Building the Impossible

Rob Bell uncovers extraordinary feats of lighthouse engineering on both sides of the Atlantic, tackling the world's busiest shipping lane, discovering oil rigs and setting sail in search of America's first lighthouse. Rob meets local seafarers and lighthouse keepers to hear stories of shipwrecks - discovering extraordinary feats of bravery, ingenuity and design as he continues to crack the code of these enigmatic structures.

From stormy seas to the land-locked Mojave Desert, Rob Bell discovers the amazing story of how the mighty Colorado river was tamed and how the Hoover Dam was built. The presenter abseils down the canyon to find out how to help maintain the turbines, and gets his hands dirty with an alien species that threatens the dam's future.

Rob journeys along the length of the Panama Canal to learn how the unconquerable Isthmus was bent to the will and skill of determined engineers, creating one of the seven wonders of the modern world. He discovers their groundbreaking inventions and uncovers the secrets of its construction. Rob trains as a canal pilot and joins the tugboat team as the Lilliputian tugs guide their giant container ships safely through the locks of the canal.

Rob Bell uncovers the secrets of one of Britain's most heroic feats of engineering - the rock lighthouse. In this first edition, he heads to Wolf Rock, eight miles off the Cornish coast, and sees for himself why it was such a Herculean struggle to build a stone tower here 160 years ago, with the rock fully exposed to the awesome power of the North Atlantic.

Rob Bell explores the bizarre history of The Smalls, one of Britain's most remote offshore lighthouses. Situated 20 miles off the Pembrokeshire coast, its isolated location on a reef in the Irish Sea has challenged builders, architects and keepers for over 200 years, leaving it wreathed in dark tales and mystery.

Rob Bell explores the spiritual home of lifesaving - the Longstone lighthouse off the coast of Northumberland, scene of a much discussed rescue attempt by the Victorian lighthouse keeper's daughter, Grace Darling. Rob sees why the lonely beauty of the Farne Islands is not only a refuge for wildlife, but also a deadly trap for mariners seeking refuge from the tempestuous North Sea.

Rob heads nine miles out into the English Channel to see why building the world's first rock lighthouse was such a monumental achievement. At Eddystone Reef, Rob witnesses the awesome power of rough seas and jagged rocks for himself, before a vivid demonstration of why building a tower on a wave-lashed rock was regarded as an impossible dream.

Rob Bell uncovers the incredible stories behind Scotland's mighty Bell Rock lighthouse, an engineering marvel built on a deadly submerged reef in the treacherous North Sea. Eleven miles offshore, this light has stood strong for over 200 years, but at the start of the 19th century, the reef was a menace causing innumerable wrecks and drowning countless mariners. As the show reveals, Robert Stevenson, a young, ambitious engineer, was determined to prove that something could be done to stop Bell Rock claiming so many lives.

Rob Bell explores the wild and beautiful south coast of Ireland to reveal why Fastnet is regarded as one of the most stunning rock lighthouses ever built. He also finds out how this lonely tower became the crowning glory in a 1,500-year legacy of saving lives.