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Hovercraft glory days recalled for TV programme

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The hovercraft on Dover beach for the filming of Coast. Presenter Dr Alice Roberts is in the dark red coat.
The hovercraft on Dover beach for the filming of Coast. Presenter Dr Alice Roberts is in the dark red coat.

The glitz and glamour of the hovercraft age was revisited on Dover seafront.

Filming for the fourth and fifth series of BBC 2 programme Coast came to the town’s beaches on Tuesday.

Presenter Dr Alice Roberts was there to meet hovercraft pilots and stewardesses who told of their experiences working on the Dover to Calais crossings.

The 40th anniversary of the first commercial crossing was on August 1.

Assistant producer Katherine Arthy said: “We wanted this programme to re-live the glory days of the hovercraft.

“Before the last commercial crossing in October, 2000, there was a sense that going over to the continent via hovercraft was a really glamourous way to travel.

“Also in the programme our presenter Dr Roberts really tries to get to grips with the physics behind them and how they work.”

Coast has visited Dover many times before with the first series starting and ending in Dover after a journey around the coasts of the UK.

This week’s filming was for the opening programme of the fourth series before the team travels around the continent visiting Normandy, Brittany, Norway and Denmark.

“The programme is all about coastal connections and we really wanted to explore our relationship with our neighbours in Europe” added Ms Arthy.

“Dover is a real home from home for us at Coast and we thought there was no better place to start our new series.”

The programme is due to be aired next summer.

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