Katie Morag (TV series)


Katie Morag is the television adaptation of the series of books by Mairi Hedderwick. The programmes follow the adventures of Katie Morag whose life on the fictional Scottish island of Struay is full of stories of jealousy, bravery and rivalry and peopled by an annoying little brother, busy shopkeeper parents, a perfectly perfect best friend and a couple of grandmothers who between them know everything about everything. The series was filmed by Scottish Independent Production Company, Move On Up and commissioned by the BBC's CBeebies channel. Don Coutts directed the series which Margaret Matheson produced and Lindy Cameron executive produced and edited.

Series one

The series was shot on the Isle of Lewis between May and August 2013 at BBC Alba's studios in Stornoway and on location around the island. It comprised 26x15 minute episodes and began its run on Cbeebies on 3 November 2013.

Series two

In June 2014, it was announced that Katie Morag would be returning for a second series. Cheryl Taylor, Controller of CBBC, said: "This is the first time that CBBC and CBeebies have co-commissioned a series and I am really pleased to be working so closely with CBeebies. The exclusive episodes to be shown on CBBC will allow us to develop more multifaceted storylines for the older CBBC audience."
Series two was filmed once more on Lewis, between 21 July and 13 September 2014, and comprised 3x15 minute episodes, 9x20 minute episodes and 1x30 minute episode. The first episode was aired on CBBC on 19 December 2014.

Production

Writing

The series was scripted by a team comprising Sergio Casci, Stuart Hepburn, Martin McCardie, Jan Storie, and Louise Wylie. They used the method of Team Writing For TV. This ensures that the concepts of theme, tone and narrative coherence are successfully carried across the large number of episodes of a long running TV Series. Crucially, it requires all writers to be present at all storylining sessions, and for detailed beat outlines to be created by the entire storylining team.

Casting

Casting for the series included a casting call in Stornoway, Lewis in March 2013. The casting team also held extensive auditions in Glasgow and Edinburgh. The part was eventually won by seven-year-old Cherry Campbell from Glasgow. Campbell took part in the Stornoway auditions. Director Don Coutts said, "We were looking for someone with energy, humour and courage to play the feisty wee character of Katie Morag and we think that Cherry has all three of these attributes in spades!"

Locations

The series is filmed on the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides. Although the fictional Island of Struay is based on Coll in the Inner Hebrides, the producers felt Lewis had the necessary infrastructure to create the series. Executive producer Lindy Cameron further explained, "It was important to us to try and keep as much of this production in the Highlands as we were able. By making good use of all the innate facilities and skills that Lewis has to offer us we hope that the benefit to the Island, and to all of the Hebrides, will be great."
The locations include the remote village of Tolsta Chaolais ; Tabost, Lochs ; Laxay Boathouse, Laxay ; Cnoc School, Knock; Dal Mor Beach;
Bhaltos Pier ; Maivaig Pontoon; Shawbost Beach; Reef Beach; Carloway FC.

Music

The soundtrack for the series was created by acclaimed Scottish musician, composer and producer Donald Shaw.
The soundtrack was released as an mp3 download on 1 January 2016.

Gaelic

The series has been dubbed into Scottish Gaelic, for broadcast on BBC Alba. Known as Ceitidh Mòrag, the series began on 7 January 2014.

Cast and characters

Main cast

Series one

  1. Katie Morag Delivers the Mail
  2. Katie Morag and the Two Grandmothers
  3. Katie Morag and the Old Teacher
  4. Grannie Island's Ceilidh: The Big Smelly Goat
  5. Katie Morag and the New Boy
  6. Katie Morag and the Halloween Pirate
  7. Katie Morag and Izzy
  8. Grannie Island's Ceilidh: Stone Soup
  9. Katie Morag and the Special Delivery
  10. Katie Morag and the Tiresome Ted
  11. Katie Morag and the Mysteries
  12. Grannie Island's Ceilidh: Little Izzy
  13. Katie Morag and the Two Peas
  14. Katie Morag and the New Year Party
  15. Katie Morag and the Baking Day Secret
  16. Katie Morag and the Grumpy Grannie
  17. Katie Morag and the Big Boy Cousins
  18. Grannie Island's Ceilidh: Granpa's Bowl
  19. Katie Morag and the Seals Singing
  20. Grannie Island's Ceilidh: Annie Jessie and the Merboy
  21. Katie Morag and the Hill Race
  22. Grannie Island's Ceilidh: Hugh Handy
  23. Katie Morag and the Big Picture
  24. Katie Morag and the Brochan Bus
  25. Katie Morag and the Wedding - Part 1
  26. Katie Morag and the Wedding - Part 2

    Series two

  27. Katie Morag and the Golden Treasure
  28. Katie Morag and the Family Tree
  29. Katie Morag and the Dancing Class
  30. Katie Morag and the Sick Sheep
  31. Katie Morag and the Carrot Competition
  32. Katie Morag and the Big Shinty Match
  33. Katie Morag and the Day of Birthdays
  34. Katie Morag and the Struay Star
  35. Katie Morag and the Road to Grannie Island's
  36. Katie Morag and Uncle Matthew's Hut
  37. Katie Morag and the Grand Concert
  38. Katie Morag and the Big Balloon
  39. Katie Morag and the Worst Day Ever

    Reception

Critical reception

The first series was met with widespread critical acclaim. Martin Chilton in The Telegraph wrote, "The series is lovely and celebrates the sense of community so intrinsic to the stories."
In The Times, Helen Rumbelow suggested viewers, "Draw the curtains, pour a whisky and enjoy one of the most realistic child performances of the decade, the butchest grandma on screen, and the best Hebridean landscape in the world. It's as close as you can get to not watching TV without having to give up TV."

Awards

won two British Academy Children's Awards for 2014: Best Drama, and Best Performance, Cherry Campbell.
It was also nominated for Best Writer, Sergio Casci.
The series repeated its 2014 success at the British Academy Children's Awards scooping the award for Best Drama once again in 2015.
Katie Morag won Best Children's Programme at BAFTA Scotland British Academy Scotland Awards in 2014.
The series won Best Children's Programme or Series at the 2014 Freesat Free TV Awards. The judges said, "Beautifully and authentically shot, it was a key move by its host channel into scripted drama, delivering self contained stories that felt sweet and, more importantly, real to their young audience."
It also won the Royal Television Society Scotland Children's Award at the inaugural RTS Scotland awards ceremony in 2014. The judges said, “This programme is innovative and daring in its adaptation of an iconic property. At the heart of it is an exceptional performance from the lead character.”
The series won Best New Kids Series at the 2015 Kidscreen Awards in Miami.
In April 2016 it was announced that Katie Morag had been awarded a prestigious Peabody Award. The American-based Peabody Awards were established in the 1940s as a radio equivalent to the Pulitzer Prize, and have since grown steadily to recognise excellence in a wide range of electronic media. Only around 25 awards are presented each year from over 1,000 global entries, and to win a Peabody, a programme must receive the unanimous approval of all sixteen Peabody Board members. Announcing winners on the award website, members said of the Katie Morag TV series: “Mairi Hedderwick's popular books about a feisty, wee, red-headed girl and the Scottish island community she's growing up in are exquisitely realised in this series. Timeless, perhaps old fashioned, but never precious or blindly idyllic, Katie Morag deals honestly and gracefully with death, loss, rivalry and other serious themes.”

DVD releases

The DVDs of series one were released over the autumn of 2014.
DVD boxsets of series one and series two were subsequently released in 2015.