Radio Times: Review by:; David Butcher

Put Griff Rhys Jones on a sailing boat and he’s a happy man, so this second nostalgic journey suits him a treat. The idea is to re-create the journey of the 19th-century Thames sailing barges from Essex to the London docks.

He does so in a “stacky” called Dawn, a boat designed to carry haystacks. It’s a gentle but seductive journey full of odd nuggets of knowledge (they used root veg for ballast) and a seascape of shallows, creeks and sandbanks. Incidental pleasures include a sweet home movie of a young Griff in yellow jumper at the tiller of the family boat, and a lesson in how to make plum duff.

About this programme

2/4. The comedian joins the crew of a Thames barge as a deckhand to explore the trade routes of the vessels along the Essex coast and discover why their supply of goods was vital to London. He braves tides and shallows as he learns about the hard work of sailors, tries dishes likely to have been eaten by bargemen and uncovers the secrets of Foulness Island.