Local dive film gets BBC broadcast date

A LOCALLY-made documentary about the sinking of a Royal Navy ship and a German submarine finally has a BBC broadcast date.

A scene from the film The Hunt for the Lady Olive and the German Submarine. Left to right, divers Karl Taylor, Peter Frankland, Chris de Putron and Nathan Martel discuss what they found after completing a dive on what they believe to be the Lady Olive in 78m of water. (33612486)

The Hunt for the Lady Olive and the German Submarine follows a four-year search for the First World War wreck site of the two vessels, which sank to the west of the Channel Islands in 1917.

Islanders were given the chance to see it at Beau Sejour earlier this year, but it has taken some time to be scheduled for television.

The BBC has now scheduled showing the film on BBC4 on Wednesday 2 October.

‘The film was really well received and generated a great deal of local interest and conversation after the screenings at Beau Sejour,’ said film director Karl Taylor.

‘I’ve had so many people asking me when it will be broadcast on TV as they either want to watch it again or were not able to make one of our four sell-out screenings.

‘It will now be really interesting to hear what a national audience makes of it before it reaches the international stage via AppleTV, Amazon Prime and other streaming services.’

Lying in more than 70m of water, the wreck of the UC II Class mine-laying submarine UC-18 and the remains of what is believed to be the British ship which sank her, HMS Lady Olive, were located 40 miles west of their historically recorded position of 12 miles south of Guernsey.

The local filming team conducted extensive research to identify three possible target areas to the south and south-west of Guernsey before meticulously scanning the seabed for evidence of the wrecks using state-of-the-art sonar equipment.

After discovering wreckage at four sites, the team began carefully planning dives to identify the wrecks.

‘As well as being a fascinating tale of bravery, loss, adventure and discovery, the film is a wonderful advert for the island,’ said Mr Taylor.

‘It’s packed with beautiful footage of Guernsey from both above and below the water, and we really hope that as many people as possible tune in to enjoy the result of what has been an incredibly challenging four years’ work.’

The wreck site has now been recognised as a war grave and closed to any further diving.

The programme is due to be broadcast on BBC4 on Wednesday 2 October at 9pm.