- Title: Distilling Whisky Galore!
- Date: 8th January 1991
- Summary: THE FAMOUS EALING COMEDY FILM WHISKY GALORE! RELEASED IN 1949, WAS BASED ON A NOVEL BY COMPTON MACKENZIE WHICH ITSELF DREW ON STORIES ABOUT THE SS POLITICIAN: A WHISKY-FILLED FREIGHTER WRECKED IN THE HEBRIDES IN FEBRUARY 1941. THE PROGRAMME MINGLES MEMORIES OF ALL THESE EVENTS: THE SALVAGE OF THE WHISKY BY ISLANDERS AND THEIR PROSECUTION BY THE CUSTOMS MEN; COMPTON MACKENZIE'S LITERARY SALON ON THE REMOTE ISLAND OF BARRA; THE ADVENTURES OF EALING'S LOCATION CREW ON BARRA; THE FATE THAT ALMOST BEFELL THE FILM WHEN THE STUDIO HEAD SAW IT; AND, IN 1990, THE ROMANTIC AND ULTIMATELY FRUITLESS ATTEMPT TO SALVAGE ANY REMAINING CARGO FROM THE WRECK. IMBUED WITH THE AMBER GLOW OF THE "WATER OF LIFE", THIS IS A UNIQUELY GOOD-HUMOURED LOOK AT THE ART OF STORY-TELLING - AND OF DRINKING!
- Description:A return to the island where whisky galore was made to observe the battle between fake gaelic culture and real gaelic culture and to meet some of the survivors of the compton-mackenzie-isations of barra.
- Broadcaster:Channel 4
- Collection: Channel 4
- Genre:Documentary and Factual
- Producer:LARGE DOOR PRODUCTIONS LTD
- Programme Episode:Episode 1
- Transmission Date:08/01/1991
- Rights:On Request
- Decade: 1990s