Les grands phares d'Irlande

Great Lighthouses of Ireland is, arguably, one of the most gripping documentaries ever made. In style it successfully merges three of the great documentary topics: Nature, Engineering and History - highly successful in all. The end result is the subtle weaving of all topics into documentary brilliance.

The whole package is then steeped into the, near mythological, air of a lighthouse keeper. One of the holy grails - the sense of "being there" - is so well deployed that; running up to each episode there is a sense of anticipation, one not dissimilar to the one experienced before embarking on a journey.

As with any documentary - a modicum of interest or curiosity, with regard to the topic is in all likelihood, a prerequisite for experiencing Frank Delaney's work to the fullest... But who isn't, in some way, fascinated by the life of a lighthouse keeper?

With regard to awarding anything with a 10/10 there should be a lot of "considering the nine". However, The Lighthouses of Ireland offers no chink in its armour - rending "a perfect score" the only reasonable conclusion.