Ratings Overnight figures showed that the first episode was watched by 10.1% of the viewing audience for that time, with 2.71 million watching it.
Critical reception Neil Midgley of
The Daily Telegraph gave the first episode two stars out of five and said:Dimbleby couldn't save a first episode that had no clear idea of what it wanted to achieve – and several very bad ideas about how to achieve it. As Dimbleby sailed from port to port, he sprinkled in a few little educational films, which were presumably supposed to be the meat of the programme. But their remit was so diffuse – history, art, culture, whatever, oh yes, the sea, don’t forget the sea – that this was where the programme really lost its grip.
The Guardian Sam Wollaston said it was
Five Go Down to the Sea, "with a bit of history, culture, art (
JM Turner,
D Dimbleby etc, plus body art of course) thrown in. Rather nice."
Matthew Baylis of the
Daily Express commented on the large publicity regarding Dimbleby's tattoo, saying: I fear that the first episode of
Britain and the Sea was drowned out by news that its presenter had had a scorpion tattooed on his shoulder during its filming. There were more interesting things to see as the headmasterly Dimbleby circumnavigated our isles in his lovingly tended 28ft sailing boat Rocket.
Andrew Billen, a journalist writing for
The Times said: "The contrast between the grizzled sea dog and his fresh-faced shipmates deepened the
Enid Blytonish tone of their sail around Cornwall and Devon with shades of
Captain Birdseye... It was an inclusive and multidisciplinary tour, deft enough to make
Coast look ponderous." ==References==