Blackadder Tony Robinson takes to the River Thames in new series
Tony Robinson ventures on to the Thames after dark, Danielle de Wolfe learns more
When it comes to depicting history in the most engaging of ways, former Blackadder star Tony Robinson is the man for the job.
Having immersed himself in mud as part of hit archaeology show Time Team and ventured across Britain for Walking Through History and Tony Robinson: Coast To Coast, the actor-turned-presenter knows as much about Britain’s great outdoors as he does the history books.
Now joining forces with Channel 5 as part of new series The Thames At Night with Tony Robinson, the 75-year-old East Ender has set out to discover more about the comings and goings on London’s main waterway.
“For the best part of 2,000 years the Thames was the lifeblood of London – and indeed of the whole of the South of England. In the 19th and the early 20th century it got so full, there was a time when you could actually cross the Thames just jumping from one ship to another.
"By the time I was growing up in the 1950s, the Thames just seemed like this smelly, dirty, irrelevant black ribbon in the middle of London. In the last 20 years it’s been cleaned out, so this extraordinary transformation has taken place during our lifetimes. “The fact is that all the work goes on at night – all the maintenance goes on, so much of the transportation goes on, all the servicing, and we’re blissfully unaware of it.
"We probably think that the Thames is a bit like our granny – goes to sleep about nine o’clock in the evening, then wakes up when daylight comes.
“Cockney culture was so much a part of my life up to the mid-60s when it all began to disappear. All the people that I worked with, I just got, and they got me
"I never felt that they thought I was some… I’m trying to think of a politically correct way of saying it… trivial showbiz personality who was leeching off them.
We all mucked in together. And I was rubbish at every single job that I did, I always have been, but at least I had a go at it.
“I spent one night at Borough Market, and Borough Market was just an ordinary working market in my lifetime.
"It kind of doesn’t work in that way now because of transport. So what it’s become is much more of a niche market. It’s so highly fashionable now. You buy your fabulous breads and cheeses and exotic fruit.
“I didn’t know that they did kayaking at night on the Thames, which I do in the series – nor did I know how incredibly hard kayaking against the tide is, especially when it’s minus two degrees. It was one of the least fun things I’ve ever done. And in the end, I was so cold I had to be towed in.
“I’m really interested in how cities come to be. When you think about how most of us are slightly lawless, we all occasionally speed, we have been known to go over orange traffic lights, we grumble about our taxes, we occasionally drop litter. Why don’t cities just collapse?
“I’ve been in the industry now for over 60 years and I really relished the series. And I lost two stone – a well-needed loss, I have to say.”
● The Thames At Night with Tony Robinson starts on Friday, on Channel 5, 8pm