Captain James Cook was the last explorer in the age of sail – and one of the busiest, charting one third of the globe. His voyages brought huge advancements in navigation, biology, and geography, and in Britain he is generally thought of as a hero – but in other parts of the world, that's not the story at all.

James May is diving headfirst into history, and getting hands-on with science, to understand how this studious and serious son of a farmer broke through the class ceiling to become the greatest naval captain of his age.

In Whitby, the young Cook was an eager apprentice on coal ships before joining the Navy - and James attempts his own apprenticeship aboard tall ship Bessie Ellen in Cornwall.

Cook was the first European to chart New Zealand and the east coast of Australia. At the Natural History Museum, James gets to actually touch the incredible creatures brought back aboard the Endeavour, and learn about the unorthodox collecting methods employed by chief scientist Joseph Banks.

Cook is renowned for being – at first anyway – a caring and considerate Captain. James experiences the strict measures Cook put in place to preserve the sailors' health – including all manner of delicious scurvy cures, and dancing the hornpipe. But at least he gets to taste all the ship's alcohol too.

On his second voyage, Cook lent a hand in solving the greatest navigational puzzle of the age. James visits the Royal Museums in Greenwich to scratch his head over the Longitude problem and see the failed attempts that led to the H4 chronometer that finally cracked it.

But Cook's triumphant voyages undoubtedly paved the way for the destruction of the civilisations he encountered, and British occupation of their lands. James grapples with Cook's intentions and culpability – as indeed, did Cook himself.

Sir Walter Raleigh's legend is larger than life: throwing his cloak for Queen Elizabeth I, discovering potatoes and tobacco, and founding England's first American colony. But much of it's 'complete bollocks'. James May digs into Raleigh's rise to power, exploring what he truly discovered and how he left a lasting mark despite his downfall. Along the way, he visits the British Museum, Hampton Court Palace, and Raleigh's prison cell in the Tower of London. From mastering the art of persuasion, to setting up Virginia, and exploring Raleigh's darker legacy, James uncovers the complex reality behind this famous figure.

Long before football and rock'n'roll, the A-listers of the day were explorers, who risked their lives to sail over the horizon, seek new lands, and bring home unimaginable treasures to dark, damp Europe. In a major series debut for Channel 5, James charts the journeys of Christopher Columbus, Sir Walter Raleigh, and Captain James Cook, through hands-on experiments, examining technological wonders, and with plenty of messing about in boats - to investigate how these explorers changed the world forever. In the first edition - in an extraordinary tale of daring, greed, and downright stubbornness - how Columbus is celebrated as a national hero for 'discovering' the USA, but never actually set foot there. James dives headfirst into history, and gets hands-on with science, to understand how this stubborn young sailor ended up stumbling across two continents completely unknown to Europeans. James starts by travelling to south-west Spain, from where these world-changing voyages began, and on to Seville, London's jewellery quarter and St Bart's Hospital in London.