Sea Fever was a great choice as the title for this excellent documentary series about the lure of the sea.

John Masefield's poem begins: "I must down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky/ And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by."

For the participants in Sea Fever, this sums up the lure of the oceans. They are men who were once boys, begging to go on the boats as soon as they were big enough for oilskins.

They understood, as Masefield had it, "a grey mist on the sea's face, and a grey dawn breaking" and "the vagrant gypsy life".

Cornish fishermen David Stevens followed his father and grandfather into fishing and now works with his brother out of Newlyn harbour.

In Scotland, Donald Anderson is also a third generation fisherman. The Anderson family fish for herring, heading further and further from home in pursuit of their catch.

At opposite ends of the country, the story is the same.

Hardship, increasing red tape and dwindling stocks are putting the fishermen in an increasingly difficult position.

As Donald Anderson so succinctly put it: "The most threatened species in the North Sea is the fisherman."

The documentary, using lots of home movies of trawlers and their crew in the 1950s, was an interesting look at the work of the fisherman – and the risks involved.

The fishermen have every right to be superstitious – no mention of rabbits, no whistling at sea, no pasties on board, no vicars on the quay and certainly no women on a ship.

They also place great store in religion.

"I was never afraid of the sea," says Donald Anderson. "It comes down to faith."

Tonight the choice is from the sublime (the excellent Damages, BBC Two, 10.45pm) to the ridiculous (The British Soap Awards, ITV1 at 7.30pm).

Take your pick...