KEY POINTS:
One day in 1738 a Yorkshire farm boy climbed a hill and got such a kick out of all he surveyed that it set a course for his extraordinary life.
So began the story of the famous English explorer who literally put this country on the map, in historian Vanessa Collingridge's four-part documentary version of her book, James Cook - Obsession and Discovery.
And it was map-making - and Collingridge's delight in the art - which was at the heart of last night's opening episode, called "A Likely Lad" but which could just as well have been titled "King of the Charts".
The episode began with Cook's humble beginnings, drawing a path from the bright boy who attracted the patronage of the lord of the manor to the young sailor's smart decision to turn down an easy promotion in favour of joining the Royal Navy.
Collingridge brings together a range of historians and enthusiasts around the world to interpret the facts and air their theories, in her quest to "dig deeper" and discover the "real" James Cook. But it is Cook, the map-maker, who really floats her boat.
A visit to the beach in Canada, where Cook first became hooked on surveying, had her almost dancing with delight. Back in old Blighty, at the Hydrographic Office, a look at the first chart Cook made had her swooning. This woman sure can sex up cartography.
But if all this emotion was overwhelming, Collingridge didn't forget to stress the scientific importance of the occasion. Computer graphics did an intriguing job of comparing Cook's maps to satellite images to show just how accurate they were; a simple but effective image of the globe with its bottom fallen out emphasised how much of Cook's world was still the Big Unknown.
Whether Collingridge comes any closer to the "real" James Cook than any other historian is bound to be debatable. But this telly version, although predictably pitched at beginners level, did a good job of setting the life-story in the broader background of 18th-century England and its ambitions.
It sees Cook firmly as a product of the Enlightenment, both in the opportunities the new quest for scientific knowledge offered him to break out of the rigid social hierarchy of the day, and in his own humanitarian attitudes.
But those who find the words obsession and passion sadly overused, be warned. Collingridge's "real" James Cook is very much a modern interpretation. Expect a careful balancing of the great man's achievements with the dark side of England's imperial conquests, and a bit too much of a neglected Mrs Cook mournfully tending home and hearth. The series also features a lot of irritating dramatic reconstructions starring James Cook, the actor, looking obsessively and passionately at far horizons.
However, Collingridge is more than capable of carrying the viewer away on her wild oceans of enthusiasm. It's hard to tell whether the "Obsession" in the title applies more to Cook or her.
* James Cook - Obsession and Discovery (Prime, Sundays, 8.35pm).
