Canal Boat Diaries is a travel documentary series presented by Robbie Cumming, the first four series were originally broadcast on BBC Four from 19 November 2019 to 4 May 2023. After the BBC axed the series in 2023, it was picked up by UKTV and transmitted on U&Yesterday from series 5 onwards in 2024. The premise of the series consists of a continuous video diary that charts narrowboater and videographer Robbie Cumming as he travels around the inland waterways of England and Wales along its canal network on his narrowboat the Naughty Lass, whilst giving an honest look into the highs and lows of everyday life on the canals.
The series featured Cumming exploring Britain's lesser-known waterways, whilst along the way visiting towns and villages, pubs, landmarks, picturesque landscapes and taking a look at local history.
Cumming primarily films the episodes himself, primarily on an IPhone and a series of Go-Pro cameras, largely maintaining the style and natural immediacy of his earlier YouTube videos. Each episode takes between 5 and 10 days to film using a small crew, with drone filming of towpaths and waterways undertaken by Halo-Vue with permission from the Canal & River Trust.
Background In the winter of 2012/13, Cumming was approached by his school friend Sam Martin to house-sit and look after her narrowboat, which she was trying to sell at the time, he was allowed to live there rent-free as long as he kept it well-maintained and on the move. Cumming fell in love with life on the canals and two years later he purchased a narrowboat which he called The Naughty Lass after a pun on The Nautilus from the novel Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea by Jules Verne. Whilst trying to hold down a job working from home, in his spare time he set up the YouTube channel Robbie Cumming' Voyage Logs,Robbie Cumming' Voyage Logs and filmed his travels which became popular and amassed a substantial following. Cumming was subsequently approached by television producer Stuart Woodman who admired the strength and authenticity of his storytelling, he proposed to adapt the concept into a television series which was commissioned as a five part travel documentary series by the BBC in 2019.
The first four series, with 30 minute episodes, were produced by the BBC, following the transmission of Series 4 the broadcaster decided to drop the series. In October 2023 it was announced that UKTV had purchased the rights to the series, the episodes were expanded to fit a longer 60 minute slot over a 10 episode series developed by production company Middlechild. The fifth series saw Cumming explore Birmingham's extensive Canal Navigations, visiting the village of Braunston, widely considered the spiritual home for narrowboaters due to the location of All Saints Church otherwise known as 'the cathedral of the canals', before proceeding to travel south down the Grand Union Canal. In 2024, a sixth series was commissioned, which followed Cumming as he explored the waterways of southern England, the series concluded with a visit to the Regent's Canal where his passion for canals began. In the seventh and latest series Cumming travelled from west to east, visiting Wales for the first time while journeying along the Llangollen Canal, crossing the border he tackled his way through the Shropshire Union, before weaving through the waterways of Lancashire along the Peak District, ultimately facing the Rochdale Canal, otherwise known as the 'everest of the canals' where he proceeded to climb through all 92 locks before ending his journey in West Yorkshire.
Episodes
Series overview
Series 1 (2019)
Series 2 (2021)
Series 3 (2022)
Series 4 (2023)
Series 5 (2024)
Series 6 (2025)
Series 7 (2026)
Reception The series has generally received critical praise. Cumming has been affectionately described as the 'Canal Man', building a loyal following through his television series, vlogs and livestreams that chart his adventures on Britain's waterways. Christina Collins extolled Cumming for showing viewers the stark realities of everyday life on a narrowboat. She described him as not a product, but a sign of our times during the cost of living crisis, noting, "while Prunella Scales and Timothy West (in Great Canal Journeys) popularised the canals' green corridors and dreamy paces, Robbie is grassroots – and young. And this is striking in austerity Britain, where owning your own home has taken on the glamour of the landed gentry to the younger generation." The series was also credited for encouraging more people to spend time on Britain's canals.
The first episode of series 6 was the highest rated unscripted program that was streamed within a month of its launch on UKTV's streaming service.
Theatre In 2024, Cumming toured the UK in a one-man stage show titled Canal Boat Stories Live!, featuring behind the scenes photos, unseen footage, music, stories from his time on the Naughty Lass and a live audience Q&A session. Following a successful inaugural run, further tours have been arranged.
Home media All DVD releases have been produced by Dazzler; a boxset comprising Series 1-4 was released on Region 2 on 5 February 2024. The fifth series was released on 28 April 2025, whilst the sixth series was released on 22 September 2025.
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