The 'Men in Kilts' series is a delightful journey through Scotland that puts the friendship of Sam Heughan and Graham McTavish in the spotlight as they explore their heritage in and around picturesque and beautiful places. It's an epic adventure that includes witty jokes, dangerous sports activities, whiskey tastings, and folk dances, with a good measure of historical perspective.
For now, alas, the series is not on sale, nor offered for download.
You can watch it on Starz
A huge thank you to Outlander addict for his French translations and subtitles !!!
1 / Food and Drink
Scottish cuisine and whisky are renowned all over the world, for different reasons. In this episode, Sam and Graham explore the world's best whiskeys and dishes like Haggis.
Trailer
2 /Scottish sports
Sam and Graham explore classic and modern Scottish sport by tackling everything from rock lifting and throwing the Highland Games Hammer to golf and rugby.
3 /Song and dance
Scottish music and dance play an essential role in culture. Sam and Graham go to meet the artists who perpetuate his tradition.
4/ Witchcraft and superstition
A deep belief and respect for the supernatural characterizes the culture of the Scottish Highlands. Sam and Graham delve deep into old superstitions and witch trials.
5/ Culture and tradition
Sam and Graham will roll up their sleeves and participate in some of the ancient rituals of craftsmanship, language and storytelling that have shaped Scottish culture.
6 /Scotland by land, air and sea
This episode allows Sam and Graham to share (and show) Scotland's rolling hills, epic mountain ranges and jagged shores, natural wonders that are sure to drop any viewer's jaw.
7 /Clans and Tartans
Scotland's feudal clan system defined the country and still plays an important role in its culture. Sam and Graham set out to discover how they fit into a system forged in war and peace.
8 /The Battle of Culloden
No moment in Scottish history has shaped the country as much as the Battle of Culloden. In the final episode, Sam and Graham discover how a single hour on the battlefield changed a nation.
Bonus
During a virtual session to promote the show, the online magazine: DossierKfilm.be had the opportunity to chat with Sam Heughan and Graham McTavish about their roadtrip, how exciting the sense of adventure was, the scariest things they've experienced, the places they'd like to return. how difficult sheep can be, whether they'd like to do more seasons, and why McTavish would prefer them to have a professional pilot for future episodes.
A road trip can tell you a lot about your travel companion. When did you know you had that connection with each other and how did that experience enrich it?
Sam: That's a good idea. In fact, it tells you a lot about people. To be quite frank, Graham is a wonderful travel companion, who has a lot of humor and a great source of knowledge, especially about Scottish history, so I realized that I had chosen my travel companion wisely. Plus, he's often terrified, especially when I'm driving, which can be a great source of entertainment. It's a win-win, all the way.
Graham: I have to say that when I first met Sam, in a very cramped and very hot studio in Soho in London, on the occasion of Outlander, if someone had told me that I was going to share a tiny motorhome with him all over Scotland, I would have just laughed. Who is laughing now? Not me. No, it was a great experience. Sam is good at taking you out of yourself and presenting you with things you might have been reluctant to do or terrified of.
Sam: Or force yourself to do.
Graham: Force, yes. I developed Stockholm syndrome now with Sam. As a hostage, I now identify with the kidnapper, sam Heughan. I am his hostage in a van.
Sam: That's right.
Has any of you ever had a day when you really considered leaving the other behind?
Graham: I tried every day. He kept finding me.
Sam: No, I don't think so. I have to admit that every day I would wake up and I was so excited to get in the van and leave because of that sense of adventure and not really know what was going to happen next. We were in this crazy state where, every day, we traveled and went to do something new. You just don't know. All our guests were fantastic and really brightened up every day and brought something to it.
Graham: We were very "in the moment," which was really great. It's too rare in life to feel like that, to feel very present. This was certainly the case during the trip.
Sam, what's the scariest thing you've ever found yourself doing? And Graham, what's the scariest thing Sam made you do?
Sam: We did a lot of physical activities, whether cycling on the Quiraing (an Isle of Skye) on brakeless bikes, or climbing old rickety ski lifts, hiking or surfing. There were a lot of things, but to be honest, it was driving. We were driving this fairly large motorhome, and it seems like it was just the two of us, but sometimes we had the whole film crew in there. So being responsible for that while presenting a TV show and trying to follow the instructions was sometimes pretty scary. And the Scottish weather was pretty good, but sometimes it was pretty horrible. For me, it was difficult, but a lot of fun.
Graham: For me, without a doubt, abseiling off a 300-foot cliff was definitely taking me out of my comfort zone. When you're told you only need to remember two things – step back and don't let go of the rope – these are not words you're supposed to hear. It does not make sense. Back up, don't let go of the rope? It was pretty scary.
Sam: And then, we abseiled down a ledge, still a few hundred meters from the ground and we were told to unclip and go up. We had a safety rope, but it's the least natural thing to do. To take off, you have to let go of the rope, standing on the edge of the cliff, and there is wind and you are hundreds of meters away, undo it, climb over the rope, and then simply climb the cliff, with your bare hands. It just doesn't feel very safe.
Graham: And I haven't even thought about that. I naively thought, 'Oh, they're just going to pull me up.' But the way this guy said, "Okay, Graham, if you just detach the rope and go over your other rope, go up and find the handles. We will see you at the top. Even [Sam] found it quite disturbing.
Sam: Yes, I did. It was pretty scary. I kept thinking, 'My God, I'm going to have to find a new co-host.'
Is there anything you've done or gone where you'd like to come back and see again, whether it's in another season or just by yourself?
Graham: Many places.
Sam: There are a lot of things we shot that we couldn't include, for a variety of reasons, including time. There were so many fascinating or really fun things to do, but we couldn't find a place for that in the show. I'd love to see some of them again or find a place for them in a future season, perhaps.
Graham: Going back to Skye and going back to the Outer Hebrides would be amazing. You could spend an entire season doing Edinburgh, easily. That is something else. I always can't wait to go back. Every time I go back to Scotland it sounds like a terrible cliché to me, but you feel at home and it's a nice feeling, especially right now.
Have you talked about doing more seasons together and what you could do with them? Is there anyone you'd like to take with you, or could you imagine exploring other countries?
Sam: I think we've talked about it a lot. When we were shooting, our great crew and director all loved it and had a great time. We were all talking about what we could do next time. I think we would like to explore Scotland more, but also, other countries in the world that have so much Scottish influence. It would be great to do Men in kilts in different places.
Graham: We could go to North Carolina and say hello to the Frasers.
Sam: There are a lot of places we'd like to go. It depends on whether I have to do all the driving.
Graham: What you won't do, no. This is another person I would bring - a professional driver and a doctor.
With everything you have to explore and learn, were there times when you wished, like on Outlander, to be able to travel back in time and relive what it might have been in another period?
Sam: Yeah. The Calanaise stones were superb. We present them on Outlander for the stone circle, and we've both been fascinated by the circles there. They are amazing. They have so much character and life to themselves. I would love to go back in time to see what they were used for. We don't know. We still don't know how they were made. It's just an amazing place.
Graham: Yeah, it is. Sam is absolutely right. The stone circles are almost 4000 years old and I would like to go back for a day to learn more about what people were doing around these stones at the time, as long as I am not sacrificed in a horrible way.
Sam: That would be good television, wouldn't it?
Graham: That would be the case. In fact, I would probably go back to Callanish to visit it, and then I would find you there, or one of your ancestors, who would insist on physical torture and I would just look in disbelief.
In addition to learning more about each other on this trip, what did this experience teach you about yourself?
Graham: That I really enjoy being out of my comfort zone more than I would like to admit. That would be the honest answer to that.
Sam: I think I learned from Graham. I think I'm pretty excited and I'm going to something one hundred percent, and sometimes maybe I'm going too fast. Graham said it himself, if you had to explore somewhere to the rhythm of cycling or walking, you'd notice a lot more, so I'd like to take more time to really enjoy the trip itself rather than the destination.
You clearly had a lot of fun on this trip and we can see it in the series, but beyond that, is there also a blooper reel? Are there incidents that have occurred or moments that simply did not go as planned?
Graham: Oh, yes, tons.
Sam: We tried to include in the credit sequence of each episode, where you can see a bit of blooper or a moment. There were so many that we kept changing them, when we were making the final changes. I think the sheepfold was a great moment.
Graham: What a disaster.
Sam: The sheep ran away and the sound taker's equipment was trampled on. Sheep were jumping on them and there was sheep droppings everywhere. It was just a mess. It was chaos.
Graham: The sheep really didn't want to do the TV show at all.
Sam: They had it for us.
Graham: And what is the weight of a sheep? Wow. They are not lightweight. They are really heavy. These farmers give the impression that things are easy, picking up these things and throwing them everywhere.
Surprise
The first three episodes subtitled in French to download.