[1][2][3][4] Creator David Shaw-Smith began with Telefís Éireann in the 1960s, working as a cameraman with Gerrit van Gelderen and became an independent filmmaker in the early 1970s.

he and his wife Sally, an illustrator, travelled Ireland in a VW van recording traditional craftsmen.

[5] Hands has been described as one of "Ireland’s favourite" television programs, and has been rebroadcast several times to the extent that it is one of the "most broadcast" RTÉ productions.

[11] For over 20 years, the original film sat in tea chests in a barn in Creagh, County Mayo.

In March 2013 archivists packed all 1,800 film cans into storage containers and brought them to the RTÉ Archives.