The National:

WE lost one of our best when Sir Sean Connery died last year. Not only was he one of the world's biggest stars, but he was a keen supporter of Scottish independence

His enthusiasm for self-determination almost certainly cost him work, and saw him ridiculed. 

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But in this interview with Michael Parkinson from 2003 - discovered by users of the Scotland board on Reddit -  he explains exactly why he thought Scotland would flourish outside the UK.

"I believe that the identity and everything to do with the Scottish psyche, health, future and everything is based on independence," he tells the host. "And so I'm an investor in that with myself, financially, emotionally, and I've taken a lot of battering for it, but I believe it's worth it."

Incredibly, one of the other guests on the old BBC chat show, sitting alongside, nodding along, just happens to be a very young Boris Johnson. 

The interview is worth watching in full, not least because it's fun watching Connery constantly winding up Johnson for being an old Etonian. And at one he point even seems to predict that his fellow guest is destined to be Tory pary chief. 

Ach, if only Connery was still around, and if only Johnson was still nothing more than a turn for the chat show circuit.