The Crow Road (TV series)

The Crow Road is a four-part television miniseries by BBC Scotland in 1996, based faithfully on the 1992 novel of the same name by Scottish novelist Iain Banks. It was directed by Gavin Millar.

The Crow Road
DVD cover
Genre	Drama
Based on	The Crow Road by Iain Banks
Written by	Bryan Elsley
Directed by	Gavin Millar
Starring	Joe McFadden Bill Paterson Peter Capaldi Valerie Edmond Dougray Scott
Composer	Colin Towns
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language	English
No. of series	1
No. of episodes	4 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers	Andrea Calderwood Kevin Loader Franc Roddam
Producer	Bradley Adams
Production locations	Ardkinglas House, Cairndow, Argyll and Bute, Scotland, United Kingdom
Cinematography	John Else
Running time	58 min
Production company	Union Pictures
Original release
Network	BBC Scotland
Release	4 November (1996-11-04) – 25 November 1996 (1996-11-25)

Summary

The cast includes Joseph McFadden as Prentice McHoan, Bill Paterson as his father, Dougray Scott as his older brother (another, younger brother in the novel has been written out here) and Peter Capaldi as his missing uncle Rory, who via a narrative device employed in the adaptation, visits the thoughtful Prentice when he is alone. The production was nominated as Best Drama Serial at the 1997 British Academy Television Awards. Following the success of this TV serial, the same team went on to adapt Banks's Complicity as a feature film.

Cast

• Joseph McFadden as Prentice McHoan
• Bill Paterson as Kenneth McHoan
• Peter Capaldi as Rory McHoan
• Valerie Edmond as Ashley Watt
• Dougray Scott as Lewis McHoan
• David Robb as Fergus Urvill
• Elizabeth Sinclair as Mary McHoan
• Gudrun Ure as Margot McHoan
• Patricia Kerrigan as Janice
• Simone Bendix as Verity Walker
• Paul Young as Hamish McHoan
• Stella Gonet as Fiona Urvill
• Claire Nielson as Antonia McHoan
• Edward Casey as Young Prentice McHoan

Critical reception

Reviewing the DVD box set in 2015, The Guardian wrote "the best TV adaptations capture the spirit of the original while adding something of their own – and The Crow Road, which first aired almost 20 years ago, is one of the finest adaptations of them all, managing to distil Bank’s complex tale into four hours of sharply evocative TV."

Episodes

No.	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date
1	"Prentice"	Gavin Millar	Bryan Elsley	4 November 1996 (1996-11-04)
Prentice returns home from university for his grandmother's funeral where he meets old friends and relatives. He takes it upon himself to find out more about his uncle Rory's disappearance six years ago.
2	"Kenneth"	Gavin Millar	Bryan Elsley	11 November 1996 (1996-11-11)
After drunkenly making a fool of himself at his Uncle Fergus' New Year's Eve party, Prentice has a talk with his father. His father sheds a little light on Rory's disappearance, but the father and son relationship sours once again.
3	"Fergus"	Gavin Millar	Bryan Elsley	18 November 1996 (1996-11-18)
Prentice learns more about the past when he finds old floppy disks containing portions of the book Rory was writing. Meanwhile, Rory continues to haunt him whenever he's alone.
4	"Rory"	Gavin Millar	Bryan Elsley	25 November 1996 (1996-11-25)
Prentice gradually begins to close on the truth behind Rory's disappearance. But will his discovery only sour his feelings for his beloved uncle?

External links

• The Crow Road at the BFI's Screenonline
• The Crow Road at IMDb
• Location guide