The series was created and developed by
Peter May and
Janice Hally who was also the storyliner and principal scriptwriter. As there was no history of large-scale television drama output in the Gaelic language, the pair spent two years of preparatory work on the creation of the show. Their initial proposal for Head of Drama at
Scottish Television, Robert Love, included details not only of the characters and storylines for the show but details of the process required to find, recruit and train actors and writers. They went on to conduct actors' workshops, screentests, and writing courses to train the talent they had found to a professional standard for television.
Machair was written in English and translated into Gaelic, then given English subtitles and broadcast at peak viewing time. Although the concept was initially greeted with derision by the press, when the show aired it received unanimous praise from reviewers. Kenneth Roy, television critic of
Scotland on Sunday, described it as "a credit to the company [Scottish Television] and a smack in the face to those of us who were doubtful" and after a few episodes said "it is even better than it looked at first glance quite simply the best thing to have happened to television in Scotland for a long time". The series was funded by the Gaelic Television Committee, and according to government reports, had the effect of creating jobs and boosting the economy in the islands. The writing and producer team of May and Hally made the first ninety-nine half-hour episodes. After they left, further episodes were made but audience figures dropped and the show was cancelled, The programme was given a second screening on
BBC Alba, the dedicated Scottish Gaelic language digital television channel, and is regularly repeated on the channel. ==Cast and characters==