By Leigh Mytton BBC News Online

Six weeks' hard labour on a sailing ship with basic rations and 55 strangers - it's not my idea of paradise, but many of the crew were in raptures about boarding The Ship, a replica of Captain Cook's 18th Century vessel The Endeavour.

And they all get on swimmingly - until their first night's sleep, when the snorers among their party plummet in popularity.

It's a series with a conscience, and a historical purpose - to retrace part of Cook's voyage of discovery

The Ship

By the end of the episode, the tide is beginning to turn when a row about washing nears epic proportions.

It seems documentary-maker Chris Terrill has hit the jackpot again, building on the success of his previous studies of enclosed communities in Jailbirds and The Cruise.

But this isn't just a people-watching experiment. It's a series with a conscience, and a historical purpose - to retrace part of Cook's voyage of discovery.

The volunteers first spy their ship anchored four miles offshore, after a trek through the forest.

This is not to provide them with a romantic vision; it's to help them empathise with the indigenous people who encountered Cook in 1770.

It's a poignant gesture and the wounds have not healed more than 230 years later, as the peaceful protest by Aborigine campaigners demonstrates.

Footage of The Ship's volunteers is interspersed with reconstructions of life on Cook's vessel and a voiceover of the captain's log.

The bewigged officers and ragged sailors add a theatrical element and will help bring the voyage more alive to younger viewers.

But, as a devotee of reality TV, it's going to be the on-board shenanigans which will interest me most.

The Endeavour is a recreation of Captain Cook's vessel

The Navy man who is determined to find somewhere to smoke, the saucy chap measuring a female shipmate's vital statistics and the cook who desperately wants to please with her salt beef supper are ones to watch - not to mention the guy who loses his temper about the washing.

But any bad feeling is bound to be balanced by the camaraderie on board. The team effort required to set the sails is a sight to behold and the image of a chap perched on a rope 100ft above the deck is truly terrifying.

Then there's the scenery. The clear waters of the east coast of Australia had me reaching for a holiday brochure and I'm looking forward to being intoxicated by the seascape on The Ship's 3,500-mile journey to Jakarta.

I feel it's going to be a rough ride, but I'll be there for the duration.

The Ship is on BBC Two on Tuesdays, 2100-2150 BST