The BEST episodes of Coast
Every episode of Coast ever, ranked from best to worst by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The best episodes of Coast!
The nation's love affair with the coast will be reawakened for this entertaining and ambitious exploration of the entire UK coastline. Every part of the 9,000-mile coast is covered to explore how we've shaped it - and how it shapes us. Hosted by a team of history and geography experts who investigate everything from life on a nuclear submarine; rebuilding the Titanic using computer images; the story behind the first Butlins holiday camp; and the birth of the Severn Bore. Discover the curious, sometimes dysfunctional, relationship between the British and the seas.
#1 - Whitstable to Isle of Wight
Season 4 - Episode 1 - Aired 7/14/2009
The south coast of England was the home of movies long before a frame was shot in Hollywood, thanks to long hours of daylight and glamorous London actors holidaying by the sea. Neil Oliver tries his hand at directing his own silent movie. Alice Roberts re-lives the glamour days of the hovercraft and on the Isle of Wight, we go in search of dinosaur footprints which prove the island has been on an epic voyage heading north from tropical climes 135 million years ago.
#2 - Cap Gris-Nez to Mont Saint-Michel
Season 4 - Episode 2 - Aired 7/21/2009
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.
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#3 - Lands End to Porthcawl
Season 4 - Episode 3 - Aired 7/28/2009
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.
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#4 - Southport To Whitehaven (Inc. The Isle Of Man)
Season 3 - Episode 3 - Aired 6/17/2007
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.
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#5 - The Wild West: Exmouth To Bristol
Season 1 - Episode 2 - Aired 7/24/2005
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!
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#6 - Cornwall
Season 11 - Episode 1 - Aired 9/21/2016
Tessa Dunlop and Neil Oliver present the ultimate guide to the Cornish coast - from the River Tamar to Tintagel Castle - as they tell the stories that make this stretch so unique. As well as choosing the pick of Coast stories from the past ten years, Tessa hops on and off a variety of boats to delve into untold secrets from these shores. From line fishing with a local Looe fisherman, exploring serpentine rock on The Lizard with a leading geologist, to uncovering a story of tragedy at sea and finding out what it is like living the wild coastal dream in the storm-hit harbour of Porthleven.
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#7 - The Frontline: Dover To Exmouth
Season 1 - Episode 1 - Aired 7/22/2005
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.
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#9 - Our Irish Sea Coast
Season 11 - Episode 8 - Aired 11/6/2016
Neil Oliver and Tessa Dunlop present the ultimate guide to the UK's Irish Sea Coast - a sprawling, dynamic shoreline that fringes four nations, England, ScotIand, Wales and Northern Ireland. Building on a decade's worth of the best of Coast stories from these shores, Tessa goes in search of brand new tales and experiences for our Guide. She hitches a ride on a Liverpool tugboat to bring a giant container ship to shore, crosses the Irish Sea on a supersized luxury cruise liner, and seeks out a little-known surviving sister ship of the legendary Titanic.
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#12 - The Explorers' Coast
Season 9 - Episode 3 - Aired 7/29/2014
The team discover untold tales of explorers around our shores, and far beyond, including a stop-off down under in Australia. In Cornwall, Nick Crane uncovers the most astonishing artistic exploration of Britain's coast. 200 years ago a young artist, William Daniell, embarked on a ten-year journey around the edge of Britain to produce hundreds of colour illustrations in the age before photography. But who was the forgotten companion who travelled with him, and what made these two artist explorers mysteriously go their separate ways? Nick takes to the sea in an authentic replica of Britain's oldest known boat. How will this paddle-powered design from the Bronze Age perform today? Nick also tells the tale of the first sailor to circumnavigate Britain some 2,400 years ago, the fabled explorer dubbed 'Pytheas the Greek', who first mapped our isles. Mark Horton reveals the story of explorer and adventurer Lachlan Macquarie. Born on a tiny Scottish Isle two centuries ago, he went on to establish the country he named Australia. Scotsman Major general Lachlan Macquarie is virtually unknown in Britain, but he is a hero down under, heralded as the 'Father of Australia'. How did Macquarie and his wife Elizabeth manage to defy the British establishment to lay the foundations both for present-day Sydney and the new nation of Australia, using convict labour and radical social reforms? Tessa Dunlop investigates the hidden history of the Pilgrim Fathers. Why did the Pilgrims flee Britain to live in Holland for ten years before their eventual voyage to found modern America? Tessa discovers how these English explorers for religious freedom created the archetypal American celebration of Thanksgiving from a tradition they learnt in the Netherlands. Andy Torbet teams up with modern-day scientific explorers trying to crack an age-old puzzle - how can you count the number of fish in the sea? Andy joins an underwater mission that has been underway in Scottish waters for over
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#13 - The Hidden History Of Harbours
Season 7 - Episode 3 - Aired 5/27/2012
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. At the Cornish fishing harbour of Newlyn, Nick Crane re-lives an astonishing, unsung feat of heroic British seamanship. In 1854, a tiny fishing boat, The Mystery, set sail from Newlyn to make the 12,000 mile voyage to Melbourne. She was the smallest boat ever to attempt the journey, but the seven Cornishmen on board were prepared to risk their lives in the world's wildest seas to join the Australian gold rush. In the ship-building town of Barrow-in-Furness, Dick Strawbridge explores a forgotten top secret project involving building airships that might rival the German Zeppelins. In the face of entrenched opposition, the venture would be dubbed 'the work of an idiot' by one royal navy admiral. Meanwhile, the Zeppelins soared to new heights, the unlikely secret of their success being the cow guts used to make the gas bags which kept them aloft. Elsewhere, Tessa Dunlop heads to Portsmouth to discover the hidden history of the tattoo, Mark Horton joins an archaeological dig at the Irish Pompeii in Northern Ireland and Ruth Goodman investigates how the building of a new harbour and docks at Birkenhead would lead to the opening of the world's first municipal park there in 1847. There is also a celebration of a classic piece of British eccentricity at Peasholm Park in Scarborough, where, in a tradition going back more than 80 years, staff from Scarborough Council take to the boating pond concealed inside man-sized model warships, and boldly facing the torpedoes, shellfire and dive bombers of a hostile fleet.
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#14 - Life Beyond The Edge
Season 7 - Episode 2 - Aired 5/20/2012
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
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#15 - Rosyth to Hull
Season 4 - Episode 8 - Aired 9/1/2009
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.
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#16 - Norway: Lillesand To Svalbard
Season 4 - Episode 7 - Aired 8/25/2009
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.
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#17 - Inner Hebrides to Faroe Islands
Season 4 - Episode 6 - Aired 8/18/2009
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.
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#18 - Cork to Dublin
Season 4 - Episode 4 - Aired 8/6/2009
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.
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#19 - Felixstowe To Goodwin Sands
Season 2 - Episode 8 - Aired 12/14/2006
Alice Roberts savours the sea salt at Maldon, Miranda Krestovnikoff goes trawling on the Thames and we discover how the houses of Parliament can claim to be on the coast. We end the series with a remarkable cricket match miles out to sea on the eerie tidal landscape at Goodwin Sands.
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#20 - Islands And Inlets: West Coast Of Scotland And Western Isles
Season 1 - Episode 7 - Aired 8/12/2005
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.
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#21 - The Outer Hebrides
Season 2 - Episode 7 - Aired 12/7/2006
At the outermost edge of the British Isles, we discover the struggle to survive in this harsh but stunningly beautiful myriad of islands big and small. Crystal clear water and powder white beaches conceal a history of human tragedy and joy.
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#22 - Southern Wales
Season 11 - Episode 2 - Aired 9/28/2016
Tessa Dunlop and Neil Oliver present an insider guide to southern Wales - from the Severn Bridge to St Davids - as they unearth the stories that give this coast its wild appeal. Building on the best of ten years of Coast stories from these shores, Tessa takes to the seas to seek out new stories and extreme experiences for the guide. She tries her hand at coastal rowing, braves the high seas to explore why Gower was made Britain's first area of outstanding natural beauty, gets close to nature in a kayak at Worm's Head and tries her hand at a local tradition - cockle picking - at Penclawdd.
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#23 - London to Antwerp
Season 6 - Episode 1 - Aired 6/5/2011
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.
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#24 - Gower to Anglesey
Season 5 - Episode 4 - Aired 8/8/2010
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.
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#25 - Hull to London
Season 5 - Episode 8 - Aired 9/2/2010
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.
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