Everyone Romesh Ranganathan has ever met has told him how amazing the Scottish islands are - but nobody he knows has actually ever been there. Now he is heading to the Hebrides to find out if you can really have a proper adventure so close to home, spending a week visiting the Islands of Skye, Harris and Lewis in The Christmas Misadventures of Romesh Ranganathan.
Guiding him through the journey will be Donald MacSween, or Sweeney to his friends, a local crofter from the far North of Lewis - a place that lies as far north as Greenland.
During their trip Sweeney will show Romesh the spectacular rugged beauty of the islands and what at first glance look like Caribbean sandy beaches (but turn out to be utterly freezing). Rom will try his hand at the Highlands Games and try to avoid feeling up a sheep’s testicles during a day spent on Sweeney’s farm. Along the way there will be a trip to the remote island of St Kilda - four hours out across the open Atlantic - and a chaotic afternoon spent with local band Peat and Diesel, the biggest thing to hit the Western Isles for decades.
But it is also a trip full of surprises - Rom will find a community that is at times uncomfortable with the sheer number of people now visiting the islands and find out why its people are having to fight so hard to preserve their local culture.
The Christmas Misadventures of Romesh Ranganathan was commissioned by Patrick Holland, Controller, BBC Two and Catherine Catton, Head of Commissioning, Popular Factual and Factual Entertainment. The Commissioning Editor is Max Gogarty. It will be broadcast over Christmas.
