Great British Ships

An examination of some of the key British ships in maritime history. Ships documented include the Golden Hind, Cutty Sark, SS Great Britain, Mary Rose, HMS Victory and HMS Victory.

Interesting and edifying. I have a fairly good knowledge of ships and I still found much of the information new and helpful. Does focus solely on British ships, but this doesn't narrow the selection of ships too much. Decent selection of ships, spread across several periods of maritime history.

On the negative side, I do find Rob Bell's delivery rather over-dramatic and theatrical. Maybe he's just naturally that enthusiastic but it felt a bit superficial to me.

I, an avowed Titanic freak, started to watch the first of this series. I only managed about half an hour of it (a one-hour show including adverts) .

The reason was, primarily, because of the loose association with the facts about the liner. Firstly, the presenter (I'll come back to him in a minute) kept referring to Titanic as if it was unique and that everything on it was a "first". Olympic was virtually white-washed (sorry for the pun) out of the narrative. In reality, Titanic was merely the second ship in a class of three and White Star had engineered in the title of "largest or biggest" by dint of changing some of the accommodation as a result of experience with Olympic. Then he implied that all passengers reached the Titanic aboard the Nomadic. At one stage he refers toTitanic as "the biggest ship ever"! I could go on, but I'm sure you get my drift.

Anyway, secondly, on to the presenter. Another reviewer has said he might be naturally that enthusiastic but I just found him annoying. He's supposed to be an "expert" but all those gaffs suggest to me that he doesn't know anything about the subject and is just spouting from an under-researched script.

If one can see errors at a basic level, how can one believe anything else in a programme? Independent TV production companies seem to be hell-bent on rubbishing their own productions by too little research and this is one of the worst I've seen (another is Trains that Changed The World) - I'm not going to bother watching the rest of this episode nor those that follow.

Avoid.

A lot of the information and footage is interesting, though not particularly revealing to people who have a basic knowledge of naval warfare through the ages. The interviews are generally good in setting the scene and context. The problem with this series (and others) is the presentation and, more specifically, the presenter - who seems to have made it his mission to get onto television as much as humanly possible. Robert Bells' over-dramatic, over-emphasised delivery, paired with bug eyes, dynamic eyebrow movements and arm waving soon become an irritating distraction. It seems to have become a style of documentary that has become popular - as much about the presenter as the content. I found the programmes more enjoyable the less I saw of Bell.

Just about finished with the series, with about 30 minutes of HMS Ark Royal left to go.

Seems to be fairly accurate. I've two-screened the episodes as I watched, checking facts stated by the presenter against Wikipedia, and they usually stand up, sometimes with a bit of squinting, but no standing on one foot and tilting my head needed to get the statements to square against the web's ultimate authoritative source of all human knowledge. Perhaps I exaggerate.

Note that the Titanic was indeed the largest ship in the world - at the time it was launched.

The presenter is downright exuberant at times, but for me not to the point of annoyance. He seems to genuinely enjoy being in the presence of the ships that still exist, pays respect to the service of the ships and crews lost while defending England and the UK, and left me with a desire to learn more and perhaps even visit the ones that are accessible by reasonable means (which rules out at least Titanic and Ark Royal).

The wooden ships of the past struck me as more romantic than the modern warships, but most any big ship fascinates me. I've been aboard the Queen Mary twice in Long Beach just touring her, and each time I am overwhelmed by her size. Large buildings don't have this power over me, except for the vertigo I feel when looking down from the overhanging balconies inside Embarcadero Center in San Francisco. But buildings don't move. Swaying in the wind doesn't count. The Trans America building hasn't budged if you rule out any contributions by tectonics.

I recommend this series for anyone with casual or greater interest in maritime history. True aficionados will no doubt find nits to pick. Give it a try. You might even like Rob Bell's enthusiasm.

As a long time student of history in general, and British naval vessels from the age of sail specifically, I am usually disappointed with the accuracy and thoroughness of movies, documentaries and even TV series. I remember the History Channel used to make valiant effort, and its demise into mere episodes of modern fisherman and truckers was literally preceded by a descent into amateurs and hacks, which must have been evidence of some gigantic political agenda in which budgets were slashed. There were a few bright spots over the years, like Monte Markham's series, but people like Michael Hirst sold us out with apparent enthusiasm. So...this series not only reviews the best stuff I have ever seen or read, it explores alternative theories, and is simply bursting with professionalism. And yes, I learn a lot of new stuff with every episode. It's enough to reduce my ego. Which is a good thing.