Head of the University of Edinburgh's School of History, Classics and Archaeology and eminent author of Scottish history Professor Tom Devine has become entangled in a battle of insults with Neil Oliver, the presenter of the BBC’S new history of Scotland series.

Writing in the Sunday Times, Devine was heavily critical of the series, which he described as “fatally flawed”, being a “narrative, blow-by-blow account from earliest times to the present, of the kind that used to bore schoolchildren of my generation to death.”

Expressing his disappointment, he said: “Perhaps naively, I thought the programme makers would have been able to scale the heights and really capture the epic story of a small country with a massive global impact.”

Devine also personally attacked Oliver, calling him “hapless” and suggesting that he may have been hired more for his looks, adding: “he must have been signed up because he is physically in the old visual tradition of Braveheart and the Highlander movies.”

Oliver hit back at Devine’s comment however, calling him a “fool” and a “plump old man” with a “narrow view of history.”

He also added, “His business is lecturing students in a classroom and doesn’t know anything about how to make a television series.”

The BBC series claims to offer a definitive account of the history of Scotland from 1600s to the present day.

Devine, however has deemed the series as “fatally imbalanced”, due to the lack of the attention to modern Scottish history, and to important themes such as the Enlightenment and the Scottish diaspora.

Last year Devine declined the offer of being on the advisory board for the series.

Tom Devine has been a professor at Edinburgh since 2005 and in 2000 was awarded the royal gold medal for Scottish academic excellence. He remains the only historian to receive the prize to date.  

Neil Oliver studied archaeology at the University of Glasgow, before entering journalism and then television.

He gained notable acclaim for his 2005 BBC series Coast, examining the history of the British coastal line.

The BBC has defended the series, calling it a “success” in light of its Scottish BAFTA nomination and viewing figures of 1.6 million for the first episode.

The series is aired at 9.00pm Sunday evenings on BBC 1 Scotland. 

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