World Tour of Scotland
World Tour of Scotland is a six-part television series – the first of Billy Connolly's "world tours" – originally broadcast by the BBC in July and August 1994. It involves his touring around his homeland for 54 nights during early 1994, beginning in Greenock and visiting cities and towns and performing live on stage to audiences. However, this, like all his other tours, involves more than just shows: he visits numerous places of historic and scenic value, as well as some places that resonate with his own upbringing.
The series is dedicated "with much love and thanks to the people of Scotland". It has since been released on VHS and DVD. On the latter format, the six episodes are split across two discs.
The series is often repeated on the UKTV channels Dave and Blighty.
Opening and closing titles
The opening titles feature an aerial view of the Range Rover making its way through various locations and weathers. The camera is mounted atop four metal legs, several feet in length.The closing titles feature an excerpt of Connolly's performing his cover of Van Morrison's "Irish Heartbeat", live at Edinburgh's Usher Hall, over landscape views of the areas visited in the respective episodes.
Episode guide
Episode 1
The series begins with Connolly aboard a Caledonian MacBrayne ferry sailing down the west coast.- Isle of Arran. As Connolly drives off the ferry, his best friend, Danny Kyle, is shown to be in the passenger seat
- *Brodick Village Hall
- *Connolly is shown playing the banjo with his Isle of Arran-based friends
- Glasgow
- *Dover Street, the street on which Connolly was born
- *Provand's Lordship
- *The tenement building, on Stewartville Street in Partick, where Connolly lived between the ages of fourteen and twenty
- *Glasgow Cross
- *Necropolis
- *King's Theatre
- *Auchengillan Scout Camp
- Loch Lomond
Episode 2
- Partick and Govan
- Stirling and Bannockburn
- Kirkcaldy and Forfar
- Scone Palace
- Forth Bridge, Forth Road Bridge, and South Queensferry
Episode 3
Episode 4
- Ulbster, Caithness
- Wick
- Ackergill Tower, Caithness
- *Ring of Brogar
- *Kirkwall
- *Scapa Flow
- Lerwick, Shetland
Episode 5
- Arbroath
- Dundee
- *Dundee Law
- Scottish Borders, Kelso
"One thing confuses me, however," he continued, as he prepares to retrace his route. "If this is the border with England, and that is the border with Scotland, what happens in here? Maybe it is owned by the Manx government, or something. I don't know. Perhaps you can build a house here and never pay tax again."