THE Gaelic drama An t-Eilean has been awarded the highest honour at a prestigious European television award in Barcelona.
The BBC Alba drama, which is set in the Isle of Harris in the Outer Hebrides, took home the highly coveted Grand Prix at last night’s Prix CIRCOM 2025 awards.
An t-Eilean was named winner of the Drama and Entertainment category earlier in the evening at the gala award ceremony in the Catalan city, and in a surprise announcement, the series was also revealed as the overall winner across all genres.
The crime story follows a family caught up in a murder investigation close to home when their mother is found dead in the family castle, with her four adult children returning to the island as their father is questioned over her death.
John Morrison, chair of MG ALBA, used the milestone to call for more investment in high-quality Scottish dramas.
He said: “Winning the Grand Prix is an incredible achievement for a Gaelic show, placed at the pinnacle of Europe’s regional television industry by our peers.
“MG ALBA has been working with a tight and diminishing budget for years and it was a calculated gamble by the Board of MG ALBA to invest all of our drama budget for a whole year in one short box set.
“But we were confident in the story, the cast and the production team. So were our funding partners and the BBC.”
Morrison added: “An t-Eilean has already broken audience records for a Gaelic show, and it is very rewarding for everyone involved to win two awards in this prestigious ceremony.
“ High quality drama needs a serious budget and increased investment by the Scottish Government would allow us to build on this success.”
Commissioned by BBC ALBA and produced by Black Camel Pictures, with funding from MG ALBA, Screen Scotland, Black Camel Pictures, and All3Media International, the drama premiered in the UK on BBC ALBA in January 2025.
It quickly became the best-performing Gaelic programme since the channel's inception.
Judging for the Prix CIRCOM 2025 awards took place in April, with winners selected by a panel of industry professionals from across 15 European regional public service outlets.
Chosen from winners across all categories, the Grand Prix recognises the single most outstanding programme of the year.
Commending the diverse offering within the entries for the Prix CIRCOM 2025, chair Marina Ramos of RTP, Portugal, said: “We found many very good stories, great productions, and specially commissioned content that let us see and enjoy beautiful landscapes and regions all over Europe and different kinds of culture. All that is very important for public service media to offer to consumers.
“Our selection for Grand Prix was the drama An t-Eilean (The Island). And the reason is simple: we have all seen murder series from all over the world but this is a very great production, high quality, good story, great actors, beautiful landscape and, above all made in the Gaelic language, showing us a region in Scotland, with magnificent natural features. Livestock, castles and so on.”
The award was accepted by actor Sorcha Groundsell, who plays the lead character Kat Crighton in the series.
The Prix CIRCOM 2025 jury report noted the “beautiful scenery” of the wonderful views and natural beauty of the Scottish island.
It added: “The acting is splendid: it's intense and you don't want to stop watching. The production values are high and this is an ambitious production.
“It is very fascinating and impressive that the drama is produced in the Gaelic language. This will help spread knowledge of the language when making such quality entertainment for a wider audience. Good dramas are made all over the world – but this is special.”
David Smith, director at Screen Scotland, said: “This is a fantastic win for the An t-Eilean team. The popularity of this ambitious series and the recognition it has received, including this award, is an incredible vote of confidence in the strength of Gaelic language drama.”
