Coast backdrop
Documentary

The Best Episodes of Coast

Every episode of Coast ranked from best to worst. Let's dive into the Best Episodes of Coast!

Binge this in 3d 4h•Peaking at 9.2/10

The nation's love affair with the coast will be reawakened for this entertaining and ambitious exploration of the entire UK coastline. Every part of the 9,000-mile coast is covered to explore how we've shaped it

Airs on
BBC Two
BestEpisodes
WorstEpisodes
BestSeasons
AllEpisodes

Seasons11

All1234567891011

Episode Rankings

  1. #1 Fan Favorite
    Click to reveal
    Coast Season 1 Episode 11 - The Inventive Coast: Robin Hood's Bay To The Wash
    9.2/10(10 votes)

    #1 - The Inventive Coast: Robin Hood's Bay To The Wash

    S1:E11

    Nick retraces the steps of smugglers in Robin Hoods Bay; Neil goes to the first Butlins Holiday camp in Skegness; whilst Mark sets sail in a recreated bronze age boat; and Alice recreates alum crystals using stale urine!

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  2. Coast Season 3 Episode 1 - Shetland To Orkney
    9.2/10(12 votes)

    #2 - Shetland To Orkney

    S3:E1

    Over 230 islands make up the Northern Isles - The Shetland and Orkney. These magnificent islands are made up of rock stacks, secret inlets and spectacular scenery, surrounded by sometimes extreme sea and weather conditions that have shaped these islands. Neil Oliver joins an expedition climbing the Old Man of Hoy in Orkney and finds out about the Second World War freedom fighters who risked their lives running the "Shetland Bus". Miranda Krestovnikoff goes in search of an elusive octopus, Nicholas Crane finds evidence of a tsunami that devastated Britain 7,000 years ago and Alice Roberts unearths a mysterious skeleton that reveals more about the lives of ancient Shetlanders.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  3. Coast Season 3 Episode 7 - King's Lynn To Felixstowe
    9.1/10(9 votes)

    #3 - King's Lynn To Felixstowe

    S3:E7

    Neil explores the site of an experimental Radar, built to spy on the Soviet Union. Alice tries to capture the beauty of Southwold in paint. Nicholas discovers how tides and weather can cause catastrophic floods and Hermione meets a woman who intercepted German radio messages from the Norfolk coast during World War 2.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  4. Coast Season 3 Episode 8 - The Channel Islands To Dover
    9.1/10(10 votes)

    #4 - The Channel Islands To Dover

    S3:E8

    Neil investigates the tragic story of the first channel swimmer. Alice explores Jersey's remarkable post war transformation from Nazi stronghold to 'Honeymoon Island'. Miranda enters secret caves and Mark reveals why the islanders on Guernsey remain loyal to the Queen, despite being outside the United Kingdom.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  5. Coast Season 5 Episode 3 - Brittany
    9.1/10(7 votes)

    #5 - Brittany

    S5:E3

    Neil Oliver explores the province of Finistère, "The End of the Earth", and meets a lighthouse keeper made famous by one of the world's most reproduced photographs. Nick Crane joins the "Onion Johnnies", who gave us our stereotypical image of a Frenchman, complete with stripy tee shirt, beret and bicycle laden with onions. Alice Roberts reveals the life saving chemical element that's locked away inside seaweed and Miranda Krestovnikoff dives for a seafood delicacy. At Carnac, Mark Horton wanders amongst the mysterious lines of standing stones, erected thousands of years before Stonehenge, to investigate their age old connection with Britain.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  6. Coast Season 2 Episode 7 - The Outer Hebrides
    9.0/10(14 votes)

    #6 - The Outer Hebrides

    S2:E7

    At the outermost edge of the British Isles, we discover the struggle to survive in this harsh but stunningly beautiful myriad of islands big and small. Crystal clear water and powder white beaches conceal a history of human tragedy and joy.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

    7. Trending NowTRENDING NOW

    The 20 WORST Episodes of Coast

    READ
  7. Coast Season 3 Episode 4 - Cardiff To St David's
    9.0/10(10 votes)

    #7 - Cardiff To St David's

    S3:E4

    Neil discovers how a beach became the 'fastest place on earth' 80 years ago. Mark explores how Swansea's monopoly of the copper trade sped Nelson towards his Trafalgar victory. Miranda joins dolphins at the coast raising their young and Alice boards a dredger to discover how much sand we are consuming.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  8. Coast Season 4 Episode 6 - Inner Hebrides to Faroe Islands
    9.0/10(8 votes)

    #8 - Inner Hebrides to Faroe Islands

    S4:E6

    The Sea Eagles of the island of Canna were hunted to extinction, but now they have been brought back. We climb into one of their nests perched high on a steep cliff to find out what their chances of survival are. Neil Oliver visits Europe's biggest super-quarry to receive an explosive lesson in how the rock is mined. Armed with a simple ruler on a Scottish beach, Nick Crane learns how the challenge of measuring our coastline led to a new branch of maths that could help our mobile phones get smaller.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  9. Coast Season 5 Episode 7 - Denmark
    9.0/10(6 votes)

    #9 - Denmark

    S5:E7

    The Danes top the polls as the happiest people on earth and Neil Oliver wants to know what they have to smile about. Nick Crane investigates how the Danish made a big business out of selling bacon to Britain. Alice Roberts sets sail in a full scale replica of a Viking longship to see how these ships gave Norsemen the advantage over the English in battle. Miranda Krestovnikoff meets some unflappable red deer. On Heligoland, Mark Horton reveals how in 1947 Britain's Royal Navy blew this tiny island apart in the largest non-nuclear explosion the world had ever seen and Dick Strawbridge gets access to the construction of one of the world's largest offshore wind farms.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  10. Coast Season 1 Episode 2 - The Wild West: Exmouth To Bristol
    8.9/10(9 votes)

    #10 - The Wild West: Exmouth To Bristol

    S1:E2

    Dr Alice Roberts investigates how greed led to a village being washed into the sea; Nick unearths the history of slavery in Plymouth; while Neil and Mark try to wreck a ship with nothing but a candle; and Miranda comes face to face with a shark!

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  11. Coast Season 1 Episode 5 - Shifting Sands: Liverpool To Solway Firth
    8.9/10(9 votes)

    #11 - Shifting Sands: Liverpool To Solway Firth

    S1:E5

    Alice discovers 5,000 year old footprints on the beach; whilst Nick investigates our worst lifeboat disaster; Mark is on the track of the Roman conquest of Northern Europe in Maryport and Neil ventures onto the treacherous sands of Morecambe Bay.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  12. Coast Season 1 Episode 10 - The Forgotten Coast: Berwick To Whitby
    8.9/10(9 votes)

    #12 - The Forgotten Coast: Berwick To Whitby

    S1:E10

    Nick explores the holy island of Lindisfarne; Alice helps rebuild Britain's first house in Howick; whilst Neil examines the tensions in South Shields that led to race riots in the 1930s and Miranda gets up close and personal with grey seals.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  13. Coast Season 1 Episode 12 - The Vanishing Coast: The Wash To Dover
    8.9/10(10 votes)

    #13 - The Vanishing Coast: The Wash To Dover

    S1:E12

    Nick investigates the freak floods of 1953; Alice explores the landbridge which joined us to the continent; whilst Nick meets Peter Boggis, a man trying to save his home from the sea; and Neil celebrates Trafalgar 200 examining an eye witness account of the battle.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  14. Coast Season 2 Episode 6 - Newcastle To Hull
    8.9/10(12 votes)

    #14 - Newcastle To Hull

    S2:E6

    The concrete and steel of the North East coast conceal a remarkable history of religious passion that transformed Britain and touched every corner of the world. Neil Oliver explores this ancient coastal landscape and also reveals its contribution to the abolition of the slave trade.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  15. Coast Season 2 Episode 8 - Felixstowe To Margate
    8.9/10(12 votes)

    #15 - Felixstowe To Margate

    S2:E8

    Alice Roberts savours the sea salt at Maldon, Miranda Krestovnikoff goes trawling on the Thames and we discover how the houses of Parliament can claim to be on the coast. We end the series with a remarkable cricket match miles out to sea on the eerie tidal landscape at Goodwin Sands.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  16. Coast Season 3 Episode 6 - Galway To Baltimore
    8.9/10(13 votes)

    #16 - Galway To Baltimore

    S3:E6

    Neil discovers how mysterious flotsam inspired Columbus' journey to America. Alice explores the botanical puzzle of "The Burren" - where Arctic plants grow next to Mediterranean flowers. Miranda reveals the surprising secrets of seaweed that make it the special ingredient in everything from toothpaste to beer.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  17. Coast Season 4 Episode 1 - Whitstable to Isle of Wight
    8.9/10(13 votes)

    #17 - Whitstable to Isle of Wight

    S4:E1

    The south coast of England was the home of movies long before a frame was shot in Hollywood, thanks to long hours of daylight and glamorous London actors holidaying by the sea. Neil Oliver tries his hand at directing his own silent movie. Alice Roberts re-lives the glamour days of the hovercraft and on the Isle of Wight, we go in search of dinosaur footprints which prove the island has been on an epic voyage heading north from tropical climes 135 million years ago.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  18. Coast Season 4 Episode 2 - Cap Gris-Nez to Mont Saint-Michel
    8.9/10(13 votes)

    #18 - Cap Gris-Nez to Mont Saint-Michel

    S4:E2

    Castles are an integral part of the history and landscape of Britain, but the art of building a castle was brought across the channel by William the Conqueror. We visit the medieval quarry in France which supplied the stone for iconic buildings such as the Tower of London and Canterbury Cathedral. Nick Crane sets sail from Dover to visit the white cliffs of France. Connected by land before a mega flood carved the channel, Nick discovers that these divided cliffs are facing parallel challenges of coastal erosion.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  19. Coast Season 6 Episode 2 - The Netherlands
    8.9/10(8 votes)

    #19 - The Netherlands

    S6:E2

    The team's journey continues around the stunning shores of Devon and Cornwall. Nick Crane is on a fishing expedition on board one of the last remaining Brixham trawlers. He also explores how Henry VIII, fearing attack after his famous divorce, built a string of cleverly positioned forts all along the south coast. The Isles of Scilly are surrounded by lush, golden green underwater meadows of seagrass; Miranda Krestovnikoff explores the diverse wildlife of this natural sub-sea paradise. Mark Horton reveals the extraordinary story of how Lawrence of Arabia went to Plymouth, where he helped develop revolutionary fast rescue boats that saved countless lives in the Second World War. Dick Strawbridge learns the surprising secrets of the global steam power revolution pioneered in the tin mines of Cornwall some 200 years ago. And with the aid of some big wind machines, Alice Roberts creates her own perfect storm.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  20. Coast Season 8 Episode 1 - Invaders of the Isles
    8.9/10(9 votes)

    #20 - Invaders of the Isles

    S8:E1

    The team returns to visit more locations around the nation's shoreline, beginning by exploring a diverse range of invasions. Nick Crane heads to the Channel Islands to learn about the German occupation of Guernsey during the Second World War, while Tessa Dunlop visits Norfolk to hear stories of a little-known Zeppelin bombing campaign on Britain during the Great War. Ruth Goodman goes to the Isle of Man to find out how it became the home of the TT motorcycle race, which attracts around 10,000 bikers from around the world each year, and Andy Torbet encounters a colony of water voles on a rocky outcrop in the seas off western Scotland.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  21. Coast Season 1 Episode 3 - Times and Tides: Bristol To Cardigan Bay
    8.8/10(9 votes)

    #21 - Times and Tides: Bristol To Cardigan Bay

    S1:E3

    South Wales has the second highest tidal range in the world. It is the tidal surge that creates the Severn Bore: Nick follows the wave upstream; whilst Neil explores the history of Cardiff coal; and Alice gets acquainted with the Red Lady of Paviland.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  22. Coast Season 1 Episode 4 - The Travellers Coast: Cardigan Bay To The Dee
    8.8/10(9 votes)

    #22 - The Travellers Coast: Cardigan Bay To The Dee

    S1:E4

    Neil discovers the story of a Welsh Atlantis lost beneath the waves; Miranda goes in search of leatherback turtles; whilst Alice descends into the caves of Great Orme and Nick canoes in the treacherous Menai Straits, to examine the bridges across to Anglesey.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  23. Coast Season 1 Episode 7 - Islands And Inlets: West Coast Of Scotland And Western Isles
    8.8/10(10 votes)

    #23 - Islands And Inlets: West Coast Of Scotland And Western Isles

    S1:E7

    Neil joins the crew of the trident submarine HMS Vanguard; Miranda goes hunting for Minke whales; whilst Mark and Neil recreate the inter island rocket mail service; and Nick sails the beautiful Western Isles armed only with a 500 year guide book.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  24. Coast Season 1 Episode 9 - The Working Coast: John O'Groats To Berwick
    8.8/10(10 votes)

    #24 - The Working Coast: John O'Groats To Berwick

    S1:E9

    Miranda heads to the Moray Firth, home to bottle nosed dolphins; Nick investigates the impact of the North Sea oil industry; whilst Neil meets a fishing family in Fraserburgh, facing a bleak future; and Alice reflects on the history of whaling in Dundee.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  25. Coast Season 2 Episode 4 - Cornwall & The Isles Of Scilly
    8.8/10(15 votes)

    #25 - Cornwall & The Isles Of Scilly

    S2:E4

    Neil Oliver discovers the network of cables under a Porthcurno beach which wrap around the world in a tale of invention, espionage and surprise. Mark Horton visits the Isles of Scilly to meet the two football teams battling it out in Britain's smallest league and Alice Roberts paints up a storm in St Ives.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

Best Episodes Summary

"The Inventive Coast: Robin Hood's Bay To The Wash" is the best rated episode of "Coast". It scored 9.2/10 based on 10 votes. Directed by Unknown and written by Unknown, it aired on 8/26/2005. This episode scored 0.0 points higher than the second highest rated, "Shetland To Orkney".