BBC Factual today announced a brand new six-part series for BBC Two and iPlayer, The Warship: Tour of Duty, following the Royal Navy’s biggest warship HMS Queen Elizabeth on her first-ever operational voyage.
A brand new 6×60 BBC Two and iPlayer series will take viewers on the Royal Navy’s £3.5 billion flagship for her first operational deployment.
Featuring dramatic and aggressive encounters with hostile navies, a royal visit from the late Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, and access to all areas of the giant aircraft carrier – the series tells the raw and intimate story of a gruelling seven month voyage to the other side of an increasingly troubled world.
When HMS Queen Elizabeth left Portsmouth in May 2021 the 1,600 men and women on board, many going to sea for the first time, had no idea what lay ahead. None could have guessed they were heading out on one of the most unusual deployments in naval history.
This new landmark series, filmed and directed by award-winning filmmaker Chris Terrill, lets viewers see what it’s like to serve on a state of the art warship on active operations. Chris was deeply embedded in the ship’s company for the entire deployment and given unprecedented freedom of access.
The films follow HMS Queen Elizabeth on a 20,000 mile round trip from Portsmouth to the South China Sea as part of a ten-strong taskforce of destroyers, frigates and supply ships. Joining the Queen Elizabeth’s ship’s company are 350 US Marines who help sustain the ship’s squadrons of F35 stealth fighters.
We meet the officers in command as well as the senior and junior ratings who work round the clock to keep the vast aircraft carrier shipshape and combat ready. Captured on film is the impact of a serious Covid outbreak on-board while port visits in Italy, Cyprus, Guam, and Japan show a very different side to travelling the world with the Navy.
With no-holds-barred access to the ship and ship’s company, viewers will witness the tasks, triumphs, and tribulations of officers and ratings alike. The average age on board is just 24 and for many – like Helayna from the Wirral and ex drum n bass DJ Ronnie from Essex – this is their first time at sea. Through them and many others we experience the peril of life on the high seas as well as the fun and friendship that can be the reward of close-quarter living in a high-pressure, high-risk environment.
Chris Terrill says:
“I have made many films on board Royal Navy warships but this series was the most exciting, surprising, challenging, and rewarding of my career. None of us on board returned home the same person who left. It has been my privilege to capture this life changing deployment to share with viewers.”
Tom Coveney, Commissioning Editor, Specialist Factual for the BBC says:
“With war raging on our doorstep, it’s never been more important to understand the lives of the young people serving in our frontline armed forces. The extraordinary access in this series will show viewers both the challenges and triumphs faced by the women and men of the Royal Navy like never before.”
The series is currently scheduled to start early next year on BBC Two and BBC iPlayer. The international distribution of the series will be handled by All3Media International.
The Warship: Tour of Duty, a 6×60’ series for BBC Two and BBC iPlayer, is made by Uppercut Films and Two Rivers Media. It was commissioned by Jack Bootle, Head of Commissioning, Specialist Factual. The Executive Producers are Alan Clements and Christine Hall, and the Commissioning Editors are Tom Coveney, Head of Commissioning, Science and Emma Hindley.
Time to be worried. Perhaps the most anti-British media organisation in the world gets access. What could go wrong?
It would be nice if they would re-run the Britain’s Biggest Warship series. Same people made it but they were following the ship from before sea trials till the first F-35 landings. Just to set the scene so to speak.
Plus it might just ease a few worries.
This is Chris Terrill. Thoroughly pro the British armed forces. Passed the RM assault course. Trusted by our forces personnel, which goes a long way to explaining why he was embedded. Enjoy.
Thanks Iain and Tain. Fingers crossed!
Chris did more than completing an assault course – he passed the Commando course and was awarded his green lid.
At 55 years of age!
Indeed. Lazy wording on my part. Not bad for an anthropologist – or anybody!
more like a paleontologist you old dinosaur,
👍 , and his book “How to build an aircraft carrier was superb, I listen to it in audio books!
Just keep in mind his main usp is the human story, hence the broad appeal. Not nerds like us who wouldn’t keep the public ‘onboard’ for seconds. That said, there will be very interesting reveals on the day to day operation of warships, warts and all, which will inform our real world view. Wonder if any TF vessels denied access, considering multi-national nature. Still, good on MoD / RN.
Catch up on his previous documentaries if not already done so.
Just notice replied to me – meant Barry 😒
Rgs
more please covering other types, such as the survey fleet and sweepers
you too
Chris Terrill gas already done two Documentaries onboard HMS Queen Elizabeth. He has a reputation for being scrupulous and fair and neither of his previous two documentaries were Hatchet jobs.
I’m looking forward to watching them.
Thanks for taking the trouble to respond Adrian.
Are you for real? “Most anti-British media organisation in the world”? Please provide evidence for that paranoid and irrational statement.
Peeling back the Americanism I suggest you remind yourself that opinion is still free in the United Kingdom. I watched the funeral of George the VI. Don’t presume the right to demand evidence unless you have been a viewer longer than I.
Your response just tells me that you have no evidence and your outburst was just the standard irrational, unfounded rant I’ve come to expect when it comes to the BBC. But of course you don’t have any evidence because your statement was clearly ridiculous. And if you don’t like people asking for evidence, don’t make crazy statements like that.
This will turn it into a circus.
you mean the admiralty l suspect
Chris Terrill is a safe pair of hands👍
I hope it brings the attention of the nation back to the fact that we are a Maritime nation and having a ship like HMS QE is money well spent. ‘Sea blindness’ is a dangerous trait, especially when an island nation with a rich history of sea power.
best of luck with the series Chris👍
with the Iranians grabbing if the ship in the gulf, and the migrant issue, now is the best time to remind everyone of the navy’s importance
I think the border force should be dealing with migrant side of things.
Been waiting for this for ages, indeed so long I forgot all about it tbh after all it was obvious after the initial series that there would be a production team for its first proper outing. Personally I don’t get the anti BBC stuff they do an incredible job for the most part, and anyway these things are produced by outside production companies specialising in the sector and simply commissioned by the BBC so and they don’t go around puppetting for the BBC (run by a Tory stooge presently by the way) even if you think it’s a Socialist outpost… Read more »
Yeah I don’t understand the hate the BBC gets either, seems pretty balanced to me. Certainly not “anti British”.
The BBC is hated because of the way it goes about collecting the licence fee: I have never possessed a TV and I have a record of 30 years of correspondence from the BBC and it’s representatives threatening all sorts of legal sanctions if I don’t buy a licence. I always reply verbally to their thuggish reps: “good, I will see you in court: you have 2 minutes to get off my property.” The wireless is the theatre of the mind: TV is the theatre of the mindless.
Oh yeah the hate from the license fee I get, just not in terms of actual content
Completely agree. It’s the fact that they’re balanced that irritates so many people – the Beep annoys both the left and the right by trying to take a centre ground.
if ut were Down to the socialist side of British politics, there would not have been a ship ⚓ to film it on
HMS Queen Elizabeth was designed and ordered under the last Labour Government. There is only a ship to film it on *because* of “the socialist side of British politics”.
By contrast, the Tories announced in 2010 that they wanted to mothball or sell HMS Prince of Wales. They also withdrew HMS Ark Royal immediately, leaving the UK without any fixed-wing carriers for half a decade. So Carrier Strike is a programme that Labour started and the Tories did their best to thwart.
Labour also thwarted the plans for the previous ark royal.neanderthals people find it hard to knock labour for some reason
During the CSG21 voyage I was told by a very reliable BBC source that Chris Terill was doing a documentary. However, post-CSG, all went quiet for a long time. I wondered if we would ever see it. Would it appear on BBC or Netflix?
I guess, though, that post-voyage producing/editing, etc. would take quite a long time.
It will be a really enjoyable series and I look forward to six sessions of pizza, beer and the sofa.
Understand the announcement has only just been made as the MoD has only just finished vetting the episodes.
Ah, vetting I forgot about that bit. Six month (ish) to cut it into shape and another six month(ish) to vet it, including any changes needed to be fair. So right on time to anounce it 🙂
Looking forward to it.
Cheers CR
Ships will be scrapped by the time they finish the job
Ditto
When is it?
Just says ‘early next year’ so lets see.
As a question, who here trusts the BBC?
Not me. Left wing stance on most things. News is no longer neutral and unbiased. Personal opinions (often controversial) of presenters allowed to be aired. Scandals aplenty – turning a blind eye to Jimmy Savile and other seedy characters/perverts. Martin Bashir’s dirty tricks to secure Diana interview. Sometimes picking an unrepresentative audience for ‘Question Time’. Russell Brand and Jonathan Ross not sacked for awful abuse of Andrew Sachs.
Still, I totally trust Chris Terill.
Bravo, tip of the iceburg.
He did produce some quite well received programs on QEC before.
I must admit they were quite dryly edited.
I’m interested to see what light it sheds on the F35B pootling off the end of the ski jump…..
There are pictures on the net showing the QE With the ramps removed
They make it look like an aircraft carrier
I wouldn’t mind if the BBC lost the license money the rubbish put out by them is a joke. Millions£gies to channels nobody else has any interest inits almost as scandalous as where the foreign aid is sent £50+million to Syria a nation run by a despot who used gas in its own people millions to Pakistan. A nation that harbours terrorists and allows it’s soil to be used to train more. An utter disgrace.
It’s difficult to trust any media source totally, given the huge amount of information put out for consumption. But we have to use our experience and understanding to judge and form our own conclusions.
I for one am looking forward to this series. Hopefully we can spot any obvious bias or misinformation. These forums are an opportunity to discuss and identify issues. I’m sure Navy Lookout will be watching closely too.
Had issues with the BBC for years then after the 2016 vote it showed its true colours, insanely biased and I do tend not to watch anything from it anymore. Will watch this series though.
Agree. Though it is only BBC news that I boycott, I happily watch other programs. It is indeed a British Institution with great history, so I would never go so far as to want it gone. I just wish it would drop its leftist agenda and be neutral – just report news.
I’ve preferred sky news for some time.
Can’t stand the BBC. The news content is aimed at illiterate thirteen-year-olds, and I’m forced to pay the license fee just to own a TV screen to watch streaming content, none of it BBC. Not keen on all that woke preaching stuff either, and frankly a terrible history of covering up institutional abuse. We still need something like Voice of America to promote UK interests and POV abroad.
I distrust the BBC the least of all the major news outlets. Compared to Fox news/CNN the BBC is very un-biased compared to those. It’s had its ups and downs over the decades, but I personally think the BBC is still a very competent news outlet, especially the international news. People who are left wing think it’s Tory supporting, Torys think its left wing, so maybe they are somewhere in the middle. I think they see whoever is in No10 as the enemy, regardless of which party is in Government. License fee is another conversation, but doesn’t bother me personally.… Read more »
I’m more or less on the same page, I’d not want it gone and have no issue with the fee. It is their news coverage and how they portray stories that I take issue with.
I just find all news to very dramatic at the moment. Even a cold snap of weather is reported like it is a ‘crisis’. I watched the head of NHS strategy interviewed the other day on the BBC, and the news presenter interviewing him was just trying to press him to slag off the government, which he didn’t. He said they had a plan for the short term and the long term and extra cash has been made available, and £3.3Bn extra for next year. And they have had very close dialogue with the government. But still the presenter was… Read more »
The word “Crisis” is used far too much, which is why most people take no notice.
Couldn’t agree more. I think less and less people are watching the news these days because its so depressing.
The grinding cynical negativity of it is insufferable.
I’m not after positive spin on everything but trying to pick apart things that are working well and making them look negative is taken to ridiculous extremes.
Yes, it sure is. The media has a lot to answer for in this country. A free press is essential, but the agendas that are forced on us is galing. They take great pleasure in forcing an MP or Minister to resign weather the MP in question deserves it or not. Its all trial by media.
Everything on u.k news networks is done to death, repeated over and over until you get so fed up with it, you turn the rubbish off
And then they keep banging on about it incessantly for 24 hours
Sky News and Al Jazeera are very good – I get my news from them rather than the BBC.
👍
The definition of very good regarding a news outlet is largely down to which outlet’s angle, stance or bias agrees with your angle, stance or bias on a subject. We’re more likely to judge a media outlet ‘good’ if it’s views match our own. That’s the problem with the BBC, it tries (not always successfully) to be neutral which means a lot of the population will disagree with the stance it takes. Also the argument that it is too left wing comes from a proportion of the population (who favour right-leading outlets) considering it not right wing enough. Personally I… Read more »
Google where the money goes to
Don’t mention left wing on here all t5 socialist ‘luvvies,will start throwing their dummies around.
No chance. Read “The Noble Liar” that is enough.
Me. They don’t always get everything right. But who does. And they don’t try to appeal to the extremes of society on the left (like the Guardian) or the right (like the Daily Mail) so to me they’re more reliable than either of these.
The CSG travelled thousand of miles round the world, visiting loads of ports, making a big splash (pun intended) in the foreign press and impressing many navies, many of whom joined the Group at various times. I’m an avid watcher of BBC news and, as far as I recall, during the whole tour, BBC ran only one short clip on the news, showing the late Queen when she went aboard. Apart from the current excellent coverage of Ukraine, the BBC is miserly in its coverage of the UK military.
Google where the money to the BBC goes.
George, as an Brit in the USA and with several USN “flyboys” as friends is there a way to find out if it will be available here? Thank you!
Probably, eventually… BBC channel?
Thank you, I saw that “Rogue Warriors” is on EPIX streaming
Im sure it will end up on youtube, lots of programs do!
How many ‘fly on the wall’ documentaries have been set on a warship over the years? Time for the army and RAF to have a turn?
Difficult to do a walk around and have a film crew on a Typhoon in action!
Think they just do the ships for ease of set up, once on board can film what they need to with relative ease.
James, good one! I think life on an air base with a camera in a Typhoon cockpit (or Atlas, P-8 Poseidon etc) every so often would be entertaining.
How many times can you film the scene of ‘I am the pilot’ or the well known variant of ‘I am a pilot’.
God knows, what a series on the Red Arrows would look like and probably make Love Island (I’ve never watched it but heard reports) look tame.
Although in fairness you probably could wander round an A400M or C17 in flight?
There’s a series similar based in RAF Brize Norton, another following the Rockapes at Kandahar, two different ones about the Grenadier and Coldstream Guards, one about the Household Cavalry, the Chris Terill one with the RM in Helmand, several ‘Inside Sandhurst’ types, and a load more of the top of my head available on Youtube (If you search British Army Documentaries, then an excellent channel with loads of archive docs comes up)
shame it,s on the bbc, as i don,t have a licence, as i will not be forced to pay for something i very rarely ever used or watch,especially as most of today’s tv is so woke it,s beyond comprehension anymore..
Make a friend of someone who has a licence and watch it together. Or ask if your local will screen it. Admittedly you’ll spend as much on beer over the series as you would on a licence, but your principles with remain intact.
Chris Terrill, absolute legend! Looking forward to watching this series on Lizzie. Having served on the Illustrious I am keen to see the differences and similarities after 32 years.
The BBC is hated because it’s guilty of trying to engineer social change, if not political change. Social change can only occur naturally. Take Russia. I good number of Russians over 35 say still support the war in Ukraine. To them their leader is defending them from an aggressive West in the form of NATO. A lot of much younger Russians, especially the more affluent ones see the West as a friend posing no threat. Despite the biased media output you will change very few minds in Russia. Unfortunately the BBC and the Russian media do not understand that. The… Read more »
Thanks George, looking forward to it
Fifty quid says they bring up the through life cost and act as if it were the upfront cost, they bring up the disadvantages of using a ski-ramp & V/STOL jets without discussing the advantages, they bring up the cost of the F-35 and compare that to a jet designed in the 60s, then bring up the accident rate and conveniently forget to compare that to any other jet. Then they’ll bring up the reduction in NHS beds or nurses without bringing up the continuous PPP adjust, consecutive increases in funding to the NHS and claim less should be spent… Read more »
Still think the best series about the Navy was “Sailor” about Ark Royal in the 70s. The narrator had the sense to keep quiet most of the time and let the action speak for itself. No attempt to “big things up” or sensationalise things. No unnecessary music either. Lers hope the new series is as good.
I agree , I was onboard for that series as a cook .. best time ever. I will still look forward to watching this new one all the same
Thinking about it, “Fighter Pilot” about RAF pilot training waspretty good for the same reasons.
George. any chance of an update on the progress of the ship’s in building? or.better still piccies?
Better to announce the acquisition of MQ25 drones for the carriers.
“We are all going on a Summer holiday…! ” God help us if they confront a professional navy.