A new series of the popular sheepdog trials programme Sheepdogs begins on BBC Alba tonight.
The best national and international competition from across the UK and Ireland will be shown across eight programmes hosted by Donald MacSween and Catriona MacPhee.
Trials at Blairgowrie will feature in the first two programmes. The big handlers Ian Brownlie, Neil Campbell, John McKillop and Jock Welsh all compete here and aim to chalk up some season points. Everyone performs well but it’s Rook who runs an almost perfect run for handler Andy Carnegie.
Also in the first programme, Donald and Catriona visit local trials at Harelaw where rough terrain doesn’t appear to affect the quality of runs from David Kinloch and Nell, Jock Welsh and Cree and Stuart Davidson and Queen.
The third, fourth and fifth programmes in the series come from the Scottish National championship at Stranraer where the Scottish team is selected for the international competition. Among those competing are Neil Gillon, Scott Renwick and 2015 world champion, Michael Shearer.
Later in the series the programme travels to Wales for the international sheepdog trial which is being held on the Cardigan Bay coast of southern Gwynedd. Three days of competition reach a climax with the supreme championship and there is an intense finish as Kevin Evans and Ci score high on the first run.
The programmes will be broadcast on BBC Alba at 9.00pm and repeated on Sundays at 9.00pm, with all programmes also available on BBC iPlayer for 30 days following first transmission.
