BBC ALBA’s landmark Gaelic drama An t-Eilean (The Island) is charting an ambitious new course.
Following a breakout first season that marked the UK’s first high-end Gaelic-language drama, the BAFTA-nominated crime series is now rolling out across Europe, North America and Australasia through All3Media International, just as a second season moves into development.
Leading independent distributor All3Media International has also signed a host of deals around the world for the BAFTA-nominated debut series of high-end Gaelic drama An t-Eilean (The Island), as rights are secured in the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, and in multiple European territories.
From BAFTA-winning Black Camel Pictures (Annika), 4 x 1 hr crime drama An t-Eilean (The Island) was commissioned by Scottish Gaelic-language channel BBC ALBA, where it premiered last year. In addition to the previously announced presale deal with BBC Four in the UK, All3Media International has now agreed a pan-territory deal with Acorn Media in the US, English-speaking Canada and the Caribbean. A second pan-territory acquisition has also been signed with Canal+, covering rights for France, Africa and French-speaking Europe.
In further European deals, An t-Eilean (The Island) has been acquired by Antena TV (Romania), DR (Denmark), EITB (Basque Spain), Hellenic Telecommunications (Greece), RTBF (French-speaking Belgium and Luxembourg) and SVT (Sweden). The drama is also on SBS in Australia and Rialto Channel in New Zealand. Dazzler Media has acquired DVD rights for the UK and Eire, and Virgin Atlantic has secured inflight rights.
Series two delivers a gripping new chapter for An t-Eilean, as Kat Crichton – now a Detective Sergeant – is thrust into the hunt for a killer stalking the islands. But 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.
Set against the elemental beauty of Scotland’s Western Isles, the series once again makes the landscape part of the story – a place as dangerous and mysterious as it is breathtaking. Sorcha Groundsell (His Dark Materials, Shetland, The Innocents) returns as Kat, alongside Sam James Smith as Ruraidh Maclean, now running the local youth group and drawn back into Kat’s world as the case tightens around those closest to home.
An t-Eilean (The Island) was awarded the Prix CIRCOM’s Grand Prix 2025 and was nominated at the 2025 BAFTA Scotland Awards for Best Television Scripted. It was also chosen as an Official Selection at the 2025 SeriesFest in Denver, Colorado, where it screened as part of the International Spotlight strand. It is the latest Black Camel Pictures’ drama 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 around the world.
Arabella Page Croft, CEO of Black Camel Pictures, commented, “It’s an honour to create the first high-end Gaelic drama, and we’re delighted that All3Media International is now introducing even more viewers to the exceptional talent, breathtaking landscapes and wonderful language of this part of the world. It is always our ambition here at Black Camel in Scotland to make premium drama that appeals to a local, network and global audience, and following the success of An t-Eilean (The Island) both at home and on the international stage, we look forward to returning another gripping instalment of our series”
Maartje Horchner, EVP at All3Media International added, “We’re very pleased to announce this extensive line-up of new deals for An t-Eilean (The Island). Delivering the perfect combination of tense crime story and enthralling family drama, all brought to screen by the talented team at Black Camel Pictures, this ambitious thriller has attracted a lot of attention among buyers, proving the strength in demand for premium minority-language drama in the global market. We’re looking forward to speaking to buyers about the second series at the upcoming London TV Screenings and hope this will be just the start of this incredible drama’s ongoing success story.”
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.”
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.”
An t-Eilean (The Island) is financed through a multi-partner funding structure supported by MG ALBA, BBC, Screen Scotland, Black Camel Pictures, Highlands and Islands Enterprise, Comhairle nan Eielean Siar and All3Media International.
The series is Executive Produced by Arabella Page Croft and Nicole Fitzpatrick and written and executive produced by Nicholas Osborne. Tom Sullivan (Arracht) is lead director with Mairead Hamilton who co-writes the show and directs an episode. 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. The series is produced in association with All3Media International.
Previously in Series One..
An t-Eilean (The Island) A violent home invasion at the lavish Scottish island home of Douglas and Mary Maclean sees Mary shot dead. It falls on Kat Crichton, returning to the island after ten years as Family Liaison Officer, to piece the case together through the accounts of the family’s four grown children. The show unveils a layered web of twisting family dysfunction and deceit linked to a fateful New Year’s party at the estate a decade prior. When Kat begins to question Douglas’ innocence, family loyalty is stretched to its limits as the children must ask: Could their father have killed their mother in cold blood?
