James May's Great Explorers: Story, Cast and Series Facts

Story and premise

There was a time, before football and rock'n'roll, when explorers were the A-listers of their day. Death-defying antics and tales of daring made them the stuff of legend: names like Columbus, Raleigh, and Cook, who sailed off over the horizon to discover new lands and bring home treasures unimaginable to those sitting at home in dark, damp Europe.   

Intrepid explorers they may have been, but ‘great' might be pushing it. Across the seven seas, they spilled blood and spread disease. They enabled the destruction of civilisations and the growth of slavery.  And many of their ‘discoveries' weren't quite what you'd think...   

Christopher Columbus - who stumbled across the Americas, but insisted he was in Asia.   

Sir Walter Raleigh - who didn't discover potatoes, tobacco, or El Dorado, but hustled his way into the history books.

Captain James Cook - who failed in his search for Antarctica but charted a third of the world map along the way.   

James will discover what really happened - and how. There'll be hands-on experiments, technological wonders, and plenty of messing about in boats, as he explores the science, engineering, and sheer stubbornness that allowed these extraordinary explorers to sail to every corner of the earth.

Series details

• Title: James May's Great Explorers
• Format: Documentary
• Language: English
• Genres: Travel
• Premiere date: 2025-02-13
• Status in TVmaze: To Be Determined
• Network listed by TVmaze: 5
• Network country: United Kingdom
• Typical episode runtime: 90 minutes
• TVmaze community rating: 7.8/10
• TVMaze ID: 79036
• IMDb ID: tt35852254
• TVDB ID: 459809

Cast and credited roles

• James May — James May

Seasons in the TVmaze catalogue

• Season 1: premiered 2025-02-13; final listed air date 2025-02-27; episode order: 3.

Source and licence

Adapted from James May's Great Explorers on TVmaze. The synopsis is reproduced as plain text; catalogue facts, cast and season records are selected and reformatted. This adapted text is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, following the TVmaze API licence. Network and web-channel credits identify the service listed in this source; they do not establish current streaming availability.