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The series had a slightly surreal quality to it, drawing on the superstitious natures of some of the characters and the somewhat eerie beauty of the remote and misty location, and enhanced by the Gaelic music of John Lunn. Other themes include the clairvoyance of Hamish's friend and co-worker "TV John", John McIver ( Ralph Riach), the not-so-secret romance between the school-teacher Esme Murray and the shopkeeper Rory Campbell, the volatile marriage of the publican Barney Meldrum and his wife Agnes, the schemes of the two Lachie MacCraes, father and son, the laid-back, pipe smoking Doc Brown ( Duncan Duff), and Major Peregrine Mclean ( David Ashton), father of Alexandra and aristocratic penniless bachelor.
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The major running theme of the series is the tension caused by Hamish's attraction to both the journalist of the local newspaper, Isobel Sutherland ( Shirley Henderson) and the aristocratic author Alexandra Maclean ( Valerie Gogan). He strongly dislikes involvement from Inverness police, and sometimes his main work doesn't seem to be the capture of local very petty criminals, but to keep them away from prison and penalties. Macbeth does this in his own way, without undue reliance on the letter of the law and with every intention of avoiding being promoted out of what is his ideal job. Macbeth, accompanied by his dog, a West Highland Terrier named Wee Jock, keeps the peace in the small town of Lochdubh (pronounced with the guttural 'ch' sound, LoCH-DOO).