Main content

East Coast

Martin Compston and pal Phil MacHugh travel Scotland鈥檚 east coast, from St Andrews to Aberdeen, challenging expectations by revealing the surprising side of some well-known places.

Martin Compston and his pal Phil MacHugh travel across Scotland鈥檚 east coast, from St Andrews in the south to Aberdeen in the north, to challenge expectations and reveal the surprising side of some well-known places.

Starting in the home of golf, St Andrews, the boys take to the sands - not a bunker, but the beach made famous by the movie Chariots of Fire. They indulge in a spot of land yachting with brothers Jamie and Guy McKenzie.

Having swept the sand from their hair, it鈥檚 off to high-tech Dundee to get to grips with the cyber city's position as a world gaming developer. They meet 4J co-founder Chris van der Kuyl, whose company makes the console edition of the biggest game in the world, Minecraft, and see what it would be like to literally be part of a game. Then it's off to Abertay University, who were the first to offer a degree in computer games, to get a tour from lecturer Jung In and discover what other possibilities there are in the virtual landscape.

From high tech to lo-fi, the boys take a break from the future and indulge in a local tradition that dates back to the Vikings. They get hands on to help a fifth-generation smoker prepare the local delicacy, the Arbroath smokie, on the atmospheric Auchmithie beach.

Next stop is Aberdeen, where the boys discover the east coast鈥檚 burgeoning hip hop scene. They鈥檙e given a musical insight by Aberdonian rapper Ransom FA and meet Dundonian songstress India Rose in the park for an impromptu performance. Finally, they take to the mic to record some unforgettable words for local artist Chef in his recording studio.

3 months left to watch

28 minutes

Audio described

Broadcasts