The Home Front

David Dimbleby explores the images that have helped define England - thatched cottages, rolling Downs and hidden villages along the coast of Hampshire, Sussex and Kent. This has also been the place of threat and invasion, The Battle of Britain was fought in the skies above Kent. Dimbleby sails his own boat, Rocket, through the treacherous waters of the Solent that inspired JMW Turner's seascapes, explores the hills immortalised by William Blake in Jerusalem and discovers the terrible beauty of paintings by war artist Paul Nash. His journey comes to an end on the white cliffs of Dover where Dame Vera Lynn serenades him with her wartime classic 'There'll be blue birds over...'.