Monkman & Seagull's Genius Guide to Britain
{{Short description|Television series}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2019}}
{{Infobox television
| image = Monkman & Seagull's Genius Guide to Britain.jpg
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| alt_name =
| genre = Road trip
| creator =
| based_on =
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| writer =
| director = Samuel Palmer
| creative_director =
| presenter = Bobby Seagull, Eric Monkman
| narrated =
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| country = United Kingdom
| language =
| num_seasons = 1
| num_episodes = 4
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| executive_producer = Simon Dickson, Lorraine Charker-Phillips
| producer = Merle Currie
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| company = Label1 Television Ltd
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| network = BBC 2
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| first_aired = {{Start date|df=yes|2018|09|17}}
| last_aired = {{End date|df=yes|2018|10|08}}
| related = {{Plainlist|
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Monkman & Seagull's Genius Guide to Britain is a BBC documentary series presented by Eric Monkman and Bobby Seagull, a duo who met as rivals on the quiz programme University Challenge and became friends, coauthors and radio-show co-hosts. The show is a road trip around the United Kingdom and focuses on British scientific and technological ingenuity and has a voiceover supplied by Simon Callow.
The show aired in September and October 2018 and was recommissioned for a second series which became a new series Monkman & Seagull’s Genius Adventures, which was broadcast in three 60 minute episodes in May 2020.{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/latestnews/2019/monkman-and-seagull-2|title=BBC - BBC Two commissions Monkman & Seagull for second series - Media Centre|website=www.bbc.co.uk}}
Episodes
{{Episode table |total_width=auto |background=#C38884 |overall= |title=| titleR = |director= | directorR = |airdate= |airdateR= |viewers=10 |viewersR= |country=UK |episodes=
{{Episode list
| EpisodeNumber = 1
| Title = England
| DirectedBy = Samuel Palmer
| OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2018|09|17|df=y}}
| Viewers = 1.81
| ShortSummary = *Blackpool Pleasure Beach, Sir Hiram Maxim's 1904 Captive Flying Machines, the oldest amusement ride in Europe.
- British Lawnmower Museum, Southport.
- Emley Moor transmitting station, Huddersfield
- The smallest museum in the world, in Warley Town, West Yorkshire.
- Jodrell Bank Observatory, Macclesfield
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{{Episode list
| EpisodeNumber = 2
| Title = Wales
| DirectedBy = Samuel Palmer
| OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2018|09|24|df=y}}
| Viewers = 1.58
| ShortSummary = *Pontcysyllte Aqueduct the highest navigable aqueduct in the world.
- Gladstone's Library, Hawarden.
- Mount Snowdon quarry hospital in Llanberis.
- Snowdon Mountain Railway.
| LineColor = C38884
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{{Episode list
| EpisodeNumber = 3
| Title = Northern Ireland
| DirectedBy = Samuel Palmer
| OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2018|10|01|df=y}}
| Viewers = {{Unreported UK viewers|1.59}}
| ShortSummary = *The development of the ejector seat by Martin-Baker
- The Grub ten-inch refracting telescope at the Armagh Observatory
- Headhunters Barber Shop & Railway Museum, Enniskillen
- Belfast Harbour, 'Titanic{{'}}s little sister' - the SS Nomadic
- DMC DeLorean motor car
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{{Episode list
| EpisodeNumber = 4
| Title = Scotland
| DirectedBy = Samuel Palmer
| OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2018|10|08|df=y}}
| Viewers = {{Unreported UK viewers|1.69}}
| ShortSummary = *James Clerk Maxwell and his theory of electromagnetism.
- Deep-fried Mars bar
- Hunterian Museum and Art Gallery and Lord Kelvin
- Loch Lomond and the science of stone skimming.
- Inveraray Jail, an authentically preserved 19th-century jail.
- Cruachan hydroelectric power station on and in Ben Cruachan.
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Reception
Sarah Hughes in i called the series "entertaining, eccentric, and well-informed" and praised the pair's unforced eccentricity and natural rapport.{{Cite web|url=https://inews.co.uk/culture/monkman-seagull-genius-guide-to-britain-bbc2-review/|title=Monkman and Seagull's Genius Guide to Britain is entertaining, eccentric, and well-informed|first=Sarah|last=Hughes|date=17 September 2018|website=inews.co.uk}}
Rebecca Nicholson in The Guardian also praised the warmth and appeal of their friendship but said that the show felt a bit "skittish" by not staying at locations for long enough.{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2018/sep/17/monkman-seagull-genius-guide-britain|title=Monkman and Seagull's Genius Guide To Britain review – nice enough, but where's the brainy swagger?|first=Rebecca|last=Nicholson|newspaper=The Guardian |date=17 September 2018|via=www.theguardian.com}}
In The Evening Standard, Katie Law said there was insufficient chemistry between them and that none of their observations is especially nuanced or perceptive.{{Cite web|url=https://www.standard.co.uk/stayingin/tvfilm/mondays-best-tv-monkman-and-seagull-s-genius-guide-to-britain-elementary-and-strangers-a3937896.html|title=Monday's best TV: Monkman and Seagull's Genius Guide to Britain|date=17 September 2018|website=Evening Standard}}
Notes
{{notelist}}
References
External links
{{BBC programme}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Monkman and Seagull's Genius Guide to Britain}}
Category:2018 British television series debuts
Category:2018 British television series endings
Category:BBC television documentaries about science
Category:Documentary television series about technology