One of Scotland’s most recognisable Highland characters is heading to the small screen for the very first time, as a new documentary celebrating Angus Òg airs on BBC Alba on New Year’s Day.
The programme, broadcast at 9pm, explores the life and legacy of cartoonist Ewen Bain and his iconic creation Angus Òg, the sharp witted islander who entertained and provoked Scotland for almost three decades.
Produced in collaboration with Caledonia TV, the documentary blends original cartoons, actor voice performances, archive material, and interviews to recreate the fictional island of Drambeg and bring Angus Òg’s world vividly back to life.
Viewers will revisit the character’s most memorable escapades while rediscovering Bain’s distinctive satire, which ran in the Daily Record and Sunday Mail and became a fixture of Scottish popular culture.
At the heart of the programme is the Ewen Bain Angus Òg Cartoon Collection, held by High Life Highland at the Skye and Lochalsh Archive Centre in Portree.
The collection includes thousands of original drawings, sketchbooks, storyboards, newspaper clippings, and personal material covering Bain’s long and prolific career.
Archivist Catherine MacPhee said:
“We are delighted to be the custodians of the Ewen Bain Angus Òg Cartoon Collection and to have been able to work with Caledonia TV to bring some of Ewen Bain’s best work to life.
“Along with the tales and stories behind the comic strips, this has been a huge privilege for us.”
While Angus Òg became his most famous creation, Ewen Bain’s work extended far beyond the Highlands.
He produced numerous single panel cartoons for newspapers and magazines and earlier created The Bleeps, a comic series published in the late 1950s.
The documentary traces Bain’s journey from his childhood in Maryhill, through formative summers in Skye, wartime service in the Royal Navy, and his emergence as one of Scotland’s most distinctive cartoon voices.
Angus Òg, the wily inhabitant of the Utter Hebrides, became a lens through which Bain explored Scotland itself.
Using what he described as a teuchter stereotype, Bain tackled themes of community, language, tourism, environmental change, inequality, culture, and identity with warmth, mischief, and precision.
Many of those themes remain strikingly relevant decades later.
No public figure was entirely safe from Angus Òg’s gaze.
Politicians, royalty, celebrities, lairds, clergy, and cultural gatekeepers all found themselves skewered, often gently, sometimes mercilessly, but always with humanity.
The documentary features contributions from broadcasters John Morrison and Cathy Macdonald, producer Tony Kearney, John Smith, director of the children’s series Bzzz, actor Dolina Maclennan, artist and curator Calum Malkie Maclean, singer Alasdair Gillies, writer Alan Bissett, and Katharine MacFarlane.
Also featured are Rhona Flin, Ewen Bain’s daughter, and artist Ann Macleod, who has created new cartoons inspired by Bain’s life and work.
Narration and the voice of Angus Òg himself are provided by Alec Valtos Macdonald.
For generations of readers, Angus Òg was more than a cartoon character.
He was a mirror, a mischief maker, and a distinctly Highland voice that cut through pomposity and power with humour and heart.
Now, on New Year’s Day, he finally steps out of the pages and onto the screen.
