Culloden (1964)

Culloden was broadcast on the BBC, December 15, 1964. The film by Peter Watkins was a remarkable achievement, boldly combining documentary filming techniques and historical re-enactments to vivid effect.

It depicted the 1746 battle and its bloody aftermath, when the English army, commanded by the Duke of Cumberland, defeated the forces of Charles Edward Stuart – Bonnie Prince Charlie – and brutally suppressed the second Jacobite rebellion. There was some criticism of the violence depicted but the program was a critical success, and became a landmark documentary.