BBC series tells Glasgow women’s stories and features Nicola Sturgeon

The Women Who Changed Modern Scotland, starts tomorrow, to tell the inspiring history of those who fought to shape and change sexist systems.

Over the course of three programmes, presenter Kirsty Wark will show an extraordinary range of women who may not be famous but whose passion changed the lives of everyone in Scotland.

She will also speak to some well-known names, from the First Minister to Elaine C Smith, as the series focuses on key women who have had a role in shaping Scotland over the last 50 years.

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Nicola Sturgeon will feature in the series (Image: Sourced)

Viewers will follow those who challenged the status quo in the 1960s and 70s, those who defied sexism to seize new opportunities in the 80s and 90s, and the women who stepped up to lead in politics, in their communities, and in the workplace.

This includes the family of Jean Porcelli, a science technician at Glasgow’s Bellahouston Academy who fought a landmark sexual harassment case in the 1980s and changed the law for women across Britain.

Kirsty also meets the women who founded the Glasgow Women’s Library – still the only organisation of its kind in the UK, Roza Salih, co-founder of the Glasgow Girls campaigners originally from Drumchapel High School, and Glasgow-based human rights campaigner Pinar Aksu.

Kirsty Wark with Pinar Aksu (Image: Sourced)

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Commissioned by BBC Scotland, the series has been produced by Two Rivers Media and follows their previously successful series The Years That Changed Modern Scotland, also presented by Kirsty Wark and first shown in 2021.

This new series has been produced in partnership with The Open University (OU) in Scotland, whose consultants on the series included Dr Kim Barker, Senior Lecturer in Law, and Dr Helen O’Shea, Lecturer in History.

Dr Valerie Wright, of the University of Glasgow, also acted as a consultant on the series working with Two Rivers Media.

Says Dr Kim Barker, OU Academic Consultant on the series, “From Shetland to Shettleston women have shaped modern Scotland - its laws, its politics, its culture, its workforce - and this series presents their remarkable stories.

"Often these women have faced great struggles, yet for many still, their stories remain untold.

"These are voices that should be heard.”

Says Kirsty Wark: “This series will celebrate the monumental achievements of women, many of them unsung, who some quietly, and others shouting from the rafters, did so much to transform the lives of women and men in Scotland and beyond in the last five decades.

“They campaigned, they cajoled, they sang, they bravely made a path and encouraged others to follow. Whether it was sport, stage, screen or fighting sex discrimination they made modern Scotland.”

The first episode of The Women Who Changed Modern Scotland will go out on the BBC Scotland channel on Tuesday, February 21 at 10pm, with all three episodes available to stream at that time on BBC iPlayer.