The Macleod Group was a short-lived pressure group and dining club associated with the 'left-wing' of Conservative Party that existed in 1975 before amalgamation with others to form the Tory Reform Group. It was composed of Tories who were considered progressive on many of the social issues of the time - for example, many supported the abolition of capital punishment - and strong supporters of Britain's membership of the EEC.

The group was established soon after the general elections of 1974 by Nicholas Scott. The President was David Knox, and the vice-presidents were Robert Carr, Lynda Chalker, Sir Nigel Fisher and Nicholas Scott.

In January 1975 the Macleod Group came out in support of Edward Heath in the 1975 Conservative leadership election. When Margaret Thatcher won the contest, the group expressed disappointment at her choices for the Shadow Cabinet. They were particularly displeased with the absence of Robert Carr, Peter Walker, and Nicholas Scott in the Shadow Cabinet, and complained that the common factor was neither age nor ability, but that they were all on the 'left' of the party.

Ken MacLeod (born 2 August 1954), is a Scottish science fiction writer. MacLeod was born in Stornoway. He graduated from Glasgow University with a degree in zoology and has worked as a computer programmer and written a masters thesis on biomechanics. His novels often explore socialist, communist and anarchist political ideas, most particularly the variants of Trotskyism (MacLeod was a Trotskyist activist in the 1970s and early 1980s) and anarcho-capitalism or extreme economic libertarianism. Technical themes encompass singularities, divergent human cultural evolution and post-human cyborg-resurrection. MacLeod's general outlook can be best described as techno-utopian socialist, though unlike a majority of techno-utopians, he has expressed great scepticism over the possibility and especially over the desirability of Strong AI.

He is known for his constant in-joking and punning on the intersection between socialist ideologies and computer programming, as well as other fields. For example, his chapter titles such as "Trusted Third Parties" or "Revolutionary Platform" usually have double (or multiple) meanings. A future programmers union is called "International Workers of the World Wide Web", or the Webblies, a reference to the Industrial Workers of the World, who are nicknamed the Wobblies. The Webblies idea formed a central part of the novel For the Win by Cory Doctorow and MacLeod is acknowledged as coining the term. There are also many references to, or puns on, zoology and palaeontology. For example in The Stone Canal the title of the book, and many places described in it, are named after anatomical features of marine invertebrates such as starfish.

Highlander is a 1986 fantasy action film directed by Russell Mulcahy and based on a story by Gregory Widen. It stars Christopher Lambert, Sean Connery, Clancy Brown, and Roxanne Hart. The film depicts the climax of an ages-old battle between immortal warriors, depicted through interwoven past and present day storylines. Despite having enjoyed little success in its initial U.S. release, the cult film launched Lambert to stardom and inspired a franchise that included film sequels, television spin-offs, and an upcoming remake. The film's tagline, "There can be only one," has carried on throughout the franchise, as have the songs provided for the film by Queen.

From the Dawn of Time we came, moving silently down through the centuries. Living many secret lives. Struggling to reach the Time of the Gathering, when the few who remain will battle to the last. No one has ever known we were among you...until now.

The film begins with a voiceover establishing the film as the story of the immortals fighting to the death for centuries. In the present day, Connor MacLeod (Christopher Lambert), the Highlander, attends a wrestling match at Madison Square Garden in New York City. In the arena's parking garage, Connor is confronted by Iman Fasil (Peter Diamond), and after a lengthy sword duel, decapitates him, upon which an energy surge destroys several cars around him. He hides his sword and attempts to flee, but is arrested by the police, who take him in for questioning.