Series 1 Information


      SERIES 1
    • The Great Lochdubh Salt Robbery
    • A Pillar Of The Community
    • The Big Freeze
    • West Coast Story
    • Wee Jock's Lament
    • A Bit Of An Epic

      • HAMISH MACBETH A General Introduction

       A major new drama series set in the Scottish Highlands, 'Hamish Macbeth' starts transmission on BBC-1 on Sunday, March 26. The 6 x 1 hour series stars rising young Scottish actor Robert Carlyle in the title role.

      Hamish Macbeth is a young policeman whose beat is the apparently sleepy Highland village of Lochdubh. Serious crime isn't much of a problem in Lochdubh, but life is never dull. Passions run high in a small community - petty squabbles turn into violent feuds, things go missing and so, occasionally, do people.

      Hamish has one great ambition: to avoid promotion. Promotion would mean leaving his home in Lochdubh and Wee Jock, his beloved West Highland terrier. So, the less his superior officers in Inverness know of his policing activities, the better. In any case, Hamish is more interested in natural justice than in the letter of the law.

      "He sees himself as the sheriff of a one-horse town," explains Robert Carlyle, who plays Hamish. "To him, Lochdubh is the Wild West and he has his own way of dealing with crimes and misdemeanours.'

      A team of colourful characters make up the close-nit community of Lochdubh, including Hamish's friend and general factotum, TV John (Ralph Riach); father and son ne'er-do-wells Lachlan and Lachie Junior (Jimmy Yuill and Stuart Davids); Doctor Dougal Brown (Duncan Duff); the proprietor of the village store, Rory Campbell, and his secret love, Esme (Brian Pettifer and Arm Lacey); and Barney and Agnes Meldrum (Stuart McGugan and Barbara Rafferty), landlord and lady of the Lochdubh Hotel, local watering hole and the hub of village life.

      Hamish is unhappily in love with Alexandra Maclean (Valerie Gogan), the laird's daughter, but she has left Lochdubh to pursue a writing career in London. Her occasional visits home inevitably rekindle his passion, which is a shame because, unnoticed by Hamish, local girl Isobel Sutherland (Shirley Henderson), a reporter on the Lochdubh Listener, has loved him for years.

      Meanwhile, Hamish's closest friend is Wee Jock. The little terrier goes everywhere with him and jealously guards his bed when an attractive woman is in town. Wee Jock is played by newcomer Zippy, a West Highland White from Dumfries.

      Robert Carlyle's new role as Hamish is in stark contrast to his most recent television appearance playing Albie, the chilling shaven-headed psychopath in the latest series of Cracker. Other recent TV work includes Preston in the first series of 99-1; and a vicious dread-locked punk in Antonia Bird's award-winning TV drama Safe.

      On film Robert has appeared in Being Human directed by Bin Forsyth, and Silent Scream directed by David Hayman. He played the lead in Riff Raff directed by Ken Loach (winner of the European Film of the Year Award), and also stars as Linus Roache's gay lover in Antonia Bird's controversial new film Priest, which was the surprise hit of the Toronto Film Festival earlier this year and is now set for theatrical release on 17th March. In the theatre he has worked with 7:84, TAG, and the Traverse Theatre. He is also a director with Glasgow's Rain Dog Theatre Company which he co-founded.

      'Hamish Macbeth, was filmed entirely in and around the beautiful village of Plockton on the North West Coast of Scotland. Previously famous for the palm trees which unexpectedly fringe its pretty harbour, Plockton is now set to become much better known as television's fictional village of Lochdubh. "We looked at practically every village on the West Coast of Scotland," explains producer Deirdre Keir. 'We had very particular requirements and Plockton fitted the bill perfectly."

      Andrea Calderwood, Head of Television Drama at BBC Scotland says, "Hamish is a very exceptional policeman and the goings-on in his village of Lochdubh offer a fresh and entertaining view of contemporary life in the Highlands."


      The Great Lochdubh Salt Robbery

      Transmission : 26th March 1995
      Writer: Daniel Boyle
      Director: Nicholas Renton

      Two apparently unrelated mysteries in the sleepy highland village of Lochdubh have PC Hamish Macbeth and Inspector Bruce, his superior officer from Inverness well and truly baffled. A huge quantity of table salt has been stolen from Rory Campbell's general store and Geordie Robb, the bully from the Lochdubh Fish and Game Company, is missing. His wife is suffering from unexplained injuries and his mother Alice and her old friend Whisky Bob are clearly uneasy. Hamish is distracted by the return to Lochdubh of his ex-girlfriend Alexandra, but he soon deduces that would-be entrepreneurs Lachlan and Lachie Junior are behind the salt robbery, that Big Geordie has met an untimely death, and that a consignment of lobsters which failed to meet EC regulations is the missing link ...


      A Pillar Of The Community

      Transmission: 2nd April 1995
      Writer: Stuart Hepburn
      Director: Nicholas Renton

      Vicky and Paul Jeffreys are new to Lochdubh - incomers, or white settlers, as they are known to locals. Hamish is thrilled to learn that Paul is none other than Chuck Saddler, writer of his favourite cowboy novels. Vicky (Phyllis Law) is busy putting reluctant villagers back in touch with their Highland heritage. She has modified plans for the annual Lochdubh Day - bouncy castles and juke boxes are out, weaving demonstrations and Gaelic choirs are in. She rows with the volatile Lachlan McCrae, and Agnes, landlady of the Lochdubh Hotel, is jealous of her relationship with husband, Barney. One way and another all the locals are up in arms, but who is behind a series of increasingly serious threats towards Vicky? Almost everyone in the village is a potential suspect ...


      The Big Freeze

      Transmission: 9th April 1995
      Writer: Dominic Minghella
      Director: Patrick Lau

      Alexandra's father, Major Maclean, is in big financial trouble. He stages a robbery to make a false insurance claim but Hamish rumbles him. Together they try to set matters right but it is too late. Inspector Bruce instigates a major surveillance operation in Lochdubh, to the great consternation of the villagers. TV licences are renewed and vehicles are taxed for the first time in years. TV John is behaving oddly too. He refuses to help Hamish with his backlog of paperwork, the jealous Rory sees him going into Esme's house late at night, and he is seen taking money from the petty cash tin. When TV John refuses to explain, Hamish reluctantly fires him. leaving Lochdubh in shame, TV John inadvertently leads the police to a wanted villain and Hamish discovers the poignant reason for his strange behaviour ...


      West Coast Story

      Transmission: 16th April 1995
      Writer: Bryan Elsley
      Director: Ian Knox

      Hamish is financially embarrassed. His bank manager, the fanatically religious Cameron Dicks, has cancelled his cash card and, worse still, is threatening to bankrupt the impoverished crofter, Duncan Soutar (Alex Norton). Rory Campbell bails Hamish out and, in return, Hamish agrees to take part in Lochdubh's amateur dramatic production of West Side Story. The young lovers in the show are played by Duncan's son Jimmy, and Cameron's daughter, Phyllis. It is clear that they have fallen in love. When Cameron finds out, he bans rehearsals from the village hall. Vowing to discredit him, Hamish and the other players uncover the shocking truth about Cameron's past. Publicly exposed as a hypocrite, Cameron sees the error of his ways. He risks his life to prevent Duncan from committing suicide, and rehearsals continue, as before ...


      Wee Jock's Lament

      Transmission: 23rd April 1995
      writer: Daniel Boyle
      Director: Nicholas Renton

      When two escaped convicts, Harry and Frankie, knock down and seriously injure Wee Jock, his distraught owner goes after them to seek revenge. Convinced that lives are at stake, TV John rounds up a posse to save Macbeth from himself. Posing as a casual hill walker, Hamish befriends the prisoners who are living rough, but TV John and the posse are hot on their trail. Hamish learns that the convicts once knocked down and killed a young boy during a robbery several years ago. His body was never found. At gunpoint, they reveal the whereabouts of the body and Hamish is able to pass the information on to the boy's grief-stricken parents. In gratitude, they give Hamish a precious gift, but he is certain he has met the mother once before ...


      A Bit Of An Epic

      Transmission: 30th April 1995
      Writer: Julian Spilsbury
      Director: Sid Roberson

      Hamish takes time off to join a mountain trek led by Colonel Don Maxwell (James Faulkner), the charismatic boss of Executive Expeditions. Hoping for a news-worthy story, Isobel, the Lochdubh Listener's keen young reporter, goes too. Hamish counsels caution when they reach their goal, but Maxwell urges the group to tackle a more challenging climb. They are soon stuck on a mountain ledge in grave danger. An experienced climber, Hamish risks his own life to save the group. As he stares death in the face, the desperate Isobel declares her love for him. Safely back in Lochdubh, Hamish foresees a happy future with Isobel. But a surprise awaits. Alexandra has finally decided to move back to Lochdubh ...


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