New: Scotland’s Sacred Islands With Ben Fogle 

Scotland’s Sacred Islands with Ben Fogle 

Original version

The BBC South region started on 5th January 1961 as part of the BBC Television Service, before becoming BBC One South.

BBC One

BBC One South

Documentaries

Religion & Ethics

Ben Fogle travels across Scotland’s remotest islands to discover their spiritual legacy.

Adventurer Ben Fogle is on a very personal pilgrimage. Travelling across Scotland’s remotest islands, he discovers that their spiritual legacy still resonates today.

Series 2

BBC Two

A BBC TV channel for Scotland which will broadcast every evening and will show drama, factual, comedy and news programmes made in Scotland

BBC Scotland

BBC Scotland HD

The BBC North East & Cumbria region started in 1959 (tbc) as part of the BBC Television Service, before becoming BBC One North East & Cumbria.

BBC One North East & Cumbria

BBC One Cambridgeshire

BBC One North West HD

BBC One region covering Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire.

BBC One East Midlands HD

BBC One South HD

The BBC East region started on 1st May 1959 as part of the BBC Television Service, before becoming BBC One East.

BBC One East HD

Simulcast of network BBC One in high definition. From 03/11/2010

BBC One HD

BBC One Yorkshire

BBC One North West

Formerly part of a wider BBC One South East region that included London and part of the South region. Separated from BBC One London 2001-09-03 following reorganisation of the South East region.

BBC One South East

BBC One West Midlands HD

The BBC South West region started on 20th April 1961 as part of the BBC Television Service, before becoming BBC One South West.

BBC One South West HD

BBC One London

London

BBC One Cambridgeshire HD

BBC One Channel Islands HD

BBC One Oxfordshire

BBC One Nightlight

BBC One East

BBC One Yorks & Lincs

BBC One Yorkshire HD

BBC One South West

BBC One South East HD

The BBC West region started on 1st September 1957 as part of the BBC Television Service, before becoming BBC One West.

BBC One West HD

BBC One West

BBC One East Midlands

Formerly part of a wider BBC One South East region. Separated as BBC One London 2001-09-03 following reorganisation of the South East region.

BBC One London HD

BBC One Oxfordshire HD

BBC One North East & Cumbria HD

BBC One Channel Islands

BBC One Yorks & Lincs HD

BBC One West Midlands

Simulcast of BBC One Wales in high definition. From 29/01/2013

BBC One Wales HD

BBC One Wales

Wales

BBC One Scotland

Scotland

Simulcast of BBC One Scotland in high definition. From 14/01/2013

BBC One Scotland HD

Simulcast of BBC One Northern Ireland in high definition. From 24/10/2012

BBC One Northern Ireland HD

BBC Northern Ireland region started on 19th April 1955 as part of the BBC Television Service, before becoming BBC One Northern Ireland.

BBC One Northern Ireland

Simulcast of network BBC Two in high definition.

BBC Two HD

BBC Two England

England

Simulcast of BBC Two Northern Ireland in high definition

BBC Two Northern Ireland HD

BBC Two Northern Ireland

Simulcast of BBC Two Wales in high definition

BBC Two Wales HD

Until 03/01/2009 BBC Two Wales (analogue) was known simply as BBC Two Wales. BBC Two Wales (digital) was BBC 2W. From 03/01/2009 BBC Two Wales schedules on both analogue and digital became identical

BBC Two Wales

Ben Fogle

Richard Collier

Katie Melville

Harry Bell

Rod McLean

Craig Collinson

Flora Stewart

Tern Television Productions

Scotland’s Sacred Islands with Ben Fogle : Series 2: Episode 2

Episode 2

Scotland’s Sacred Islands with Ben Fogle

BBC Scotland - Scotland’s Sacred Islands with Ben Fogle, Series 2, Episode 2

Ben Fogle traces the route of 6th-century Christian monks by land and sea.

Ben Fogle journeys to Islay and Jura, tracing the route of 6th-century Christian monks across wild seaways to discover communities going the extra mile to look out for one another.

Ben takes a tiny passenger ferry from mainland Argyll down the length of Loch Sween to arrive on Islay.

While the island is famed for its whisky - the island has more distilleries than churches - its links to Christianity are ancient. The island was a crossroads between Ireland and Scotland for early Celtic monks, and Ben heads for the stunning sands of Machir Bay.

From here, Ben gazes out across the sea and imagines those hardy, seafaring missionaries as early adventurers and pioneers. What lingers of their spirit and legacy on these islands?

Ben hitches a lift with Callum, a former social worker turned tuk-tuk taxi driver, for a tour of the island. They discuss how it was once the church that was the main focus for providing common belief and bringing people together. Today, however, it’s strong community and shared endeavour that can increasingly fulfil that role. 

He gets involved with an extraordinary community venture run by new charity Sidekick to help disabled islanders enjoy Islay’s incredible opportunities for outdoor activity. Ben takes wheelchair user Stewart for his first ever paddleboard on one of the island’s gorgeous lochs.
In the graveyard of Islay’s Kilarrow Church, Ben discovers a memorial to local man Donald Caskie, a Church of Scotland minister who risked his life during WWII to help allied POWs escape occupied France. He meets Caskie’s nephew, Gordon, to hear more about his uncle’s heroics and the inner strength of islanders.

Ben joins the volunteers of one of Britain’s busiest RNLI teams on a search and rescue exercise and talks with the crew about the reality of putting yourself at risk to save those in trouble on the treacherous seas around Islay and Jura. He then makes the short trip across to Jura. Known as the wilderness isle, it’s thought by some to have been St Columba’s personal retreat where he lived as a hermit to come closer to God. Ben meets local church elder Sheena for a stroll on the glorious Corran Sands. They discuss how an environment as beautiful as Jura makes it somehow easier to believe that there is something bigger than yourself.

Ben travels up the length of the wilderness isle to one of its most remote corners on a personal pilgrimage. Jura is where George Orwell wrote his dark masterpiece, 1984. Ben visits the house of his literary hero to meet with Orwell’s son, Richard, who lived here with his father as a young boy. Ben hears about the author’s complex relationship with faith and wrestles with how Orwell could write such a dark vision of the future whilst living in such a stunning location.

Taking a boat across the wild Corryvreckan whirlpools, Ben traces the route of Irish monks to land on a little-known island called
Eileach an Naoimh, or The Isle of the Saints. Here, he finds an incredible 6th-century monk’s cell, understood to be the oldest Christian building in Britain.

Scotland’s Sacred Islands with Ben Fogle : Series 2

A BBC TV channel for Scotland which will broadcast every evening and will show drama, factual, comedy and news programmes made in Scotland


Accessibility links

Programme Index

Scotland’s Sacred Islands with Ben Fogle

Series 2

Episode 2

Contributors

Genres

Formats

Brand

Series

BBC One South

About BBC One