Inside the new Scottish murder mystery series set to take Gaelic to a global audience

The setting could not be more dramatic as Scotland's latest TV murder mystery gets underway.

Amidst the lochs and mountains of a Hebridean landscape, an imposing Victorian century castle looms large.

Sorcha Groundsell plays police family liaison officer Kat Crichton in new BBC murder mystery series An t-Eilean, which was filmed on Lewis and Harris. Picture: Black Camel Pictures/BBCAlba/John Maher | Black Camel Pictures/BBCAlba/John Maher

The silence of the night is disturbed by a single gunshot. Inside, a framed family photograph lies shattered on the floor.

It is the opening of a thriller that will thrust viewers into the heart of a dysfunctional island family and their isolated mansion home.

Sorcha Groundsell plays police family liaison officer Kat Crichton in new BBC murder mystery series An t-Eilean, which was filmed on Lewis and Harris. Picture: Black Camel Pictures/BBCAlba/John Murdo MacAulay | Black Camel Pictures/BBCAlba/John Murdo MacAulay

The four-part series is also predicted to gut the Gaelic language on the global map after being backed by a leading international distributor before filming even started.

With a budget of more than £1m available for each episode, An t-Eilean (The Island) is by far the biggest drama series commissioned for Gaelic channel BBC Alba and one of the biggest productions ever filmed in the Outer Hebrides.

Sagar Radia and Sorcha Groundsell star in the new BBC murder mystery series An t-Eilean, which was filmed on Lewis and Harris. Picture: Black Camel Pictures/BBCAlba/John Murdo MacAulay | Black Camel Pictures/BBCAlba

Created by Nicholas Osborne and co-written with Lewis-born screenwriter Patsi Mackenzie, An t-Eilean follows the return of a young police officer to her native island after powerful tycoon Sir Douglas Maclean is left critically ill and his wife is found dead in their historic home.

The show - which explores the dark past of Sir Douglas, Lady Mary and their four children - features a host of established and up-and-coming Hebridean talent, with Lewis-born actress Sorcha Groundsell playing police family liaison officer Kat Crichton and Harris-born Iain MacRae, as the wealthy businessman she has a past history with.

Meredith Brook, Sam James Smith, Iain MacRae, Sinead MacInnes, Andrew Macinnes and Sorcha Groundsell star in the new BBC murder mystery series An t-Eilean, which was filmed on Lewis and Harris. Picture: Black Camel Pictures/BBCAlba/John Maher | Black Camel Pictures/BBCAlba/John Maher

The show has been made for BBC Alba by Black Camel Pictures, producers of the hit marine murder mystery series Annika, with the backing of distributors All3Media International, who previously worked on Call the Midwife, Midsomer Murders, Fleabag and The Traitors.

An t-Eilean, which launches on BBC Alba on 14 January and will later air on BBC Four, has already been sold to broadcasters in Norway and Denmark, and generated interest in Ireland and Australia.

Actress Meredith Brook and actor Iain MacRae on set during the filming of the new BBC murder mystery series An t-Eilean, which was filmed on Lewis and Harris. Picture: Black Camel Pictures/BBCAlba/John Maher | Black Camel Pictures/BBCAlba

Black Camel co-founder Arabella Page Croft, executive producer of An t-Eilean, said: "I've known Nick since we were young. We both grew up with lots of siblings, so when he proposed a story about a family where the four adult children return home after a murder I was in! He created such a strong story I was sure I could sell it to a broadcaster.

"When I approached him about a collaboration with BBC ALBA and setting the show in the Hebrides he immediately committed to the show being in Gaelic and partnering with Gaelic writer Patsi Mackenzie.

Meredith Brook and Sorcha Groundsell star in new BBC murder mystery series An t-Eilean, which was filmed on Lewis and Harris. Picture: Black Camel Pictures/BBCAlba/John Maher | Black Camel Pictures/BBCAlba/John Maher

"The setting, the world and the language has really elevated the show and given it an authenticity and sense of place that I hope makes it stand out in such a crowded television market."

MacRae, who starred in previous Gaelic dramas Bannan and Machair, said: "This series is very different to anything BBC Alba has done before.

"It has historically struggled on a very small budget. They've produced a lot of very good stuff but have really been hamstrung by finance.

Director Tom Sullivan and actress Meredith Brook during filming of the new BBC murder mystery series An t-Eilean, which was filmed on Lewis and Harris. Picture: Black Camel Pictures/BBCAlba/John Maher | Black Camel Pictures/BBCAlba

"It’;s amazing that a piece of drama for BBC Alba was given a substantial amount of money. It does make a hell of a difference.”

Although scenes were filmed across Lewis and Harris during a five-week islands shoot, the main location was Amhuinnsuidhe Castle, a reputedly haunted 19th country house, in west-Harris, normally hired out to fishing and shooting parties.

Andrew MacInnes, Meredith Brook, Sinead Macinnes, Iain MacRae and Jacob Watson all star in the new new BBC murder mystery series An t-Eilean, which was filmed on Lewis and Harris. Picture: Black Camel Pictures/BBCAlba/John Maher | Black Camel Pictures/BBCAlba/John Maher

Page Croft said: "Nick had set his heart on Amhuinnsuidhe Castle when he was writing, but you have to look at what's feasible and practical.

"It ultimately won out because it was exceptional, authentic to what we were trying to achieve and we could even accommodate the cast there.”

The new BBC murder mystery series An t-Eilean was filmed on Lewis and Harris. Picture: Black Camel Pictures/BBCAlba/John Murdo MacAulay | Black Camel Pictures/BBCAlba/John Murdo MacAulay

Groundsell, who was brought up in Lewis and is a fluent Gaelic speaker, had not previously appeared in a Gaelic language production.

She said: "It was a real surprise when the offer came through, but in a strange way it felt like the right project at the right time, as I had had Gaelic language and culture in my mind a lot. It felt like the perfect job to really reaffirm that connection.

"Like so many things that are really precious to us we don't necessarily appreciate their value all the time. Sometimes things like this need to come along to smack you round the head and say: 'This is a really important part of your life and your identity'."

Skye actress Meredith Brook, whose only previous TV work was on the BBC Alba series Bannan, plays one Sine Maclean. She was working in a school and learning Arabic in Cairo last year when she was sent details of a search for cast for the series.

She said: "I sent in a video as I thought it would be good to throw my hat in the ring and was amazed when I heard back.

"I had earmarked about seven months to be in Cairo and the filming was bang in the middle of that.

“But when they told me about the money that was finally going into a Gaelic TV series it felt like such a milestone moment for the language.

“There was no way that I was going to let the opportunity escape."

Around 70 per cent of the dialogue in the show, which has also been funded by Gaelic broadcaster MG Alba and Scottish Government agency Screen Scotland, is in Gaelic.

Brook said: “It is a true representation of our culture. Ware bilingual and we can flip between two languages. That’s been fading away, but with this drama, we can show that it's possible to have that and to strive for it."

Sinead MacInnes and Sorcha Groundsell star in the new BBC murder mystery series An t-Eilean, which was filmed on Lewis and Harris. Picture: Black Camel Pictures/BBCAlba/Graeme Hunter | Black Camel Pictures/BBCAlba/Graeme Hunter

Page Croft said it was important to strike the right balance with an “authentic portrayal” of language.

She added: “We were advised that a major crime investigation would mostly take place in English with an incoming senior police team. The balance is 70-30 per cent in favour of Gaelic and we feel it works very naturally."

Groundsell said: "I hope that people enjoy the series and are entertained by it.

"Beyond that, I hope it moves us a good way towards people appreciating Gaelic and the Highlands and Islands as being viable, valid and worth investing money and effort in.

"I hope it moves us forward in the creation of a flourishing creative industry, not just for the area itself, but also for Gaelic, which has been really ignored, discounted and undervalued over the years.

“The logistics of getting everyone to the islands and keeping them there for five weeks were challenging, but there are so many huge challenges involved in making any high-end drama. It is challenge worth taking on in the islands for such an incredible pay-off.”