MG ALBA has achieved a major international milestone, taking home the coveted Grand Prix at last night’s Prix CIRCOM 2025 awards – the highest honour in the prestigious European television awards.
The Grand Prix win was awarded to Black Camel Pictures’ acclaimed Gaelic-language crime thriller An t-Eilean (The Island), which had already been named winner of the Drama and Entertainment category earlier in the evening at the gala award ceremony in Barcelona. In a surprise announcement, the series was also revealed as the overall winner across all genres.
Set against the elemental landscape of the Outer Hebrides, An t-Eilean (The Island) is a compelling crime story that follows a family caught up in a murder investigation very close to home. When their mother is found murdered in the family castle, four adult children return to the Scottish island of their birth as their father is questioned over her death.
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, becoming the best performing Gaelic programme since the channel’s inception. A further broadcast window was also secured on BBC Four earlier this year.
The Grand Prix 2025 accolade crowns a year of renewed momentum for the Prix CIRCOM awards, which saw a 22 per cent rise in entries and an influx of new broadcasters joining the competition for the first time.
Judging took place in April with winners selected by a panel of industry professionals from across 15 European regional public service outlets.
John Morrison, Chair of MG ALBA, 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. 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.”
David Swetman, SVP scripted content at All3Media International, added: “We’re so pleased that the appeal of Black Camel’s wonderful drama has been recognised with the top award from the CIRCOM jury of European broadcasters in Barcelona.”
Arabella Page Croft, Executive Producer at Black Camel Pictures, said: “Thanks so much to the jury! Wonderful to win the Grand Prix at the CIRCOM awards celebrating European television drama production. We share this award with our hugely talented cast, crew and creative commissioners and financiers who adventured with us!”
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.”
Chosen from across all category winners, the Grand Prix recognises the single most outstanding programme of the year. While regional winners receive prior notice, the winner of the Grand Prix is announced live on the night, at the CIRCOM Annual Conference.
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 Prix CIRCOM 2025 jury report noted: “There is beautiful scenery, imposing castles and wonderful views of natural beauty. The drama matches well to this specific scenery and setting. 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.”
The award was officially accepted by actor Sorcha Groundsell (who plays lead character Kat Crighton in An t-Eilean), Executive Producer at Black Camel Pictures, Arabella Page Croft, and John Morrison, Chair of the Board of MG ALBA, during the Prix CIRCOM 2025 gala award ceremony at the CIRCOM Annual Conference in Barcelona yesterday, Thursday 22 May.
