An Island Parish - Fridays @ 7:30 pm BBC2 BARRA is a hundred times more beautiful than Craggy Island, the fictional setting of legendary Channel 4 sitcom, "Father Ted", but in some respects - the remote locations, the three parish priests - there is a resemblance. Now viewers can judge for themselves because "ISLAND PARISH", the series that chronicled life in the Isles of Scilly, has moved north to BARRA, the most southerly of the remote Outer Hebrides. which lies 85 miles off the Scottish mainland. Barra and its neighbouring island, South Uist, are unique in the Outer Hebrides. While the Northern Hebridean islands of Harris and Lewis are ultra-Prostestant, they remain fiercely Roman Catholic. Quite simply, the Reformation set in motion by Henry VIII never reached these isolated communities, and on the roadsides, you find statues and icons of the Virgin Mary in a way you never see elsewhere in Britain. On Barra, the priest is still held in very high esteem, so when the rookie, FATHER JOHN PAUL MACKINNON, arrives to take up his post, he knows the eyes of every islander will be on him. "If you sneeze here, everyone know about it within half an hour", he says with a wry smile. "And as the new priest, you're incredibly high-profile. I'll be spending my first year quietly getting to know the place and the people, rather than throwing my weight around and trying to change things. That wouldn't go down at all well". On hand to give advice in the next-door parish across the water on South Uist is FATHER RODDY MCAULEY, a larger-than-life character who's also in charge of the parish flock of sheep and even breeds his own hens. This year, father Roddy is determined to secure first prize for his magnificent cockerel Clarence at the local agricultural show. "Every year I'm pipped at the post by my arch-rival down the road, parishioner Flora Campbell, who has a fearsome reputation for breeding winners", says Father Roddy grimly. "It's time for a change, This time I'm going to win". Completing the trio of priests is 83 year-old Father Calum MacLellan, who help^s Father Roddy by looking after the hundred or so parishioners who live on tiny Eriskay, connected to the southern tip of South Uist by a causeway. Father Calum has a dry sense of humour, loves a wee dram, and even a cigarette. "I don't inhale, you see", says Father Calm, with a twinkle. So why bother to smoke at all? "My anesthetist asked me that question. I told him that since my lungs are in the best of health, it's none of his damned business. He didn't ask again". SCOTTISH ISLAND PARISH follows Father John Paul's arrival on Barra, and his first year in office, along with the growing friendship - and rivalry - between the three priests. Father John Oaul moves into the big house attached to the Catholic church with its distinctive clock-tower overlooking Barra's main harbour of Castlebay, where- weather permitting - the ferry arrives every day bearing supplies for the island after a five-hour voyage from Oban. There's a mesmerising view from the living-room window: in the distance are the stark silhouettes of the uninhabited islands of Saltray and Mingulay, shrouded in sea mist or dazzling in early-morning sunshine: and , dominating the bay, one of the most arresting sights in the Hebrides, the stunning medieval castle that is the ancestral seat of the Clan MacNeil. Despite centuries of forced emigration as a result of famine or unscrupulous landlords, (or both), MacNeil is still the most common name on Barra, and every two years, MacNeils from all over the world gather at the castle in a proud celebration of their roots. FATHER JOHN PAUL, lives alone, so one of his first talks is to grapple with the washing machine, learn how to use an iron and master the hoover. When he's tired of the house-work, he can always dip into his boxed set of "Father Ted. "I'm a huge fan of the show", he says, slightly to my surprise. "The writers definitely had inside knowledge". Another urgent mission is to learn the native Gaelic: it's the first language for many islands, like old Maggie "Scraggy Aggy" MacKinnon. "Woe betide any newcomer who fails to make an effort with the language", she warns, waving her stick. "I'll have his guts for garters, and a lot more beside, and I don't care if he is the priest"! At low tides, Scraggy Aggy can often be found on Barra's fabulous beaches, hunting for supper - clams, mussels and, above all, scallops. It's an utterly enchanting corner of the world. Weather sweeping in from the Atlantic has yet to meet the mountains, so it doesn't rain as much as the mainland and, amazingly, claims to be among the sunniest places in the country. The landscape, devoid of trees and even hedges, has a brutal, rocky fascination, giving the islands much the same feel in winter as summer. The people, bound together by their proximity to nature - and particularly the sea - have a contentment, innate hospitality and good humour that make living here seem very easy. Unlike Father John Paul, Father Roddy does have a housekeeper: she's an American called Sandy Stephens who came to South Uist on holidays from New Mexico eight years ago and never went home. "I so admire the dedication and work of the priests here", she says. "Father Roddy is a brilliant communicator, he's in such huge demand for baptisms and weddings". Sandy had fallen in love with the place so much that she's now applied for British citizenship, and has even reserved a plot for herself in the local graveyard. The parish structure here is much as it would have been everywhere in Britain before 1530. Ninety-five per cent of the population is Catholic, and even today, up to half of the islanders go to church at some stage every week, probably the highest attendance in the UK. The workload is huge and constant as the priest is central to nearly all community events. It's their devotion to their work and to the people that sets the three priests well apart for the condey of "Father Ted". "There can't be many places where the priest is automatically invited along to a parishioner's 18th birthday party", says Father Roddy, "but I'm invited to them all". There's someone at the door every ten minutes: the telephone rings endlessly. When a parishioner is seriously ill or dying, they call the priest first, then the ambulance. And yet, along with their compassion, the priests share an extraordinary sense of humour that makes them great company. Highly competitive, Father Roddy tries every trick in the book to humiliate father John Paul on the island's golf course. ("People say it's all about the 'taking part'", says Father Roddy. "It's not, it's about the winning".) Father John Paul ends up with egg on his face after taking a course in cooking so he can prepare a birthday dinner for Father Calum; and Father Roddy stuns his parishioners with a virtuoso display of hilarious conjuring tricks. You will enjoy meeting them all in the series and, believe me, your life will be much richer as a result. Nigel Farrell, series producer of Island Parish.