Oz and James Drink To Britain

Episode 2

This episode takes Oz and James to Wigan, home to what is probably the smallest commercial brewery in the world run by Patsy Slevin, out of her mother-in-law’s garage. Stripped down to his red silk boxer shorts, Oz gets straight down to the dirty business of beer making, whilst James concentrates on what he does best – beer drinking.

At the opposite extreme, the thirsty pair also visit the famous home of Newcastle Brown Ale. Surrounded by so much beer, James is inspired to create his own, and challenges Oz to a home brewing competition. Sacrifices have to be made for James to install his high tech micro brewery in their tiny caravan, so for the rest of the trip, James will be sleeping on the floor.

A disastrous night out in Bigg Market, where Oz and James realise they are too old to party with the youngsters is quickly forgotten when, the next day, they head for an idyllic and remote pub on the beautiful Northumberland coast.

Episode 3

Oz and James head for Scotland where they encounter Rachel Barrie – a high priestess of whisky - who insists they don blindfolds in order to fully appreciate the complexity of Scotland’s national drink in a bizarre tasting.

In Edinburgh’s Princes Street Gardens Oz and James bump into some ‘radical brewers’ whose unusual beer and provocative marketing has go them into a lot of trouble. After sampling Scotland’s national dish – a deep fried Mars bar – the intrepid pair head for the hills to taste a special beer, brewed according to an ancient recipe, which is absolutely delicious.

It’s all going so well… and then disaster strikes the most vulnerable member of their party – the ancient, clapped out, 1970’s caravan. Initially reluctant to abandon his precious home brew, James comes up with a plan, and Oz produces a haggis that he always keeps handy in case of emergencies.

Episode 4

Oz and James cross the Irish Sea to Dublin in search of the best drinks of modern Ireland. Having had enough of whisky in Scotland, they decide to concentrate on Irish beer, although James believes that there is too much ‘blarney’ in the traditions surrounding one particular brand. And things take a turn for the worse when they order their first pint of ‘the black stuff’ and Oz claims that he knows all about the Irish drinking culture of drinking because he is, of course, Irish himself.

But before they get into an argument about his claim, the pair head for to a Dublin landmark, the Guinness brewery, and this raises two dilemmas: firstly this is one drink that James really doesn’t like, and secondly, because the famous stout is everywhere, there is a problem of ‘undue prominence’. They can’t mention the ‘G word’ too often because it will breach BBC guidelines. They turn this into a game; whoever mentions the ‘G word’ has to give the other five Euros.

Episode 5

The fifth episode of this thinly disguised drinking holiday finds Oz and James in Burton-on-Trent. The decrepit caravan is back, and James is particularly excited at being re-united with his home brew. Perhaps spurred on by jealousy, Oz sets to work making his own beer, which is based – albeit rather loosely – on an old Elizabethan recipe. With that out of the way, the intrepid pair set out to try some of the world’s most extreme beers, including the oldest which was bottled in 1869, the strongest – at 25%, and the most expensive.

Episode 6

There are many surprises in store for James May when Oz Clarke takes him to Wales. First they find a ‘beverage plant’ that makes famous ‘foreign beers’ from all over the world, and then they visit a farmer who makes crisps from potatoes and delicious ‘designer vodka’ from potato wine - which is a good thing because potato wine itself is not to be recommended.

Next they meet one of Oz’s mates on a farm in Herefordshire and try an ancient British drink known as ‘perry’, which is made from pears. They discover that perry had quite a reputation back in the 1970’s when it was sold in small bottles and was well known under another name - Babycham.

After weeks of preparation, or hours in Oz’s case, it’s time for James and Oz’s caravan brewed beers to be judged at the Worcester Beer Festival, by a hand picked panel of ‘beer experts’. It’s a tense moment. Will the best man - or beer - win?

Episode 7

Oz and James begin their exploration of the South West with trip to a traditional cider farm in Somerset where they meet ‘the Godfather of cider’ – Frank Naish - who at 84 is still going strong. Unfortunate James claims he can’t drink cider, after sensationally over doing it as a teenager… At least that’s what he claims.

Once James has recovered they head further west to sample some decidedly up market cider brandy, before visiting the famous Plymouth Gin distillery where James gets to make his own gin and Oz learns how to be a professional barman. And then disaster strikes the caravan – again. Luckily they breakdown outside a pub.

The next day finds them at the beautiful Camel Valley vineyard, where, despite the typical August weather – rain - they enjoy tasting proper English wine.

Finally they head for a delightful Cornish pub, serving delicious Cornish beer. Oz has a surprise in store for James, which unfortunately for Oz backfires in a way he couldn’t have predicted.

Episode 8

For the final programme in the series, Oz Clarke and James May have returned to where their journey began. They’ve come back to the south east of England to investigate the future of British drink. Is this where they’ll find the drink which speaks for modern Britain?

But first, Oz gives James a geology lesson. The chalky soil of Sussex has many of the characteristics of the Champagne region of France. The pair head for Breaky Bottom, home of one of the pioneers of English sparkling wine - Peter Hall.

Peter planted a vineyard on the Sussex downs back in the seventies and now his vintages are even served in the British embassy in Paris. He and Oz set a sparkling wine challenge for James. Will he pick out the English sparkling wine and will he prefer it to the other examples from around the world?

They next travel to meet a local beer brewer with a difference. Robert Wicks has gone back to the archives of an extinct local brewery to recreate the beer which was Churchill’s favourite, and which cheered the troops after the Normandy landings. Before they get to try it, they visit a traditional Kentish hop garden which has been planted to resist the invasion of cheap hops from abroad.

That’s not the only invasion that’s on Oz’s mind, however, as he tells James about the rumours that French winemakers have been buying up countryside round here to plant grapes. This doesn’t go down well.

Finally Oz and James visit a winemaker who has his eyes set firmly on the future. Dermot Sugrue is a young irishman who’s establishing a new winery on the Wiston Estate using amazing equipment he’s imported from France, including a vintage Champagne press that’s unique in the country. Dermot’s also made a great discovery on one corner of the estate. It’s a field with the perfect ‘bowl’ shape, aspect, soil, shelter – terroir - to grow the finest grapes for sparkling wine. And it’s going to cost a quarter of a million pounds to plant it up. If that’s going to stop the French getting hold of it, then James is ready to chip in and buy a bit for himself.

And so, on the last day of the trip, Oz and James find themselves back on the White Cliffs again, surrounded by the bottles and barrels that tell the story of the trip. But have they come to a conclusion after their three thousand mile expedition?