| An t-Eilean | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Crime drama |
| Created by | Nicholas Osborne |
| Written by | Nicholas Osborne Patsi Mackenzie |
| Screenplay by | Nicholas Osborne |
| Directed by | Tom Sullivan |
| Starring | Sorcha Groundsell Sagar Radia Elspeth Turner Iain Macrae Sinéad MacInnes Andrew MacInnes Meredith Brook Sam James Smith Kenny Boyle Colin McCredie Sharyn Ferguson |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom (Scotland) |
| Original language | Scottish Gaelic |
| No. of series | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 4 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer | Arabella Page Croft |
| Running time | 47-51 minutes |
| Production companies |
|
| Original release | |
| Network | BBC Alba |
| Release | 14 January 2025 |
An t-Eilean (The Island) is a Scottish Gaelic-language crime drama television series produced for BBC Alba by Black Camel Pictures and broadcast in January 2025.
Set in the Outer Hebrides, four siblings return to their family home after the death of their mother with their father being questioned by police. [1]
The four-part series has a storyline by Nicholas Osborne and is co-written by Patsi Mackenzie. It is produced by Black Camel Pictures and directed by Tom Sullivan. Arabella Page Croft, executive producer at Black Camel Pictures, described it as "the first ever high-end Gaelic-language drama made in Scotland". [2] The series has a budget of £1M an episode. [3]
In April 2024, Sorcha Groundsell, Elspeth Turner and Iain Macrae were cast in the lead roles. [4] Additionally, Sagar Radia has a role in the series. [5]
Principal photography took place on Harris, Outer Hebrides, in April 2024 with filming locations including Amhuinnsuidhe Castle. [6]
The series was broadcast from 14 January 2025 on BBC Alba, along with the boxset on BBC iPlayer. It was broadcast as a double bill on BBC Four on its Saturday night drama slot from 15 February 2025. [7] [8]
The series has also been sold internationally, including to Danish public broadcaster Danmarks Radio.
Rebecca Nicholson for The Guardian described the setting as "breathtakingly beautiful" and praised the performance of Groundsell, describing the series as a whole as "a good, solid crime drama, albeit one that doesn’t upend the genre" and felt that a Gaelic language drama was overdue given the success of other foreign-language series in recent years proved that subtitles were not a hindrance. [9]
In April 2025, the series won the drama and entertainment prize at Prix Circom 2025, the international television awards. [10]