Episode 1 The Harbour

You can pick up to a speed of between five and six knots, please.

at the cutting edge of maritime technology...

Although I'd like to! HE LAUGHS

You've got to be on the ball. You've got to be alert.

..in the most challenging conditions...

If your feet get caught in that, it'll drag you over the side.

LAUGHTER Oh, my God!

Every year, 8,000 ships pass through the harbour.

Ships that battle daily with the brutal North Sea.

It's why the Skandi Inspector, a ship that's 34 years old,

Morning, sir. Just, er, watch out for...

They use ropes to pull the ship forward.

Keep pulling! You've got loads of slack!

That is if they can land them on the deck.

Just watch him trying again, I can guarantee he won't get it.

Oh! HE LAUGHS

It's all right! They're coming to help you!

Come on, Stuart! HE LAUGHS

The shortest guy there! That how I like it!

With all the ropes attached, Frankie can bring the ship into position...

That should be far enough forward. Magic.

Once they close the gate at the entrance...

..the process, which gives dry dock its name,

but because of the amount of power they use,

you have to start one and then the other.

Once you see it kicking in like that, you know that it's started the pumps.

The water passes through a series of pipes, into the harbour.

That's it, I'll let you go! HE LAUGHS

It takes five hours to pump the dock dry.

Only then can they start the massive task ahead.

There'll probably be engine work done to it

The harbour generates more than 500 million for the local economy...

who rely on the constant traffic for their livelihood.

See if you put on heavy metal or Whitesnake, you're dead!

You've had Whitesnake, ZZ Top and Meat Loaf.

I never mentioned Meat Loaf. You did so.

# Unforgettable! # Who sang that again?

I've forgotten! THEY LAUGH

One of her customers is having a problem with his mobile.

If you go in here and you go onto the cloud, you nelly, you'll get it!

You do ken we close at one! SHE LAUGHS

You can put your apps on. See, simple setup!

You'll get a clap in the app in a minute!

Aye, and I'll stick this phone where the sun disnae shine.

Montrose?! THEY LAUGH

But this is a very special evening for Val.

A couple more of them, we'll get them put up,

and then that'll be all this just done.

and Val's boss Jill has just had her offer accepted.

I cannae imagine my life at all without here.

Somebody new could've bought it that could've come in and said,

"We're nae wanting yous. We're nae wanting the staff."

Everybody laughs. They say, "You're nae wise, you.

"It's only a pub." I said, "It's nae just a pub to me

This pump'll be going right up your jacksie!

Jim, you're a sad, sick, deranged man!

For boatman Alan Cowper, it's work as usual,

tying or untying the boats that are heading out to the North Sea.

Beautiful! These are the days you're glad you're a boatman.

But then again, this is summer in Aberdeen, so you better enjoy it!

I'm just making it look easy! HE LAUGHS

What a life! Never worked so hard in all my life!

neither had to look far for their replacements.

Gary Morris is Norman's 21-year-old nephew.

Basically, right now, we're waiting on the Volstad Viking

Working with Gary has been a revelation for Norman.

I mean, he can be a bit of a scatterbrain at times, but...

..old head on young shoulders, you cannae do it.

You've just got to let them find their way.

I don't call him Uncle Norman at work, though.

That's what you're wearing a hard hat for!

He has to step up and do the business, sort of thing.

I'm not too sure if we could ever live up to them,

HE LAUGHS COUGHS Just almost as good.

It's mid-morning on the NorthLink Ferry,

which runs daily between Aberdeen and the Northern Isles.

And staff are preparing for an invasion of...

We're off to the rally in Shetland. We'll catch the boat,

same as everybody else queuing up here!

Every year, Shetland holds the Simmer Dim rally.

At least 300 bikers descend on the island from all over the UK.

You meet lots of people who you haven't seen for a year.

Mwah! SHE LAUGHS

On a normal crossing, there are a handful of bikes.

Here we go again! Today, they have well over 100...

..and loading's started early for second officer Steve.

I'm just making sure everything's going to plan.

It's quite a sight when they're all aboard.

They're just constantly... just constantly coming on.

Each ship is surveyed twice every five years.

Dale's Dry Dock is one of only two left in Scotland

a team of around 80 men will take her apart...

Up you go, Terry, once it's clear of the ground.

The anchor and chains will be checked for wear and tear...

There's heaps of stuff that can go wrong with this.

That's in the oil. That means there's a problem somewhere.

That's going to need a fair bit of machinery.

But the biggest job is here, in an area known as the moon pool.

A construction support vessel has to be able to launch an ROV,

or Remotely Operated Vehicle, safely down these two pillars.

The wear and tear on both of them, it was just far too much movement.

It was causing problems, it was snagging.

It's not very good when you've got the ROV sitting on the end of that.

Chock-a-block. WARNING SIRENS WAIL

Captain Nigel Barnes is ready to set sail.

We're just providing thrust to clear these two supply boats.

Come round to the middle of the cut. Port ten. Port ten!

All right, sir? Carling, please. Pint of Carling.

There are two bars on the ferry and both are full.

Hi, sir. What would you like? Just a pint. A pint.

Mark Smallwood and his son Vincent are Simmer Dim virgins.

I wanted to head south but I was outvoted.

We ended up coming north instead, which is silly, really, isn't it?

Some passengers have come on rather more...

We have the one and only caravan on the boat, I believe,

We're interested in the birds and the wildlife. And walking.

although they do look a bit intimidating, some of them!

We're here to have a good time, enjoy ourselves,

It's shift change at the Boatman's Bothy.

He's got his feet up! THEY LAUGH

since his son started at the harbour.

At the beginning, I was just... it was just a nightmare.

I says to Norman, "I'm just worried sick all the time."

He was wanting him to know everything, do everything,

And while they're on the subject of Alan's shortcomings...

He won't put his hand in his pocket. He's so tight! What a tight...

Actually... Actually, I've got to defend him on that!

He bought me a Burger King the other day,

Get a doctor! That boy's ill! There's something wrong with him.

We're going to be exactly the same as these lot!

SCOTT: No! LAUGHTER

The pillars are going to be removed through an access hatch at the top

to lift out ten tonnes of reinforced steel.

We're going to want to cut out that hole now.

There's a lot of money's worth up in the top of here.

That just comes out of our pocket money!

Crane operator Kevin Innes is also feeling the pressure.

You've got to plan heights, weights, distance.

I mean, if you don't set the crane up right,

there is a lot of people's lives at risk.

If the crane topples over into the dock, I mean...

# One way or another I'm gonna find you... #

Zip your language or I'll zip it for you!

Val's always had a unique way of dealing with the customers.

When Jill comes in, I'll nip up and get changed.

Aye, a leather basque! If I could get one to fit me!

It's 7am and the ferry's arriving in Lerwick.

Everybody's coming down, slowly but surely.

are heading towards the small village of Vidlin.

when the sun briefly dips below the horizon.

Or at least it would if there were any sun...

Most people camp, despite the weather.

All the way from sunny Wirral to this, eh!

Up north is the wrong direction, it's too cold and wet.

But we were outvoted so we had no choice.

It's not raining so we can't complain. He's gone and said it now!

Shetland is rich in archaeological sites,

with a landscape dominated by hills and inlets.

Nowhere is more than three miles from the sea.

ROCK MUSIC Arrgh!

Tactics! Tactics! MAN LAUGHS

It's the first of a mammoth four-day binge.

work is under way to prise the pillars from the frame of the ship.

With the hatch removed, you can see all the way down,

You're bound to get jammed before you hit the bottom, aren't you?

Kevin's biggest challenge is that he can't see what he's lifting.

Just give us five minutes till I get down inside the hangar.

It's going to be a testing few minutes for all of them.

OK, come up on the left slowly, up on the left slowly.

Just when it seems to be going well...

BEAM CLANGS LOUDLY What the BLEEP is that?!

What BLEEP happened there, man? What happened there, Gary?!

A stud has caught on the edge of the hatch.

It needs to go to your right just a little.

OK, up on the wire slowly, up on the wire.

You're all right, Kev, up you go. Up you go.

OK, that's you clear of the masts, clear of the deck.

All right, clear. OK, down you go, down you go.

All right, Kev, that's you off. Up you go.

It's been a good day. Hopefully, by Monday,

we should be able to start dropping the new ones in.

That'll be it for the day. That's enough. More than enough.

Alan can understand why his son Scott

You build up your muscles! You do feel it some days.

I've seen him coming home and saying, "That was heavy today!"

I told him to go to the gym and get built up!

He always worries when his son's at work

because he's aware of the dangers he faces.

they're still your boy or your girl, you know?

I'll declare it all clear and then he'll head off.

Hopefully, my uncle is, like, a little bit impressed with me,

maybe a little bit, even though he'll never admit it.

You never know, if I have kids, I might bring them in.

I hope naebody stands on my frigging toes!

I can't believe we're doing this tonight!

That's my glad rags... CHEERING APPLAUSE

Yes! Go for it! CHEERING

Owner Jill would struggle without her best-known barmaid.

ALL SING # Big wheel...

MUSIC: "Proud Mary" by Tina Turner

Tonight the pub's full... CROWD SINGING

..not just with boat guys, but with stag and hen parties,

for whom going round the harbour pubs is a right of passage.

the C A, as it's commonly known between the rest of us.

But Jill and Val - they make Aberdeen.

It's just been an ace night! It's been magic!

Coming up, Keith battles the elements...

and the mate went, "Oh, it's rough" and I was like, "Oh, no."

Hello, I'm Ellie Crisell with your 90 second update. A terror suspect

with an electronic tag is on the run after leaving a mosque disguised in

a burka. Mohammed Ahmed Mohammed was last seen