The pilgrims start high on the cliff tops of Whitby in Yorkshire and walk (and “bus”, though this is discreetly glossed over in the final edit) along routes honouring three seventh-century northern saints: Hild, Oswald and Cuthbert.

THE BBC’S annual Easter event, Pilgrimage (BBC Two, 5-7 April, and on iPlayer), is in its eighth year – which for all sorts of reasons is surprising. And while the participants in the first series seemed somewhat awkward and contrived, successive ones have tapped deeper into often inchoate and inarticulate needs for faith and spiritual life. This year, the pilgrims start high on the cliff tops of Whitby in Yorkshire and walk (and “bus”, though this is discreetly glossed over in the final edit) along routes honouring three seventh-century northern saints: Hild, Oswald and Cuthbert. They go via Durham Cathedral and Dunstanburgh, finishing on the St Cuthbert’s Way leading to the pilgrim age destination of Lindisfarne or Holy Island.

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