Orkney is the deepest archaeological landscape in Britain — Skara Brae predates the Pyramids. Sea stacks, neolithic monuments, and wartime infrastructure (Scapa Flow) on a single archipelago. Logistics are the cost — ferries and weather. The look is unmatched.
Island council north of Caithness. NorthLink ferry from Aberdeen / Scrabster, or Loganair flight from Inverness or Edinburgh. UNESCO Heart of Neolithic Orkney coordinates the major heritage sites via HES.
Access to private estates, NTS properties, HES sites, and NatureScot-designated areas runs on separate processes from the council. We handle the multi-party coordination as part of any production service brief.
Orkney Islands adds layers a city shoot doesn't have: NatureScot designations, ferry-confirmed crew movements, weather-buffered schedules, and remote landowner relationships. Our service production brief covers the lot.
For TVC and short-form brand work, we deliver as service producer. For HETV and feature work, we work alongside your UK production company as the Scottish unit.
For most filming on council-managed land in Orkney Islands, yes. Orkney Islands Council is the consent authority for council-owned streets, parks, and public spaces. Filming on private estates, NTS properties, HES heritage sites, or NatureScot-designated areas requires separate permissions from those bodies in addition to (or instead of) the council. Stills photography below a small crew threshold often doesn't need a council permit, but verifying for your specific brief is a 24-hour turnaround on our end.
Fee band for Orkney Islands: low to mid-tier. UNESCO site filming subject to additional preservation protocols. Council permit fees are charged separately from any heritage body fees (HES, NTS, NatureScot) or private estate location fees. We quote a single combined number against the brief so you're not chasing five invoices.
Council-managed: 2-3 weeks. UNESCO sites (Skara Brae, Ring of Brodgar, Maeshowe): 4-6 weeks with HES approval. Ferry logistics adds 1 day each direction. These are realistic lead times for cleanly-submitted applications. We've found council Comms teams in Orkney Islands respond faster to producers who turn up with the application complete than to ones who send three rounds of questions first. That's the value we add at the start of a brief.
Council-owned land in Orkney Islands: Orkney Islands Council (via media@orkney.gov.uk). Heritage castles and state-owned ruins: Historic Environment Scotland (HES). NTS properties: the relevant property manager via NTS Edinburgh. Designated natural sites (SSSIs, NNRs): NatureScot. Road closures: Police Scotland and the council Roads team jointly. Forest tracks on national forest estate: Forestry and Land Scotland (FLS). Drone work over restricted areas: CAA plus local landowner.
Producers shooting Orkney Islands most often come for Skara Brae — Neolithic village (HES, UNESCO). It's not the only option — we maintain notes on 6 key filmable locations in this council area and can scout to brief. Most of our work in Orkney Islands doesn't end up at the single tourist-poster location anyway. It ends up at the second or third one.
Send a brief — production type, dates, locations of interest, approximate budget. Costed approach back within 24-72 hours.
Send a Brief WhatsApp JackImage source: Wikipedia / Wikimedia Commons (typically CC BY-SA 4.0 or Public Domain, see Wikimedia page for exact licence per image).