''Map Man'' is a

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

documentary A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

series first broadcast on

BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's second flagship channel, and it covers a wide range of subject matte ...

in 2004 and repeated in 2013. Each episode recounts a particular tale in the history of British

cartography Cartography (; from , 'papyrus, sheet of paper, map'; and , 'write') is the study and practice of making and using maps. Combining science, aesthetics and technique, cartography builds on the premise that reality (or an imagined reality) can ...

, with a particular emphasis on the individuals whose dedication and ingenuity led to the production of some of history's most ground-breaking maps. The show is presented by explorer and writer

Nicholas Crane Nicholas Crane (born 6 May 1954) is an English geographer, explorer, writer and broadcaster. Since 2004 he has written and presented four television series for BBC Two: ''Coast'', ''Great British Journeys'', '' Map Man'' and ''Town''. Early ...

, each week travelling some distance by bicycle, water or on foot to recreate the often treacherous journeys taken in the creation of that episode's map.

Series one

The first series began on BBC Two on 16 September 2004. *

William Roy Major-General William Roy (4 May 17261 July 1790) was a Scottish military engineer, surveyor, and antiquarian. He was an innovator who applied new scientific discoveries and newly emerging technologies to the accurate geodetic mapping of Gr ...

's Military Survey of Scotland (1747–53) *

John Ogilby John Ogilby, Ogelby, or Oglivie (17 November 16004 September 1676) was a Scottish translator, impresario, publisher and cartographer. He was probably at least a half-brother to James Ogilvy, 1st Earl of Airlie, though neither overtly acknowl ...

's "Britannia" (1675) *

Harry Beck Henry Charles Beck (4 June 190218 September 1974) was an English technical draughtsman who created the first diagrammatic Tube map for the London Underground in 1931. Beck drew the diagram after being laid off by the Signalling Department of ...

London Underground Map The Tube map (sometimes called the London Underground map) is a schematic transit map, transport map of the lines, stations and services of the London Underground, known colloquially as "the Tube", hence the map's name. The first schematic Tube ...

(1933) * The

Gough Map The Gough Map or Bodleian Map is a Late Medieval map of the island of Great Britain. Its precise dates of production and authorship are unknown. It is named after Richard Gough, who bequeathed the map to the Bodleian Library in Oxford 1809. He ...

(1360s) * Greenville Collins’ "Coasting Pilot" (1693) *

William Smith William, Willie, Will, Bill, or Billy Smith may refer to: Academics * William Smith (Master of Clare College, Cambridge) (1556–1615), English academic * William Smith (antiquary) (c. 1653–1735), English antiquary and historian of University C ...

's Geological Map of England & Wales (1815) *

Christopher Saxton Christopher Saxton (c. 1540 – c. 1610) was an English cartographer who produced the first county maps of England and Wales. Life and family Saxton was probably born in Sowood, Ossett in the parish of Dewsbury, in the West Riding of Yorkshire ...

's Atlas of England & Wales (1577) *

Martin Hotine Brigadier Martin Hotine CMG CBE (17 June 1898 – 12 November 1968) was the head of the Trigonometrical and Levelling Division of the Ordnance Survey responsible for the 26-year-long retriangulation of Great Britain (1936–1962) and was the ...

Ordnance Survey The Ordnance Survey (OS) is the national mapping agency for Great Britain. The agency's name indicates its original military purpose (see Artillery, ordnance and surveying), which was to map Scotland in the wake of the Jacobite rising of ...

(1935–1950)

Series two

The second series ran on BBC Two from 5 September 2005. *

Bartholomew Bartholomew was one of the twelve apostles of Jesus according to the New Testament. Most scholars today identify Bartholomew as Nathanael, who appears in the Gospel of John (1:45–51; cf. 21:2). New Testament references The name ''Bartholomew ...

's Cycling Map of England and Wales (1896-1903) *

Timothy Pont Reverend Timothy Pont () was a Scottish minister, cartographer and topographer. He was the first to produce a detailed map of Scotland. Pont's maps are among the earliest surviving to show a European country in minute detail, from an actual surve ...

's Maps of Scotland (c1583) * Murdoch Mackenzie's Chart of the Orkney Islands (1748) *

John Speed John Speed (1551 or 1552 – 28 July 1629) was an English cartographer, chronologer and historian of Cheshire origins.; superseding . The son of a citizen and Merchant Taylor in London,"Life of John Speed", ''The Hibernian Magazine, Or, Compe ...

's "Theatre of the Empire of Great Britaine" (1611–12) *

John Cary John Cary (c. 1754 – 1835) was an English cartographer. Life Cary served his apprenticeship as an engraver in London, before setting up his own business in the Strand in 1783. He soon gained a reputation for his maps and globes, his atl ...

's "Inland Navigation" (1796) *

William Mudge William Mudge (1762–1820) was an English artillery officer and surveyor, born in Plymouth, an important figure in the work of the Ordnance Survey. Life William Mudge was a son of Dr. John Mudge of Plymouth, by his second wife, and grandson ...

, 1st Edition, (1809) *

Mrs P MrsP.com is a free children's entertainment website. It stars actress Kathy Kinney as Mrs. P, a redheaded Irishwoman who reads classic children's stories from her "Magic Library." The target audience for the website is kids between the ages of 3 ...

's A-Z (1936) * Thomas Raven's "

Clandeboye Estate The Clandeboye Estate is a Estate (house), country estate in Bangor, County Down, Bangor, County Down, Northern Ireland, outside Belfast. Covering , it contains woodlands, formal and walled gardens, lawns, a lake, and of farmland. Named after ...

Maps", Ireland (1625–26)

References

External links

* *{{IMDb title, id=0426360, title=Map Man 2004 British television series debuts 2005 British television series endings BBC television documentaries British English-language television shows Television series about the United Kingdom