Review: Timothy Spall: Back at Sea, BBC4
2:37pm Thursday 18th August 2011 in Reviews By Steve Pratt
WE’RE used to seeing Timothy Spall producing some extraordinary characters in a wide variety of Britain’s biggest TV shows – not to mention the odd Hollywood outing too.
But he’s currently appearing in an altogether different series for BBC4, in which he and his wife, Shane, journey around the British Isles in their barge, the Princess Matilda.
Think of an ocean-going version of Coast and you get the picture.
It’s a pleasure to see him playing himself for once in Timothy Spall: Back At Sea, although he’s probably wondering if he’s bitten off more than he can chew as he struggles to navigate around various tankers and barges near Liverpool.
He also has a disaster at Glasson Dock, in Lancashire.
Thankfully, a trip to Barrow-in- Furness turns out to be far more successful.
And while there, he and Shane rub shoulders with the local king and queen.
