Captain Cook: Obsession and Discovery sees expert and best-selling author Vanessa Collingridge search for the man behind the legend as she traces his enthralling story in a series that is part biography and part travelogue.

A hero to some, a villain to others, this son of an English farm labourer described more of the globe than any other man in three incredible voyages.

The series steps back into the 18th Century to experience what it was like to navigate uncharted and unknown waters in search of a legendary great southern continent and then a North West Passage through the Arctic ice

Cook was among the first Europeans to visit exotic Pacific islands like the newly discovered exotic and sexually liberated Tahiti to record the 1769 Transit of Venus.

Vanessa Collingridge told the Whitby Gazette the series is based on a book she wrote in 2002 called Captain Cook Obsession and Betrayal.

The series has taken two years to make and filming started off in Marton, Staithes and Whitby then Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Tahiti and Hawaii.

Vanessa, whose background is in geography, is the presenter and talks to various interviewees along the way.

She said: "As a tiny child I became fascinated with maps, it started with reading Winnie the Pooh books with the maps in the front."

Interestingly, many years later Vanessa discovered one of her ancestors, George Collingridge, had written a book about early maps in Australia in 1895.

She added: "I am interested in the man behind the myth as Cook has always been portrayed as a very two dimensional character and as a discovery machine rather than a man.

"He is a much more interesting personality than that and he made a big personal journey as well as his three epic journeys.

"This was a man who was so well respected that he was even allowed to sail through wars.

"It's incredible considering his humble beginnings."

The series includes interviews with people who don't always see him as a hero.

"In Hawaii he is something of a demon," added mum-of-three Vanessa.

Click here for more information on the programme and schedule as well as trailers for each episode.