Laughing together as a divided nation.
I thought I’d heard every opinion on Scottish independence that it was possible to hear in the two years since the Edinburgh Agreement.
But within 10 minutes of the polls closing on Thursday night I was given a new issue to angst over. If the referendum campaigns were desserts, which ones would they be?
It was a choice between tiramisu and sticky toffee pudding according to Mark, still undecided as he stood on the steps of the polling station.
Had this been the case it would have made it much easier for me to know who to back as I’m no fan of tiramisu while I’ve always liked sticky toffee pudding for its texture and sound economic arguments, particularly when served with custard.
Mark was played by John Hannah and one of numerous characters to light up Scotland in a Day, Jack Docherty’s love letter to a nation.
A spoof of Kevin MacDonald’s Life in a Day and the follow-up Britain in a Day, Jack’s ingenious idea was to intersperse real footage sent in by the general public with comic clips performed by an array of Scotland’s best known performers.
So we had MacGlashan (played by Docherty himself), who was a solid “Yes” down to his Saltire underpants.
“It’s like a marriage,” he reasoned. “The honeymoon’s over so it’s time to go our separate ways.” MacGlashan, it should be noted, woke up in a single bed.
Adding balance was a “No” voter who articulated her fears over Scotland’s future currency by pulling a shopping trolley from a line by pushing a pound coin into a slot.
“That’s why Scotland needs to keep the pound,” she said. Bet Alistair Darling wishes he’d thought of that one.
It was left to Docherty’s Absolutely partner Moray Hunter to have the final word, which acted as a rallying cry for the future.
“Whatever we done, we done it, and we can’t blame anyone else for having done it, good or bad, we done it ourselves, and we done it to ourselves. So we should be proud we done it.”
It was one of the most sensible things I’ve heard for two years.
Scotland in a Day, Channel 4, Thursday.
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