Chuck Wallace's Middle Age Spread
Chuck Wallace's Middle Age Spread is a Channel 4 schools TV series from the 1990s and 2000s, covering history for primary school pupils.
The series is particularly interested in the effects of historical events on everyday people, and the places where they happened. Major historical events involving kings and queens are represented by cartoon-like illustrations as Chuck imagines scenes from the stories that guide Maggie tells him, while the real-life characters that Chuck meets focus on the experience of ordinary merchants, clerics and clansmen.
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Chuck shows Maggie his Scottish souvenirs -
Chuck meets a merchant from the middle ages in the camera
Recorded over five weeks in the summer of 1997, the series is clearly inspired by pupils' contemporary interest in the 1990s hit movie Braveheart, particularly in overturning the film's more romanticised view of Scottish traditions and history.
American actor George Wendt, well known from the TV sitcom Cheers which had recently finished being shown on Channel 4 when this series was made, stars as the naïve American Chuck, who may have some vague Scottish ancestry. George Wendt told a newspaper at the time that the production company simply rang his agent and offered him the role in a British schools TV programme, and: "I was intrigued and I reckoned it would be a great way of learning about Scottish history, not just for the kids who'll see the series, but for me too."
A plot twist involving a character in the final episode of the series actually, in a way, prefigures another Hollywood blockbuster, 1999's The Sixth Sense - though Chuck Wallace's Middle Age Spread got there first!
Episode List
| # | Title | Broadcast |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | The Ragman's Roll | 12 May 1998 |
| 2. | The First Rising | 19 May 1998 |
| 3. | Church and Crown | 20 May 1998 |
| 4. | Bannockburn | 20 May 1998 |
| 5. | Towards the Renaissance | 20 May 1998 |
The third episode was often billed as Soldier and Crown in Channel 4 publicity, but was titled Church and Crown on-screen and in the teacher's guide.
The episodes were shown weekly on Tuesdays over 5 weeks, but also broadcast all at once overnight for easy recording during the second week, meaning that the first broadcasts of episodes 3-5 were all in that overnight block.
Broadcasts
| Year | Term | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Channel | Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1997-98 | Summer 1998 | Tuesday, 10:30am | Channel 4 | 12 May to 16 Jun | ||||
| Wednesday, 4:00am+ | Channel 4 | 20 May | ||||||
| 1998-99 | Summer 1999 | Tuesday, 10:10am | Channel 4 | 20 Apr to 25 May | ||||
| 1999-2000 | Spring 2000 | Wednesday, 4:45am+ | Channel 4 | 19 Jan |
Credits
| Starring | George Wendt as Chuck Wallace Frances Carrigan as Maggie Cook |
| With | Billy Riddoch as merchant (episode 1) Graeme Alexander Young as knight's squire (episode 2) |
| Education Officer | Anne Fleck |
| Education Advisor | Molly Balfour |
| Music | Gregor Philp |
| Cartoonist | Ben Mullen |
| Writer | Martin McCardie |
| Producer | Alan Clements |
| Director | Brian Kelly |
Resources
There were teacher's notes available for £3.95, written by Mollie Balfour and Maura McRobbie.
The unit was released on video for £14.95, and this continued to be sold by Channel 4 until at least 2006, long after broadcasts of the series had finished.
Related programmes
- The JacobitesA similar format from the same production company, covering a later period of Scottish history
Links
Sources & References
- Buss, Robin 'Robert the Bruce Was Here' in Times Educational Supplement Friday magazine 3 July 1998. (available online) p.27
- Channel 4 Schools Annual Programme Guides 1997-2005.
- Chuck Wallace's Middle Age Spread teacher's notes.
- Laing, Allan 'You meet the strangest people' in The Herald 25 July 1997. (available online)
- Troon, Anthony 'Killer weaves a Web of deceit' in The Scotsman 13 May 1998. p.20
And recordings of all five episodes.
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