Finlay J. Macdonald visits the Flannan Isles and their lighthouse

This television film about the Flannan Isles, their lighthouse and the mysterious disappearance of its three keepers in 1900 was made by Finlay J. Macdonald in 1970. The light went over to automatic operation the following year.

I once had bed and breakfast at Breasclete on the west coast of Lewis, and the owner was the grandson of one of the men aboard the Hesperus when it went out to the isles to see what was amiss with the light. It had not been seen to shine for 10 days.

The film will tell you what they found there.

Finlay J. Macdonald was a writer and broadcaster. He read his three books about growing up on Harris between the wars on BBC Radio 4 in the 1980s and they proved a great success.

I still recall his tale of a visiting school inspector being most impressed by the children's knowledge of the Bible. That was because she could not see their teacher, who was standing behind her and giving them the right answers by holding up her fingers.