The Scotsman

Scottish viewers will get the chance tonight to see the long-awaited and controversial documentary series on the Holyrood building project. The first part of The Gathering Place includes interviews with Donald Dewar, the late First Minister, and Enric Miralles, the lead architect of the parliament project, who also died before its completion. Both interviews have been the subject of a battle between politicians and the BBC for the past 18 months. Lord Fraser of Carmyllie, who led the official inquiry into the Holyrood fiasco, asked to see tapes of interviews with some of the main players in the saga, including Mr Dewar and Mr Miralles. The BBC declined to hand over the tapes, arguing that it would be breaking agreements it had reached with the participants if it handed over material before the series had been aired publicly.