CLOUD HOWE: BBC period drama set in Scotland hailed ‘gripping and moving’ by fans

Drama is based on a book about a woman from the north-east of Scotland during the early 20th century

A woman smiles with a man standing behind her in a field

The BBC drama is based on a ‘masterpiece’ novel (Image: BBC)

Period drama fans are in for a treat as a Scottish classic is available to stream for free on BBC iPlayer.

The drama, which is one of many based in Scotland, is inspired by a novel which was published in the early 1930s by Scottish writer, Lewis Grassic Gibbon.

His published a trilogy, A Scots Quair, based on the life of Chris Guthrie, a young woman growing up in a dysfunctional farming family.

The three novels, Sunset Song, Cloud Howe and Grey Granite, are widely considered to be classics in Scottish literature, with Scotland known for being a great filming location for adaptations.

TV adaptations of all three works were made by the BBC in 1971, 1982 and 1983, respectively, and Cloud Howe is now available to watch on BBC iPlayer.

The dramatisation of the second part of the Scots Quair trilogy sees Chris married to the minister of a small industrial town.

The four-episode series is set against a backdrop of political unrest, as Chris is met with suspicion and rumours during testing times in the fictional mill town of Segget.

The fictional town in Cloud Howe is largely based on real locations in the Mearns, specifically Auchenblae and Drumlithie in Aberdeenshire.

Fans took to IMDb reviews to share their thoughts on the series, with James Hitchcock saying: “At first I did not enjoy Cloud Howe as much as its predecessor Sunset Song, one of the BBC’s most powerful dramas of the seventies.
A woman smiles in front of a book case

The BBC series is based on a novel of the same name

“The first two episodes struck me as rather dull and slow-moving. The pace and power of the story began to improve, however, in the latter two episodes, with the ending being particularly gripping and moving.

“There is a fine performance from Vivien Heilbron as Chris, reprising the role she had played in Sunset Song, and perhaps an even finer one from Hugh Fraser as Robert.”

Commenting on the original source material, Bruce took to Goodreads to call the novel a “masterpiece of Scottish literature, the flowing like music”.

Elle added: “These are still my favourite novels of all time. I always seem to read them at crucial moments in my life, or strange ones at least, and my reading is always heavily affected by where I am emotionally.

“This time I laughed less and cried less, but found the writing no less true, and no less beautiful.”

Cloud Howe is available to watch on BBC iPlayer

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