From Hollywood epics to cosy Scottish TV series, via classic black-and-white movies, the rugged scenery as well as the atmospheric buildings, castles and streets in our area have all been the backdrop for the stars of the large and small screen.

Film-makers of all kinds have been attracted here for a very long time. If you thought that Liam Neeson's Rob Roy (1995) was a first, then you should have been around in 1922 when a silent film billed as 'the first Scottish epic' featured the MacGregor's swashbuckling story and was partly filmed around Loch Lomond. Even Walt Disney filmed a version in the area in 1953 (see the Trossachs section).

And it hasn't always been Tinseltown or even the British film industry who've seen the potential of our locations. Home-grown television series, from Take the High Road to the much-loved first series of Dr Finlay's Casebook, have been enjoyed by generations, with the distinctive local settings playing their part.

So be prepared for surprises. Who would have thought that Michael Caine has been on location to Argyll at least twice - or that Kenneth More once had to jump out of a window in Dunblane Burgh Chambers; or even that quite so many local settings have found their way to becoming a big-budget Bollywood backdrop? On these pages you'll find listed just some of the places which have, over the years, suddenly seen their routines temporarily disturbed by all the paraphernalia of movies in the making, and their unspoilt charms borrowed to add atmosphere and drama to the plot.