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Scotland's History: The Top Ten - the second batch of contenders emerge...
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Scotland's History: The Top Ten revealed a contentious contender in its second episode screened last night.
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Margaret Thatcher was revealed as among the possible contenders for inclusion in the top ten of Scottish history.
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Advocating the former Conservative Prime Minister's place in our history was 28-year-old David Stewart from Motherwell, whose phd from Glasgow University focused on her lasting impact on Scotland.
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He says: "Margaret Thatcher is so important to Scottish history because she exerted a profound influence over the nature of Scottish society and the campaign for Scottish devolution...
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"She was the unwitting architect of the present day Scottish Parliament."
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At the age of 28, David only experienced the Thatcher years in childhood, but says: "For older generations it mightÌýseem strange to classifyÌýthe Thatcher years as history, butÌýMargaret ThatcherÌýentered Downing Street overÌý27 years ago.
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"Her premiershipÌýwas a watershed, and future generations will come to learn that it was a pivotal phase in the campaign for Scottish devolution."
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The second batch of contenders screened on Friday 17 November, with their advocates:
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The Scottish Empire - historian Michael Fry
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The Slave Trade - author James Robertson
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Unification (of Scotland) - Alex Woolf, St Andrews University
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Engineers and Inventors: James Watt -Ìý Rowan Brown, Curator of Technology at National Museums of Scotland
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The Enlightenment - broadcaster James Naughtie
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Irish Immigration - Martin Mitchell, Strathclyde University
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Entertainers - actor Sanjeev Kohli
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Margaret Thatcher - David Stewart
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Renaissance Court: James IV and V - Katie Stevenson, St Andrews University
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Working Women - journalist Dr Norman Watson.
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Topics revealed on 10 November:
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Declaration of Arbroath - Ted Cowan, Glasgow University
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The Reformation - Jenny Wormald, Edinburgh University
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Burns - Owen Dudley Edwards, Edinburgh University
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Tartanry - folklorist Margaret Bennett
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Scientists: James Clerk Maxwell - Bruce Borthwick
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The Scottish City - historian Hamish Fraser
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Radicalism - historian Michael Donnelly
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Treaty of Union - Richard Finlay, Strathclyde University
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Clearances - Donald William Stewart, Edinburgh University
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Football - Bill Murray, La Trobe University, Australia.
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A further 10 subjects will be revealed next week by presenter Neil Oliver to make a list of 30 topics - people, events, ideas -Ìý culled from more than 1,000 nominations from the public.
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After the initial three programmes, all 30 subjects will go up on bbc.co.uk/scotlandshistory on Friday 24 November for the public to choose their favourites.
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The results will be revealed in a special programme on St Andrew's night (30 November), alongside the deliberations of a panel of history professionals chaired by Professor Tom Devine.
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Joining him to debate and wrestle with the significance of the 30 topics will be: Allan MacInnes, Aberdeen University; Alison Cathcart, Strathclyde University; David Caldwell, National Museums of Scotland; Doreen Grove, Historic Scotland; Duncan Toms, Principal Teacher of History, Bearsden Academy; and Katie Barclay, a Ph.D student at Glasgow University. Ìý
HM
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