Captain Cook

Captain James Cook was the last explorer in the age of sail – and one of the busiest, charting one third of the globe. His voyages brought huge advancements in navigation, biology, and geography, and in Britain he is generally thought of as a hero – but in other parts of the world, that's not the story at all.

James May is diving headfirst into history, and getting hands-on with science, to understand how this studious and serious son of a farmer broke through the class ceiling to become the greatest naval captain of his age.

In Whitby, the young Cook was an eager apprentice on coal ships before joining the Navy - and James attempts his own apprenticeship aboard tall ship Bessie Ellen in Cornwall.

Cook was the first European to chart New Zealand and the east coast of Australia. At the Natural History Museum, James gets to actually touch the incredible creatures brought back aboard the Endeavour, and learn about the unorthodox collecting methods employed by chief scientist Joseph Banks.

Cook is renowned for being – at first anyway – a caring and considerate Captain. James experiences the strict measures Cook put in place to preserve the sailors' health – including all manner of delicious scurvy cures, and dancing the hornpipe. But at least he gets to taste all the ship's alcohol too.

On his second voyage, Cook lent a hand in solving the greatest navigational puzzle of the age. James visits the Royal Museums in Greenwich to scratch his head over the Longitude problem and see the failed attempts that led to the H4 chronometer that finally cracked it.

But Cook's triumphant voyages undoubtedly paved the way for the destruction of the civilisations he encountered, and British occupation of their lands. James grapples with Cook's intentions and culpability – as indeed, did Cook himself.