On The Beach [documentary]

Giles Foden looks at the enduring fascination of the shoreline as an inspiration for writers.

Whether seen as a dangerous and hostile environment or the place for a romantic rendezvous, the beach continues to be a symbol of immense apocalyptic importance - the last place on earth.

Reader Brian Gear.

Giles Foden looks at the enduring fascination of the shoreline as an inspiration for writers.

Whether seen as a dangerous and hostile environment or the place for a romantic rendezvous, the beach continues to be a symbol of immense apocalyptic importance - the last place on earth.

Reader Brian Gear.

As an island race, the British have always had a special relationship with beaches.

Five people tell the stories of their favourite beaches, and tell us why they do like to be beside the seaside.Roger Deakin, writer, film maker and passionate outdoor swimmer spends a summer day at Jaywick Sands, near Clacton on the Essex coast.

As an island race, the British have always had a special relationship with beaches.

Five people tell the stories of their favourite beaches, and tell us why they do like to be beside the seaside.Roger Deakin, writer, film maker and passionate outdoor swimmer spends a summer day at Jaywick Sands, near Clacton on the Essex coast.

Five people tell the stories of their favourite beaches.

Writer and film maker Roger Deakin's book Waterlog is a passionate hymn to the delights of swimming in rivers and the sea.

He visits Jaywick, near Clacton in Essex, a pioneering plotland development of the 1930s where he spent his first ever holiday shortly after the war.

On a hot summer day he remembers that holiday, muses on the joy of sea swimming and talks to the people who come to Jaywick beach today.

Five people tell the stories of their favourite beaches.

Writer and film maker Roger Deakin's book Waterlog is a passionate hymn to the delights of swimming in rivers and the sea.

He visits Jaywick, near Clacton in Essex, a pioneering plotland development of the 1930s where he spent his first ever holiday shortly after the war.

On a hot summer day he remembers that holiday, muses on the joy of sea swimming and talks to the people who come to Jaywick beach today.

Theatre director Paulette Randall remembers her childhood outings from London to the village of Dymchurch on the Kent Coast.

Theatre director Paulette Randall remembers her childhood outings from London to the village of Dymchurch on the Kent Coast.

Five people tell the stories of their favourite beaches.

Paulette Randall is the director of the black theatre company Tawala.

As a child she went on church outings from Brixton in south London to the seaside village of Dymchurch in Kent.

These trips were the highlight of her year, and she remembers the excitement of a ride on a miniature railway, the cream tea, and the bemusement of the locals as a hundred boisterous black kids from London emptied from their buses onto the sand.

Five people tell the stories of their favourite beaches.

Paulette Randall is the director of the black theatre company Tawala.

As a child she went on church outings from Brixton in south London to the seaside village of Dymchurch in Kent.

These trips were the highlight of her year, and she remembers the excitement of a ride on a miniature railway, the cream tea, and the bemusement of the locals as a hundred boisterous black kids from London emptied from their buses onto the sand.

3/5.

Port La Nouvelle

At the French seaside town of Port la Nouvelle, the artist and film maker Andrew Kötting contemplates the differences between French and British beach culture.

3/5.

Port La Nouvelle

At the French seaside town of Port la Nouvelle, the artist and film maker Andrew Kötting contemplates the differences between French and British beach culture.

Andrew Kotting is the director of the award winning documentary Gallivant in which he toured Britain's coastline in the company of his grandmother and severely disabled daughter Eden.

Now Andrew, his partner and Eden spend much of their year in the south of France.

Andrew takes us to the resort of Port la Nouvelle near Perpignan to consider the differences in French and British beach culture and how the trip he and Eden made for Gallivant changed their lives.

Andrew Kotting is the director of the award winning documentary Gallivant in which he toured Britain's coastline in the company of his grandmother and severely disabled daughter Eden.

Now Andrew, his partner and Eden spend much of their year in the south of France.

Andrew takes us to the resort of Port la Nouvelle near Perpignan to consider the differences in French and British beach culture and how the trip he and Eden made for Gallivant changed their lives.

The poet Gwyneth Lewis, a passionate sailor, visits a beach near her native Cardiff to consider how sailors view beaches from the sea, and why beaches are so closely linked to our happiness.

The poet Gwyneth Lewis, a passionate sailor, visits a beach near her native Cardiff to consider how sailors view beaches from the sea, and why beaches are so closely linked to our happiness.

Father and son Mike and James Hendy are passionate surfers.

Their beach, St Agnes in Cornwall, is one of the best surfing beaches in Britain, but has been threatened by raw sewage pumped into the sea.

Father and son Mike and James Hendy are passionate surfers.

Their beach, St Agnes in Cornwall, is one of the best surfing beaches in Britain, but has been threatened by raw sewage pumped into the sea.

Five people describe their favourite beaches.

Father and son Mike and James Hendy are passionate surfers.

Their beach, St Agnes in Cornwall, is one of the best surfing beaches in Britain but has been threatened by raw sewage pumped into the sea.

Five people describe their favourite beaches.

Father and son Mike and James Hendy are passionate surfers.

Their beach, St Agnes in Cornwall, is one of the best surfing beaches in Britain but has been threatened by raw sewage pumped into the sea.