One of the key productions of the Gaelic channel BBC Alba, the drama Bannan, is to be shown to international audiences.
Bannan, filmed on Skye, is one of the channel's key original dramas and has now been signed up by DRG, a leading independent distributors of TV programmes.
Donald Campbell, chief executive of MG Alba, which runs the channel with the BBC, said: “The story of Bannan is part of the growth of BBC Alba and the new distribution agreement is another landmark step in the development of the channel.
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“It was important that BBC Alba could embrace the drama genre in order to serve our Gaelic audience yet, the drama – and the channel – also needed to ensure that we could make an important contribution to the creative sector in Scotland.”
Chris Young, of Young Films, producer of Bannan, said: “When we first embarked on producing Bannan, we were clear that the drama should be appealing not only to a Gaelic and Scottish audience but to have strong storylines that would resonate across borders.
“We knew that the production talent existed within Scotland to make such a drama, and the wonderful location of Skye is unrivalled – all that was needed was the platform and resources to make it a reality.”
MG Alba is currently pressing the BBC to make an increased financial commitment to the channel in order to increase the amount of original programming and reduce the number of repeats.
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Mr Campbell added: “We are ambitious for Gaelic and for BBC Alba – our ambition for the channel includes increased BBC commitment as part of a consistent, supportive policy by the BBC towards its minority language services.
"Following the provisions in the Charter and Framework Agreement published last week, we will be working with the BBC in the months ahead and making every attempt to secure increased BBC commitment for the channel."
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