Coast

A journey around the coast of the United Kingdom, uncovering stories that have made us the island nation we are today

The Coast team have complementary skills, meaning that between them they can investigate anything from exploring the connection between a coastal village and the birth of deep coal mining in Britain; go in search of the biggest sharks in British waters; examine an 1800 year old skeleton to tell us more an ancient community; discover evidence of a tsunami that once devastated this coast and investigate an engineering project where soon a fifth of our gas will be shipped in from the gulf.

Neil Oliver

Neil is an archaeologist and author. His fieldwork has spanned the millenniums – from Stone Age remains in Scotland to Second World War fortifications. If it's been buried in the ground during the last 10,000 years, Neil's dug it up! His passion for digging things up led him and his friend, Tony Pollard, to excavating battlefields from the Anglo-Zulu wars of 1879 in South Africa and their work was discovered by the BBC. This led to them doing the same thing for BBC TWO in Two Men in a Trench series. Together they brought British battles back to life – from Bannockburn in 1314 to the Second World War. He has presented the 'The Face of Britain' on Channel 4 and last summer took part in Time Team's, Big Royal Dig digging up the gardens at the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh. He has been working on a series called The History Detectives for BBC TWO to be transmitted later in the year, and this summer he is presenting some stories for The One Show on BBC ONE. Also a journalist, Neil has written for publications including The Guardian, The Scotsman and The Sun. Last year he published his first book about the First World War called 'Not Forgotten' and he has written 'Coast: From the Air' which will be available from March 2008. Neil lives in Glasgow with his partner and two children, Evie and Archie.

Alice Roberts

Alice is a medical doctor and an expert in anatomy. She teaches anatomy at the University of Bristol and is also involved in research on human skeletal remains, both archaeological and forensic. At present Alice is researching joint disease in ancient human remains and in ape skeletons. Archaeology is a passion for Alice, and she has been on many excavations. Alice also has other talents; she is a skilled artist and a keen surfer, which she loves. In 2001 she joined Channel 4's Time Team after working and reporting on the bones that they had found on their digs. She presented on Extreme Archaeology and a health series for BBC TWO called Don't Die Young and wrote a book to accompany the series. Alice 34, shares her life with a "dirty field archaeologist" and a dirtier border terrier called Bob.

Mark Horton

Mark is a reader in Archaeology at the University of Bristol. He has a particular interest in history and maritime archaeology, and runs one of the few postgraduate programmes devoted to this. He has wide ranging archaeological interest of historical periods in both Britain and overseas and has conducted excavations in Zanzibar, Egypt, the Caribbean, as well as numerous sites in Britain. He is currently writing a book on his twenty years of excavations in Zanzibar. Mark has presented and contributed to numerous TV archaeology programmes, from the BBC TWO series Time Flyers and the BBC Scotland documentary on the Darien Disaster which was awarded the Archaeological Programme of the Year in 2004. He was also involved in the early days of Time Team and has contributed to many archaeology programmes on the Discovery and History Channel, for which he has just finished filming a programme on Christopher Columbus. A keen sailor, Mark spends his spare time sailing his historic 26ft Maurice Griffiths designed yacht or dinghy sailing in Gloucestershire. He also has a rotting dhow in Lamu, Kenya. See twelve of Mark's favourite coastal locations on the BBC History website.

Miranda Krestovnikoff

Miranda is a Zoologist, she started her television career as a researcher in the BBC's prestigious Natural History Unit. Since then she has presented several television series, including BBC TWO's Hidden Treasure and History Mysteries, Channel 4's Wreck Detectives and also makes guest appearances on BBC ONE's Countryfile. Miranda is currently working on many programmes. She has finished filming a landmark series for the BBC called The Nature of Britain, presented by Alan Titchmarsh, due to be transmitted this Autumn. Miranda is currently presenting 'Countrylife' a wildlife and countryside series for ITV and this summer she is filming a series for about the wildlife in the River Thames. Her passion for wildlife started at an early age by observing birds and bugs in the garden and keeping a veritable menagerie at home. She is an experienced diver and active outdoor girl, enjoying sailing, swimming and cycling, making regular appearances at dive shows and clubs. Miranda also writes for DIVER magazine, and her first book called 'An Eyewitness Guide to Scuba Diving' was published last year. Her love away from diving and wildlife is music. Miranda sings and plays the flute in an orchestra in Bristol. Miranda, 34, lives just outside Bristol with her husband and daughter.

Nicholas Crane

	Nick is a geographer and a journalist. Besides regularly writing for The Daily Telegraph and The Sunday Telegraph, he is the author of nine books and has even found time to undertake a 10,000 kilometre mountain walk across Europe, from the Atlantic to the Black Sea. Gripped by the pedestrian bug he has also attempted to walk in a straight line along the length of England. These epic expeditions have been the subject of two of his widely acclaimed books: Two Degrees West – An English Journey, and Clear Waters Rising – A Mountain Walk Across Europe. His most recent book is Mercator: The Man Who Mapped the Planet. Nick is also known as Map Man after presenting the BBC TWO series of the same name. He is currently filming a new series for the BBC called Great British Journeys to be transmitted in the Autumn and is writing a book to go with the series.
Hermione Cockburn
	Hermione Cockburn is an earth scientist and extremely passionate about communicating her subject. She has studied landscapes all over the world including Africa and Antarctica and is an Associate Lecturer with the Open University teaching environmental science in Scotland. She won the BBC Talent "Science on Screen" competition in 2002 and has since contributed to a range of programmes. On BBC TWO she co-presented What the Ancients Did for Us and Rough Science. Hermione is a big fan of BBC Radio 4 and regularly presents "Science at 9" features like The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, Shifting Sands and The Gift of a Goat for Radio 4. She is currently recording a series called The Secret Life of a Reservoir for Radio 4 and is presenting The Nature of Britain for BBC ONE in Scotland, in the Autumn. Hermione lives in Edinburgh, arguably the city with the best glacial landscape in Britain, if not the world!
Dick Strawbridge
	Engineer Dick Strawbridge is a retired Lieutenant Colonel with over 20 years experience in the Army. He was awarded the MBE in 1993 for services in Northern Ireland. His engineering background and experience have resulted in him presenting many programmes for BBC TWO - Geronimo, Crafty Tricks of War and Its Not Easy Being Green. He has also presented Scrapheap Challenge for Channel 4, The Big Idea for Sky and The Re-Inventors for UKTV History. Dick is currently working on many programmes to be transmitted this summer on the BBC; Saving Planet Earth and Building Britain. He is also filming a series called Fix The World, for National Geographic and is writing a book about various ways of being sustainable.