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Wreck Detectives
You've probably seen at least some of the episodes on TV, but here is the whole of the first series on one double DVD. HMS Pomone, the Earl of Abergavenny, Mingary Castle, HMS Lawford, the Stirling Castle, five mediaeval wrecks off Guernsey, the Swan and HMS Hazardous are represented, so it's all within relatively easy diving depths, and all but the WW2 frigate Lawford are old enough to be described as 'archaeological' dives.
???? Wreck Detectives proved mildly controversial among seasoned divers, who delighted in picking holes in each programme. OK, bog-standard British dives often seemed to be made out to be extraordinarily hazardous adventures, and, yes, it was surprising to see certain experts apparently baffled by 'mysteries' that we all thought they had solved long before.
???? Still, what really matters is that this series for the first time brought British wreck-diving to a wider public. Several million people enjoyed Wreck Detectives, and most will have been blissfully unconcerned about the finer points of diving style. Further series were commissioned as a result of its success.
???? It's not easy, without a certain amount of licence, to make TV programmes that will keep viewers' itchy fingers off the zapper, and the only pity perhaps is that each of these programmes is 50 minutes long. A tighter time-slot might have reined in some of the longeurs and repetitions.
???? But for 600 cherry-pickable minutes of underwater archaeology, the price makes this good value. And, at DIVER, we always have time for Miranda Krestovnikoff!
(£19.99, DD Home Entertainment, 01829 741490)
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