Robbie Cumming and his BBC Canal Boat Diaries
How did we film Canal Boat Diaries?
We filmed on all 6 series using DJI Drones.
We flew our drones on several episodes of the first series of BBC’s Canal Boat Diaries with Robbie Cumming series one and then when series two, three, four Five and Six were commissioned we were asked to fly every episode as the preferred drone filming company.
Robbie Cumming presents this unique TV program filming on his Iphone giving a unique perspective on canal boat life.
Our drone filming added a touch cinematography to the whole production making it one of the most watched programs on BBC4 and U& Yesterday channel
Canal Boat Diaries "The Extra Bits"
Flying off Robbies narrowboat, the Naughty Lass has its own challenges so most of the drone shots were taken from the tow paths with kind permission from The Canal and River Trust.
We based ourselves on Robbies narrowboat most of the time stopping along the way to get stunning drone shots that complimented the ground images.
How long did the filming take?
Each episode taking around 5 to 10 days to film and in the case of Series 2 filming started at Ellesmere Port and ended in the centre of Birmingham.
Series 3 of Canal Boat Diaries started at Wigan going all the way through Lancashire then into Yorkshire and ending at Ripon in North Yorkshire.
Canal Boat Diaries Series 4 starting in Sheffield and ending in Braunston. Its a very small crew but produces some stunning work and gives a real inside into the life of a single boater travelling the UK’s waterways.
When we got to series 5 and 6 we switched channel and moved over to U&Yesterday but instead of filming just 4 episodes we were asked to film 10 which increase the drone filming days to around 50 over a 5 month period.
For those who are interested in the drones used on the shoot there has been a real mixture of the DJI Inspire 2 with the X5s micro4/3rds camera set up and the DJI Mavic Pro 2. On series 4 we used the DJI Mavic 3 cine filming with the DJI Mavic Mini 3 being used for the tricky locations.
How hard was it to film on Canal Boat Diaries?
Operating as a drone pilot on Canal Boat Diaries has been incredibly challenging working long days based from Robbies boat, charging kit on the boat and then walking countless miles with the boat to get the general views with occasional flights from the boat itself just to make life a little bit harder.
Robbies new series comes out this Spring 2025 on a brand new Chanel for the show. UKTv
