It seems strange that the BBC would decide to broadcast this three part series immediately after The Lost Land Of The Jaguar, seeing as though they both inhabit the same televisual terrain (although, speaking literally, different landscapes). That was so fascinating, so exciting, so full of interesting and enthusiastic characters that you assume that they must have real faith in this show’s ability to live up to it’s predecessor. I can’t help but think that that faith was misplaced.

Like The Lost Land Of The Jaguar, Pacific Abyss concentrates as much on how the footage is gained as the footage itself. This seems to have become something of a trend ever since Planet Earth started having those ten “making of” minutes at the end of the programme, and now you can’t watch a nature programme without a scene in which heavy bags are loaded onto 4x4s as the narrator tells us how many tonnes of equipment are being used on this death-defying journey. Which is all well and good, but you can’t help thinking that it takes a little of the magic away.

It’s perhaps unfair to apply that criticism to this programme though, as it never really announces itself as a nature show – it’s a documentary charting some experts’ quest for new species in the Pacific. Frankly, I’d rather have a nature programme; we see the experts swimming through these amazing under-water landscapes for two minutes, only to have ten minutes “drama” while the breathing equipment fails, or, in fact, doesn’t fail at all, but gives a read-out suggesting that it’s failing. Pacific Abyss is more concerned with the process than the end result, and that doesn’t make for brilliant television.

There are more problems, I’m sorry to say. The music is overly dramatic, but that’s nothing compared with the narration, which comes courtesy of a voice you want to slap, and some awful cliches: “we know less about the bottom of the ocean than the surface of the moon”. Yes, we know, we watched the Blue Planet. In fact, we wish we were watching it now. Thankfully, the experts provide some good lines themselves, such as “well mine works fine!” (one diver to the guy whose equipment [didn't] fail), and “oh my god, what’s that?!!” “it’s a fish”.

Add to all of this the inevitable shark/storm/loss of radio contact based cliffhanger, and you’ve got a pretty underwhelming hour’s worth of TV. It is clearly trying to be too many things to too many people – extreme sports junkies, environmentalists, history lovers, wildlife enthusiasts – and in doing so, doesn’t really satisfy any of its intended audiences.