Map Man is a BBC documentary series first broadcast on BBC Two in 2004 and repeated in 2013. Each episode recounts a particular tale in the history of British cartography, with a particular emphasis on the individuals whose dedication and ingenuity led to the production of some of history's most ground-breaking maps.
The show is presented by explorer and writer Nicholas Crane, each week travelling some distance by bicycle, water or on foot to recreate the often treacherous journeys taken in the creation of that episode's map.
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Seasons & Episodes
Season 1 (8 Episodes) ▼
E1: William Roy’s Military Survey of Scotland (1747-53)▶ PLAY
E2: John Ogilby's Britannia (1675)▶ PLAY
E3: Harry Beck’s London Underground Map (1933)▶ PLAY
E4: The Gough Map (1360s)▶ PLAY
E5: Greenville Collins’ Coasting Pilot (1693)▶ PLAY
E6: William Smith’s Geological Map of England & Wales (1815)▶ PLAY
E7: Christopher Saxton’s Atlas of England & Wales (1577)▶ PLAY
E8: Martin Hotine’s Ordnance Survey (1935-1950)▶ PLAY
Season 2 (8 Episodes) ▼
E1: Bartholomew's Cycling Map of England and Wales (1896-1903)▶ PLAY
E2: Timothy Pont's Maps of Scotland (c1583)▶ PLAY
E3: MacKenzie's Chart of the Orkney Islands (1748)▶ PLAY
E4: John Speed's Theatre of the Empire of Great Britaine (1611–12)▶ PLAY
E5: John Cary's Inland Navigation (1796)▶ PLAY
E6: William Mudge's Ordnance Survey, 1st Edition, (1809)▶ PLAY
E7: Mrs P's A-Z (1936)▶ PLAY
E8: Thomas Raven's Clandeboye Estate Maps (1625)▶ PLAY
