[But how similar does she believe the Peter Mullan character – also called Michael Scot – is to the real figure?] Well, the Shoebox Zoo character really thinks he is 'nae small drink' and that he knows it all, ... So in that respect he is probably not unlike the real guy. During Scot's time, if you needed to see off your adversaries you did need to know better answers than anyone else. You needed to really make people believe you have the secrets of wisdom. If you were asked, 'how do rainbows work?' you really needed to know how and why.

Louise Yeoman