0:00:01 > 0:00:05'The seas around Britain can be terrifying.'
0:00:05 > 0:00:07Want a sandwich?
0:00:09 > 0:00:14'Over the last six years, I've been chugging through them in a barge.
0:00:18 > 0:00:19'I'm Timothy Spall.
0:00:19 > 0:00:23'With my wife Shane, I'm close to completing our odyssey
0:00:23 > 0:00:24'around the British Isles.
0:00:26 > 0:00:32'We've tackled some raging seas.' Hold on, Shane - hold on, hold on.
0:00:32 > 0:00:34'Had some bumps and scrapes...'
0:00:34 > 0:00:35BANGING
0:00:35 > 0:00:39'We've travelled almost 2,000 miles,
0:00:39 > 0:00:43'visiting every country in the United Kingdom.
0:00:43 > 0:00:45'In this final leg,
0:00:45 > 0:00:49'we're heading back home to London via the Thames Estuary.
0:00:49 > 0:00:53'notorious for dangerous sandbanks and huge tankers.'
0:00:53 > 0:00:55This is where we started out.
0:00:55 > 0:01:01'It's an emotional journey as we return to the place where our adventures began.'
0:01:01 > 0:01:03We're going round in a circle again!
0:01:03 > 0:01:06'That's of course... if we can find it.'
0:01:07 > 0:01:11- We heading for a big barge, Timmy - can you see that?- What?
0:01:11 > 0:01:13CRASH
0:01:13 > 0:01:17# Somewhere at sea. #
0:01:25 > 0:01:28'We're only 100 miles from London,
0:01:28 > 0:01:33'heading down the east coast of England towards the Thames Estuary.'
0:01:33 > 0:01:39Just a gentle, lazy swell. To remind you that you're on the sea.
0:01:39 > 0:01:43I asked for it, I prayed for it - I ordered this. I ordered it up.
0:01:44 > 0:01:49I requested it. From above - please, please - give me just a gentle day.
0:01:51 > 0:01:55'15 years ago, I was seriously ill with leukaemia -
0:01:55 > 0:01:57'it nearly killed me.
0:01:57 > 0:01:58'But in surviving,
0:01:58 > 0:02:02'I was left with irresistible urge to live on the sea.'
0:02:02 > 0:02:06It wasn't till I was ill, obviously,
0:02:06 > 0:02:10that part of the keeping myself sane
0:02:10 > 0:02:17during that was thinking about what I would do if and when I recovered.
0:02:17 > 0:02:21That's when I started to feel the call of the sea.
0:02:21 > 0:02:24The one thing I wish I had done though...
0:02:24 > 0:02:26It's...
0:02:26 > 0:02:27Cos it's a compulsion,
0:02:28 > 0:02:34I just wish that my nerves hadn't increased in my experience.
0:02:34 > 0:02:37I can't quite explain that.
0:02:37 > 0:02:40It's probably as my mother said of her mother, "I can't help it,
0:02:40 > 0:02:43"it's the way my mother put my hat on".
0:02:51 > 0:02:54'The Thames Estuary is the part of the North Sea that feeds
0:02:54 > 0:02:56'the River Thames.
0:02:56 > 0:03:01'It's one of the largest estuaries in Britain and we're entering it
0:03:01 > 0:03:05'at its northernmost tip - Felixstowe.
0:03:08 > 0:03:12'Because the estuary is the entrance to one of Europe's biggest cities,
0:03:12 > 0:03:14'it's a magnet for cargo ships.'
0:03:16 > 0:03:19Look at that. Flipping Oxford Street going into port.
0:03:21 > 0:03:24'Felixstowe docks - the busiest in Britain.
0:03:24 > 0:03:29'40% of the country's imports and exports pass through here.
0:03:29 > 0:03:31'They're even expanding the docks
0:03:31 > 0:03:35'so they can take ships that carry 18,000 of those containers.'
0:03:35 > 0:03:38Shotley Point Marina, Shotley Point Marina,
0:03:38 > 0:03:42Shotley Point Marina, this is the Princess Matilda, over.
0:03:42 > 0:03:45'Matilda is no match for ships of that size.
0:03:45 > 0:03:49'So we're heading across the bay to the relatively tranquil
0:03:49 > 0:03:51'Shotley Marina.'
0:03:51 > 0:03:54Hi, Thames coastguard - Princess Matilda,
0:03:54 > 0:03:58as instructed, we're reporting our safe arrival in Shotley Marina.
0:03:58 > 0:04:02- Thank you very much, Thames. Nice to be back in the Thames. - Hello, Thames!
0:04:02 > 0:04:06Nice to be back in the Thames after our circumnavigation and this is
0:04:06 > 0:04:10the first time I've called Thames, so thank you very much. Over.
0:04:10 > 0:04:15'Thames, Roger. I do recognise the voice. OK then. Thames out.
0:04:15 > 0:04:16Right.
0:04:16 > 0:04:18- That was nice.- Yeah.
0:04:18 > 0:04:22HE DOES IMPRESSION OF RADIO CONVERSATION
0:04:31 > 0:04:33'Shotley was once the home to HMS Ganges -
0:04:33 > 0:04:37'a wooden warship that was used as a training vessel for Navy recruits.
0:04:37 > 0:04:40'At the turn of the century, the whole area was turned into
0:04:40 > 0:04:46'a training ground until 1976, when it was closed and became this marina.'
0:04:46 > 0:04:48This is all the Ganges site.
0:04:48 > 0:04:54Behind those trees of the old mast, where the boys climb the top.
0:04:54 > 0:04:57- You get the button boy at the top. - Really?
0:04:57 > 0:05:00This is actually the old running track,
0:05:00 > 0:05:05which was low and they just dug it out a bit more, built the lock, there you go.
0:05:09 > 0:05:14'Over 150,000 Navy recruits learned their craft here.
0:05:14 > 0:05:18'But today, we got our own recruit.'
0:05:18 > 0:05:20Frankie!
0:05:20 > 0:05:24- 'Our dear friend, and fellow actor - Frances Barber.'- Morning!
0:05:24 > 0:05:28- Where did the cab driver drop you off, Felixstowe?- At the shipwreck!
0:05:28 > 0:05:31'She's never been on Matilda before,
0:05:31 > 0:05:34'but she's enrolled to come with us all the way back to London.'
0:05:34 > 0:05:38It's so much bigger than I imagined, because on the sea,
0:05:38 > 0:05:43when you are passing huge boats, you look like a dinky toy.
0:05:43 > 0:05:44Miniscule, I know.
0:05:44 > 0:05:47Then when you're on it, it's actually enormous.
0:05:47 > 0:05:50We're going to introduce you to the sea in a very light way,
0:05:50 > 0:05:53were only going to go 7½ miles today.
0:05:53 > 0:05:56We come out into the sea here,
0:05:56 > 0:06:00go into a place called the Walton Backwaters.
0:06:00 > 0:06:03- I want an idyll.- We want an idyll.
0:06:03 > 0:06:07We want a bucolic, maritime idyll.
0:06:16 > 0:06:20'The River Thames may be our final destination,
0:06:20 > 0:06:24'but the estuary stretches across three counties.'
0:06:24 > 0:06:26This is the Thames Estuary?
0:06:26 > 0:06:30- The beginning of the Thames Estuary, yeah.- I thought we were in Suffolk.
0:06:30 > 0:06:34We are. We're going to be in Essex in a minute. Look...
0:06:35 > 0:06:37Where are we?
0:06:37 > 0:06:38Up here.
0:06:39 > 0:06:43- There's Margate.- Oh... - So we're here.
0:06:43 > 0:06:45- That is the beginning of the Thames Estuary.- Wow!
0:06:45 > 0:06:48We are a tiny little island, aren't we?
0:06:49 > 0:06:53'The Walton Backwaters are a complete contrast to Felixstowe.
0:06:53 > 0:06:58'There's 7,000 acres of mudflats with a protected nature reserve.'
0:07:01 > 0:07:05Those are old wrecks, look. The old wrecks - barges, there.
0:07:05 > 0:07:09'Sunken barges like these were the inspiration for Arthur Ransome,
0:07:09 > 0:07:10'author of Swallows And Amazons,
0:07:11 > 0:07:14'to set some of his children's books here.'
0:07:14 > 0:07:15We're on. We're here.
0:07:15 > 0:07:19'He sailed around the Walton Backwaters in his cutter,
0:07:19 > 0:07:23'the Nancy Blackett, in 1938
0:07:23 > 0:07:26'and very little has changed here since then.'
0:07:26 > 0:07:30I think it's lovely. I think it's a really interesting place.
0:07:31 > 0:07:35And the interesting thing about the estuary...
0:07:35 > 0:07:39This is all the entrance to one of the biggest metropolises...
0:07:39 > 0:07:43Don't forget London, 100 years ago, was the centre of the world.
0:07:43 > 0:07:48All these little places here, all these places - Felixstowe,
0:07:48 > 0:07:50where we've just been, Margate...
0:07:50 > 0:07:53All these places have made their name and have created
0:07:53 > 0:07:56their wealth through being the gateway
0:07:56 > 0:07:58to the largest city of the Empire.
0:07:59 > 0:08:02'Soon, we'll be going back to London too.
0:08:02 > 0:08:06'But while we're here, I want to walk along the prom.'
0:08:08 > 0:08:12'We're leaving Matilda to explore Walton on the Naze,
0:08:12 > 0:08:15'which in Victorian times was a rival to Blackpool.'
0:08:17 > 0:08:18Someone braving the sea!
0:08:20 > 0:08:22'People flocked here
0:08:22 > 0:08:26'to sample the fresh air and one of the longest piers in Britain.
0:08:26 > 0:08:29'When the war came, it was heavily bombed
0:08:29 > 0:08:32'and the pier almost destroyed.
0:08:32 > 0:08:34'By the time it had got back on its feet,
0:08:34 > 0:08:36'people were holidaying abroad.'
0:08:36 > 0:08:41Look, I mean... It's August.
0:08:41 > 0:08:44It's the middle of the English tourist season,
0:08:44 > 0:08:47the kids are on holiday.
0:08:47 > 0:08:51It's like... It's like Dodge City after everybody's gone.
0:08:51 > 0:08:54Do you think when the sun comes out, there's people in there,
0:08:54 > 0:08:56going, "ha ha!"
0:08:58 > 0:09:02It's a lovely place, but what is very encouraging is the sea -
0:09:02 > 0:09:04it looks good to me.
0:09:07 > 0:09:09I want to get back and get going.
0:09:19 > 0:09:24'We're heading just 25 miles down the coast to Brightlingsea, Essex.
0:09:24 > 0:09:29'We're passing a town that reminds me of my seaside holidays.'
0:09:29 > 0:09:32Clacton used to have Butlins holiday camp.
0:09:32 > 0:09:36I've still got a badge somewhere in a drawer,
0:09:36 > 0:09:4019...62 or something.
0:09:42 > 0:09:44'Four years earlier, in 1958,
0:09:44 > 0:09:48'the Butlins here is where Cliff Richard played his first gig.
0:09:48 > 0:09:50'Shame I missed it.
0:09:50 > 0:09:53'Mind you, I was just a baby then,
0:09:53 > 0:09:56'so my mum would have left me in the chalet.'
0:09:56 > 0:10:01They had nannies who cycled around the chalets and listened.
0:10:01 > 0:10:06There was a thing in the corner - it would come up
0:10:06 > 0:10:09and say, "baby crying in chalet six".
0:10:09 > 0:10:13"Excuse me, excuse me... I think that's us."
0:10:13 > 0:10:18It's amazing. When you think of what an innocent age we lived in.
0:10:18 > 0:10:22Innocent Clacton, gone for ever.
0:10:34 > 0:10:36Just before.
0:10:50 > 0:10:52SEAGULLS CRY
0:10:56 > 0:11:00'Before we went to sea, we were moored in Chatham,
0:11:00 > 0:11:03'on the banks of the River Medway in Kent.
0:11:04 > 0:11:09'We spent many months here, daring ourselves to go out into the sea.
0:11:11 > 0:11:14'Six years later, I'm preparing to return there
0:11:14 > 0:11:17'and complete my circumnavigation of Britain.'
0:11:17 > 0:11:23We used to go out into this body of water here. All this is water.
0:11:23 > 0:11:27These dark bits are sandbanks - loads of them.
0:11:27 > 0:11:30It's up here where we first ran aground.
0:11:30 > 0:11:33'I need to plan this route carefully and quickly.
0:11:33 > 0:11:35'I don't want to get there in the dark.'
0:11:35 > 0:11:38Ship ahoy, darling.
0:11:39 > 0:11:43'But I have more to worry about than plotting the route.
0:11:43 > 0:11:46'For this special journey, we've enlisted another recruit.'
0:11:48 > 0:11:52- Here he is.- Where's the Spall? Darling!
0:11:54 > 0:11:57'Rennie is my best and one of my oldest friends.
0:11:57 > 0:12:00'While it's great to see him, I've got to get planning.'
0:12:00 > 0:12:04- I'm going to ignore you, cos I've got things to do.- Don't look at him.
0:12:04 > 0:12:06'Not so easy with so many people on board.'
0:12:06 > 0:12:11- I don't know where I got it from. - I thought it was the beginning of a tattoo or something.
0:12:12 > 0:12:14Cos it looks very sort of symmetrical.
0:12:14 > 0:12:17My godson.
0:12:17 > 0:12:20Who is a Hollywood star-to-be.
0:12:20 > 0:12:22Did you have a nice time, darling?
0:12:22 > 0:12:25- I did.- Stop talking to Rennie, Tim.
0:12:29 > 0:12:32- Don't talk to me. - We'll have a drink.
0:12:32 > 0:12:35'I've not had enough time to plot the last part of my course.
0:12:35 > 0:12:39'We should have left half an hour ago.'
0:12:39 > 0:12:44- This is driving me nuts, all I've got to do is this. - Right, we're getting ready to roll.
0:12:49 > 0:12:53'As we head off for the last leg, right on cue,
0:12:53 > 0:12:55'my fear of the sea kicks in.'
0:12:55 > 0:12:58HE LAUGHS HYSTERICALLY
0:13:00 > 0:13:03I'm at the end of my tether, I'm nearly gone.
0:13:05 > 0:13:09I've got about that much... Only Shane is keeping...
0:13:09 > 0:13:11Only Shane is keeping my nerve.
0:13:14 > 0:13:18'The good news is that it's only 40 miles
0:13:18 > 0:13:20'from Brightlingsea to Chatham.'
0:13:22 > 0:13:24Don't want any big ships coming in or out...
0:13:24 > 0:13:26'The bad news is,
0:13:26 > 0:13:31'I have to get my timing spot-on to stand any chance of beating the tide.
0:13:31 > 0:13:36'This estuary has some of the fastest tidal movements in Britain,
0:13:36 > 0:13:40'which can catch unwary mariners by surprise.'
0:13:40 > 0:13:44That out there - those eerie-looking masts sticking out of the water,
0:13:44 > 0:13:46surrounded by buoys.
0:13:46 > 0:13:50That's the wreck of the USS General Montgomery.
0:13:50 > 0:13:55Not only is it a very eerie thing, it's very bloody dangerous.
0:13:55 > 0:13:58It's got 1,800 tonnes of unexploded bombs on it
0:13:58 > 0:13:59from the Second World War.
0:13:59 > 0:14:01Evidently, if it went up,
0:14:01 > 0:14:04it would take a quarter of the Isle of Sheppey with it!
0:14:04 > 0:14:07They leave it where it is because it keeps it cool.
0:14:07 > 0:14:09Too dangerous to move.
0:14:20 > 0:14:24'The mouth of the Medway is a centre of industry,
0:14:24 > 0:14:28'with huge power stations and considerable shipping traffic.'
0:14:28 > 0:14:30I cannot believe, Shane...
0:14:30 > 0:14:35- I cannot BELIEVE...- What? - We are actually back here.
0:14:36 > 0:14:38This is where we started out.
0:14:39 > 0:14:43'We're entering what feels like a big lake -
0:14:43 > 0:14:47'10 square miles of water surrounded by land.
0:14:47 > 0:14:51'I need to find Chatham on the narrow part of the river...
0:14:53 > 0:14:55'But the light is fading fast.'
0:14:56 > 0:15:01It's such a huge place, you can't actually see where you're heading.
0:15:01 > 0:15:06I didn't put this part of our journey into my navigation system.
0:15:06 > 0:15:11It's all about memory now... which doesn't seem to be working.
0:15:11 > 0:15:14It's been six years since we've been here. I can't remember it.
0:15:14 > 0:15:16Yes, you can.
0:15:16 > 0:15:20That's Gillingham up there.
0:15:20 > 0:15:23- So, we're going to be going that way. - Are you sure?
0:15:23 > 0:15:26No. It's totally alien, basically.
0:15:26 > 0:15:29- But we used to live here!- I know! - Now, I can't remember where we are.
0:15:29 > 0:15:33Well, it says... It says, "You're here."
0:15:33 > 0:15:35Yeah, we are here!
0:15:37 > 0:15:39'I'm starting to get even more nervous.
0:15:39 > 0:15:45'I don't know where we are but I do recognise this feeling of dread.'
0:15:45 > 0:15:49Right, now, I've got to really keep my wits about me, now.
0:15:49 > 0:15:51I'm being very careful
0:15:51 > 0:15:55because there are massive sandbanks either side of here.
0:15:55 > 0:15:59'It feels pretty close to where we once ran aground,
0:15:59 > 0:16:00'too close for comfort.'
0:16:00 > 0:16:03Right, OK, OK. Right.
0:16:03 > 0:16:07Where are you going now, Tim? You're going backwards.
0:16:07 > 0:16:11'I don't want the sea to beat me right at the end of this adventure.
0:16:11 > 0:16:16'I just need five minutes to plot a course and we'll be out of here in no time.'
0:16:16 > 0:16:18Concentrate.
0:16:20 > 0:16:25Concentrate.
0:16:29 > 0:16:30I am lost, actually.
0:16:30 > 0:16:33Right, well, let's call the Coastguard, love,
0:16:33 > 0:16:35and get someone to take us to Chatham, shall we?
0:16:35 > 0:16:39Before it is too late. We're going around in circles.
0:16:39 > 0:16:41We're getting totally confused, darling.
0:16:41 > 0:16:44I always said we would never call the Coastguard,
0:16:44 > 0:16:47we'd never call the bloody lifeboat out, didn't I?
0:16:47 > 0:16:48I've always said that.
0:16:48 > 0:16:52Because we have been going around in circles for an hour and a half.
0:16:52 > 0:16:55Yeah, but if you just be quiet, I'll try and work it out.
0:16:55 > 0:16:59We've been trying to work it out, Timmy, for an hour and a half.
0:16:59 > 0:17:02- No, we haven't.- It's getting dark. Just call the Coastguard.
0:17:02 > 0:17:05What do you want we to do? Call the Coastguard...
0:17:05 > 0:17:07- Hold that for a second, please.- ..please.
0:17:07 > 0:17:09If I follow the lights on the buoys,
0:17:09 > 0:17:11maybe they will guide me towards Chatham.
0:17:11 > 0:17:16- That light, there.- Yes, that light.- No, this light?
0:17:16 > 0:17:17Yes, straight ahead.
0:17:18 > 0:17:22'The problem is, there are too many blinking lights.'
0:17:22 > 0:17:25I'm completely confused. Where am I?
0:17:25 > 0:17:28I don't know what I'm doing here.
0:17:28 > 0:17:33- Why isn't this working?- I don't know, I don't know, we're confused.
0:17:34 > 0:17:38There's too many lights. We're completely confused.
0:17:38 > 0:17:40Follow the yacht.
0:17:40 > 0:17:44- What yacht?- The one with the light on.- The yacht there.
0:17:44 > 0:17:46What yacht? You don't know where he's going.
0:17:46 > 0:17:50We're heading for a big barge. Timmy, can you see that?
0:17:50 > 0:17:54- What? What?- We're heading for a big barge.- What barge?- There!
0:17:57 > 0:18:00Will you please call the Coastguard?
0:18:00 > 0:18:04'As captain of the ship, I know what is best. And it's time for action.'
0:18:04 > 0:18:08- Right, OK, I'm going to take a decision now.- Good.
0:18:08 > 0:18:11Right, I've made a decision, now.
0:18:11 > 0:18:14Thames Coastguard, Thames Coastguard,
0:18:14 > 0:18:17Thames Coastguard, this is the Princess Matilda over.
0:18:17 > 0:18:20'Princess Matilda, this is Thames coastguard.'
0:18:20 > 0:18:23We're a little bit lost, actually.
0:18:23 > 0:18:27We're in the Medway and we're trying to find our way down to,
0:18:27 > 0:18:32- um, uh...- Chatham.- Chatham Marina.
0:18:32 > 0:18:34We got a bit lost and we're, uh,...
0:18:34 > 0:18:38- And it's dark.- It's dark and we've... My wife said it is dark.
0:18:38 > 0:18:43'We've requested a boat to come and assist you
0:18:43 > 0:18:46'so they can guide you towards Chatham.'
0:18:46 > 0:18:49'The lifeboat is coming to rescue us.'
0:18:49 > 0:18:53Have you got glasses? Glasses, anybody?
0:18:53 > 0:18:57'I should be as happy as Frankie and Shane
0:18:57 > 0:19:02'but my heart feels as if it has just hit a sandbank.'
0:19:02 > 0:19:05My one desire, never to call the lifeboat out,
0:19:05 > 0:19:08has just been completely destroyed.
0:19:08 > 0:19:11I used to think I knew what I was doing.
0:19:11 > 0:19:16Hello, guys. I'm so sorry to call you out.
0:19:16 > 0:19:19I said I would never do this.
0:19:19 > 0:19:21I don't know what it is.
0:19:21 > 0:19:25I'm either an idiot or I don't know where I'm going.
0:19:25 > 0:19:29- Well, we can't comment on that one! - Oh, you can't comment on that!
0:19:29 > 0:19:31'One of the crew comes on board and shows me
0:19:31 > 0:19:34'just how far off course I am.
0:19:34 > 0:19:37'So far off course, they're not taking us to Chatham.
0:19:37 > 0:19:40'Instead, we're going to nearby Queenborough.'
0:19:40 > 0:19:43I mean, I don't mind making a dick of myself
0:19:43 > 0:19:45but I don't like to inconvenience people.
0:19:45 > 0:19:48So, I do appreciate your wonderful work
0:19:48 > 0:19:51and I'm sorry I had to call you out.
0:19:51 > 0:19:54The positive side of it is that we met you.
0:19:54 > 0:19:56We met you and you're lovely people.
0:20:05 > 0:20:08That's where we... That's where we got lost.
0:20:08 > 0:20:11And do you know, interestingly enough,
0:20:11 > 0:20:14we got lost there
0:20:14 > 0:20:18and the first time I ever ran aground was there.
0:20:18 > 0:20:20I just lost it, I lost it.
0:20:20 > 0:20:24- It was dark. - I lost it, Shane, I was useless. - There were too many lights.
0:20:24 > 0:20:28It was disconcerting. We were going around in circles, we were lost.
0:20:28 > 0:20:31'The plan is to get Matilda to Chatham today.
0:20:31 > 0:20:35'It's only five miles away but it feels like 500.'
0:20:35 > 0:20:37I don't think I've got it in me, Shane.
0:20:37 > 0:20:39- Yes, you have.- I haven't. I've had enough.
0:20:39 > 0:20:41No, love, you're going to get us to London.
0:20:41 > 0:20:46- I've had enough.- When you get us to London, you can have enough. Not now.
0:20:46 > 0:20:48You're going to take us to Chatham.
0:21:01 > 0:21:05I've lost faith in myself so many times in these six years at sea
0:21:05 > 0:21:08but somehow, Shane never seems to.
0:21:08 > 0:21:13My first instinct this morning was, no, let him stay in bed,
0:21:13 > 0:21:17let him stay in bed and he'd fester and he would worry
0:21:17 > 0:21:20and have a nervous breakdown.
0:21:20 > 0:21:23So, I thought it was best for us to get back out
0:21:23 > 0:21:25and up on the river and get back him into the saddle.
0:21:25 > 0:21:28Things like this knock his confidence
0:21:28 > 0:21:32but he's done the whole of the British Isles, you know.
0:21:32 > 0:21:35He's made one mistake, once. We've only had one shout.
0:21:35 > 0:21:36SHE KNOCKS ON WOOD
0:21:36 > 0:21:38We were just dazzled.
0:21:42 > 0:21:46'In the light of day, I recognise everything so clearly.
0:21:46 > 0:21:50'This is where my favourite writer Charles Dickens set the meeting
0:21:50 > 0:21:55'between Pip and Magwitch in his classic Great Expectations.'
0:21:55 > 0:21:58You can feel it in his writing, this area.
0:21:58 > 0:22:01It's full of demons and poltergeists
0:22:01 > 0:22:04and wicked fairies and kind fairies.
0:22:04 > 0:22:09The ultimate example of that is Magwitch, isn't he?
0:22:09 > 0:22:13He is both good and bad because he's like the criminal
0:22:13 > 0:22:16but the one you fear and loathe as a child
0:22:16 > 0:22:19turns out to be his benefactor.
0:22:21 > 0:22:24'It's exactly the type of scenery that inspired me
0:22:24 > 0:22:27'to explore my country in the first place.'
0:22:28 > 0:22:35The mix between rural beauty and industrial endeavour.
0:22:35 > 0:22:40There's something so... quintessentially British about it.
0:22:40 > 0:22:44But if it wasn't for hulking great boats like that
0:22:44 > 0:22:48and power stations like that and, you know,
0:22:48 > 0:22:49erm... rivers like this,
0:22:49 > 0:22:52we wouldn't be the international success that we are,
0:22:52 > 0:22:55punching way above our weight, would we?
0:22:55 > 0:22:57That's what makes Britain a wonderful place.
0:22:57 > 0:23:02# I'm in hopes you'll think it over
0:23:02 > 0:23:06# And perhaps be satisfied
0:23:06 > 0:23:10# With a simple sort of person
0:23:10 > 0:23:13# On the sentimental side. #
0:23:13 > 0:23:15There's Chatham.
0:23:17 > 0:23:23'As we approach Chatham, more memories come flooding back.'
0:23:25 > 0:23:28'It's so full of maritime history here.
0:23:28 > 0:23:32'It's the birthplace of so many famous and heroic ships.'
0:23:34 > 0:23:37Chatham Historical Dockyard, there.
0:23:37 > 0:23:40- That is where they built the HMS Victory.- Is it?
0:23:40 > 0:23:44- This is where Nelson left before the Battle of Trafalgar.- Really?
0:23:44 > 0:23:49And this is St Mary's Island which was a prison colony.
0:23:49 > 0:23:53It's a place of melancholy and misery.
0:23:53 > 0:23:56Later on, maybe we'll have a walk.
0:24:00 > 0:24:02'For Shane and me,
0:24:02 > 0:24:07'this place has an extra special and personal heritage.
0:24:07 > 0:24:10'When we left here all that time ago,
0:24:10 > 0:24:14'I never dreamt we'd actually do it.'
0:24:14 > 0:24:15Are you all right?
0:24:15 > 0:24:19Yeah. No, it's just really emotional because we just spent
0:24:19 > 0:24:23so much time here and knew it so well
0:24:23 > 0:24:26and now, we're back, now.
0:24:26 > 0:24:29We used to come along this jetty every night
0:24:29 > 0:24:32and go to that pub over there.
0:24:32 > 0:24:34So, it's a bit weird.
0:24:40 > 0:24:44You're in tears.
0:25:05 > 0:25:08We're back.
0:25:08 > 0:25:11We're here now. We've done it, we're back!
0:25:20 > 0:25:25'Shane and I have travelled nearly two and a half thousand miles
0:25:25 > 0:25:27'around the United Kingdom.'
0:25:27 > 0:25:32I feel like Marco Polo, Francis Drake, Dame Ellen MacArthur.
0:25:32 > 0:25:35'We've moored in 91 ports, visited four countries
0:25:35 > 0:25:38'and made it back in one piece.
0:25:38 > 0:25:40'Just about.'
0:25:40 > 0:25:41Look, a dolphin!
0:25:41 > 0:25:44- Where?- Look!- He's got it!
0:25:44 > 0:25:50'At the end of this wonderful journey, there is one last stop.
0:25:50 > 0:25:53'Back home to London.'
0:25:53 > 0:25:56To the right of Canary Wharf. We can see the Dome!
0:25:56 > 0:25:58We can see the Dome!
0:26:01 > 0:26:05Skip with this lovely old bugger around Britain.
0:26:05 > 0:26:08You know, a lot has happened in that time.
0:26:08 > 0:26:12Two of our kids have got married. One has had a baby.
0:26:12 > 0:26:15They have both bought their own houses.
0:26:15 > 0:26:18Shane has written a book, she's got a publishing deal.
0:26:18 > 0:26:20I've gone insane.
0:26:20 > 0:26:21It's quite a lot to take on.
0:26:21 > 0:26:25But it's been astounding.
0:26:26 > 0:26:29Baptism of fire every day, to a certain degree.
0:26:32 > 0:26:37The one thing that, erm, I didn't fully realise,
0:26:37 > 0:26:41how connected it is,
0:26:41 > 0:26:44how absolutely connected it is to what happened to me when I was ill.
0:26:44 > 0:26:47What happened to me 15 years ago, going on 16,
0:26:47 > 0:26:51is still with me in my soul.
0:26:51 > 0:26:53And this, with Shane,
0:26:53 > 0:26:59and our friends and with you has either been a celebration
0:26:59 > 0:27:02of life or two fingers up to the fact that it tried to go away.
0:27:02 > 0:27:05It is both a celebration
0:27:05 > 0:27:11and a spit in the eye of the audacity of fate trying to kill me.
0:27:11 > 0:27:13So we went out and tried to kill ourselves!
0:27:13 > 0:27:15# Heaven
0:27:15 > 0:27:18# I'm in heaven
0:27:18 > 0:27:25# And my heart beats so that I can hardly speak
0:27:25 > 0:27:32# And I seem to find the happiness I seek
0:27:32 > 0:27:36# When we're out together dancing cheek to cheek. #
0:27:36 > 0:27:42Waiting to greet us are close friends and family,
0:27:42 > 0:27:46including our granddaughter Matilda.
0:27:46 > 0:27:51With an audience on the pontoon, I better not cock this up.
0:27:53 > 0:27:56Now do that. Now press that button.
0:27:56 > 0:27:58There.
0:27:58 > 0:28:01THEY CHEER
0:28:08 > 0:28:12'We've taken the temperature of the British Isles.
0:28:12 > 0:28:15'The British people and the feeling of the place
0:28:15 > 0:28:18'is still incredibly healthy.'
0:28:18 > 0:28:19Ooh!
0:28:19 > 0:28:24'It's a great place and I wouldn't want to live anywhere else.'
0:28:24 > 0:28:27- Cheers.- Just don't tell your mum. - Cheers, cheers, cheers.
0:28:27 > 0:28:28- Cheers.- Cheers.- Cheers.
0:28:35 > 0:28:41# When shall I see my lover come home from the sea?
0:28:41 > 0:28:45# Hurry to me, great liner
0:28:45 > 0:28:52# For you can make my dreams come true
0:28:52 > 0:28:55# Wherever you be
0:28:55 > 0:28:59# Answer my plea
0:28:59 > 0:29:03# Somewhere at sea. #