Coast - Series 5 - Swanage to Land's End

The BAFTA-winning Coast journeys around the British Isles and beyond to see how shared seas unite us all. The voyage continues along England's south-west coast from Dorset, through Devon and onwards to the tip of Cornwall. Neil Oliver performs the lead role in an extract from Shakespeare's The Tempest on the stage of a remarkable coastal amphitheatre near Land's End. Neil discovers how this unique theatre was built thanks to the obsession of one woman determined to stage the Bard's famous play in the open air next to the sea at her home in Cornwall. Neil also explores the lasting legacy of black American GIs who came to Britain to prepare for D-Day. Nick Crane ventures out into the infamous Portland Tidal Race to see how this fearsome tidal surge creates some of the roughest waters in Britain, surprisingly close to the tourist beaches and Georgian splendour of Weymouth. Miranda Krestovnikoff goes in search of a family of white-beaked dolphins. These elusive cold water creatures are rarely seen off the English coast, so why is this group so far south? Mark Horton has privileged access to the historic dockyards at Devonport to see where the wooden ships of Nelson's navy were built, Mark reveals how the steel fleet of the modern Royal Navy still relies on the age old skills of woodworking. Alice Roberts is following her nose to discover what gives the sea its distinctive smell; it's the unmistakable whiff we associate with holidays, but for many animals it's a smell that spells the difference between life and death.