Does the decision by BBC Scotland to cast ex-SNP MP Mhairi Black in a new TV drama look anything but daft? Is it any surprise that Scotland’s acting community is now angrier than Iago when his piles are playing up?

And doesn’t it leave the BBC open to accusations of political favouritism given that Black was an SNP MP and deputy leader of the party in Westminster?

Black is set to appear in Counsels as a police detective. The series, currently filming in Glasgow’s West End, features a group of young lawyers ‘trying to navigate their complex and messy lives at a time when their careers turn serious.’

But the question being asked by thousands of Scots actors right now is why cast someone with no formal training? To do so laughs at the very notion of learning the skills required not just to appear in front of a camera, to hit marks etc, and to learn how to work the camera.

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The move to hire Black emerges as a PR stunt yet it also seems tin eared to the fact that in the UK 90 per cent of actors out of work at any one time. Mhairi Black may be a career shapeshifter, but does she need the money? Unlikely, given her media work, and stints as a comedy stand-up.

Look, this isn’t a personal attack on Black. There is lots to like about the woman who once cited Tony Benn as a hero, (ignoring the fact he wasn’t a nationalist) who trashed the Westminster institution and........

© Herald Scotland