A brand new BBC six-part series will air in early 2023 telling the story of HMS Queen Elizabeth’s first-ever operational voyage. Featuring dramatic and aggressive encounters with hostile navies, a royal visit from the late Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, and access to all areas of the giant aircraft carrier – The Warship: Tour of Duty, tells the raw and intimate story of a gruelling seven month voyage to the other side of an increasingly troubled world.

The new series, filmed and directed by the award-winning Chris Terrill, will let viewers see what it’s like to serve on a state-of-the-art warship on active operations. Chris was deeply embedded in the ship’s company for the entire deployment and given unprecedented freedom of access.

Footage captured will follow HMS Queen Elizabeth on a 20,000 mile round trip from Portsmouth to the South China Sea as part of a ten-strong taskforce of destroyers, frigates and supply ships. Furthermore, viewers will see the impact of a serious Covid outbreak on-board.

Chris Terrill said: “I have made many films on board Royal Navy warships but this series was the most exciting, surprising, challenging, and rewarding of my career. None of us on board returned home the same person who left. It has been my privilege to capture this life changing deployment to share with viewers.”

Tom Coveney, Commissioning Editor, Specialist Factual for the BBC added: “With war raging on our doorstep, it’s never been more important to understand the lives of the young people serving in our frontline armed forces. The extraordinary access in this series will show viewers both the challenges and triumphs faced by the women and men of the Royal Navy like never before.”