Two dreamers, one rust bucket, zero chance of success — British comedy at its most delightfully doomed.
Goff and Lytton have a dream - a canal boat of their own on which to cruise the inland waterways: The reality is the boatyard of Josh Adkins and a rusting hulk called Atlantis.
Acting
Frank Middlemass steals every scene as cantankerous boatyard sage
Production
Gloriously authentic 1980s British TV aesthetic
Writing
Dry wit that trusts the audience to keep up
Director
Les Chatfield
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
This was one of several 1980s BBC comedy-dramas about obscure British hobbies, part of a brief trend celebrating eccentric subcultures.
The UK's canal restoration movement peaked in this era; 'Atlantis' gently satirizes the gap between heritage nostalgia and actual hard graft.
GB
