h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

For Christmas my Mum sent me a DVD, being the second part of a series called "Coast", and which covered the coastline from Exmouth west to Lands End and up to Bristol.

The DVD comes "endorsed" by reputable organisations, such as "The Times", the BBC, and The Open University.

The series is hosted by a Nicholas Crane, but other contributions are made by Historian Neil Oliver (of Face of Britain), Archeologist Mark Hortin, an Anthropologist and a Zoologist.

In its introduction the episode promises to explore "One of Cornwall's most enduring myths - wrecking". As you will see - it doesn't quite get it right.

However the programme starts in Exmouth and quickly crosses the Exe Estuary to Starcross stating "we are leaving Dorset behind us". Technically correct perhaps - some way behind us in fact. Not a good omen.

The programme then meanders through Hallsands, Burgh Island, Plymouth (properly all described as being Devonian) before crossing into and around Cornwall.

Fine.

However after discussing smuggling on the North Cornish coast the programme turns to wrecking.

The first place mentioned is then Hartland Point as a shipwreck blackspot, and how even in recent times the Johanna was wrecked on the point - and then stripped by locals.

Now last I checked Hartland Point was in Devon, but this point seems to escape the presenters who go on to state that "the Cornish think they own everything along the coastline" (for scavanging rights) - ignoring the fact that in the excerpt of the local news of the time used to show footage of the wreck of the time it refers to 'jammed Devon roads' (which turns out to be the ONLY reference to Devon on the whole north coast section).

To explore the "Cornish wrecking" concept further Neil Oliver and Mark Hortin then demonstrate the use of "wrecking lights" using a boat out of Clovelly and false lights on the local coastline.

Not a word that this whole "Cornish wrecking" story has used only Devon references and places. Devon is not mentioned.

So with the Cornish wrecking story completed we then continue eastwards where the "rugged terrain goes right into Somerset", and the programme then focusses on .... The Great Hangman and the Valley of the Rocks ... again - no mention that these places are actually in Devon.

Indeed a viewer who did not know better would probably not have picked up that Devon has a northern coastline, let alone that it hosted the "Cornish wreckers" story or the "rugged Somerset coastline" shown.

So what are they teaching at the Open University? Not geography it would appear.

This series has had praise heaped upon it by TV critics and many ordinary viewers, but I too noted all the points you raise on first transmission. As a result I took everything in the remaining episodes I saw, covering areas I know less well or not at all, with a fairly hefty pinch of salt. To be fair, I've seen the odd episode from the second series which, relieved of the burden of attempting to cover the entire UK coastline in half a dozen episodes, seems both less gaffe-prone and better paced as a programme.