We’ve just had sight of the Gaelic TV channel, BBC Alba’s December Festival programme.

As usual, its highlights show inventiveness and cultural curiosity. For non-Gaelic speakers, like us, good sub-titling makes these programmes easy to watch and their refreshingly non-formulaic subject matter makes them consistently more attractive than the standard schedules from the main English-speakig channels – with around 800 hours of repeats ‘promised’ for the 2009 Christmas period.

BBC Alba festival Programmes that have caught our attention include:

• Air an Oir – a documentary looking at the roots of Runrig’s musical influences. This will be transmitted at 7.00pm on Friday 25th December.
• Bothan air a’ Phreiridh: Iain MacPherson takes his friend Ewen MacKay on a journey home over space and time to the Canadian prairies – to the emptiness and growth at the heart of family stories and separations for both of them. Beginning in Sleat, they visit Benbecula before heading west: to the endless land of wheat and rodeos on the trail of Ewen’s mother, Bealag who was born overseas and returned over here, and her father Seonaidh Paterson, the Gaelic Cowboy himself. This will air at 9.00pm on Friday 25th December.
• Trump – An Tilleadh: one which should find a healthy audeince in Aberdeen. Billionaire Donald Trump, famous, confident and controversial, is only one generation away from being a Gaelic speaker. Patricia Macleod travels to New York and to Lewis to speak to those who are closest to him – his family, his relations, his colleagues and himself – to try to discover who the real Donald Trump is, and she is behind the scenes for his Homecoming to Lewis as he meets his relatives there for the first time. This goes out at 9.00pm on Wednesday 30th December.
• Johnny Cash: Johnny Cash had a musical career that spanned six decades and was one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century. This documentary explores the prominent themes of Cash’s life including love of the land, freedom, justice, family, faith and redemption through exclusive interviews, photos and unreleased music and footage. It will be transmitted at 9.00pm on Thursday 31st December.
• Bliadhna Mhath Ùr: An Argyll special – BBC ALBA’s special live Hogmanay show will come from Oban, featuring an all star cast of musicians, singers and special guests. Presented by the inimitable duo of Morag MacDonald and Tony Kearney, the show features Argyllshire’s own Karen Matheson and Donald Shaw, top folk band Daimh, two of the World’s top piper’s, Stuart Liddell and Angus MacColl, this year’s Mod Gold Medallists, Darren MacLean and Sineag MacIntyre, and the one and only Anne Lorne Gillies. Bliadhna Mhath Ùr will also be broadcast simultaneously on BBC Radio na Gàidheal. This will get going at 11.30pm on Thursday 31st December.

You can get BBC ALBA on Sky channel 168, Freesat channel 110  – and live on BBC iplayer as well as viewable there within 7 days of original transmission.

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