Canals and rivers on screen

Our waterways have been in the limelight - or set lights - from feature films to fashion shoots for years.

Still from the film Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy, a man and a woman sit on the towpath in Hackney

In the past few years, our canals and rivers have been working hard behind the scenes, you might have seen us in...

Mad About the Boy In the latest addition to the world of Bridget Jones films, the Hertford Union Canal towpath in Hackney Wick is the romantic setting for Bridget and her new beau Roxster's date.

This Town is a recent BBC drama from Steven Knight (video above, creator of Peaky Blinders) and is set in early 1980s Birmingham and Coventry as the Two Tone music scene is beginning to emerge against a backdrop of conflict at home, in the city streets, and in Northern Ireland. This drama is packed with canal locations including Snow Hill tunnel and an aqueduct on the Tame Valley Canal that spans the M6 motorway.

Slow Horses (pictured below) based on the Slough House spy novels by Mick Herron, this Apple TV series used the Regent's Canal in Regent's Park as a rendezvous for Taverner (Kristin Scott Thomas) and Lamb (Gary Oldman). Series four ended with a splash at the canal at Kings Cross, as a dramatic cat and mouse chase came to an end.

Photo of Gary Oldman and Kristen Scott Thomas standing on the towpath of the Regent's Canal in Regent's Park

Day of the Jackal, a reimagining of the 1973 spy thriller for Paramount+ starring Eddie Redmayne featured a nighttime stand off on the Regent's Canal in Camden.

CBeebies Jo Jo & Gran Gran made a special trip to the canal in the episode It's Time For A Boat Ride. JoJo and Gran Gran meet Ned and Monty who are liveaboard boaters.

Still from CBeebie Jojo and Gran Gran episode Its time for a boat rise

The second series of boating series Narrow Escapes has just begun on Channel 4. In this 25-part series we meet those who call our canals home. Whether it be retirees looking for freedom, young people searching for an affordable alternative to the cost-of-living crisis, newlyweds, families or divorcees, we’ll be introduced to a new and vibrant community made up of people from all walks of life, ages and backgrounds.

From continuous cruisers to business owners operating from their boats and the workers and volunteers on land who maintain the waterways, Narrow Escapes is a snapshot of modern life on the canals.

A photograph from series 2 of Narrow Escapes, showing a Trust employee in construction uniform

Earlier this year we saw see a sixth series of Canal Boat Diaries arrive on the U&Yesterday channel. The documentary with live aboard boater Robbie Cumming shows the reality of life afloat combined with a chilled soundtrack and stunning views of the canals Robbie has visited.