{"id":67301,"date":"2026-06-21T04:56:19","date_gmt":"2026-06-21T04:56:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/67301\/"},"modified":"2026-06-21T04:56:19","modified_gmt":"2026-06-21T04:56:19","slug":"britains-busiest-port-and-an-otter-love-story-six-must-see-documentaries-on-tv-from-sunday-june-21","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/67301\/","title":{"rendered":"Britain\u2019s Busiest Port and An Otter Love Story: Six must-see documentaries on TV from Sunday, June 21"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This week, cameras return to go behind the scenes at one of the UK\u2019s major transport hubs in a new series of Channel 4\u2019s Dover 24\/7: Britain\u2019s Busiest Port.<\/p>\n

As well as tracking some of the 10 million passengers who pass through the port every year, the series follows the Border Force officers who are on the front line in tackling criminal gangs and smugglers. In this episode, rock star and actor Yungblud is at risk of missing his next gig in Europe \u2013 he may need an extra \u201811 Minutes\u2019 to make his way over the Channel.<\/p>\n

\"Head\"HeadHead behind the scenes at one of the UK’s critical transport hubs to showcase the people, expertise and split-second decisions that impact the entire country<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Border Force uncover one of its biggest drug hauls of the year and, away from the port, road-traffic officers race to an emergency on one of Dover\u2019s busiest roads.<\/p>\n

The new series of Dover 24\/7: Britain\u2019s Busiest Port starts on Channel 4 this Monday at 8pm.<\/p>\n

The show is our pick of a flood of documentaries on TV this week, but it was a close call – here are five other amazing documentaries that you won\u2019t want to miss this week\u2026<\/p>\n

\"Billy\"BillyBilly Mail and his otter \u2013 a pup he rescued after spotting it half-starved<\/p>\n

BILLY & MOLLY: AN OTTER LOVE STORY<\/p>\n

Sunday on Channel 4 at 4.25pm<\/p>\n

A heartwarming documentary directed by Charlie Hamilton James celebrates the special bond between Billy Mail and a young female otter christened Molly, set against the breathtaking, untamed backdrop of the remote Shetland Islands. Billy, his wife Susan and their sheep dog Jade relocate to the Scottish subarctic and one rainy evening, he stumbles upon a half-drowned and starving otter in need of help. The husband nurses Molly back to health and their blossoming friendship allows Billy to connect with the natural world in a way he didn\u2019t know was possible with the playful mammal as his guide. However, Molly is a wild animal and eventually she must part ways with Billy.<\/p>\n

\"During\"DuringDuring strong storms in August 2024, 54m superyacht Bayesian mysteriously sank off the coast of Sicily<\/p>\n

MILLIONAIRE SUPERYACHT: WHY SHIPS SINK<\/p>\n

Monday on BBC2 at 8pm<\/p>\n

In the early hours of August 19, 2024, during intense storms, the 54m superyacht Bayesian mysteriously sank off the coast of Sicily. Seven people onboard tragically perished. As search-and-rescue teams scoured the coast for survivors, questions begin to be asked triggering significant legal battles and public finger-pointing. Why did this multi-million-pound superyacht sink when others nearby didn\u2019t? Did its record-breaking aluminium mast and structural vulnerability make it more vulnerable to strong winds? This film forensically examines what went wrong and asks whether more needs to be done to keep ships safe at sea. Eyewitnesses, first responders, a former captain of the Bayesian, and a retired MAIB principal investigator explain what happened.<\/p>\n

\"Peter\"PeterPeter Murrell, the husband of former Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, embezzled \u00a3400,000 from the SNP<\/p>\n

PETER MURRELL: THE MAN WITH THE MONEY \u2013 THE BIG CASES<\/p>\n

Tuesday on BBC2 at 7pm<\/p>\n

Nicola Sturgeon was Scotland\u2019s longest-serving first minister and a figurehead of the campaign for Scottish independence. In February 2023, she tendered her resignation, a few weeks before her husband Peter Murrell, former chief executive of Scotland\u2019s ruling party, was arrested as part of a police investigation into the SNP\u2019s funding and finances. Using insider testimony and analysis, a 30-minute documentary explores how Murrell embezzled \u00a3400,000 from the party he ran using a paper trail of lies. He pleaded guilty while his wife denied all knowledge. Revelations from the headline-grabbing case chart a national scandal from the corridors of Holyrood to the upper echelons of the SNP.<\/p>\n

\"Former\"FormerFormer US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton joins leading historians, tribal chiefs, military experts, and thought leaders across the political spectrum to present uniquely bipartisan and deeply informed conversations about the origins and future of American democracy<\/p>\n

THE AMERICAN EXPERIMENT<\/p>\n

From Wednesday on Netflix<\/p>\n

The US has lots of names for its forthcoming 250th anniversary \u2013 Semiquincentennial, Bisesquicentennial and Quarter Millennium, to name but a few. Which of them this new five-part documentary series opts for remains to be seen, but whatever the case, it promises to offer intriguing insights into the nation\u2019s proud history. \u201cThe approaching 250th anniversary offers a distinct opportunity to reflect on America\u2019s founding and its future,\u201d says Adam Del Deo, Netflix\u2019s Vice President of Documentary. \u201cThe American Experiment presents an expansive dialogue about how American democracy has been built, challenged, and reimagined. By revisiting the origins of this experiment, the series invites audiences to consider not just where America has been, but where it might go next.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Jordan\"JordanJordan Dunbar at the Thiepval Memorial. The largest Commonwealth War Graves Commission memorial in the world, it commemorates more than 72,000 British and South African servicemen who died in the Battles of the Somme and have no known grave.<\/p>\n

WHAT HAPPENED AT THE SOMME<\/p>\n

Friday on BBC1 at 7.30pm<\/p>\n

On July 1, 1916, the first day of the Battle of the Somme, nearly 20,000 British soldiers were killed. It was one of the bloodiest days of the First World War and a defining moment in the joint British and French operation to outmanoeuvre the German empire. Journalist Jordan Dunbar marks the 110th anniversary by delving into his own family history and meeting people across the UK, whose fortunes have been shaped by the battle and its legacy. In this 30-minute documentary, he looks through photographs that have been kept hidden for years and speaks to those who are still discovering the truth about what happened along a 40km front on the River Somme in northern France.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This week, cameras return to go behind the scenes at one of the UK\u2019s major transport hubs in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":67302,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2],"tags":[13,309,1608,23473,1785],"class_list":["post-67301","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-britain","tag-britain","tag-kent","tag-native","tag-trending","tag-whats-on-news"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@UnitedKingdom\/116786324119084897","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67301","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=67301"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67301\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/67302"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=67301"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=67301"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=67301"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}