Hats off to Andrew E.M. Gregg! He produced Franklin's Lost Ships, an extraordinary new documentary that turned up April 9 on CBC-TVs The Nature of Things. And finished in such a short period! The most impressive thing may well have been how smoothly the narrative unwound, cutting back and forth between the contemporary search and the history of the tragedy. So many figures winding in and out without a hitch: very sophisticated, very polished.

The seamless intermingling of documentary footage and credible reconstruction was terrific. Also, we got some exciting views of the sunken Erebus we have never seen before. Oh, and the CGI was great! I know, I know: the aficionados will be clamoring for more history: what does it all mean? But I expect that the longer version of this documentary, coming soon to PBS and Nova, will deliver more of that. Meanwhile, Franklin's Lost Ships will air again this Saturday on CBC News Network, starting at 7 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. Honestly: this doc is the perfect primer for what promises to be an outstanding season of dives, discoveries and revelations. Don't miss it. 
[Here is the CBC link for online viewing: http://www.cbc.ca/natureofthings/episodes/franklins-lost-ships]