Pauline McLeanScotland arts correspondent
RCS
The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland has delved into its photo archives
It has produced two Doctor Whos, a Marvel mutant, Game of Thrones stars, UK stage royalty, several Hollywood A-listers and a Traitors icon.
For 75 years, the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland (RCS) has trained generations of stage and screen talent.
David Tennant, James McAvoy, Jack Lowden are among the many actors, directors, filmmakers, designers, producers and creatives who have passed through its doors.
To celebrate the milestone, the drama school has opened its archives to reveal images of a host of household names before they hit the heights of success.
From Hollywood, Broadway and West End stars to TV, the RCS has trained them all. Some look very different from their drama school years.
David Tennant – 1982
RCS
David Tennant in his matriculation photo for the RCS junior academy
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Forty years later, David Tennant appears on a Comic Con panel
Here’s David Tennant in his matriculation photograph for the Junior Academy, taken in 1982. The RCS was known as the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama at the time.
Tennant has gone on to star in Dr Who, Broadchurch, Good Omens, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire and as serial killer Dennis Nilsen in Des.
Recalling his studies, the award-winning actor, who graduated with a BA Dramatic Studies in 1991, said: “I came from a background where nobody really knew how you go about becoming an actor.
“We sniffed around and found out there was a Saturday morning class called the Junior School.
“I later found out that it was run by the students and it was part of the BA Acting course.
“At the time I just thought I was going to a Saturday morning drama club, and I did that every year until I left school and then I came here as a full-time student.
“I don’t think I would have been able to survive professionally without the training here.”
James McAvoy – 1999
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McAvoy in The Beaux Stratagem, directed by James Robert Carson
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Two decades later, more facial hair but McAvoy has hardly changed at all
James McAvoy is photographed performing in The Beaux Stratagem at 1999.
The X-Men actor and director graduated from RCS in 2000 before forging an award-winning stage and screen career that has taken him from London’s West End to Hollywood.
In 2015 he established the James McAvoy Drama Scholarship at RCS. It supports applicants who would otherwise find meeting the cost of tuition fees a barrier to accessing pre-higher education drama training at RCS.
McAvoy was presented with a Fellowship at RCS in 2008, alongside Lord Richard Attenborough.
Sam Heughan – 2002
RCS
Sam Heughan and Alana Hood in Romeo and Juliet
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Sam Heughan in 2025 after Outlander brought him international fame
Sam Heughan stars in Romeo and Juliet at the RCS in 1999, alongside Alana Hood.
He found worldwide fame playing the lead character of Jamie Fraser in the smash-hit, time-travelling drama series Outlander.
In 2021, the actor, best-selling author, entrepreneur and philanthropist – and RCS graduate – announced a new 10-year scholarship at RCS.
Heughan, who graduated from the BA Acting degree programme in 2003, funds three annual scholarships for undergraduate students.
He also created Write Start: The Sam Heughan Creative Commission, an annual award at RCS to encourage students to devise new work.
Heughan received an honorary doctorate from RCS in 2022.
His Romeo and Juliet co-star Alana Hood went on to star in TV soap River City and Bridget Jones’ Baby.
Jack Lowden – 2010
RCS
Jack Lowden as Giovanni in Sweet Sorrow
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Fifteen years later, Lowden has become a star of film and televison
Jack Lowden is photographed in his RCS days as Giovanni in Sweet Sorrow. He spent his third and final RCS year on stage as Cammy in the National Theatre production of Scotland’s Black Watch.
The BAFTA and Olivier award-winner and Golden Globe, Emmy and Screen Actors Guild nominee returned to his former drama school in October this year to receive an honorary doctorate in drama.
Actor and producer Lowden, who grew up in the Scottish Borders and graduated from RCS’s BA Acting degree programme in 2011, was being recognised for his contribution to theatre, film and television.
It followed a critically acclaimed run in London’s West End this summer in The Fifth Step, a two-hander play with Martin Freeman. It was written by David Ireland and directed by Finn den Hertog, who also are both graduates of the BA Acting programme at RCS.
Reflecting on his time at RCS, Lowden said: “It’s a place that I’m incredibly proud of having gone to. The training completely formed me.”
Ncuti Gatwa – 2012
RCS
Ncuti Gatwa performs as Valere in Tartuffe alongside Tafline Steen
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Gatwa played the starring role in Doctor Who for two series
Ncuti Gatwa performs as Valere in Tartuffe in 2012. He did the BA Acting degree programme at RCS, graduating in 2013.
He went on to find worldwide fame in Netflix’s Sex Education and as BBC’s Doctor Who, leaving that role after playing the character for two series.
Gatwa moved to Scotland as a toddler when his family fled the Rwandan genocide. He was at one point homeless before finding his big break as an actor.
He returned to RCS in 2022 to receive an honorary doctorate in drama. He has also had roles in blockbuster film Barbie and The Roses.
Billy Connolly – 1977
RCS
Students performed Billy Connolly’s An’ Me Wi’ a Bad Leg Tae
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Sir Billy Connolly is photographed with students performing An’ Me Wi’ a Bad Leg Tae in 1977.
The students, along with Borderline theatre company, took his production of An’ Me Wi’ a Bad Leg Tae to London’s Royal Court, where it had a three-week run.
Directed by Stuart Mungall, it featured students James Kennedy, Sarah Ballantyne, Margo Gillies, Stuart Mungall and Bill Paterson (of Comfort and Joy fame), and explored working-class family dynamics in 1970s Scotland.
Sir Billy did not study at RCS, but was presented with an honorary doctorate in drama in 2006.
Mary Marquis – 1955
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Mary Marquis (right) as Juliet in a 1955 production of Romeo and Juliet
Marquis became one of the most recognised faces on Scottish television
Here is Scottish newsreader Mary Marquis as Juliet in a 1955 production of Romeo and Juliet.
Marquis is pictured with fellow student Nancy Mitchell. The performance also included Fay Lees as Lady Montague. Fay co-founded the Lecoq School in France.
Marquis, who graduated from the Diploma in Speech and Drama in 1955, went on to become one of the most recognised faces on Scottish television, as a news anchor for BBC Scotland.
The list of stars produced by the school also includes Trainspotting’s Robert Carlyle; Alan Cumming (The Traitors, Cabaret); Richard Madden (Game of Thrones, Bodyguard); Kate Dickie (The Witch, Game of Thrones); Colin Morgan (Belfast, Merlin); and Tom Ellis (Lucifer, Tell Me Lies).
TV presenter and author Ruby Wax also attended, along with some of Scotland’s most familiar faces – including Elaine C Smith, Jonathan Watson, Tony Roper, Denis Lawson, Maureen Beattie, Greg McHugh, Bill Paterson and David Hayman.
