CANAL BOAT DIARIES RENEWED FOR SEVENTH SERIES ON U&YESTERDAY

UKTV has commissioned a new series of Canal Boat Diaries (10x60') for its free streaming service U and leading factual channel U&YESTERDAY, under licence from the BBC. 

In Canal Boat Diaries series 7, waterways explorer Robbie Cumming will begin a brand-new journey across the UK from Wales to West Yorkshire. This will be a personal journey showing the reality of living on a narrowboat while travelling through a secret world of remote waterways, picturesque landscapes and industrial marvels.

After 10 years of living aboard the Naughty Lass, this is Robbie’s first journey to Wales by narrowboat - filled with awe-inspiring aqueducts, creepy-looking canal tunnels, and tricky lock flights. And as with previous series, Robbie will continue to share the highs and lows of life aboard the Naughty Lass, from the daily challenges of living and travelling on an aging narrowboat to the unexpected running repairs that come with it. 

Robbie Cumming said, "Crossing the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct will be a rite of passage for a boater like me. The Llangollen at that point is notorious for being the busiest and most chaotic narrow canal in the world, which is probably why I've put it off for so long! After a brief time in Wales, the plan is for Naughty Lass and I to weave our way across England, working my way back along some of the most beautiful and challenging canals and rivers I've ever been on.  As always I've got the route all planned out - but I've absolutely no idea what will happen along the way, which is just how I like it."

Canal Boat Diaries has been commissioned for UKTV by Kirsty Hanson, Senior Commissioning Editor, Factual & Factual Entertainment, with Helen Nightingale, Head of Factual & Factual Entertainment Commissioning, and ordered for U&YESTERDAY by Director of Programming, Factual & Factual Entertainment, Adam Collings and Director of Commissioning, Hilary Rosen. The series producer is Stuart Woodman, who has produced all previous series, and the executive producer is David Sumnall at Middlechild.

Kirsty Hanson, Senior Commissioning Editor, Factual & Factual Entertainment, UKTV, said: "We are thrilled to commission ten new episodes of Canal Boat Diaries. Robbie is the perfect travelling companion through Britain's waterways, giving an honest account of life on the water.”

Adam Collings, Director of Programming, Factual & Factual Entertainment, UKTV, added: "U and U&YESTERDAY viewers love Canal Boat Diaries, a warm down-to-earth series and the perfect antidote to the demands of modern life.”

Canal Boat Diaries S7 is filming now and will launch in the UK on free streaming service U and U&YESTERDAY in 2026.