As the shipping forecast turns 100 years old in 2024, bestselling author and award-winning broadcaster Charlie Connelly’s hilarious and informative show brings the quirky broadcast vividly to life.
How did a weather forecast for ships capture the hearts of a nation, from salty old sea dog to insomniac landlubber? How is it possible for ‘rain later’ to be ‘good’? And where the hell is North Utsire?
Delving into the history of the forecast and the extraordinary people who made it, Charlie explains what those curious phrases really mean and celebrates its wide cultural impact. He shares rip-roaring adventures from his own extraordinary journey through the 31 sea areas, the times he was accused by the media of trying to annex Rockall from the British government and sang sea shanties with Tom Hardy in a Manx hotel bar while Scary Spice pulled the pints, and presents his case for the shipping forecast being our finest achievement.
Inspired by Charlie’s bestselling book, which has sold more than a quarter-of-a-million copies worldwide, this pacy, moving and hilarious show takes you all the way from Viking to South-East Iceland to ensure the shipping forecast will never sound the same again.
“Charlie Connelly is one of the funniest people I have ever had the pleasure of sitting in a studio with… He has a natural wit that doesn’t get crushed by an over-zealous ego with a lovely personality attached to it.”
Fi Glover, Broadcaster
“I can thoroughly recommend an evening spent in the company of the very funny and very lovely Charlie Connelly whose knowledge of what I call ‘the ships’ is excellent.”
Corrie Corfield, BBC Radio 4