''Brond'' is a 1987 British three-part drama television series made by

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

, based on the novel of the same name by Scottish author

Frederic Lindsay Frederic Lindsay (12 August 1933 – 31 May 2013) was a Scottish crime writer, who was born in Glasgow and lived in Edinburgh. He was a full-time writer from 1979 and previously worked as a lecturer, teacher and library assistant. He was ac ...

. It was directed by

Michael Caton-Jones Michael Caton-Jones (born Michael Jones; 15 October 1957) is a Scottish Film director, director and Film producer, producer of film and television. His credits include the World War II film ''Memphis Belle (film), Memphis Belle'' (1990), the r ...

and starred

Stratford Johns Alan Edgar Stratford Johns (22 September 1925 – 29 January 2002), known as Stratford Johns, was a British stage, film and television actor who is best remembered for his starring role as Detective Inspector Charlie Barlow in the long-running ...

, John Hannah in his first television role, Louise Beattie and

James Cosmo James Ronald Gordon Copeland , known professionally as James Cosmo (b. 1947), is a Scottish film and television actor known for his appearances in films including '' Highlander'', ''Braveheart'', ''Trainspotting'', ''Jagame Thandhiram'', ''Tro ...

Plot

''Brond'' is a thriller set in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

, Scotland. Stratford Johns plays the titular Brond, an amoral leader of the Scottish Liberation Army. Robert, a student at Glasgow University, played by John Hannah in his first screen role, witnesses Brond murdering a small boy on a bridge. Robert later meets Brond at a party, and gradually gets drawn in to a sequence of violent events.

Cast

as Brond * John Hannah as Robert *Louise Beattie as Margaret *

as Primo *Bernadette Shortt as Jackie Kennedy *Sandy Neilson as Baxter *Raymond Ross as Professor Gracemount *Billy McElhaney as Muldoon *

Ian McElhinney Ian McElhinney (born 19 August 1948) is a Northern Irish actor and director. He has appeared in many television series in a career spanning more than forty years; notable appearances include ''Taggart'', '' Hornblower'', '' Cold Feet'', and '' ...

as Kennedy

Production

''Brond'' is adapted by its author from the novel of the same name. In 2005 ''Brond'' the novel was picked as one of the 100 Best Scottish Books of All Time. Channel 4 commissioned musician

Bill Nelson Clarence William Nelson II (born September 29, 1942) is an American politician and attorney serving as the administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Nelson previously served as a United States Senator from Flor ...

to compose the theme tune and music for the series. The music, co-written with

Daryl Runswick Daryl Runswick (born 12 October 1946) is a classically trained English composer, arranger, jazz musician, producer and educationalist. Career Runswick was born in Leicester, and educated at Wyggeston Grammar School for Boys and Corpus Christi Col ...

, was released under the band name 'Scala'.

Home media

On 30 July 2018, Simply Media released ''Brond - The Complete Series'' on DVD.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Brond Scottish television series 1980s British drama television series 1987 British television series debuts 1987 British television series endings 1980s British television miniseries British thriller television series Channel 4 television dramas English-language television shows Television series set in the 1980s Television shows directed by Michael Caton-Jones Television shows set in Glasgow