Expert Contributors
Discover how some of Britain's foremost academics, agencies and professional bodies have helped to inform Britain From Above.
How do you tell the story of Britain From Above? The journey began with the organisations who meticulously map the geography of the country, both physical and social.
The series employed the skills and expertise of the Royal Geographical Society and the British Geological Survey, world leaders in the science (and art) of knowing the natural landscape and the people who live there.
The themes of the series emerged; population, movement, supply and demand, water, leisure, farming, land use, city growth, the rocks beneath our feet, wind, weather, and wildlife; everything that makes Britain so special.
The next step was the stories that would bring Britain From Above to life. Ordnance Survey - the national mapping agency - laid the foundations providing cutting edge digital maps and sets of data collected from across the country.
The Centre for Advanced Spatial Analysis assisted in organising and refining vast hordes of information such as the 2001 Census, the intricate network of railways and even the GPS traces of 400 London taxis.
The breathtaking and daring flights of the helicopter aerial camera crew and the computer wizardry of the CGI team completed the picture.
But for all the facts found and the images produced you still need a human element; this is where the contributors came in.
Over eight months, the research team interviewed hundreds of experts from across the globe. They were the key to revealing what most of us miss when looking out of the window of a plane. It is their passion and enthusiasm which really tells this story.
A professional hang glider revealed how air currents and thermals work but also put Andrew Marr at the centre of the British Hang Gliding Championships.
The story of coastal erosion was told through a pilot-cum-aerial photographer who has documented the changing coast line from his private plane.
Also sharing their bird's eye view was a Eurofighter pilot flying over the Lake District and an aerial linesman surveying power lines to keep the lights on.
For some, the insight came after the team were able to put them in the air for the first time. The university researcher who spends his life watching traffic jams found himself hovering precariously above the M6 during rush hour and the man who coordinates the supply of our groceries saw them spread out on Tilbury Docks from above.
The series also features farmers who use GPS to guide their combine harvesters to maximise their crop yield; a Navy Sea King team who keep our skies safe, aerial cops who patrol the Channel; and a city planner plotting growth into the next century.
And there were many more, the ultimate privilege was to reveal the secrets of Britain through the eyes of those who experience them everyday.
In the words of Andrew Marr: "A wide range of historians, archaeologists, scientists, geologists, amateur sleuths, sportsmen, city planners, transport experts and others have willingly given their time and knowledge to unpick what the rest of us would certainly miss."
"Time and again, I have been taken aback by how much I simply did not see, however hard I looked."
Throughout this journey experts from some of the most dynamic institutions in the country contributed including:
Also in About
About
Andrew Marr takes to the skies exploring Britain from above.
Andrew Marr
Our host reveals what's excited him most about the analysing our country from the skies.
Did You Know?
Fascinating facts and figures in Britain from Above.
Jason Hawkes' Photography
Jason Hawkes is one of the world's most respected aerial photographers.
FAQs
Here is a list of the most frequently asked questions about Britain from Above.
Credits
Britain from Above was developed and produced by Lion Television for the ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳. A true multiplatform project the team worked across the television series and interactive.
