''The New Road'' is a historical novel by the Scottish writer Neil Munro, which was adapted as a television serial by the BBC. Munro is now mainly remembered as the creator of the comic character

Para Handy Para Handy, the anglicized Gaelic nickname of the fictional character Peter Macfarlane, is a character created by the journalist and writer Neil Munro in a series of stories published in the '' Glasgow Evening News'' between 1905 and 1923 under ...

, but this is regarded as the best of his serious novels. The novel was written in 1914 and set in 1733. The title refers to General Wade's military road through the central Highlands from Dunkeld to

Inverness Inverness (; from the gd, Inbhir Nis , meaning "Mouth of the River Ness"; sco, Innerness) is a city in the Scottish Highlands. It is the administrative centre for The Highland Council and is regarded as the capital of the Highlands. Histori ...

, symbolic of changes taking place to the Highlands at that time. The central character is Aeneas Macmaster, a young man from

Inveraray Inveraray ( or ; gd, Inbhir Aora meaning "mouth of the Aray") is a town in Argyll and Bute, Scotland. It is on the western shore of Loch Fyne, near its head, and on the A83 road. It is a former royal burgh, the traditional county town of Arg ...

who travels north to investigate his father's disappearance and presumed death 14 years earlier at the

Battle of Glenshiel The Battle of Glen Shiel ( gd, Blàr Ghleann Seile) took place on 10 June 1719 in the West Scottish Highlands, during the Jacobite rising of 1719, 1719 Jacobite Rising. A Jacobitism, Jacobite army composed of Highland levies and Spanish Marine In ...

. Like Munro's earlier novel ''John Splendid'', it was a revisionist view of the period, which was critical of the cult of Highlanders and

Jacobites Jacobite means follower of Jacob or James. Jacobite may refer to: Religion * Jacobites, followers of Saint Jacob Baradaeus (died 578). Churches in the Jacobite tradition and sometimes called Jacobite include: ** Syriac Orthodox Church, sometime ...

, and was sympathetic to

Clan Campbell Clan Campbell ( gd, Na Caimbeulaich ) is a Highland Scottish clan, historically one of the largest and most powerful of the Highland clans. The Clan Campbell lands are in Argyll and within their lands lies Ben Cruachan. The chief of the clan be ...

, often seen as the villains of the period. (Munro came from Inveraray, the Campbell's capital.) It may also be slightly derivative of

Robert Louis Stevenson Robert Louis Stevenson (born Robert Lewis Balfour Stevenson; 13 November 1850 – 3 December 1894) was a Scottish novelist, essayist, poet and travel writer. He is best known for works such as ''Treasure Island'', ''Strange Case of Dr Jekyll a ...

's novel ''

Kidnapped Kidnapped may refer to: * subject to the crime of kidnapping Literature * ''Kidnapped'' (novel), an 1886 novel by Robert Louis Stevenson * ''Kidnapped'' (comics), a 2007 graphic novel adaptation of R. L. Stevenson's novel by Alan Grant and Ca ...

'', which had a similar setting, and there are parallels between some of the characters. The BBC adapted it as a television serial, shown in April 1973 in the Sunday tea-time slot which showed fairly faithful adaptations of classic novels. The script was written by

Cliff Hanley Clifford Leonard Clark "Cliff" Hanley (28 October 1922 – 9 August 1999) was a journalist, novelist, playwright and broadcaster from Glasgow in Scotland. Originally from Shettleston in the city's East End, he was educated at Eastbank Ac ...

. There were five 45-minute episodes: "A Call to the North", "Col of the Tricks", "A Kistful of Muskets", "The Big One" and "A Balance of Accounts".

Cast

* Maev Alexander as Janet Campbell *

David Ashton David Ashton may refer to: * David Ashton (botanist) (1927–2005), Australian botanist and ecologist * David Ashton (actor) David Ashton (born David Scott on 10 November 1941, in Greenock, Scotland) is a Scottish actor and writer. Trained a ...

as Aeneas Macmaster * John Grieve as Sandy Duncanson * Tom Watson as Ninian Campbell *

Christine McKenna Christine McKenna (born 1951) is a British actress active during the 1970s and 1980s, best known for playing "Christina" in the television series '' Flambards''. McKenna was a drama student at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in G ...

as Margaret Duncanson *

David Mowat David John Mowat (born 20 February 1957) is a former Conservative Party politician in the United Kingdom. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Warrington South, and was first elected at the 2010 general election. He was appointed as Pa ...

as The Muileach * Bryden Murdoch as Alan Macmaster *

Jameson Clark Jameson Clark (8 July 1907, Kilbirnie, North Ayrshire, Scotland – 4 January 1984, Kilbirnie, Ayrshire, ScotlandHelena Gloag Helena Gloag (23 February 1909 – 15 June 1973) was a Scottish actress. She had roles as the grandmother in the television series ''My Ain Folk'' and appeared in films such as '' The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie'', ''Ring of Bright Water'', '' ...

as Meg *

Anne Kristen Anne Kristen (7 March 1937 – 7 August 1996) was a Scottish actress, best known for portraying Olive Rowe in ''Coronation Street''. Her longest-lasting role was as Miss Meiklejohn in '' Hamish Macbeth''. She also appeared in ''Wings'' as Moll ...

as Annabell Macmaster *Bill Henderson as the Highlander *Mary McCuster as the Slattern

References

External links

*
review of the novel
* {{DEFAULTSORT:New Road,The BBC television dramas 1973 British television series debuts 1973 British television series endings Scottish historical novels 1970s British drama television series