New Cumnock is to feature in a major new TV series led by social activist Darren McGarvey.

Darren McGarvey’s Class Wars is currently running on the BBC Scotland channel and features the Poverty Safari author as he ‘crosses over the tracks’ and back again to take a thought-provoking and entertaining look at social class in the 21st Century.

Over the course of four part episodes, McGarvey dons tweeds at Lauriston Castle in Edinburgh, goes out on a grouse moor and meets Scotland’s first ever homegrown billionaire, Sir Tom Hunter, in his home town of New Cumnock to ask if philanthropy is the answer.

Cumnock Chronicle:

Meeting a wide range of people, Darren confronts the existence and impact of social class in Scotland today, challenging his own perceptions of class along the way.

In the programme, Darren muses, “I have spent a lifetime railing against the middle classes…but I am at a crossroads. In this series I’m seeing how others live and I’m starting to question my own social class.

“So is class a thing in the 21st Century? Are we all born equal or are some born more equal than others?”

In the third episode of Darren McGarvey’s Class Wars entitled ‘Power to the People?’ New Cumnock features heavily as the author and activist turns his attention to who has power, how they wield it and the impact it has.

In the programme, Darren explains: “I want to explore the role of power in social class, where does it lie and who benefits from it.

Cumnock Chronicle:

“What are the advantages that one group of people has and the disadvantages that another group has and what are the interests and conflicts that arise from that?”

Setting his sights on the workplace, Darren also discusses the worrying increase in suicide and meets a campaign group that is trying to challenge the seemingly unstoppable rise of the zero-hours contracts.

Darren McGarvey’s Class Wars airs on Tuesday, February 23 at 10pm.

Episodes already broadcast are available to view now on BBC iPlayer.