Darren McGarvey’s Class Wars

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A BBC TV channel for Scotland which will broadcast every evening and will show drama, factual, comedy and news programmes made in Scotland

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Documentary examining the impact of social class in Scotland today.

Series 1

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Darren McGarvey

Harry Bell

Emma Fentiman

Darren McGarvey’s Class Wars: Series 1: Rear-View Mirror

Rear-view Mirror

Rear-View Mirror

BBC Scotland - Darren McGarvey’s Class Wars, Series 1, Rear-View Mirror

As Darren examines social class, he questions its lasting legacy on our lives.

As Darren examines social class, he begins to wonder if we can ever overthrow the legacy it continues to exert over our lives today.

In this episode, Darren examines his own social mobility. Can he ever fully transition from his working-class past to the middle-class present he currently enjoys? Why should it matter where he is from? And why does his past continue to impact his present?

Using an experiment conceived by Yale University in America, Darren tests the theory that you can recognise a person’s social class by just seven words, visits the further education college he once attended to give a masterclass, and returns to ‘his’ stately home, Lauriston Castle in Edinburgh, to compare his two worlds.

Keen to experience what life might be like in the past, Darren tries his hand at being a butler with a man who has served everyone from royalty and politicians, to opera singers and Russian oligarchs.

Later, while toasting marshmallows over a campfire, he meets a young traveller in a Bedford van far older than she is to discuss two burning questions: what is freedom, and can social class ever be completely ignored?

Up in Elgin, Darren meets two pigeon-fanciers who show him how pigeons can become a way of life and unwittingly unlock a magic key in Darren’s mind. Coming full circle, Darren returns home to see his dad to try and find out if his rear-view mirror can ever be ignored.

Darren McGarvey’s Class Wars: Series 1

A BBC TV channel for Scotland which will broadcast every evening and will show drama, factual, comedy and news programmes made in Scotland


Darren McGarvey confronts the existence and impact of social class in Scotland today.

Activist and prizewinning author Darren McGarvey confronts the existence and impact of social class in Scotland today.

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Darren McGarvey’s Class Wars

Series 1

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