Alasdair Gray at Eighty

Synopsis

To celebrate the 80th Birthday of Alasdair Gray on 28 December 2014, BBC Arts presents Robert Kitts' documentary on the influential Scots artist and writer. Alasdair Gray is a giant of Scottish arts. He's a great writer, artist, irascible interviewee and controversial essayist. In this intimate portrait, filmed over 15 years, we see him creating work that has become part of the living heritage of Scotland. His novel Lanark is the finest work of Scottish 20th-century literature, and his painting of the Oran Mor Arts Centre is Scotland's 21st-century Sistine Chapel. This documentary reveals a character who is by turns incisive, chaotic and laugh-out-loud funny.