During severe storms that battered the islands of the Outer Hebrides in December 1900, three lighthouse keepers, James Ducat, Thomas Marshall and Donald MacArthur vanished without a trace from their posts at the Flannan Isles Lighthouse. Following an immediate investigation, no solid proof could determine how the men disappeared and the case was closed. More than a century later, we are still utterly captivated by this legend.

In the first episode of our series Astonishing, we'll delve into this mystery: firstly with a version of the story best known in the collective imagination, and later with an attempt to untangle the embellishments and half-truths which have been added over the years. Can fact be stranger than fiction?

Originally aired: August 22nd 2020