Lego Overboard
Seriously...
BBC
4.1 • 885 Ratings
🗓️ 19 September 2023
⏱️ 29 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In 1997 a freak wave washed 62 containers into the sea off a cargo ship near the coast of Cornwall. Inside one were five million pieces of Lego. By a strange quirk of fate, many of the Lego pieces had a sea theme. This is the story of the community of beachcombers trying to track down the miniature octopuses, scuba tanks, life rafts, flippers, sharks and some very rare green dragons still washing ashore today.
Beachcomber Tracey Williams set up the social media account Lego Lost At Sea, allowing people to share their finds. She leads BBC reporter Robin Markwell on a journey around the Cornish coastline looking for the tiny toys.
On the way they meet fishermen still bringing up Lego in their nets, families brought together by dragon-hunting and an artist making sculptures out of millions of pieces of microplastic. Lego Overboard is a tale about the joys of treasure-hunting with a serious message about the long-lasting legacy of plastic pollution in our seas.
Producer: Robin Markwell for BBC Audio in Bristol
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | This was an impregnable fortress. The only way you get out was in a wooden box. |
| 0:05.0 | The controversial maximum security prison impossible to escape from. |
| 0:09.0 | And one of the duties of a political prisoner is the escape. |
| 0:12.0 | The IRA inmates who found a way. of a political prisoner is the escape. |
| 0:12.5 | The IRA inmates who found a way. |
| 0:14.5 | I'm Carlo Gableer and I'll be navigating a path |
| 0:19.5 | through the disturbing inside story of the biggest jailbreak in British and Irish history. |
| 0:25.0 | The narrative that they want is that this is a big achievement by them. |
| 0:28.5 | Escape from the maze, listen first on BBC Sounds. |
| 0:35.0 | BBC Sounds. BBC Sounds, music radio podcasts. |
| 0:39.0 | Come on in and get comfy. |
| 0:41.0 | This is seriously from BBC Radio 4 and I'm Vanessa Casile. |
| 0:47.0 | This podcast brings you true stories for curious minds and wild imaginations. |
| 0:52.0 | Here comes something unusual, charming and seriously |
| 0:57.1 | fascinating. |
| 0:57.9 | So we're on the north coast of Cornwall and it's an absolutely beautiful day. |
| 1:05.8 | It's about 7 in the morning and the sun is just rising over the cliffs and it's a good day |
| 1:11.1 | for surfing all the surfers are out. |
| 1:13.0 | So we're just doing an early morning beach comb and a beach clean to see what we can find. |
| 1:20.0 | Should we try it then, fingers crossed? |
| 1:23.0 | Writer and Beachcomer, Tracy Williams, is out on her morning rounds. |
| 1:28.0 | Her eyes are on the sand, looking for litter. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BBC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of BBC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.