Coast Australia

- Season 1

(2013)

Neil Oliver discovers the coastline of the Kimberley in Australia.

Botany Bay to North Head: Across the glittering waters of Sydney, Neil Oliver explores the network of fortification to protect "Fortress Sydney", and discovers how close the city came to being taken in WW2. Xanthe Mallett learns how to make lime as the convicts did in her quest to understand the importance of oysters in building the early colony.

Lizard to Heron Island: Neil Oliver begins this stunning journey through the world's largest coral reef in the wake of James Cook, and in the hands of the Australian Navy's hydrography team. Brendan Moar discovers an Australian community overcoming wretched beginnings by renewing island family ties. Tim Flannery is granted rare access to a scientific research zone to examine coral history.

Scotsman Neil Oliver probes Port Arthur's harsh penal history and explores Tasmania from Freycinet to Bruny Islamd in the tranquil southeast of Tasmania. Neil has also narrated many seasons of Coast that filmed numerous coastal areas of the UK and some European coastlines.

On Australia's shiny holiday coast Miriam Corowa investigates the engineering behind the 1970s Florida-style canal system of the Gold Coast. Neil Oliver heads to Peel Island to see the remains of a bleak chapter in history. Xanthe Mallett scours a WW2 fortification at what could have been Australia's front line, and discovers what life was like waiting for the war to arrive.

Mornington to Port Campbell: Along this historic stretch of coast, Neil Oliver explores Cape Otway and the beacon that helped birth a nation. Tim Flannery scours the water for evidence of the marine mega fauna that roamed ancestral Port Phillip Bay. Brendan Moar uncovers the history of the Great Ocean Road, and, armed with his pick, grasps the challenges of building a now world famous coastal road in the 1920s.

Tim Flannery begins this Top End adventure at Victoria Settlement and its tragic history in the struggle to colonize Australia's northern frontier. Neil Oliver examines the ferocious bombing of Darwin and a remarkable story of reconciliation between former enemies.

Wedge Island to Cape Range: On this wind-swept coast, Neil Oliver investigates why no one survived the attack on HMAS Sydney in its dramatic battle with a German raider in 1941. Xanthe Mallett heads to the Houtman Abrolhos islands and unearths the gruesome tale of the Dutch Batavia murders of 1629.