Landward - Season 13 / Year 2023

The Landward team return for a new series, digging deep into the issues and stories from Scotland's countryside.

As the farming season gets under way, Dougie Vipond attends one of the country's biggest ploughing competitions in Fife, where farmers fight it out for the straightest furrow. Ahead of the competition, Arlene meets up with female competitor Carol Jack to find out if she has what it takes to be a champion plougher.

Cammy Wilson drops in to see beef farmer Crawford Niven and master the fine art of muck-spreading, and we meet two of our rural vets, based in practices at opposite ends of Scotland. For the next few weeks, we follow their busy daily routines on appointments and emergencies as they deal with both two-legged and four-legged clientele.

Landscape photographer Shahbaz Majeed returns, but this time he is looking for viewers' pictures. Throughout the series, he will be asking for photos on a particular theme and choosing his favourites to feature on the programme.

In this episode, the team meet the communities taking power into their own hands. Dougie is on his bike at Loch Laggan to visit a location known to millions of viewers as the typical Highland estate in film and TV. However, as he finds out, Ardverikie Estate is focused on adapting to climate change and is plugging into its renewable energy sources.

Shahbaz is at Lochalsh to investigate how the arrival of electricity in the 1940s transformed people's lives and the landscape. In Sutherland, Anne is at Bonar Bridge to help serve lunch and hear how a community café and food hub are helping the community pull together through the energy crisis.

We catch up with our rural vets - Tom in Ayrshire and Mary Jo in Ross-shire - as they respond to call-outs, and Rosie steps inside the home known as the Hobbit House.

The team dive into the sea for a marine special. Dougie is in Arran to find out how 15 years of a fishing ban has transformed a no-take zone in Lamlash Bay, and Arlene gets an insight into trout breeding she will never forget.

The town of Cromarty has a population of just 700, and 100 of them are coastal rowers, and Anne takes to the sea to investigate why it's such a fast-growing pastime. Shahbaz chooses his favourite marine-themed viewers' photographs, and a mermaid takes us on a deep dive into the Atlantic. And we find out about the herring drifter that liberated whisky from the SS Politician and that is now being restored to its former glory.

In this episode, Dougie takes a walk along the John o' Groats Trail. He meets the man who created the route and discovers how it was inspired by the Appalachian Trail in Virginia. Dougie explores the stunning Caithness coast, discovering some of the hidden historic sites along the way, including the Whaligoe Steps.

Meanwhile, Rosie is further south in Easter Ross, where she investigates how drones are being used to calculate how much carbon is locked away on Scottish farmland.

Elsewhere, Arlene is testing the responses of the Galloway Mountain Rescue team in a fast-water rescue scenario. And we catch up with the work of our two rural vets as springtime brings new life to Scotland's farms.

With spring in the air, Dougie visits Aikengall Farm near Dunbar during their busiest time of the year. He lends a hand with the new arrivals as calving and lambing get fully under way. Arlene is also in East Lothian, climbing Traprain Law and meeting the Exmoor ponies that graze the hillside to keep the vegetation at bay.

Cammy sets out to meet some of Scotland's most inspiring next-generation farmers. This week, he is in Fife to meet a new-entrant farmer who is proving that rare breed sheep can be commercially viable.

We catch up with the work of our two rural vets as springtime brings new life to Scotland's farms, and Shahbaz is back to select his favourite springtime-themed viewer photographs.

Dougie steps out into an epic landscape, as he visits the biggest national nature reserve in the country, Mar Lodge Estate. Covering 29,000 hectares, and with 15 munros of the eastern Cairngorms, he sees the major regenerative work in the restoration of the ancient Caledonian forest. Dougie also reports on a project on the other side of the Cairngorm mountains that will see the release of captively bred Scottish wildcats later this spring.

Arlene goes back to school at the Scottish Rural College near Dumfries to get some hands on experience of outdoor lambing, while Cammy gets up early for milking and meets the dairy farming brothers who are bringing their milk direct to the masses.

Dougie visits Hillhead Farm in Dumbartonshire to meet the farming family who are taking control of their succession. The Imrie family consists of six siblings who are working together to diversify the business and make the farm viable going forward - but what if you don't come from a farming background?

Anne is near Balfron meeting the farm match couple brought together by their passion for agriculture. She also visits Kilmartin Glen in Argyll to shine a light on the earliest prehistoric animal carvings discovered in Scotland.

Cammy continues his series about inspirational next-generation farmers, meeting a young farmer who has diversified into deer. And Shahbaz selects the best of the viewers' photos on the theme of the next generation.

In this episode, Dougie is at the Tweed Valley Forest Park in the Borders. He takes a walk through the woodland on the Yair Estate and finds out how it is being future-proofed for climate change and extreme weather events.

Arlene is near Dumfries to visit the dairy cattle that are being studied to assess how happy they are. Meanwhile, Cammy is in Ayrshire, where he meets a couple with a passion for poultry. He finds out how they have developed their own environmentally friendly, organic chicken feed.

Elsewhere, Anne is on the banks of the River Tay, where she works her way through the biggest reed beds in the country and hears of their benefits to nature.

Dougie is in the East Neuk of Fife to find out how this small area has become such a big local food destination. He visits the Balcaskie Estate farm to see their Lincoln Red herd and then stops by the butchery where the beef is sold. Dougie meets up with chef Nick Nairn as the Bowhouse local producers' market gets under way. Together, they source some stunning local ingredients to cook up a delicious beef dish that celebrates the quality of food from the area.

Meanwhile, Rosie is in the Borders to discover why one farmer is planting and restoring hedgerows, and she hears how important these habitats are for biodiversity and climate change. Anne is in Deeside as she goes in search of Scotland's only native snake: the elusive adder. And Shahbaz is back with his pick of his favourite viewers' wildlife-themed photos.

Dougie is on the north coast of Aberdeenshire visiting the village of Pennan, which was made famous as one of the locations for the film Local Hero. With the film now marking its 40th anniversary, Dougie discovers how it has affected the lives of the villagers living there now.

Meanwhile, Shahbaz is in Angus to track down traditional red telephone boxes that are finding a new lease of life, while Rosie takes part in a whale rescue exercise on the Firth of Clyde. She joins volunteers to see how marine mammals entangled in fishing equipment are freed.

Elsewhere, Nick and Dougie continue their East Neuk of Fife food festival, cooking locally sourced monkfish to make fish tacos with soft flour tortillas.

Dougie is getting on his bike at Glentress Forest as organisers get ready to host the World Cycling Championships. He cycles one of the courses and finds out about the work going on to create a competition trail and how the wild habitat is being protected.

Meanwhile, Arlene visits an estate in the Angus Glens that is working to increase the number of barn owls. She sees some of this year's chicks up close as they are checked and tagged as part of a conservation project. Cammy and sheepdog Meg are at a farm near Kinross to watch how one woman trains her dogs for competitions. Nick and Dougie are in the East Neuk of Fife for the final part of their local food feast as they gather ingredients to make a posh cheese toastie with bechamel sauce.

In this weather-focused special,, Dougie heads out into the North Sea to visit Scotland's biggest offshore wind farm as it nears completion. Meanwhile, Anne finds out how the wind farm's impact on marine mammals is being monitored.

Chris Blanchett discovers how one well-known farming family in north east Scotland is harnessing the power of the sun, and Rosie meets a man whose study of the elements demonstrates true dedication. And Shahbaz chooses his favourite viewers' weather-themed photographs.

Dougie and the team are at Ingleston for the Royal Highland Show. Rosie meets a Limousin cattle breeder as she prepares her cattle for showing and judging. Meanwhile, Cammy follows all the action from the Golden Shears World Championship, which is being held at the Highland Show for the first time. This sheep-shearing and wool-handling competition attracts shearers from over 30 countries across the world.

Arlene meets members of the Highland Pony Society as they celebrate their centenary this year at the show, and Dougie finds out about the farmers' initiative that is donating pick-up trucks to the Ukraine front line.