Channel 4's upcoming drama Murder Island has all the makings of a quintessential British crime drama: a remote and quiet town is shaken when a woman is murdered, and an urgent murder investigation ensues... … However, there’s a major twist: the new series is actually a “genre-bending” reality game show.
In "Murder Island" , four groups of ordinary people will play the role of detectives. With the help of real police resources, they will try to solve the murder in just eight days, with the chance of winning a £50,000 prize.
This exciting reality-cum-murder-mystery drama hits theaters tonight (October 5) and is written by critically acclaimed true-crime writer Ian Rankin, so it’s safe to say we can Expect a gripping plot. As the title suggests, the new series appears to be set somewhere in the middle of nowhere, but where exactly is Channel 4's Murder Island filmed?
To film the new series, Channel 4 traveled to the Isle of Giga off the west coast of Kintyre, Scotland. Although it seems completely remote, the island is actually visited by a large number of tourists every year, and according to Scotland Travel Guide, this peaceful destination is famous for its excellent whiskey distilleries.
In Murder Island , Gigha is given the fictional name Hirsa and is, as the plot synopsis describes, an "island community of 173 people...served by a bar, a shop and a primary school." It added: "For everything else you have to go to the mainland."
In the new six-part series, Hilsa's "quiet beauty" is "shattered" when a body is discovered in a dilapidated property.
For the show's writer, Iain Rankin, the Scottish islands provided the perfect backdrop for his elaborate murder plot.
"When I was first approached, the production team didn't know which island they were going to use. So when I wrote the first draft, it was a fictional island, so we actually gave it a fictional name," he told Channel 4 said.
The acclaimed crime novelist from Scotland added: "The film was shot on a real island, but the island in the story is called Hilsa. Then Craig, one of the producers, couldn't believe it. , because when he went to the actual island where they were filming, he started sending me pictures and said, 'This is just like in your script. '
"A lot of the places I imagine actually exist. Maybe it's because I have a very vivid imagination, or maybe it's because I know what the islands off the west coast of Scotland look like."
In Murder Island , a team of amateur sleuths will arrive in Hilsa by boat before conducting a reality check under the supervision of some of Scotland's "best real detectives". According to Channel 4, these real police officers will use the same information as amateur police and bring their own experience when judging each team.
After gathering evidence, the final team must also build a case strong enough to satisfy one of Scotland's top lawyers before winning a cash prize.
