discussing Sir Walter Scott and some other television history programmes, such as Richard Holloway’s The Sword and the Cross.

In the late 90s, I was a researcher for BBC Radio Scotland Features and worked on Tales of a Grandfather with Magnus Magnusson (Radio Scotland) and Mark Kermode’s Celluloid Scientists (Radio 4, 2001) amongst other projects. I’ve also made contributions to various programmes on Radio Scotland, provided them with programme ideas and was head-hunted by Lesley Riddoch as a regular panellist on a thirteen-part series, Scotch Myths, which was broadcast on Radio Scotland in the run up to the 2007 Scottish election.

I have also produced a 60s-style music video, ‘Falling From Grace’, for the Glasgow band, The Gentle Waves.

Online

I am also a contributor to the Scottish cultural website, Bella Caledonia.

Print

I’ve been Assistant Editor and later Picture Editor of Scotland’s Story, a part work for First Press and the Daily Record Group in 1999 and 2000. I have also had articles published in historical suppliments on William Wallace, Robert Bruce, The Union and Heroes and Villians for the Sunday Herald.

I was also the founder, creator and editor/consigliore of two satirical and literary magazines, The One O’Clock Gun (2002) and The Scorpion Scotland (2004). My literary scribblings have also been published in an anthology known as Pax Edina (2010).

I’ve also been involved with the “Young Athenian” artists in Edinburgh, such as Jenny Hogarth and Dr Neil Mulholland, and was the scriptwriter for Kim Coleman and Jenny Hogarth’s Pentland Rising, a historical performance art experience featuring Covenanters on skis for a Collective Gallery Edinburgh Festival event, and wrote text for Neil Mulholland’s, The Haunted Swing.

I was also one of the founders of the ‘Top Slot Club’, a satirical letter writing club dedicated to gaining the ‘top slot’ of the letters page of the Edinburgh Evening News.