There is a microcosmic version of our country that sounds like it might exist in some parallel dimension or alternative plane. It is sovereign territory, but has no land borders and cannot be seen on any map. Its population is diverse, inclusive, altruistic, multi-racial, multi-faith, drug-free, relentlessly hard-working, resolutely upbeat and all but totally crimeless. Furthermore, no politicians or businessmen reside here and it remains virtually unaffected by Brexit.

Too good to be true? Not at all.

The ‘Little Britain’ I refer to is HMS Queen Elizabeth, at 65,000 tons the largest and most powerful warship ever built for the Royal Navy. She is phenomenally futuristic in her stealth design, cutting edge in her combat systems and boasts unprecedented levels of automation throughout.

But for all her sophistication and Star Wars technology the most vital and enabling resource at her disposal is exactly the same that Admiral Lord Nelson valued so highly on HMS Victory over 200 years ago: sailors.

HMS Queen Elizabeth is more than just a warship – she’s a vast floating community of some 1,200 souls who, whilst unswervingly British, have their own culture, social structure, codes of behaviour, conventions and customs. Hence my fascination as an anthropologist. Most of my fieldwork has been carried out living amongst the Nilotic tribes of Southern Sudan. But what would it be like, I wondered, to live on HMS Queen Elizabeth and become part of her ship’s company – a tribe by any other name.

To find out, I have spent two years on board to make a series of films for the BBC – the second of which will be shown tonight. It has been eye-opening, exciting, terrifying, uproarious, challenging and inspiring. The first time we went to sea in 2017 was to test the ship’s massive ‘power and propulsion’ systems in the North Sea – essentially to ensure she floated OK and could move through the water. Baby steps.

Since, we have embarked on a four month deployment across the Atlantic and testing everything and everybody to their limits so every has been an incredible adventure... or misadventure.