Colin MacDonald has written a short film, Survivor, funded by the Imperial War Museum and the Iolaire Trust.
Survivor is inspired by the Iolaire disaster, a catastrophe of almost incomprehensible loss.
In the early hours of the 1st of January 1919, 280 servicemen made their final approach towards the safety of home and their loved ones, having survived the perils of the First World War. HMY Iolaire was carrying the men towards Stornoway in heavy weather, and just twenty yards from the shore, the ship collided with rocks and sank.
201 out of the 280 men perished.
The unimaginable grief that the island suffered as a consequence of the tragedy has had a profound and lasting impact on the communities’ lives, culture, population and economy.
Colin is currently writing 5-parter Silver and Blood for Absolutely Productions/BBC Radio 4. Also for R4, Colin wrote Burke & Hare drama An Eye for a Killing, narrated by Jack Lowden, and adapted C J Sansom’s historical mystery novel series Shardlake.
