Season 1 · Episode 1
As the Ark makes preparations to sail on the morning tide, the ship's company take the opportunity to hit the bars and clubs of Plymouth for one last time.
As the deployment gets under way, the air squadrons embark from their shore bases. Meanwhile the ship's company settle back into messdeck life.
Plans for the ship's 21st birthday celebrations are interrupted by a call for assistance from an American submarine.
Ark Royal undertakes a Replenishment At Sea, and when a welcome mail drop arrives thought turn to those back at home. Spirits are kept up by Ark's own TV station and it's biggest star, Wilf.
An insight into the work of the ship's chaplain; and the ship's arrival in San Juan provides the opportunity for a beach party and a night out on the town.
There is concern when it is suspected that somebody may have fallen over the side in rough weather. Officer training continues onboard, and life in the wardroom is highlighted.
Seven weeks into the deployment, the squadrons are practicing bombing runs at the Vieques Weapons Range and there are preparations for a "sod's opera" in the hangar to entertain the crew.
The ship's arrival in Mayport gives the crew the opportunity to sample the delights of the USA in it's Bi-Centennial year. One group travels to the Everglades to check out the wildlife, while a steward marries his American sweetheart.
After leaving Florida, the ship's company look forward to their return to Plymouth. While one rating is allowed to fly home to see his pregnant wife, another pays the price for trying to do the same without permission.
After six months at sea, the Ark Royal returns home to Plymouth. As the crew are reunited with their families, one sailor is instead on his way to the naval detention centre.
The BBC follow-up programme - Sailor Eight Years On - revealing the sad fate of the now decrepit Ark Royal in dock and going in search of its crew members to discover how their lives have changed.
Also present we find another Ark Royal documentary, this one made in 1971 by the Central Office of Information and titled Med Patrol. At only 15-minutes it’s, of course, nowhere near as detailed or nuanced as five hours worth of Sailor, but then it provides an interesting comparison point.
The HMS Ark Royal carried the Harrier and 3 types of helicopter during its active service, these included the Lynx which is currently the fastest helicopter in the world and the Sea King, equipped with an early warning radar system.
2011
The cameras follow every step of the training course as two classes of new recruits begin their journey to become sailors at HMS Raleigh in Cornwall.
2016
Historian Dan Snow charts the defining role the Royal Navy played in Britain's struggle for modernity - a grand tale of the twists and turns which thrust the people of the British Isles into an indelible relationship with the sea and ships.
2010
Drama documentary about Edward Teach, also known as Blackbeard, who terrorised the British colonies in the Americas during the golden age of piracy.
2006
The exciting, surprising and often moving story of HMS Queen Elizabeth’s first operational mission: a seven-month voyage to the other side of an increasingly troubled world.
2023
Documentary series exploring everyday life on board various ships in the Royal Navy fleet.
2018
Devonport is the largest naval base in Western Europe, home to most of the surface fleet and the navy’s Trafalgar-class nuclear-powered submarines. It’s also an important base for training and it supplies, mends and refits all kinds of naval craft. In this brand new six-part Quest commission we follow the lives of the people who work at Devonport. This series focuses on the people, their relationships and unusual challenges they face day to day running one of the most famous Royal Navy bases in Europe. From organising a VIP Royal visit, to preparing for the Armada Ball which is one of the largest events of the year and the daily maintenance of ships, crews and guns; if you want to see how the navy does its job, come to Devonport.
Built especially for the challenging conditions of Antarctica, HMS Endurance is the Royal Navy’s only ice patrol ship and its only one capable of breaking into the icy wastes of Antarctica. We join the elite, 140-person crew as they embark on a four-month expedition in perhaps the most extreme and hostile environment on the planet. Follow the extensive and diverse duties of the Royal Navy and the British Antarctic Survey, and the trials and tribulations that the frozen continent brings. In the first episode, Return to the Ice HMS Endurance prepares for another season in Antarctica. Captain Bob Tarrant has taken her there for the last two years but in 10 days time he must hand over to a new captain and is determined that the ship is ready for the ice before he leaves. Faced with a series of engine problems, can the crew get the vessel ready for both a long and dangerous journey and a new commander? Then bad news from home causes further problems as the ship leaves the Falklands.
2009
Julia Bradbury and JJ Chalmers are given unprecedented access to the Royal Navy.
2024
Following HMS Ocean, Britain's biggest warship and the flagship of the Royal Navy, on a sensitive seven-month deployment, culminating in becoming the first-ever UK ship to lead a US task force in the Middle East.
2017
Set during the 18th century Napoleonic Wars, Horatio Hornblower, a young and shy midshipman, rises through the ranks to become an admiral.
1998
Written and filmed to reflect the reality of life in the Royal Navy and the Royal Marines in the 1970s, most stories focus on the Captain and his fellow officers, with subplots dealing with life on the lower decks. Episodes typically featured a variety of events at sea (the Cold War, smuggling, the evacuation of civilians from crisis-hit places, etc.), as well as the personal lives of officers and ratings and the impact their personal lives had on their professional lives and duties.
1973
The story follows fisherman Ed Collier, who is highly protective over his family, which includes wife Claire and daughter Abbie. However, when a rich young man by the name of Ryan Wilson starts to take an interest in his daughter, Ed feels her becoming increasingly distant and fears he may lose her for good.
Harbour Lights is the story of the close-knit south coast community of Bridehgehaven, where Mike Nicholls is the newly appointed Harbour Master, in the town where he grew up. The community is bedevilled by the ruthless business dealings of Tony Simpson, the feuding of the Blade family, and the all-pervading majesty of the sea.
1999
Thundercloud is a 1979 British television comedy created and written by Ian Mackintosh. Produced by Yorkshire Television for ITV, it was significantly more lighthearted than Mackintosh's prior series Warship and The Sandbaggers. Lieutenant Commander ‘Monty’ Morgan – a stickler for forms – and his shipmates operate aboard the shore-based HMS Thundercloud, a secret Royal Navy station on the Yorkshire coast during World War II, apparently far enough away from HQ to merit a remarkable degree of autonomy. In fact, the Admiralty were convinced that the station was actually a destroyer in the North Sea!
1979
No description available.
2021