Coast (TV series)
Coast is a BBC documentary series first broadcast on BBC Two television in 2005. It covers various subjects relating to both the natural and social history of the British coastline and also more recently, that of Britain's near neighbours. The seventh series followed a different format from previous series. In 2016, reports from the show were repackaged as Coast: The Great Guide, an eight part series on BBC Two.
The series is a collaboration between the Open University and BBC Productions, Birmingham. It is also known as the placeholder programme when BBC2 is under a fault in programming.
In December 2013, the first reversion of the series format, Coast Australia, was screened on The History Channel in Australia. Hosted by Neil Oliver, it was the second highest-rated show in the history of the channel. It started airing on BBC Two from 14 May 2014; series 2 was aired in 2015. Coast New Zealand aired in 2016. A similar show, Arfordir Cymru, is broadcast on the Welsh-language broadcaster S4C and hosted by Bedwyr Rees; three series have aired so far, each of six 23-minute-long episodes, travelling in Pembrokeshire, the Llŷn Peninsula, and Cardigan Bay.
In 2020, BBC Studios produced a refresh of the original series called Our Coast, presented by Adrian Chiles and Mehreen Baig. The new series featured Dumfries and Galloway/South Ayrshire, County Down, Anglesey, and Liverpool.
Presenters
The original presenters, and their fields of interest, are:- Nicholas Crane — geography
- Neil Oliver — archaeology and social history
- Alice Roberts — anthropology and geology
- Mark Horton — marine archaeology
- Miranda Krestovnikoff — zoology
Several other presenters have also become regulars after originally appearing on a one-off basis:
- Dick Strawbridge — engineering
- Hermione Cockburn — general
- Tessa Dunlop — social history
- Adam Henson — farming
- Andy Torbet — general
- Ruth Goodman — social history
- Ian McMillan — general
Series overview
All but one of the episodes in the first series ended with Nicholas Crane stating that in the British Isles, "Remember, you are never more than 72 miles from the sea!" Neil Oliver closed the fifth series with the same statement.
Series 4 onwards were simulcast on the BBC HD channel.
Extracts from the programme are often used as filler items on BBC Two, for example following a fifty-minute documentary programme such as Natural World or Horizon, to allow the next full programme to begin on the hour. As the aerial shots from the Coast programmes are made in high-definition, they are also used in this way on BBC HD.
Episodes from old series have been shown on Yesterday.
Series 5 was shown overseas before being shown on the BBC.
DVD releases
Series 1 to 5 of Coast have been released on Region 2 DVD by Contender Home Entertainment, or, following their acquisition, by E1 Entertainment. Series 6 onwards have been released on Region 2 DVD and Region B Blu-ray by Acorn Media UK.Numerous box sets have been released, including one which packaged Series 1 with another BBC documentary, A Picture of Britain.
Series 1 (2005)
The first series of Coast was originally aired on BBC2 during the summer of 2005. The series follows a circumnavigation of the coastline, starting and finishing in Dover.Lead presenter Nicholas Crane remarks on more than one occasion during the series that it was a "once-in-a-lifetime journey" suggesting that Coast was originally planned as a one-off series, although subsequent series did not follow the same "journey round the coast of Britain" approach, but concentrated on stories from various areas, including overseas. Series 1 is the only series yet to include more than eight episodes. A review episode was shown on 2 September 2005, looking back over the series' highlights, and looking at the future of the coastline – this is not included in the DVD release for the series.
| Series No. | Episode No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | UK Ratings | Original Air Date |
Series 2 (2006)
The second series of Coast was originally aired on BBC2 during the autumn of 2006. Whilst the series starts in Dover and finishes in nearby Margate, it does not follow the same circular journey of the previous series. It is the first series to feature a foreign shoreline, that of the Republic of Ireland.The subtitle of the series is The Journey Continues.
| Series No. | Episode No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | UK Ratings | Original air date |
Series 3 (2007)
The third series of Coast was originally aired on BBC2 during the summer of 2007. In common with the previous series, the journey does not follow a circular course; the series starts in Shetland and finishes in Dover.The subtitle of the series is A Journey of Discovery.
| Series No. | Episode No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | UK Ratings | Original air date |
Series 4 (2009)
The fourth series of Coast was originally aired on BBC2 during the summer of 2009. It was simulcast on BBC HD for the first time. The series visits foreign shores for the second time: along with a return to Ireland, France, the Faroe Islands, and Norway are all included due to the fact they share a connection to the UK coastline. The circular element of the journey, last seen in the first series, returns; starting in Whitstable and finishing in Hull.Unlike the last two series, there is no series subtitle, however the series was renamed to Coast and Beyond — helping to signify that the journey takes in coastlines outside the British Isles.
| Series No. | Episode No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | UK Ratings | Original air date |
Series 5 (2010)
The fifth series of Coast was originally aired on BBC2 during the summer of 2010. It was simulcast on BBC HD. The series visits both France and Denmark exploring how these countries are linked to our own via the sea. The series opens with a journey around the Irish Sea centred on the Isle of Man; in the remaining episodes a rough circumnavigation is completed from Swanage to London.As with the previous series, the name Coast and Beyond is retained – helping to signify that the journey takes in coastlines outside the British Isles.
| Series No. | Episode No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | UK Ratings | Original air date |
Series 6 (2011)
The sixth series of Coast was originally aired on BBC2 during the summer of 2011. It was simulcast on BBC HD. The series visits Belgium, the Netherlands, and Sweden exploring how these countries are linked to our own via the sea. The series does not follow a circular course, beginning in London and ending in Sweden.As with the previous two series', the name Coast and Beyond is retained – helping to signify that the journey takes in coastlines outside the British Isles.
| Series No. | Episode No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | UK Ratings | Original air date |
Series 7 (2012)
The seventh series of Coast was originally aired on BBC2 during the early summer of 2012. It was simulcast on BBC HD. The format of the series changed significantly from previous series in that each episode has a theme featuring stories from every part of the British Isles instead of concentrating on one geographical area per episode.In keeping with this change in format, the name Coast and Beyond has been dropped in favour of the original Coast. To further enforce this each episodes starts with a short introduction monologue from Nicholas Crane which begins with the statement that "Coast is home".
The seventh series was the first series not to feature Alice Roberts, one of the original presenters.
| Series No. | Episode No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | UK Ratings | Original air date |
Series 8 (2013)
The eighth series of Coast was broadcast starting 3 April on BBC2. It was simulcast on BBC HD. The series continued in the style started with the seventh series: each episode had a theme featuring stories from every part of the British Isles instead of concentrating on one geographical area per episode.| Series No. | Episode No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | UK Ratings | Original air date |