The BBC has announced the award-winning Gaelic drama series An t-Eilean (The Island) will return following a successful debut series last year. An t-Eilean was the UK’s first high-end Gaelic drama series and the biggest, most high-profile drama in BBC ALBA’s history.
Created by Nicholas Osborne and co-written with Mairead Hamilton, the new series will feature a gripping new mystery and will see Sorcha Groundsell return in the lead role of Detective Sergeant, Kat Crichton.
The 4x47’ drama, produced by Black Camel Pictures for BBC ALBA, BBC FOUR and BBC iPlayer, will film largely on location in the Western Isles with production due to start in Spring 2026.
The new series opens with Kat frustrated both at work and home, caring for her ill father and dealing with petty local crime. However, when the body of a young woman is washed up, Kat is thrust into the hunt for a killer stalking the islands. As the investigation deepens, it uncovers the hidden lives and devastating secrets of the community’s young people, forcing Kat to confront both the case and her own complicated ties to the place she calls home.
When her former nemesis Ruaraidh MacLean (Sam James Smith), now running the local youth group, shares his suspicion that there are other missing young islanders he finds himself drawn back in to Kat’s world as the case tightens around those closest to home. What follows is a terrifying and twisted game which leads them into a world of unexpected and chilling corruption in the hunt for a serial killer.
An t-Eilean series two is funded by MG ALBA, BBC, Screen Scotland, Black Camel Pictures, Highlands & Islands Enterprise with location support from Comhairle nan Eilean Siar. It is distributed internationally by All3Media.
Tom O’ Sullivan returns as Director with Mairead Hamilton as co-Director. Further cast will be announced in due course.
David Smith, Director of Screen Scotland said: “An t-Eilean delivered Gaelic drama to the world for the first time and has reached further than we could ever have anticipated. Series two will be another step forward, and while Screen Scotland rarely funds second or subsequent series An t-Eilean has such cultural significance that we have been able to support it.”
Bill MacLeod, Commissioning Editor BBC ALBA said: “We’re delighted to have recommissioned this international award-winning show. An t-Eilean will once again transport viewers to one of the most dramatic landscapes in the world with a taut and twisty story that will keep them on the edge of their seats until the final few frames.”
Arabella Page Croft, Executive Producer Black Camel Pictures says: “It’s simply fantastic to be returning to An t-Eilean (The Island) for a second series. We have all been delighted with the success of the first finding both an audience at home and internationally. We can’t wait to get going with this brand-new gripping Hebridean mystery and thrilling tale with DS Kat Crichton at the helm.”
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Image credits: Still from An t-Eilean (The Island) series 1, courtesy Black Camel Pictures / BBC Alba / John Maher