Coast explores the glorious diversity and endless delights offered by our beaches. The British Isles's stunning range of sand, shingle and rock formations creates some wonderful, unique havens for wildlife and opens up surprising possibilities for human endeavour and outright pleasure as well as secrets from Britain's prehistoric past. Now the Coast team can reveal these in The Secret Life of Beaches.\n\nNick Crane digs deep to discover what it is like to live on Britain's most unusual beach, the eerily beautiful vast shingle spit at Dungeness in Kent. Nick discovers how this pebble heaven was formed and why it is still growing. A staggering five trillion pebbles offer a stony home to thriving communities of animals and people, who relish the freedom to express themselves in the wide, open, wild spaces.\n\nOn the glorious shores of Jersey, Hermione Cockburn discovers the secret of making spectacular statements in sand as she joins the world's best beach artists creating massive art installations along some of the UK's most spectacular shoreline. How can anyone begin to take in these stunning artistic creations, stretched not on canvas but across entire beaches? There's nothing for it but for Hermione to take to the air in a helicopter.\n\nThe Bible warns of the folly of trying to build a house on shifting sands, but Tessa Dunlop learns the extraordinary engineering secrets behind building one of Europe's biggest steelworks on a vast beach at Port Talbot in south Wales. As with the cathedrals of old, constructing this huge steelworks has been the work of generations. Since work began, in 1947, it has been continually modified and extended - but why build this steel behemoth on a beach in the first place? And what stops it sinking?
Source: BBC 2
Series 8 Reversions: Episode 15
On their journey around the coast of the United Kingdom, the team look at the secret life of the sea and how it shapes our cliffs.
11-01-2024
BBC 2
Series 5 Reversions: 21. Loch Creran
Coast visits Loch Creran on the Scottish west coast, where industrious little worms have constructed a remarkable 'worm city' that is one of the biggest of its kind in the world.
01-01-2024
BBC 2
Series 4 Reversions: 22. Whitstable To Red Sands Sea Fort
Beginning at the famous Oyster Festival in Whitstable, Neil Oliver ventures offshore to the remarkable Red Sands Sea Forts. Built as air defences in the Second World War they we ...
13-09-2023
BBC 2
Series 7 Reversions: 8. The Hidden History Of Harbours 2
A look at the hidden history of harbours, which, before air travel, were Britain's gateways to global adventure. There are more than a thousand ports, big and small, around the ...
26-08-2023
BBC 2
Shorts: Shipwrecks
Nicholas Crane visits the Cornish coastline and discovers the mystery and tragedy behind many past shipwrecks. He hears about the tales told of ships being lured onto the rocks ...
12-06-2023
BBC 2
Series 8 Reversions: 5. All At Sea
The coast team are all at sea as they head offshore to explore surprising stories.
23-04-2023
BBC 2
Shorts: 49. Dublin To Belfast
From Dublin to Belfast, a look at how the sea has shaped the island of Ireland. Neil Oliver investigates the history of the area.
12-03-2023
BBC 2
Series 8 Reversions: 6. The Secret Life Of Sea Cliffs 2
The Coast team explores some of the most spectacular and scary sea cliffs in Britain.
18-03-2019
BBC 2
Series 4 Reversions: 22. Whitstable To Red Sands Sea Fort
Beginning at the famous Oyster Festival in Whitstable, Neil Oliver ventures offshore to the remarkable Red Sands Sea Forts. Built as air defences in the Second World War they we ...
13-09-2023
BBC 2
Series 9 - Winter
The team explore Britain's coast in winter. Nick Crane visits Cornwall, the storm central of Britain's coastline, and Neil Oliver attends Shetland's Viking Fire Festival.
17-07-2019
BBC 2
Series 8 Reversions: 11. Invaders Of The Isles 2
Coast reveals surprising stories of invasions around the British Isles.
13-03-2019
BBC 2
Series 8 Reversions: Episode 7
A journey around the coast of the United Kingdom, uncovering stories that have made us the island nation we are today.
06-11-2021
BBC 2
Shorts: 35. The Welsh Atlantis
Nicholas Crane takes a stroll around the churchyard of St Bridget's, where the gravestones reveal the adventurous spirit of past generations. Neil Oliver investigates the submer ...
12-10-2015
BBC 2
Series 8 Reversions: 3. Joy Of The Coast
The team discovers the pure pleasure of seaside leisure, seeking out the ideal locations to enjoy their personal passions and experience the joy of the coast.
21-03-2021
BBC 2