The Thames: Britain's Great River with Tony Robinson - Episode Guide

Beginning at the river's source in Gloucestershire, Tony meets a professional crayfish catcher, investigates the water's cleanliness, and learns the uses the Home Guard put the river to in WWII.

The actor and presenter follows the river as it winds its way through the Thames valley, stopping off at Henley-on-Thames, and then on towards the palace at Hampton Court. In the village of Clifton Hampden, he tries his hand at sailing a skiff, and later visits Thames Water's most advanced sewage plant. In Henley-on-Thames, Tony attempts to cox a crew from the elite Leander Rowing Club, Britain's most successful sporting team who boast 124 Olympic medals, and at Hampton Court Palace, he boards the gold-encrusted Glorianna, the Queen's Royal Barge that led 1,000 boats down the Thames during Her Majesty's diamond jubilee.

Reaching central London, the actor and presenter boards an industrial working ship on the Thames, learning it is a route not without risks as ships must squeeze under bridges at high tide and avoid running aground at low tide. At the Chelsea embankment, Tony explores the Physic Gardens where early botanical remedies were created from exotic plants brought in by river from all over the world. On the south bank, he goes mudlarking, scouring the shore at low tide for objects discarded by revellers past, before getting a bird's-eye-view of the river from the Shard. Tony's final stop is Tower Bridge.

At Billingsgate, Tony relives his teenage years on the docks.

This time, Tony gains access to one of the most iconic landmarks to sit on - or over - the River Thames, the Battersea Power Station. He goes inside the famous Control Room A to see how it is being restored and even has a go at replacing one of the laylights in the ceiling. Upstream in Berkshire, he visits the Cliveden House, before learning more about a unique art installation project on the river.

In the second episode, Tony explores the river's role as a vital trade artery connecting the country to the outside world, going behind the scenes at London Gateway, the newest and largest container port on the Thames. Later, he visits Whitstable, famous for its oysters that come from the Thames estuary.

Tony goes behind the scenes at the iconic Cutty Sark in Greenwich, meeting with the passionate team who care for this historical tourist attraction. Later, Tony visits a metal recycling yard on the banks of the river, before heading out of London to the Hoo peninsula in Kent, where he discovers a rich history of military defence in one small fort.

The presenter watches a tunnelling machine being transported up the river into central London, and discovers plans to build a new tunnel under the Thames to take pressure off the crossing at Dartford. He also makes a late-night visit to New Covent Garden Market, and meets a Paralympian in training at Marlow Rowing Club.

In this episode, Tony travels as far as the Estuary in the East and Waterhay in the West.

The actor and presenter starts the latest leg of his journey in Beckton. There he discovers how a new super-sewer is being built to help stop overflow from London's existing system ending up in the Thames. After a hair-rising cage ride down into the tunnel, Tony Robinson meets the engineer in charge of the project who explains how it will work.

The actor and presenter starts his journey in Richmond upon Thames, at Hampton Court Palace. This 1,000-room residence was King Henry VIII's favourite. Tony begins his tour by the Thames right where the loos would have been. It's also where the royals would have arrived by barge, and where merchants from as far away as Venice would have sold their fancy fabrics.

London City Airport, right in the middle of the capital, is built on an island in the Thames itself, creating unique hurdles for the people who work there. Tony Robinson finds out more about those challenges as he meets a pilot, joins the airfield operations team, and takes part in a drill with the airport's firefighters.