Coast Episode Rating Graph

The Sea Eagles of the island of Canna were hunted to extinction, but now they have been brought back. We climb into one of their nests perched high on a steep cliff to find out what their chances of survival are. Neil Oliver visits Europe's biggest super-quarry to receive an explosive lesson in how the rock is mined. Armed with a simple ruler on a Scottish beach, Nick Crane learns how the challenge of measuring our coastline led to a new branch of maths that could help our mobile phones get smaller.

Coast investigates how the Irish Sea touches us all and has shaped our island story.

Coast embarks on its first adventure to North America as this explores British connections far offshore and surprising stories in the waters just off Britain's shoreline.

The team discover untold tales of explorers around our shores, and far beyond, including a stop-off down under in Australia.

The team explore stories on both sides of the English Channel. Nick Crane visits Mont St Michel and Mark Horton looks at the origins of Britain's Ordnance Survey.

Before air travel, Britain's harbours were gateways to global adventure. There are more than a thousand ports, big and small, around the UK coastline, all with fascinating secret stories, many of them revealed for the first time in this episode.

Coast ventures to the furthest flung reaches of the British Isles to discover the most extreme locations, lifestyles and challenges of 'Life Beyond The Edge'. Nick Crane explores the exotic Isles of Scilly - 28 miles beyond Land's End, these are England's final full stop. On magical isles with a Caribbean feel, Nick joins the locals to attempt one of the most bizarre walks in Britain, as they try to wade on foot through the surging seas from island to island. It's a challenge only possible at exceptionally low-tide, yet still the seawater threatens to swamp them. To discover what life is like on this extreme edge, Nick visits the last house on the very tip of the most westerly inhabited isle. He pushes beyond the edges of Britain's history too, walking back in time to the bronze age, as the seabed reveals evidence of an ancient settlement, long submerged beneath the waves. Is this the site of the legendary 'Lost Kingdom of Lyonesse', said to be the last resting place of King Arthur? On precipitous slopes, beyond the edge of Devon, Coast newcomer and social historian Ruth Goodman follows in the footsteps of the remarkable Branscombe cliff farmers, who for generations followed a hardy way of life that's now gone with the sea breeze. Ruth relives a day in the ceaseless toil of the last man left on these perilous cliffs, the aptly named 'Cliffie' Gosling, who together with his trusty donkeys made the steep ascent between land and sea daily until the 1960s. Mark Horton explores the cutting edge of Victorian information technology in a celebration of one of Britain's most audacious engineering achievements. The titanic struggle to create the transatlantic telegraph service between Britain and America would eventually herald the birth of global communications, but how did Brunel's mighty ship, the Great Eastern, manage to lay a cable 2,000 miles along the seabed to transmit and receive tiny electric signals between continents? Mark and the team rebuild the ingenious invention which, in 1865, finally made the transatlantic cable a glorious reality after ten years of tragic failure. And, on the dramatic rocky edge of St David's Head in South Wales, Hermione Cockburn explores the very limits of life on the planet to reveal the astonishing fossil of a large sea creature - one which lived 300 million years before the dinosaurs. This discovery helped establish that Britain and America were once part of the same super-continent, and that the Earth is old enough for Darwin's theory of evolution - once held to be on the margins of science - to become central to our understanding of who we are.

On Holy Island, we find out how a Viking attach inadvertently united the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, creating a new national identity as they came together to resist a new enemy. Mark Horton navigates to Marine Esplanade in Ravenscar in search of the "town that never was". Destined to be a buzzing Victorian seaside parade, Mark uncovers why it is now just an empty field. Following three unsuccessful attempts to land a boat on Bass Rock, Miranda Krestovnikoff beats Neil Oliver to the challenge and is rewarded with a front row view of the diving gannets.

In Coast's Norwegian odyssey we explore how the Ice Age is still affecting Norwegians today; a collapsing mountainside threatens to thunder down into one of the country's most beautiful fjord's creating a devastating tsunami. Nick Crane visits the little town of Geiranger which sits in the path of the impending tidal wave.

Blackpool is Britain's most visited seaside destination. How has the resort succeeded when others have gone under? The pleasure park is one of many innovative attractions imported here from America. Neil Oliver views the coast at high speed with a visit to the RAF's world famous "Pilot Factory". As he takes to the skies in a Hawk Jet with an instructor, can he travel from Anglesey to Blackpool and back in just under half an hour?

We visit Cork Harbour, Titanic's last port of call before sailing to disaster, to hear the story of one lucky Irish passenger who had to reluctantly disembark at Cork. Alice Roberts meets Waterford Crystal's chief scientist to learn how to turn the local beach's sand into glass. Hermione Cockburn creates her own mini earthquake on Killiney beach with a mercury dish and some dynamite, recreating an experiment performed 160 years ago that led to the understanding of the earth's tectonic plates.

Neil discovers the story of a Welsh Atlantis lost beneath the waves; Miranda goes in search of leatherback turtles; whilst Alice descends into the caves of Great Orme and Nick canoes in the treacherous Menai Straits, to examine the bridges across to Anglesey.

The latest adventure begins in the historic heart of London, continues along the south coast of England and out across the channel to explore the curious coast of Belgium. Nick Crane discovers why the world's biggest cargo ships are on course for London before crossing the channel to Belgium; he rides one of the longest tramways in the world, and investigates how a beautiful seaside resort became the base for Albert Einstein's battle against Nazi tyranny. Neil Oliver reveals the remarkable tale of Hitler's audacious gamble in 1942, when his biggest battleships steamed straight along the English Channel in broad daylight. Alice Roberts uncovers the surprising story behind the rise and fall of the seaside landlady. In the fabulously preserved medieval city of Bruges Mark Horton unearths why our ancestors came there 700 years ago to re-discover the forgotten art of making bricks. Plus, Miranda Krestovnikoff is on the Belgian coast to meet the last few men who still use heavy horses to fish for shrimp.

The Coast team are all at sea, as they head offshore to explore surprising stories of love and death, cannibalism and communist submarines, seasickness and a seafaring prince.

The team journey around the great estuaries of Britain where 20 million people live, and a dazzling variety of animals thrive. Nick Crane explores the wealth of wildlife and industry that are attracted to the Firth of Forth, the mighty estuary that feeds Edinburgh, and must answer a deceptively tricky question - why is the sea salty? Nick also investigates a remarkable natural phenomenon discovered accidentally on this coast in 1834. Miranda Krestovnikoff witnesses the extraordinary transformation that salmon must make to their bodies to avoid death by dehydration as they migrate from freshwater to saltwater, and learns how Scottish fish farmers uncovered the secret of managing salmon in captivity? Tessa Dunlop reveals how the Victorian zeal for cleanliness turned the Thames into a giant self-flushing toilet bowl. Mark Horton discovers the struggle to build a rail tunnel deep under the Severn estuary between England and Wales, a challenge that was finally accomplished in 1886.

Neil Oliver visits the birth place of his seafaring hero Lord Nelson. On the eerie shingle bank of Orford Ness, Alice Roberts leads a team trying to recreate the original war-winning experiment which proved that Radar would work. Off the Norfolk coast, Nick Crane explored the remarkable lost world of "Doggerland". Miranda Krestovnikoff wades out into the mud of the Wash", a vast tidal feeding ground for migrating birds. To investigate the appeal of the glorious Essex Fishing Smacks, Mark Horton joins a crew on competition around the Thames Estuary.

Neil Oliver takes part in an aerial dogfight to discover why a Nazi flying ace landed his top secret new plane on Welsh tarmac at the height of the Second World War. Miranda Krestovnikoff visits a seabird paradise, the magical island of Skomer, and at Porth Oer, Alice Roberts attempts to solve the riddle of the "Singing Sands". What makes some very special British beaches whistle when you walk on them? Mark Horton visits and imposing castle at Harlech, one of the best preserved in Britain. Nick Crane explores the violent history of smuggling around the gorgeous Gower Peninsula and abseils into an extraordinary stone structure concealed in the side of a sea cliff.

3,500 years ago, an international demand for Cornish tin put Cornwall at the centre of an internation arms trade. Mixed with copper, Cornish tin made high quality weapons, giving birth to the British Bronze Age. Hermione Cockburn discovers what happened when American media mogul and inspiration for Citizen Kane William Randolph Hearst, made a run-down castle with a sea view into a little hideaway for him and his mistress on the Welsh coast. Neil Oliver visits Porthcawl to trace the history of the Welsh Great Escape.

Castles are an integral part of the history and landscape of Britain, but the art of building a castle was brought across the channel by William the Conqueror. We visit the medieval quarry in France which supplied the stone for iconic buildings such as the Tower of London and Canterbury Cathedral. Nick Crane sets sail from Dover to visit the white cliffs of France. Connected by land before a mega flood carved the channel, Nick discovers that these divided cliffs are facing parallel challenges of coastal erosion.

South Wales has the second highest tidal range in the world. It is the tidal surge that creates the Severn Bore: Nick follows the wave upstream; whilst Neil explores the history of Cardiff coal; and Alice gets acquainted with the Red Lady of Paviland.

Nick Crane visits Cape Wrath, discovering where wolves once trod.

The team takes on nature at its most perilous on the wild waters of the British coast.

Alice discovers 5,000 year old footprints on the beach; whilst Nick investigates our worst lifeboat disaster; Mark is on the track of the Roman conquest of Northern Europe in Maryport and Neil ventures onto the treacherous sands of Morecambe Bay.

Miranda is in search of the biggest sharks in British waters. Mark sees the Royal Navy's next generation of top secret 'Attack' nuclear submarines and Alice meets a woman who as a child was in the Isle of Man's internment camps, where 'enemy aliens' in Britain were held during the Second World War.

Miranda dives into a marine reserve off St Abbs, one of Britain's sites for underwater wildlife. Neil recreates a wartime scheme to train seagulls to search for German U-boats and Hermione explores the 400-year-old connection between a picturesque village and the birth of deep coal mining in Britain.

Just five months before President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, he was riding in an open top limo through the crowded streets of Galway. Neil Oliver meets the photographer who managed to get up close and personal with the President and talk him into the perfect snap. Miranda Krestovnikoff explores an odd little island where the mountain hare population is thriving and Nick Crane investigates a local legend that says that Clew Bay has 365 islands, one for each day of the year. Alice Roberts unearths the remarkable remains of the oldest farm in the British Isles.

The presenters seek out the ideal locations to enjoy their personal passions. Nick Crane heads to the Inner Hebrides to attempt a mountaineering challenge on the Isle of Skye, and reveals how Thomas Cook was inspired in the mid-19th century to create his famous package tours by the steamships criss-crossing Scottish waters. Avid knitter Ruth Goodman gets some tips for completing a complex fisherman's jumper by visiting Polperro in Cornwall, learning how people's livelihoods 150 years ago depended on their skills at making workwear to order. Poet Ian McMillan looks for creative ideas in the Cornish seaside resort of St Ives and explores the life and work of self-taught artist Alfred Wallis, and Tessa Dunlop explores the glamorous history of British lidos - public outdoor swimming pools that sprang up around the UK in the 1930s.

The team explore what becomes of our coast in winter. Nick Crane visits Cornwall, the storm central of Britain's rugged coastline and Neil Oliver experiences the extraordinary Viking Fire Festival on Shetland.

Coast explores why we're at our most ingenious and inventive on the edges of our isles.

Traditionally the South coast of England is where we've fought our battles, and defended ourselves. A hop, skip and a jump away from the continent, divided only by the narrow stretch of the English Channel. It is Britain's front line.

Neil discovers how mysterious flotsam inspired Columbus' journey to America. Alice explores the botanical puzzle of "The Burren" - where Arctic plants grow next to Mediterranean flowers. Miranda reveals the surprising secrets of seaweed that make it the special ingredient in everything from toothpaste to beer.

Nick investigates the freak floods of 1953; Alice explores the landbridge which joined us to the continent; whilst Nick meets Peter Boggis, a man trying to save his home from the sea; and Neil celebrates Trafalgar 200 examining an eye witness account of the battle.

Why did Alfred Nobel, founder of the famous prizes, pick the South West of Scotland as the ideal site for the world's biggest explosives factory? Nicholas Crane discovers the remarkable use for the island of Ailsa Craig's beautiful granite.

Neil Oliver discovers the network of cables under a Porthcurno beach which wrap around the world in a tale of invention, espionage and surprise. Mark Horton visits the Isles of Scilly to meet the two football teams battling it out in Britain's smallest league and Alice Roberts paints up a storm in St Ives.

The Danes top the polls as the happiest people on earth and Neil Oliver wants to know what they have to smile about. Nick Crane investigates how the Danish made a big business out of selling bacon to Britain. Alice Roberts sets sail in a full scale replica of a Viking longship to see how these ships gave Norsemen the advantage over the English in battle. Miranda Krestovnikoff meets some unflappable red deer. On Heligoland, Mark Horton reveals how in 1947 Britain's Royal Navy blew this tiny island apart in the largest non-nuclear explosion the world had ever seen and Dick Strawbridge gets access to the construction of one of the world's largest offshore wind farms.

Dr Alice Roberts investigates how greed led to a village being washed into the sea; Nick unearths the history of slavery in Plymouth; while Neil and Mark try to wreck a ship with nothing but a candle; and Miranda comes face to face with a shark!

Neil joins the crew of the trident submarine HMS Vanguard; Miranda goes hunting for Minke whales; whilst Mark and Neil recreate the inter island rocket mail service; and Nick sails the beautiful Western Isles armed only with a 500 year guide book.

Nick takes part in a NATO exercise at the Cape Wrath bombing range; Neil meets the descendants of the people displaced by the Highland Clearances; and the survivors of the worst loss of British Naval life in Scapa Flow; whilst Alice visits the Dounreay reactor.

Miranda heads to the Moray Firth, home to bottle nosed dolphins; Nick investigates the impact of the North Sea oil industry; whilst Neil meets a fishing family in Fraserburgh, facing a bleak future; and Alice reflects on the history of whaling in Dundee.

Nick explores the holy island of Lindisfarne; Alice helps rebuild Britain's first house in Howick; whilst Neil examines the tensions in South Shields that led to race riots in the 1930s and Miranda gets up close and personal with grey seals.

The beautiful cliffs of Dover are a breathtaking sight. On this stretch of the coastline chalk has not only defined and shaped the landscape but has also been the starting point of many innovators and their pioneering work. Our guide Neil Oliver takes over from Nicholas Crane this series, and guides us along this journey of beautiful scenery and remarkable discoveries.

Neil Oliver explores an inaccessible cave inlaid with beautiful stonework - who was the mystery builder? Nick shows us how to read the history of your local beach and Alice traces the story of a foreign boy washed up on the Welsh shore and how he changed the history of medicine.