The Bit in the Middle

Sea adventurers Timothy Spall and his wife Shane take their barge to three different countries and the Isle of Man.

From Whitehaven, where Tim learns about the pirate John Paul Jones, they steam over to Douglas to visit Tim's son, actor Rafe Spall, who is there to work on BBC Two's The Shadow Line.

Next, they visit a city Tim loves dearly, Belfast, and a special pub he says is 'the finest drinking establishment in the English-speaking world'. Finally, it's across to Portpatrick and Scotland as they clock up some serious nautical mileage in their circumnavigation of the British Isles.