Writer, broadcaster and curator Philip Hoare sets out on a personal journey to rediscover the sea, from the south coast of England, where he grew up, to Sri Lanka, the Azores and New Zealand. He switches between encounters with people and with animals, asking what their stories mean for us today. The cast includes scientists and tattooed warriors; ravens and whales; and creatures that may or may not be extinct.

Hoare won the 2009 Samuel Johnson Prize for Leviathan, a story of man’s obsession with the whale. He has written seven works of non-fiction, including an acclaimed biography of Noel Coward and Spike Island: The Memory of a Military Hospital. He is an experienced broadcaster, presenting the BBC Arena film The Hunt for Moby Dick, and has curated photography exhibitions on Noel Coward and on icons of pop.