BUDDY HOLLY: RAVE ON, BBC4, 10pm
MOST people have their own opinion on where the genius of pop music began. If you ask my dad, it’s Marc Bolan. If you ask me, it’s Morrissey. But if you asked Morrissey he’d probably side with my dad and say it was Bolan.
So let’s listen to some experts here who cite Buddy Holly as the man who started it all. Brian May even says he “changed the world”.
There were only 18 months between Buddy Holly topping the charts with That’ll Be The Day and his terrible death in a plane crash, aged just 22. In that short time he moved the world into the rock ’n’ roll era. Before that, says Don Everly, “everything was black and white”.
We hear tributes and memories from May, Everly, Paul Anka and Don McLean, whose American Pie lyric “the day the music died” refers to Buddy Holly’s early death. It seems it isn’t all down to Morrissey.
JAMESTOWN, SKY1, 9pm
THIS drama, which began last week, proves that you just can’t please everyone, especially not in the age of Twitter.
Reaction to the show seemed to be split between those who were pointing out that its feisty heroines struggling for freedom and equality were historically inaccurate, and those who were demanding more colonial girl power.
The women were being shipped to Virginia to become wives to those men who had gone ahead to plant in the New World. They were being sold into sexual slavery.
They were not fiery feminists in the making. There were no placards and marches out in Virginia. But that would be unpalatable to the modern viewer, so the historic reality gets ignored and instead we get feisty gals showing the men who’s boss.
It’s a recurrence of that tough, feisty attitude tonight which results in accusations of witchcraft against Verity.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here