Islands 

From Ross Island to Galapagos to the possibly mythical isle of HyBrasil, world renowned sound recordist Chris Watson teams up with Writer/Presenter Luke Clancy, Composer Irene Buckley and Actor Kathy Rose O'Brien to journey across an atlas of remote islands.  

Islands fuses documentary and drama, and a bit of pretending,  to make a journey not usually possible - especially these days - as Chris and Luke imagine stepping across frozen lava at Ross island, Antarctica; taking in the rarefied atmosphere of the Alcedo volcano on the Galapagos islands and listening to an incredible symphony of Bearded Seals under the ice at Svalbard. 

The programme draws on live performances by the team at Skibbereen Arts Festival (2019) and at the International Features Conference hosted by RTÉ Documentary On One (2019). 

The programme merges chronicles of island life by Luke, with Chris’s stunning archive of natural history, accompanied by a haunting soundtrack created by Composer Irene Buckley, while actor Kathy Rose O'Brien navigates our journey.

Writer: Luke Clancy 

Sound Recording and Sound Design: Chris Watson

Narration: Luke Clancy and Chris Watson 

Composer: Irene Buckley

Actor: Kathy Rose O’Brien

Sound Supervision: Ruth Kennington 

Producer: Kevin Brew 

Series Producer: Kevin Reynolds 

Group Head Drama & Comedy: Shane Murphy 

With special thanks to Declan McCarthy, Brendan McCarthy, Pat Collins, Sharon Whooley and Tadhg O'Sullivan.

Islands was funded by the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland with the Television Licence Fee.

1st TX: 4 October 2020