As first look images are released by BBC in advance of the An t-Eilean (The Island) premier in 2025, leading independent distributor All3Media International also announces a pre-sale deal which will see the high-end Gaelic drama air on BBC Four via an acquisition.
From BAFTA-winning Black Camel Pictures, producers of hit detective drama Annika starring Nicola Walker, An t-Eilean (The Island) was commissioned by Gaelic-language channel BBC ALBA. The four-part crime drama is the UK’s first-ever high-end Gaelic drama series.
A tense, twisting story of lies, loss and long-buried secrets, the murder mystery is set against the elemental backdrop of the Western Isles of Scotland. An t-Eilean (The Island) combines Gaelic dialogue with English and will air in early 2025.
First look images from this compelling crime series have also been released. Sorcha Groundsell (His Dark Materials, Shetland, The Innocents) leads the cast as Kat Crichton, a young Family Liaison Officer, assigned to investigate a brutal murder at a remote castle. Other cast featured in the first looks include Sagar Radia (Industry), as Kat’s boss DCI Ahmed Halim, and Iain Macrae (Bannan), Sinéad MacInnes (Outlander), Meredith Brook (Bannan), Sam James Smith (Royal Conservatoire of Scotland’s Faustus: That Damned Woman), Elspeth Turner (Riptide) and newcomer Andrew Macinnes, as the wealthy but deeply dysfunctional Maclean family. Further cast members include Daibhidh Walker, Sharyn Ferguson, Carina MacLeod, Tormod Macleòid, MJ Deans, Iain ‘Spanish’ Mackay and Julia Taudevin.
An t-Eilean (The Island) is the latest drama from Black Camel Pictures to be distributed globally by All3Media International following the exclusive first-look deal signed between the two companies in 2023. It joins Annika, a Black Camel Pictures production for UKTV, UK, and WGBH, USA, which All3Media International has already sold to Asia, Europe, Australia and North America. An t-Eilean (The Island) was selected as a Hot Property for this year’s Content London, and was one of 10 finalists selected for the C21 International Drama Series Pitch in 2022.
Arabella Page Croft, Executive Producer of An t-Eilean (The Island) and Founder of Black Camel Pictures, added, “Working with BBC ALBA on An t-Eilean (The Island) from its early inception has been a joy, as has continuing our first-look distribution partnership with the team at All3Media International. We’re very pleased to have BBC Four on board at pre-sale stage, and we can’t wait to see this ambitious thriller find more viewers around the world when All3Media International presents it to global buyers in 2025.”
Caroline Stephenson, SVP, UK & Eire Sales at All3Media International, commented, “We’re delighted to announce that this latest drama from the acclaimed team at Black Camel Pictures has secured a broadcast on BBC Four. For every partner involved in this project, the goal has always been to take Gaelic-language drama to an international audience, tapping into the proven success of minority-language premium drama on the global stage. We have every confidence this multi million budget production with its gripping storyline full of complex characters, and the breathtaking Hebridean landscapes as a backdrop, An t-Eilean (The Island) will enthral audiences.”
Douglas Maclean and his wife Mary have an enviable life. Lucrative careers, four grown-up children and a long, successful marriage. However, nothing is ever as it seems, and when a violent burglary at their Scottish island home leaves Mary dead and Douglas fighting for his life, secrets begin to emerge. An t-Eilean (The Island) follows the fallout from Mary’s murder through the eyes of the family’s grown-up children – Sìne, Eilidh, Calum and Ruaraidh – who return to the elegant island home where they were raised in the wake of this gruesome murder. Told through two narratives – one ten years ago, and our current story – we uncover the secrets that underpin the Maclean family, as old rivalries and demons surface through their grief.
When their father’s innocence is questioned by a young detective, family loyalty is stretched to its limits and the children must ask themselves – could their father have killed their mother in cold blood?
The drama, 4 x 50, is financed through a multi-partner funding structure supported by MG ALBA, Screen Scotland, Black Camel Pictures and All3Media International.
Written by Nicholas Osborne and Patsi Mackenzie and directed by Tom Sullivan (Arracht), the series is Executive Produced by Arabella Page Croft and Nicole Fitzpatrick and series produced by Kieran Parker and Bjorn Hanson from BAFTA award-winning Black Camel Pictures. Music is by award-winning composer Biggi Hilmars. The Commissioning Editor for BBC ALBA is Bill MacLeod.
