An t-Eilean is gearing up to make its big debut on the BBC, so when exactly will it air, and who are some of the cast’s big stars?
The “tense, twisting story of lies, loss, and long-buried secrets” is on its way and will be the BBC’s first bilingual show featuring both Gaelic and English dialogue.
With the show almost ready to premiere, here’s everything you need to know about An t-Eilean, including its release date, cast, and plot.
An t-Eilean release date
An t-Eilean will premiere on Tuesday, January 14, at 9 p.m. on BBC Alba, BBC iPlayer, and BBC Four.
The drama will consist of four 50-minute episodes, which will be available in full on the BBC’s streaming service, BBC iPlayer.
An t-Eilean cast
Actress Sorcha Groundsell is to portray young family liaison officer Kat Crichton, who is investigating a brutal murder.
Groundswell is best known for portraying Bryd Fleming in Shetland and Maddy in the fantasy drama His Dark Materials.
DCI Ahmed Halim will be working alongside Kat and is played by Industry star Sagar Radia.
The role of the local tycoon Sir Douglas Maclean has been taken on by Bannan, Shetland, and Outlander actor Iain Macrae, while Outlander’s Hortense MacNeill star Sinead MacInnes is also going to join as Eilidh.
Other cast members include the Lighthouse’s Andrew Macinnes, Bannan’s Meredith Brook, and Sam James Smith.
An t-Eilean plot
Family liaison officer Sorcha Groundsell is assigned by her boss, DCI Ahmed Halim, to a murder investigation on Lewis and Harris, islands from which she fled 10 years prior.
BBC’s description continues: “The brutal slaying of the wife of local tycoon Sir Douglas Maclean, at a remote island mansion, at first seems to be part of a botched burglary. “But Kat has past history with Sir Douglas and his wealthy but deeply dysfunctional family, and is convinced that, despite having been wounded in the attack himself, the self-made millionaire must somehow be implicated.
“Drawn into the tangled web of the Maclean family, with their four grown children, Eilidh, Calum, Sìne and Ruaraidh, Kat must confront her own past – travelling back in time to a lavish New Year party a decade previously where the dark roots of the mystery seem to lie.
“Soon she is involved in a dangerous game of cat-and-mouse with Sir Douglas as she struggles both to bring the killer to justice and to exorcise her own personal demons.”
An t-Eilean premieres on Tuesday, January 14, at 9pm on BBC Alba, BBC iPlayer and BBC Four.