Britain's Secret Seas : Sunday 8pm BBC2/BBC HD Channel

A reminder to people in the UK that the first part of Britain's Secret Seas will be shown on Sunday at 8pm on BBC2, or on the BBC HD Channel for those that can get it.

 

Presenter Paul Rose will also be The One Show tonight to chat about the series.... and it's been selected by Radio Times as Pick of the Week!

 

More details from the BBC web site :

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00x8344

 

Cheers

 

Stuart

If first impressions were anything to go by I would (looking at the oneshow sequence) give the programme a miss and never go diving in the UK!!!... Luckily I have seen more trailers (it looks awesome) and have dived in the UK... They should have definitely picked a more appealing part of the programme for the Oneshow...

Dive safe

DeanB

If first impressions were anything to go by I would (looking at the oneshow sequence) give the programme a miss and never go diving in the UK!!!... Luckily I have seen more trailers (it looks awesome) and have dived in the UK... They should have definitely picked a more appealing part of the programme for the Oneshow...

 

Dive safe

 

DeanB

The cheshil beach sequence doesn't appear in the program, it was shot last week purely for the one show, unfortunately weather conditions weren't great, as was seen.

Have a look at the web site for a few snipets, that will give you an idea of the quality of the filming.

Hope it is better than the last series made by this team. The name escapes me (it was so memorable!) but I recall it was something about diving some of the best sites in the world. It really was seriously over-dramatised and simplistic and definitely not aimed at anybody who had dived before. I recall they dived the "Umbria" off Sudan and made it seem like they were the first divers on it since Cousteau back in the 50's (?) - ie what an adventure! - whereas of course it is on every liveaboard's itinerary operating in that area. Although the filming was good, it didn't seem up to previous BBC standards and overall I found it pretty annoying and a wasted opportunity.

I'm with you Jim - hoping it will be great and the presenters aren't too intrusive and OTT. A lot of them forget that the programmes aren't about them but are about the wildlife,

It's nice to see our home waters celebrated, but this team grates on my nerves...

... all hype and no trousers, in their previous incarnation!

Cuckoo wrasse on the wreck of the James Eagan Layne, Plymouth, English Channel

Tim

Well the first one wasn't so bad. Some nice filming but they still over-hype - eg "we are now going to investigate why basking sharks come to the UK coast in such numbers". When they get in the water, surprise, surprise - the sharks are swimming around with their mouths open gorging on plankton! What a revelation! Not sure why 10 minutes was devoted to docking a container ship - no great secrets there and it is done every day at ports all round the world.

Maybe I'm just a moaner

I was a bit disappointed to be honest. It was ok but I'd hoped for more, particularly on some of the underwater footage. I also still think the best in class are those programmes where you don't see the presenters but I am clearly out of sync with contemporary film-making. I cringed at the bit about how dangerous diving on the wreck of the oil container was! 30m on a single tank in relatively clear water - not that dangerous. Also the west coast of Britain seemed to stop at Liverpool and the Isle of Man. My overall sense was it could have been so much more. However, three episodes left so lots of scope to improve.

The cheshil beach sequence doesn't appear in the program, it was shot last week purely for the one show, unfortunately weather conditions weren't great, as was seen.

 

Have a look at the web site for a few snipets, that will give you an idea of the quality of the filming.

Cheers for the update Stuart although a few people I have spoke to were obviously as confused as me then as I had a few "sod diving in the UK after watching that!!" comments... I did actually enjoy the program overall.

Dive safe

DeanB

Not at all bad! Even my wife, who is usually pretty scathing since she abandoned diving with me, was impressed by some of the images! Yes, exaggerated a bit (the dangers of diving the wreck of the Torrey Canyon), but there were some nice images (taken with something in a Gates housing, I noticed) and I thought that the segment with Charlie Hood was excellent (perhaps the sunshine and the multiple basking sharks helped!). I'm not sure what happened to the seals at Lundy, though...

... and someone should be reminded that shooting at a Kowalski dive light through a URPro filter isn't the world's prettiest sight!

Tim

Not at all bad! Even my wife, who is usually pretty scathing since she abandoned diving with me, was impressed by some of the images! Yes, exaggerated a bit (the dangers of diving the wreck of the Torrey Canyon), but there were some nice images (taken with something in a Gates housing, I noticed) and I thought that the segment with Charlie Hood was excellent (perhaps the sunshine and the multiple basking sharks helped!). I'm not sure what happened to the seals at Lundy, though...

 

... and someone should be reminded that shooting at a Kowalski dive light through a URPro filter isn't the world's prettiest sight!

 

Tim

 

Glad you and your wife enjoyed it! The camera inside the Gates was an EX1R, recording to nano flash.... not sure what you mean about the URPro though, we weren't using filters....

Seals make a much bigger appearance in the next episode, on the East (and so the Farne Islands)

Not watched an episode yet - been busy. But hope to find time this week. I have already checked that they are still on the iplayer.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b0116...ts_of_the_West/

Episode 1 sounds like my last summer diving in the UK - basking sharks and spider crabs:

and

As a result I have high hopes for the imagery - with those subjects you can't fail to get strong images. Anyway looking forward to tuning in. I am kind of expecting the narration to be dumbed down (the BBC seems to have forgotten that there are some intelligent people in Britain, and just because people don't have expert knowledge doesn't mean they are thick). But hopefully that the images will compensate, I have a mute button.

A question for all those following the series - any interesting spots revealed for photography - or have they mainly been to the classic locations?

Alex

Alex - don't get your hopes up. So far it has been pretty dire.

I am certainly going to approach it with an open mind. I like Paul Rose as a presenter - and kudos to whoever came up with the idea of doing a British Seas programme. So I am going to tune in looking for positives.

It is also a great chance for the new generation of british HSE videographers to show what they can do (and not demonstrate what they can't). It is rare that you see the BBC's new generation producing much that can hold a candle to the UW footage that Scoones, Allan et al have produced in the last 30 years. Maybe now they are being given their chance to lead a big project that might change.

Alex

As a result I have high hopes for the imagery - with those subjects you can't fail to get strong ....

 

Alex

Um .... There's a first time for everything.

And I agree with you about dumbing down. What this programme does is repeat the same thing about 8 times to make sure you've got it. My abiding feeling after the episodes so far is that they unfortunately haven't done justice to Britain's seas.

It is rare that you see the BBC's new generation producing much that can hold a candle to the UW footage that Scoones, Allan et al have produced in the last 30 years.

So true, both are legends. Has this been produced by Atlantis, the same production company that did the last series? Unfortunately can't watch it over here in Oz which is disappointing.

So true, both are legends. Has this been produced by Atlantis, the same production company that did the last series? Unfortunately can't watch it over here in Oz which is disappointing.

The last series (Oceans) was a BBC/Discovery co-producton, this one is purely BBC.

I think that this series is aimed at the general public and seems to have been based on a 'Top Gear' formula, even occupying the old Top Gear slot on a Sunday evening.

As such, I feel it is not aimed at people who regularly dive in UK waters which is probably why we have seen some evident negativity from the diving community (this coupled with the fact that the Brits aren't the most supporting of audiences at the best of times).

As a UK dive photographer I'd like to see one day more of a David Attenborough style wildlife programme, there is certainly scope for that when considering a new series, and I think that is what many people in our UW photo community were expecting.

However, my non-diver friends are enjoying the show and my 4 year old boy loves to see the sharkies, feeshes and the crabbies and who can't love a basker.

My 2 pennies FWIW.

I saw the last episode which seemed to me like an underwater version of Coast. It bounced around with a fairly eclectic mix of subjects and a theme or two thrown in. Personally, I'm not overly fond of the 'presenter discovers solution' style which has been used. However, Coast was very popular and if 'Britain's Secret Seas' follows the same formula and proves to be as popular it will at least showcase the British marine environment to a vast audience which usually only sees news snippets or short pieces in magazine style programs. If I had any criticism to set within the context I've suggested, it is that its very overviewish with very little emphasis on species and I would like to see some more footage of some of the more fascinating and endearing creatures found around the British coasts. The other thing that I found to grate a bit was that the 'destroying the unexploded ordnance' sequence arrived from nowhere and disappeared equally quickly - interesting enough in its own way but it had little to do with the rest of the program.

... not sure what you mean about the URPro though, we weren't using filters....

Uurrghh! There was a horrible purple cast on my HD-TV screen, making me think: "filter!"...

... blame Virgin's cable service?

Tim